Storytelling in other forms or... "I went to Disneyland!"

Last Saturday was my son's 30th birthday... yes, he was born on Valentine's Day and no, it wasn't planned. But it was a happy accident that we've been amused by over the years.

Since this birthday number was fairly significant, a bigger than usual celebration was needed so he opted to go to Disneyland. This is one of my favorite places so we all went, hubby and I driving down from the Bay Area to do so. We went on our favorite rides, sometimes more than once, and saw a show or two, and generally enjoyed being together and the way Disney tells a story. It is all about story there, just as it is in our writing.

Everything about the park is about story telling. Most attractions tell some kind of story, be it the pirates looking for Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, or that sinister bride with her sequence of beheaded husbands in Haunted Mansion. They even had big signs on temporary walls hiding construction that told of how Walt Disney had planned out the attraction being modified... which was odd but kind of cool.

One of the better examples of story telling was this little stage show at the Royal Theatre. For those who haven't seen this, the Royal Theatre is relatively new and is a part of Fantasyland, sitting next to the castle on the hub. Several times a day they have a short 30 to 40 minute live show featuring the story of one of the Disney princesses. I've seen them do Tangled and Beauty and the Beast in the past. This time they were doing Frozen.

The cast consists of a piano player who performs the music, a pair of comic song-and-dance men, Mr. Smythe and Mr. Jones, and the princess whose story is being told. In the case of Frozen we had Queen Ilsa and Princess Anna. The princesses play themselves, Smythe and Jones do all the other characters, and there are four "damsels" dressed in medieval costumes who move stuff in and out, do props, chime in on the singing, and also work the crowd in the beginning to get the audience ready to participate, particularly the little kids sitting on large rugs in the very front, yelling huzzah or hissing the villian. If you've ever been to a show at a Renaissance Faire then this will be very familiar. Lots of interaction with the audience and participation is welcome. They even did a sing-along with the "Let it Go" song.

And that is the brilliance of it. This is a wonderful way to introduce theatre to young children. Most already know the story, they are enthralled with seeing the "real" princesses in person, and the two gentlemen are so funny with the way they shrink a 90 minute plot into a thirty minute time slot.

It was great fun and now I feel inspired to get back to finishing one of my new stories. After all, that is what a story-teller does, tell stories.

Cheers,
Janet Miller

Astrology: When East meets West

It's my birthday!!!! How cool a date is it today: 11-11-11. There's got to be something special on the astral plane that goes with this. Just sayin'. Hope somebody out there in the universe is listening. :-D

I'm a Scorpio. I have to admit I'm not into insects and technically speaking, a scorpion is an arachnid (7th grade biology to the rescue), but I've always loved the fact that by it's very image, Scorpio screams "Don't mess with me unless you want to get stung." Found this awesome site that tells me what it means to be born on November 11th and it's pretty spot on as it applies to me. This in particular resonated:

November 11 Scorpios are the world's true mystics. Unable to live life on a strictly material level, they depend upon knowledge and experience to take them where they wish to go. They have marvelous creative powers. They are natural storytellers. An interest in all facets of human experience is an illuminating influence in their lives.

In Japan, though, I discovered a new facet to astrology: the Chinese calendar or zodiac. Every year, post cards are sent out at New Year's with an image of the zodiac sign for that year. Already cards with images of a dragon are popping up in the stores. Every zodiac sign has a meaning to it just as our astrological signs do. There are twelve signs in total. Mine happens to be a snake.

Think about that for a minute. I'm a Scorpio and a snake. Doesn't that strike you as rather deadly? I'm such a gentle creature, truly!

People born in the year of the Snake often have a good temper and a skill at communicating...They are determined to accomplished their goals [and] hate to fail. Women under the sign of the snake do well in housework but are irritable.

Okay, the last is so not true, except the irritable part, which is how I feel whenever I have to do housework. This came from www.travelchinaguide.com. Have to say reading through the strengths and weaknesses I didn't connect with a lot of it. Maybe I'm just a poor snake. Now there's a thought!

But interestingly enough, what Japanese really consider is a person's blood type. Yup, you heard me right--Blood Type. As in A, B, O or AB. And no, we're not talking closet vampires. Japanese people are very likely to know little about their astrological sign, slightly more about their zodiac sign and quite a bit about their blood type. I've lived here long enough that I don't find it odd anymore. I'm type O and my husband is type B. So what does this mean?

Well an O type is pretty much interested in the big picture, details just don't matter all that much. That is soooo me. Os are very "about" in what they do, which is something else I excel at. Drives my husband crazy.

This is from askville.amazon.com

Type O:
Type O's are outgoing, and very social. They are initiators, although they don't always finish what they start. Creative and popular, they love to be the center of attention and appear very self confident.

Oh, yes, I'm all those things...well maybe not popular, but I'm working on it. :-D

So what's your sign or your blood type? Let me know and I'll see if I can tell you what it means.