Month: March 2015

Days Gone By, The Story CornerLeave a comment

Land of the Midnight Sun Part 4

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Part 4 The Aftermath Once again I must remind the reader that these memories are more scribbles than compositions. I am in the middle of teaching a class on writing life stories and am practicing what I preach. I’m trying to get it down and make it sensible. Help me by commenting, please. In Part 4, no names or detailed descriptions of people are included for reasons that, I trust, will become apparent. The earthquake happened in March, 1964. By fall 1964, dad was transferred to South Carolina. We did not stick around long enough to be a part of … Continue reading Land of the Midnight Sun Part 4

Days Gone By, The Story Corner3 Comments

Land of the Midnight Sun Part 1

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I am a survivor of the 1964 Alaskan earthquake. A publisher has spoken for the first printing rights to that specific story. The following tale is but a scribble still coming into composition. Readers bear with me here. Thanks. Part 1   Alaska. Even the name sounds icy. For me, a four-year-old steeped in stories of Santa Claus and Christmas trees; it was love at first sight. We arrived at Elmendorf Air Force Base when it was still summer, and I met my other first love, a neighbor boy, John. He was a year older than I was and could … Continue reading Land of the Midnight Sun Part 1

Days Gone By, The Story CornerLeave a comment

Once Upon a Dark and Storybook Night

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By Leneé Cobb (Excerpt from Moonwalks and Unknowns) Around 1960/’61. I’m four. The Air Force transferred Daddy from Andrews Air Force Base in South Carolina to Elmendorf AFB in Alaska. We drove north through the U.S. and then across Canada to get there. Somewhere within the vast Canadian countryside, this happened: I don’t know how many days we’d been driving nor where all we’d stayed but I do remember traveling across a far expanse of flat country. Sometimes there were woods, sometimes not, just rolling hills and flatland. This particular day had been foggy and as twilight descended, the fog … Continue reading Once Upon a Dark and Storybook Night

Writing Life StoriesLeave a comment

Life Stories Session III

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This is the week of better understanding, the week the light bulb switches to on for many within this writing class. Once again, our resident Storyteller, Jean Cameron,  played our hearts with another poignant tale from her life. Thank you so much Jean for illustrating the art of storytelling and allowing us into your life. The seeds planted by past classes as memory triggers took hold within the fertile soil of our minds and worked their magic. Roots begin to grow and spread, little by little, tunneling their way downwards into deep recesses and across expanses of our personal histories. … Continue reading Life Stories Session III

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Life Stories Session Two

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This week was fun and enlightening. We spoke of shadow people. (See the post here.) And we also were entertained by a someone well able to handle the limelight, Jean Cameron. Jean is our resident Storyteller, a woman gifted in the art of storytelling in front of an audience. She delighted us with her grandfather’s tale of elves and lollypop mines. For her to share this tale on St. Paddy’s Day was perfect. She made me think of my own grandpa, Candygarden and the game of Candyland. It’s spring. Let’s make sure to plant some sweet magic of our own. … Continue reading Life Stories Session Two

Writing Life StoriesLeave a comment

Are you worried your life is too boring to write about?

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Do you think you are interesting or boring? Why? We are talking about life histories here, your life’s stories. There are people who, when they think about writing their life histories, conclude no one would be interested in reading anything they’d have to say. This is a common fallacy. It must be common because I’ve heard it uttered many times; and I’m just one person. Let’s explore some reasons why people feel this way and what  can be done about it. Fallacy: Current family members have heard these stories so often that they are disinterested in hearing them again and … Continue reading Are you worried your life is too boring to write about?

SpiritualLeave a comment

What are you doing with the rest of your life?

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3/13/15 by Leneé Cobb I was a headhunter. No, not the kind that collects shrinking heads, but the kind who matches people with positions. The challenges this profession presented thrilled me. I realized my job entailed not only placing people with the right skills into the company with a need for those skills, but also making sure personalities meshed. Between interviewing job seekers and kinking my neck by cold-calling businesses, I visited the businesses, met the owners and or managers, and got a feel for the rest of the employees to understand better what type of personality would meld within … Continue reading What are you doing with the rest of your life?

Days Gone ByLeave a comment

The Haunted Trailers

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The Haunted Trailers 3/12/15 By Lenee Cobb This is an excerpt from Moonwalks and Unknowns featuring The Trespassers 1962 (I think.) Unbeknownst to me, my mom was pregnant with my first brother, Gerald. He was born in February, but he was the first baby born that year and because of that, he was the New Year Baby. My folks won some free gasoline for his birth. It was snowing the night he was born. I was at the hospital in the lobby where there was a TV and a couch and some chairs. Alice and Wonderland was on and it … Continue reading The Haunted Trailers

Writing Life StoriesLeave a comment

The Writer’s Need for Approval and Reasons Why It’s Often Unattainable

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3/10/15 by Leneé Cobb One day, I overheard my new mother-in-law talking to someone on the phone: “She’s one of those artsy fartsy types. Fancies herself a painter or writer or some damned thing.” Perhaps some of you can relate. But I must say this upfront and now: If all of us waited for approval from others for what we’re writing, how many manuscripts would ever get finished? For the record, the relationship with my mother-in-law improved only slightly when I mentioned transcribing some of her family stories. The need for approval is strong in us. It’s tougher, I think, … Continue reading The Writer’s Need for Approval and Reasons Why It’s Often Unattainable

Writing Life StoriesLeave a comment

Class in Session

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It’s Wednesday afternoon. The class for Writing Life Stories took place yesterday. Welcome again to everyone who made it! Besides introductions, we covered: Writers are performing artists, Why write, Approval, Beginning memory triggers, and touched on Writing flavors. These aspects of writing I plan to write more about here, on the Blog, so I hope readers stay tuned for those. One of the special things that we learned during introductions is that one woman taking the class belongs to a group of performing artists known locally as The Story People of Clallam County. This thrilled me, because I’ve attended three … Continue reading Class in Session