funky & fun

On a vast open mesa off the highway stands the Taos Mesa Brewing Company. It rises from the landscape in daylight like an oasis. In the darkness of the night it's more like a surprise carnival. 

Once inside its cavernous space it feels lively, comfortable and friendly. Beer, wine, food, music.

Last night SOMOS held the second of its StorySlams there. Nine tellers took the stage for seven minutes each (some longer, no hook or bell). At the end of the storytelling a winner was chosen by audience applause (yes, it sounds hokey, but this was a cool crowd of authors and artists galore).

The winner moves on to the next StorySlam (in two weeks) and eventually, whoever comes out ahead will participate in the annual Storytelling Festival in early October. This is a big deal with celebrated tellers who come to Taos from all over the nation. The sound system at Taos Mesa is good, the stage lighting rather dramatic, and each person was bathed in one of a rainbow of colors. Bonnie Lee Black got posterized in blue....told her story of killing a green mamba snake in her house in Africa before it killed her. The full story is in her book How to Cook a Crocodile.

Bob Silver, man of many talents (clinical and forensic psychologist, writer) has a new book out, Tributes & Tirades...full of humor and politics. He always makes me laugh and I went home with a copy (he just happened to have a few available).

Steve Rose, poet, performer, friend, was illuminated in deep red for his story about an ill-conceived trip to Singapore in his youth....

Annie MacNaughton, orange, recounted a Native American story that involved peyote, a buffalo couple that may or may not have been real, and poetry....

A good time was had by all. Those of us who are not oral storytellers and tend to stick to writing our stories down were inspired by the guts it took for those writers to step up on stage and perform. Writing is such a private, solitary affair (that allows for editing) but not so with telling - you can't hit the delete key -- and that red pen that's so handy?  Useless. So we cheered and the winner was determined by the level of noise we generated. I drove home in the black night feeling fine. Words from the entire evening swirling around in my head.

And tonight the autumnal equinox begins with a full harvest moon, but that's another story. For now wherever you are, look at the moon and let it's light bathe you. I'll be looking at the same moon.