SPRING STORIES, Thursday, May 22nd @ 7pm: Favorite Shorts

Caledonia shares favorite short stories and essays around the fire to bring you laughter and tickle your brain. Works presented include fiction by Maeve Binchy and Ron Carlson, with essays by Maya Angelou and Ira Glass.

Presented live on Stream.

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Nowhereville/204/43/26

TUESDAY, May 4th: Music, Poetry, And The Wisdom of Chocolate

Both of today's events will be in The Glen.

 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Nowhereville/197/131/21

@ NOON, RUSSELL EPONYM, Live in The Glen!

Join us for Russell's popular weekly performance at our beautiful outdoor gathering space for an hour of 100% live and unplugged acoustic music and spoken word.  Russell will be presenting original and traditional songs, instrumental pieces and covers, together with some selected poems. Folk Baroque and Beyond. Presented on Stream.

@ 7PM: JUST HAND OVER THE CHOCOLATE AND NO ONE GETS HURT

Caledonia shares selection from author Karen Scalf Linamen's collection of essays, focusing on two topics that are rising to the top-of-minds these days: Gardens, and Vacations. 

WEDNESDAY, February 21st at 7pm: HOW TO LOOK GOOD AT FORTY...

This essay showed up online and deserves to be read aloud. So Aoife will.  

It is laugh-out-loud funny but also, we admit, just slightly angry. OK, possibly very angry, but in a funny way. You will like this essay if you, as a woman, or anyone who actually likes women, have no more f**ks to give. Aoife will be wearing a boilersuit.  

Aoife, live in voice.

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TUESDAY, September 1st at 7 PM: A.A. Milne's NOT THAT IT MATTERS

The Quotable A.A. Milne:

Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?

You will be better advised to watch what we do instead of what we say.

Bores can be divided into two classes; those who have their own particular subject, and those who do not need a subject.

One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.

Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.

Yet A.A. Milne was more than a quotable quipster and author of beloved children's tales. Join Corwyn Allen as he continues Milne's 1920 collection of essays and articles, NOT THAT IT MATTERS, live in voice.

TUESDAY. August 25th at 7PM: More from NOT THAT IT MATTERS

Corwyn Allen continues with more from the man whose wit and wisdom inspired a beloved "Bear of Very Little Brain" and so much more.

Milne was a noted writer, primarily as a playwright, before the huge success of Pooh overshadowed all his previous work. Milne served in both World Wars, joining the British Army in World War I, and was a captain of the British Home Guard in World War II.

Presented Live in Voice.

WEDNESDAY, August 19th at 7pm: MISS TROLLEY'S KITCHEN

Something's Cookin'!

Join Trolley in the kitchen for food adventures from the heights of haute cuisine to the relaxing contentment of comfort food.  Miss Trollop shares the food ecstasies of a variety of notable literary voices.

*Fanny Flag's "Cant Wait to get to Heaven" (the caramel cake),

*Allen's "Stina....a family wedding with recipe for the most incredible egg casserole ever",

* Edna Lewis writing about summertime harvest (recipe for smothered chicken).

Trolley will have at least one recipe to share, and invites you to bring one to share as well!

Presented live in voice.

TUESDAY, August 18th at 7pm: A.A. Milne's NOT THAT IT MATTERS

A New Series begins tonight!

A.A. Milne had a delightful sense of humor. Apart from being the creator of Winnie the Pooh he also wrote short, amusing essays that he compiled into a book called Not That It Matters. 

"The simple truth, and everybody knows it really, is that collars squeak for some people and not for others. A squeaky collar round the neck of a man is a comment, not upon the collar, but upon the man. That man is unlucky. Things are against him. Nature may have done all for him that she could, have given him a handsome outside and a noble inside, but the world of inanimate objects is against him."

Join Corwyn Allen tonight as he begins this journey of wit and wisdom, live in voice.

WEDNESDAY, August 5th at 7PM: More from BEAUTY ON THE INTERSTATE

Caledonia shares more selections from her recently published collection of short stories and essays.

“Beauty on the Interstate” is a collection of short stories and essays inspired by life in motion on the highways and byways, where tales form and reform at a rapid pace, and reflection is possible, but only at 60 mph. 

The highway is a great rolling stage for drama.  Some adventures are grand and expansive, complete with flashing lights, bells, and confrontations of life and death.  Others of these rolling epochs are simple moments of delight and justice, for where would tragedy be without comedy?

Caledonia Skytower, live in voice.

WEDNESDAY, May 28th at 7PM: AOIFE IN IRELAND

'I am of Ireland,
And the Holy Land of Ireland,
And time runs on,' cried she.
'Come out of charity,Come dance with me in Ireland.'
                          ~ W.B.Yeats

Aoife's travels in Ireland were full of magic, mystery and beautiful landscapes that led to ... poetry! Join her for an hour of images, tales and poems from the birthplace of the seanchaí.

Live in voice.

MONDAY, May 26th at 7pm: "HUNTER SL THOMPSON"

Crap Mariner celebrates a 20th century writing legend.  It was said of the American Journalist and Author: "the true voice of Thompson is revealed to be that of American moralist ... one who often makes himself ugly to expose the ugliness he sees around him." (Hari Kunzru)

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, to a middle-class family, Thompson had a turbulent youth after the death of his father left the family in poverty. He was unable to formally finish high school as he was incarcerated for 60 days after abetting a robbery. He subsequently joined the United States Air Force before moving into journalism. He traveled frequently, including stints in California, Puerto Rico, and Brazil, before settling in Aspen, Colorado, in the early 1960s.

Live in voice, in so many ways!

MONDAY, December 23rd @ 7pm: THE NIGHT BEFORE, THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

The Seanchai Library Staff gets together for their traditional feast of holiday stories, including tributes to C. Clement Moore's immortal "visitation" poem:  Shandon, Derry, Caledonia, Kayden, and Gyro.  Essays and fictional fancies new and old, and a visit by the Grinch! 

We wish you a Merry Christmas,
Live in voice.

WEDNESDAY, November 20th @7PM: HIS PEN, HIS WORDS ~ Kayden Oconnell

I bet you didn't know that Kayden Oconnell is more than just a great voice and all-around nice guy (and tolerant friend of Murphy the Cat)!

He's also an award-winning columnist in his home state of Minnesota.  Tonight, Kayden shares some of his original work with us ... bring a hot dish!

Presented live in Voice.

WEDNESDAY, October 9th at 7:00pm: BITS O'POE

What would the most notable month for scary and macabre stories be without the master himself?

Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American author, poet, editor, and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.

Caledonia reads some known, and not so well known stories from the works of Poe including "El Dorado", "The Valley of Unrest", "Hop-Frog", and more.  Ravens optional.  Presented Live in Voice.

TUESDAY, September 24th at 7PM: THE WORDS AND WIT OF DAVID RAKOFF

The late David Rakoff died in August a year ago of cancer.  He was a Canadian-born writer based in New York City who was noted for his humorous, sometimes autobiographical non-fiction essays. Rakoff was an essayist, journalist, and actor, and a regular contributor to WBEZ's This American Life. Rakoff described himself as a "New York writer" who also happened to be a "Canadian writer", a "mega Jewish writer", a "gay writer" and an "East Asian Studies major who has forgotten most of his Japanese" writer.

Crap Mariner returns to his "Rakoff Files" to share more essays of wit, humor, and thought-provoking inspiration.  Live in Voice.