Bumbershoot Pre-show
I've lived in the region since 1993 but never came down from Vancouver for Bumbershoot and haven't tried out the festival since I moved to Seattle almost ten years ago. I bought in early, got discounted passes earlier this spring and am now planning to make the most of this last weekend of summer.
It starts tonight with a pre-Bumbershoot benefit show. The show benefits 826 Seattle, a nonprofit writing and tutoring center whose goal is to help school kids up to age 18 "improve their creative and expository writing skills." It was my sixth grade teacher, Mr. Mills, who encouraged me to start writing. I wrote dreadful, abysmal pre-teen poetry, I wrote ridiculous diaries, I wrote protest letters (to Louisiana Pacific, for folding the Portland Timbers) and fan letters (to John Bain, my local soccer heart-throb) and 20-page letters to my pen pals from band camp. Now I own my own publishing company. Mr. Mills' seed of encouragement grew into a life skill and my life's work. Call me a do-gooder if you want but I'm pleased to contribute to a group that hopes to plant and nurture that seed in other children.
The line-up for People Talking and Singing is eclectic. David Eggers; Sarah Vowel; Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket); the Seattle pre-teen sisters who make up the band Smoosh and members of other indie and eclectic bands that I'm largely unfamiliar with (Rogue Wave, The Decemberists, The Magnetic Fields); John Hodgman, who is currently appearing in those Mac vs. PC ads in case you have missed seeing him on the Daily Show or hearing him on This American Life or reading his book The Areas of My Expertise; Jonathan Coulton, whose acoustic version of Baby Got Back is hilarious; plus other "surprise" guests promised. Sounds like another excuse for good fun for a good cause. Sign me up.
Chris is seeing Radio Birdman at El Corazon tonight and I'd normally be there right alongside him but I bought these tickets before I realized the conflict. Instead, my friend Carol is going to People Talking and Singing with me.
It starts tonight with a pre-Bumbershoot benefit show. The show benefits 826 Seattle, a nonprofit writing and tutoring center whose goal is to help school kids up to age 18 "improve their creative and expository writing skills." It was my sixth grade teacher, Mr. Mills, who encouraged me to start writing. I wrote dreadful, abysmal pre-teen poetry, I wrote ridiculous diaries, I wrote protest letters (to Louisiana Pacific, for folding the Portland Timbers) and fan letters (to John Bain, my local soccer heart-throb) and 20-page letters to my pen pals from band camp. Now I own my own publishing company. Mr. Mills' seed of encouragement grew into a life skill and my life's work. Call me a do-gooder if you want but I'm pleased to contribute to a group that hopes to plant and nurture that seed in other children.
The line-up for People Talking and Singing is eclectic. David Eggers; Sarah Vowel; Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket); the Seattle pre-teen sisters who make up the band Smoosh and members of other indie and eclectic bands that I'm largely unfamiliar with (Rogue Wave, The Decemberists, The Magnetic Fields); John Hodgman, who is currently appearing in those Mac vs. PC ads in case you have missed seeing him on the Daily Show or hearing him on This American Life or reading his book The Areas of My Expertise; Jonathan Coulton, whose acoustic version of Baby Got Back is hilarious; plus other "surprise" guests promised. Sounds like another excuse for good fun for a good cause. Sign me up.
Chris is seeing Radio Birdman at El Corazon tonight and I'd normally be there right alongside him but I bought these tickets before I realized the conflict. Instead, my friend Carol is going to People Talking and Singing with me.
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