"Retelling Stories" by Mike Moldeven

My friend Mike published a collection of stories called Grandpa Stories. For many years he volunteered time at elementary schools reading stories, telling stories to kids. He believes that not only is it a bonding experience but it's a good way to pass down culture, heritage and lessons for life. I quite agree with him. Here is his blog on the art of retelling stories and why it's good for the storyteller too.
Thanks Mike

How Storytelling Came to Be.

One way to get into storytelling is by giving your own version of a
well- known folk tale, a popular myth, or even one of Aesop’s fables.
The plots, characters, and structures of these stories have been
handed down from one generation to the next for centuries, and they have
passed the test of time. The very moment that you start your story you
join the ongoing procession of storytellers from the past and you join the wondrous world of the imagination.

Storytellers are occasionally asked how a story came to be.

Here is my retelling (my version) of an old West African folk tale about where the source of where all stories came from and how they spread from one continent to another.

In the well-known myth about “Spider and the Box of Stories”, Nyami, the Lord
of the Sky, kept a box close to himself in which he kept all the world’s stories. (Anansi) Spider man asked Nyami for the box so that he could release the stories. Nyami agreed to give him the box if he would first bring a python, leopard, hornet, and a creature that no one could see, to him. Spider man did so by first misleading his victims (the leopard, hornet etc) but then explained to them how they could make the world better for all living creatres.

Nyami, true to his word, gave (Anansi) Spider man the box of stories and Spider man freed them all over the world.

Soon the stories were all gone from the box. Now the stories could go wherever they wished, and to be (for all time) among the peoples of the world.

When people saw the stories, they took them in and gave them the food
and shelter that stories needed to be strong. In return the stories gave
pleasure and knowledge and, at once in a while even sadness, to the peoples of the
world. Stories try to give those who listen carefully, an understanding
of how the Lord of the Sky means the world to be.

What did the released stories look like? They looked like everything and anything:
trolls and elves, trees and clouds, birds and people, horses and
barns, airplanes and boats and spaceships and stars in the sky, and
all the things that are or ever were, and also things that are not and
never could be. Stories look like anything that has ever happened and
which might yet happen in years and centuries to come. And stories are
whatever people might wish them to be, and maybe things of which they are afraid.

Sometimes, the stories from Nyami’s box did not change, and at other
times, they were changed by new storytellers to give them other meanings. However they are changed, all stories remain gifts.

”The people of Planet Earth,’ he would say at the end, ‘must deserve
this great gift from the Lord of the Sky.”



This myth, told this way, shows how a noble gift from the Lord of the Sky was given to the people of the world by dishonesty and trickery but in my version, I reduce 'deception' and 'trickery' and put in 'respect' for life everywhere.

Pick a myth or story that has been handed down for generations and try retelling it in your own words. Kids can learn from new versions of old stories and you learn to be a myth maker.

Sean Burroughs

20+ years ago at the Little League Championships in Williamsport, Pa. the winning team was from Long Beach, CA. In those days ABC televised all games involving American teams and much of the nation saw Long Beach's winning effort. There is a famous photo of the team congratulating the winning pitcher, a big (for his age) blond kid named Sean Burroughs. Sean was the son of former major league all star slugger Jeff Burroughs. Sean was about 12 years old then. Years later he was selected in the amateur draft by the San Diego Padres and after a brief time in the minor leagues the team called him up to play third base.

At the time of his call up some San Diego sportswriters questioned the wisdom of bringing someone up that young and anointing him the team's savior. The Padres, however, said he was ready and at first it seemed so. He got off to a pretty good start his first year. The Padres always envisioned him a slugger but his home run results, initially, were marginal. Nevertheless, he contributed to the team and he was a good defensive third baseman.

The second year things began to go south. Pitchers figured out his batting weaknesses and began to get him out more easily. His fielding also took a downturn, and despite his young age 24, whispers went around that he was a bust, that he would never be a big time player. After struggling more and more and with his frustration level at an all time high, the Padres released him. Next he wound up playing for the really struggling team the Tampa Bay Rays. His problems continued there and it wasn't long before he was back in the minors and then released altogether. His last year of playing professional baseball was 2006.

Kevin Towers, the Padres former General Manager began the 2011 baseball season as the new General Manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He did something unheard of for the most part in professional sports; he contacted Sean and asked him if he thought he could still play baseball after 4 years. You must understand 4 years away from professional sports is considered an eternity. Sean said he would like to give it a try and so the Diamondbacks signed him to a minor league contract.

Last week,The Arizona Diamondbacks called Sean Burroughs up to their major league club. This is a story that is nothing short of miraculous. I always thought the Padres had ruined him by putting too much pressure on him at such a young age. I also believe it was partially because of that photo of Sean almost single handedly winning the Little League championship game. After all, he not only was the winning pitcher but he hit a homerun in that game and then agin his dad was a feared batter and respected player. The Padres must have thought he couldn't miss. They did him no favors! When Sean's baseball game started to unravel, years ago, he also began drinking more and more. By his own admission, the drinking contributed to his rapid descent out of baseball. Here he was at age 27: a washout, a bust with a drinking problem and possibly a future tragedy in the works. Or so everyone thought.

Sean is now alcohol free, playing once again in the majors, a resurrected man. Whether or not this unusual (for professional sports) retry works out, Sean Burroughs is living proof we can all resurrect ourselves. Life will give us a second chance if we first give ourselves a fighting chance.


I never liked Kevin Towers as the General Manager of the Padres, and he was the General Manager that brought him up. Whether or not Kevin feels he owed Sean a second chance I don't know, BUT I have gained a lot more respect for Kevin Towers. a I will root for Sean. Rocky Balboa kept getting up after being knocked down (the theme of the movie Rocky) and now in real life so has Sean Burroughs. This pumps me up and I hope you too.

The Second Year

Well my friends, I recently completed my first year with The Bailey Post. I posted 46 items and my friend Mike posted 4-5. You can read any you missed by going to the bottom of the blog page and clicking on archive or back blogs. They are listed by dates. I have made a change to the blog site. I am no longer at Gatzsez.com I can be found at Baileypost.com or Thebaileypost.com

Of course many of you are on the automatic mailing list in which case you are reading this now.

This next year I would like some of you to consider, please, submitting a piece for this blog site. All you have to do is write it up in word and e-mail it to me as an attachment. I will make sure it's formatted (technical) for the blog and post. This is an opinion blog, none of us are necessairly professing we are experts but I know each you and you are so smart and are good writers and you have things to say. There isn't just one topic, you can write on whatever interests you.

I don't care if you are right of center, left of center or in the center. It can be serious, funny or seriously funny. You can do reviews of movies, plays, or your weekly strip poker parties. The point is, it's an exchange of ideas and while ideas can sometimes rile people up what is the alternative? No one talks, no one listens and we all hold onto things. That's the recipe for seeing a therapist. Trust me I know, I been to one. So please consider adding even just one piece this next year, okay?

Finally, I'm not looking to change the format (color scheme and layout) of the blog much because it's readable now. I have 12 people on this mailing list. If you know of anyone you think would like to be on the mailing list, get their okay and send me their e-mail address. I am not actively seeking people but if you have someone that would like to join, great.

Some of you have said you can't fill in the comment section. That is because you have to have a google account. It's free and easy, just go to google.com and register. You can always send a comment to me (as many have) by e-mail. I like the comments and read everyone.

Soon, my first posting for Year #2. Remember if you get lost, I'm at Baileypost.com or Thebaileypost.com

"New Products"

Seems like we have so many choices when it comes to just about everything. How many types of gum are there? How many different types of cell phones? Endless array of choices for clothes, t.v.'s, restaurants, and so forth. However, where are the really different things? I mean how about some fun new products. I have a few to consider:

1. Pacifist toothpaste: It doesn't kill germs it tries to get them to not be bad.
2. Agoraphobia Shampoo: It's afraid to leave your hair in the rinse.
3. Existential soup: soup that serves no purpose whatsoever
4. Bhuddist Pie: Each piece strives to be better than the last piece
5. Socialism Gum: Costs 1.00 a pack but the tax is 3.00 per pack
6. Freudian Carrots:Best served with Freudian doughnuts, and doughnut holes
7. Christian mouthwash: Harmful if swallowed
8. Jim Crow ice cream: Not for everyone
9. Bin Laden eye glasses: Serve a dual pupose as: target
10. Darwinian skin cream: works well for some not at all for others
11. Tea Party Tea: Very bitter but the bags can be used for other purposes
12. Al Quaeda Antibiotics: The fewer there are left, the better you feel

Well, it's just an idea.

"Mothers"

My mother died in 1993. She smoked herself to death. Many times I asked her to stop smoking but often she told me with total conviction that stopping smoking would kill her faster than continuing to smoke. She told me this just one day after one of the lobes of her lungs was cut out and she was facing radiation treatment. I knew right then what true addiction was all about. I was not angry with her when she died. She made her choice and few survive cancer a second time. Still and all, I knew I would miss her and I have missed her, often, especially at the holidays.

Here is why mother's are special. They have the hardest work to do, bearing children, managing a household, working in many cases, and then still be a wife, daughter, sister, friend, co worker and relative. I know, I know... this is the 21st Century and the man contributes to the care of children and the household BUT still who can argue that it is mom in most cases the life line of a child. They have life created inside them, share life with the baby and go through hell bring the baby into the world. In most cases they willingly take this on and then the hard job of raising the child to boot.

Oh by the way moms also have to still be wives, and that means in some cases taking care of the older child in the household (husband). I don't know why more men don't step up to the plate and roll up their sleeves and share the load. Some do and more do now than ever but often the viewpoint is the kids are the woman's purview. Plus, women in general, must have the courage to love in the face of not getting much love back. Sherwood Anderson the American author said in his classic book, Winesburg, Ohio that women have a special quality that men do not have; the courage to love when they do not get love in return. He says men would be lost if they didn't have the love of a woman. That love can be romance or a mother's love for their kids.

So men, forget the goofy, flowery mother's day card. It's no where near enough. You march right into the room and tell your wife or your mother or both this, "With out your love I wouldn't be half the man I am today, and all the sacrifices you have made, and the patience you have shown me is not only noticed by me, appreciated by me but without it my life wouldn't be as happy". That is what I would tell my mother, and my wife, if I had the chance.

You younger men, tell your wives during pregnancy and after delivery that she is still the vision she was when you met her and you wouldn't want to take any other woman to the dance but her.....ever...still.
Happy mother day to all you courageous women out there.

"Be Careful"

Of course the news of the death of Bin Laden surprised me. Ten years after 9/11 and after George Bush stated in 2004 that Bin Laden was no longer a priority (Iraq was); I just assumed getting him was not going to happen unless he stupidly stumbled into our hands somewhere. However something else surprised me more than the report of Bin Laden's death.

All the cheering outside the White House, Times Square, (locally)Coronado, and other locations in America really surprised me. The cheering, flag waving, chanting and burning pictures of Bin Laden seemed too over the top for me. I get the significance of pay back and getting him off the planet but we should be more careful with the celebrations. Why? It's not like the other terrorists in the Taliban and Al Quaeda are going to let this pass. They will likely feel the need to do something dramatic in his name. The more we cheer, the more they could be determined to make a big statement. It's one thing to take him out (even terroists understand the miltary concept of that) but it's another thing to rub it in. I don't care about their feelings, I care about their reactions.

Plus, one other thing: I always see other (less sophisticated) countries doing the public spectacle thing after they've killed people. Aren't they the ones burning effigys, stamping on airplane debris, chanting death to america. Let's don't be like them. Let's just show a steely resolve that if you come after us, especially on our soil, you will go down sooner or (if need be) later.