PROFILE- "who is this guy?"

Well, then, there now fellow cyber travelers, welcome to my first posting.  Hope you find it and then find it an enjoyable to read.  I reckon that first things being, well, first, I ought to introduce myself and tell you a little about myself.  This may prove to be the most difficult part, as I do not like talking about myself. I prefer telling fictional stories about others. 


I am a writer/spoken word artist. I prefer that moniker to "storyteller" as that particular distinction carries with it a lot of misconceptions.  You tell folks you're a storyteller and the first thing that comes to mind is someone reading fairy tales to a circle of kids in the school library.  There is a lot more to it than that limited image.  But then if you follow my storytelling podcast (olstoryteller.com) or that of other spoken word artists, you know and appreciate that. However, reckon here,  I'll use the moniker storyteller for convenience purposes. 


As for the particulars: I've been a professional storyteller since 1997. I've told stories in a number of diverse venues, from classroom to boardroom, festivals to senior homes and art festivals. Some of my clients include: Mental Health Corporation of Denver, KRFC radio, The Rocky Mountain Storyteller’s Conference, and the Taos Storytelling Circle. And so forth and so on. I have developed a program for people with developmental disabilities; one hour, one story. 


Prior to going into storytelling full time I fulfilled a portion of my responsibility to humankind by working in the filed of  Human Services.  My clients were people with brain injuries and/or developmental disabilities.  Areas of expertise included: working with duel diagnoses—deaf and developmentally delayed; deaf-blind; and the non –verbal. 


While the informed thinking is that a storyteller must find his/her niche, I can't help myself.  My website will tell you that I have three storytelling personas; The American Irish Seanachi, The Ol'Storyteller and Everyman (the narrator) for stories from "Oscar & Flo's Chit-Chat-Cafe." And as much as I like telling western stories, tall tales and the like, and love pullin' on the brogue for my tales from Ireland, I also like doing the occasional fairy or folk tale.  And I love dearly the improvisational story. Give me a topic and I will tell you a tale.This being my blog baptism, I am going to wrap things up by saying that this is what you can expect from my blog.

I'll be letting you know where I am performing and what ... maybe.  Oft times I don't know until I see the audience and get the vibe as to exactly which story I'll pull out.  I will also be informing you of new postings on Facebook, YouTube and on my podcast. I might ask for feed back.  And I might even throw in a story now and again.  Don't know yet.  If the interest is there we can have story discussions.  In short, you can expect a grab-bag of, well,  bits and pieces from ... The Ol' Storyteller. 

So,  until next time, we'll see you on down the road-- may it rise up to meet you-- but for now ... go out and kiss someone.

Peace and Grace, Den