 
Tponetom
Member
Username: Tponetom
Post Number: 317
Registered: 06-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 1:40 pm: |    |
Detroit-stylin,
Re: Your post # 5890, August 12, 2008
On the subjects of writing and story telling; in a word, “No.” I am not even an amateur writer. "Hack" seems appropriate.
I wonder how many Forum Members have young children. I am just curious. It has been so long ago and far away. Debby came around in July, 1952, and Mike popped out in November. 1953. A couple of years later, # 3 was a three month miscarry,,,,and then there were none. Peggy had to have her innards overhauled, including one ovary. No more children. Sounds flip, maybe? Too sad to dwell on.
Debby, (56,) visited us last Sunday. I asked her if she could remember her favorite 'character' in all the stories I told her and her brother at bedtime.
In a blink, she said "Cassie Cassopolis."
A synopsis follows:
Poetry or Doggerel, but who cares. The children did not mind.
“ Cassie Cassopolis lived in Metropolis and she was as strong as the Man of Steel
And then one day, when she was on her way, she stepped on a banana peel.
Her feet went up, and her bottom went down and she let out an awful squeal,
So be careful my child, do not get too wild, or you may suffer the same ordeal.”
Cassie, and the Dolly twins, Polly and Molly, and Anna Banana, and Susy Suki, among other heroines, were performing all kinds of altruistic tasks for friends and strangers alike. They saved the lives of little puppy dogs or kittens and they helped in capturing bank bandits. Then they made the bandits promise to never rob a bank again. Because their Mommy and Daddy had their money in the bank.
For our son, there was Mike the Tyke, He was the one that put his finger in the Dike. That is why we have five different fingers on either hand. We never know how big or small the hole in the Dike might be, or if there is more than one hole to plug. There were other manly heroes, like, Richard the Lion Hearted, George the Dragon Killer, Skinny Vinnie, and others.
The Hero/Heroine was alternated each night. One night it would be a girl and the next night it would be a boy. Oddly enough, there was always a physical connection between the real child I was telling the story to, and the imaginary one. The boy Heroes always had blonde hair, like Mike and the girl Heroines had rich, dark brown hair like Debby. Very strange.
In the beginning, I had to explain the words and the plots and the emotions and teach them the moral of the story. I could also gloss over the improbable or impossible situations that I constructed. It did not take them too long to begin to correct me.
In telling a story, The eyes of a child offer rewards far beyond any material riches that may exist.
Tell a funny story and their eyes will glisten in merriment.
Tell a sad story, (but not too sad) and the eyes will become vapid.
Tell a scary story and the eyes will bulge in anticipation.
Tell a story about a puppy or a kitten and the eyes become gentle and beckoning.
Tell a story about a youthful hero, (like themselves) and the alter ego is seen in their eyes.
Tell an exciting story and their eyes will dance.
As an audience, children are the greatest. They have the purest form of,,,, attention.
Presently, Debby has two cats in her home and Mike has had dogs for the last 30 years.
Go figure! |
Kathinozarks
Member
Username: Kathinozarks
Post Number: 1393
Registered: 11-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 2:04 pm: | |
What lucky children they are to have a dad like you!
Making up stories is almost impossible for me. |
Kathleen
Member
Username: Kathleen
Post Number: 3014
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 10:26 pm: | |
Awesome, Tponetom!! Thanks for sharing. |
Eriedearie
Member
Username: Eriedearie
Post Number: 2796
Registered: 08-2007
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 1:41 am: | |
Tp - as a grandparent with nothing but time on her hands when our grandson comes to stay with us, I find what you wrote so true:
"Tell a funny story and their eyes will glisten in merriment.
Tell a sad story, (but not too sad) and the eyes will become vapid.
Tell a scary story and the eyes will bulge in anticipation.
Tell a story about a puppy or a kitten and the eyes become gentle and beckoning.
Tell a story about a youthful hero, (like themselves) and the alter ego is seen in their eyes.
Tell an exciting story and their eyes will dance."
And I just love it all. The grand kids have pets, so when I read a story about a cat or dog to them, I ask them if they think their pet could do the things that the animal in the story is doing. That gets them to laughing while they think about that. The wonderment in their eyes as they imagine - you can almost see the door to their mind open. Just amazing. I love it!
I know I did all that stuff as a parent, but I think I was too busy with everyday happenings to actually get the full effect of our son's reactions to stories. Either that or I don't remember all those details.
So I am enjoying it with the grand kids! |
Diane12163
Member
Username: Diane12163
Post Number: 212
Registered: 07-2008
| | Posted on Thursday, August 21, 2008 - 4:23 am: | |
Tponetom you are a very wealthy man. For you have the love of your family and friends and the love of good true storytelling, an art which is incomparable. I love, absolutely love bedtime stories to this day and still will have all of the expressions of a child when hearing them. There is just a part of me that I keep as a child so that I will never ever become desensitised to life and living. I will look at things like mountains and bawl my eyes out and my breath will vanish because I am so taken with their beauty. To this day and forever I will love Winnie The Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger and Piglet. I can read and watch those tales everyday. There is nothing quite so simply lovely as getting oneself a cup of warm milk with sugar, nutmeg and a slight dash of vanilla in it, popping in the Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh, snuggling up with fluffy pillows and downy soft covers, pressing play and settling in for some wonderful simple tales. And even if you fall asleep during it it still plays out and your inner ear and imaginative subconscious can hear it and it leads you to the mystical land of sweet dreams.
I had a dog named Hannah and always called her Hannah Banana. She's gone now as is my baby Missy. Hannah a shitzu poodle and Missy a llhasa apso. I adored them.
I have a daughter I named Artemis, my name in Greek and a name I've always loved. I placed her for adoption back in 1985 when I was 22, unwed and unable to care for her. She is now 23 and I have met her. Her name now is Alison. I wish I would have been able to read her bedtime stories. She and I fell out of contact unfortunately but, I will always hold her in my heart.
I had cats too. I named them Adaggio(For Barber's Adaggio For Strings In GMinor), Strings(For stringed instruments like the violin) and they had a baby together and I named her Tocatta(For Tocatta In Fugue in G Major by Bach), And then later Belle(For Belle from Beauty And The Beast). |
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