Storyteller
I wanted to illustrate a little about myself, what I do and where I want to go from here. I started off with a clip from an interview with my grandmother I did on a rickety tape recorder about five years ago. I consider it my first attempt at journalism, before I knew it was my calling.
Elizabeth,
I dug your entry so very much. You've got that ineffable hosty thang down just perfectly. There's a thoroughness and professionalism in your reporting, an unhurried pace, a relaxed smoothness in your voice, yes...but it's more than that; it's the magical luster that appears when someone is doing what they love, when they're inspired, when they want to share and not just impress. While I'm so very grateful for your encouraging comments on my entry, it is not out of glib reciprocity, but rather in deepest sincerity that I say your piece is one of my favorites. Go get 'em, tiger.
So you guys have made me feel like a rock star! These comments mean so much to me, and I just want to thank everyone who took the time to tell me what you thought of this piece. I am just really grateful to you, and buzzing with anticipation. I feel full, and happy, like I just fell in love. Or maybe more precicely: I feel like I just stepped off the Gravitron (a childhood favorite carnival ride). I've been stuck to the PRTQ Web site with baffling force for a long ride, and now I'm a bit dizzy, waiting for my slow descent back to earth.
I am buzzed, and happy, thanks to all of you!
ez
for the nicest person in this big, big room!
Jim Barfuss
http://www.publicradioquest.com/user/2824
“I should have started voting sooner."
Jim, I think I have some competition in the nice category...
You are so sweet! You just made my night.
ez
So, you "were" crushing. What'd I do? Heh. Yeah, I'm falling in love, over and over again, as I listen and read, and smile. You are so sweet! Gosh. Don't know what to say here, but thanks.
ez
This is really quite good; very engaging.
Thanks for a job well done and good luck.
Schup57
I really enjoyed listening to your piece. Your grandmother sounded like a very special lady, and the story you're working on sounds fascinating. You've got a very friendly, easy going voice. Good luck!
Laura Hugg in Chicago
I agree that NPR could use some more youthful reporting, though I am not so young anymore. I think you'd be a great host. And thanks for your nice comment.
Elizabeth, thought this was a really strong entry. I had thought about doing a story on my own grandmother for my entry, but she's really not quite the same since she had her stroke several years ago. Good for you for having the foresight to have recorded your grandmother, good for you for having the open mind to care about transgender people, and also, good for you for having such a fresh, cool voice. NPR could use some "younging up," and I think you'd do well with your own show. By the way, I also dearly love "This American Life." I think it's the finest program in any media, not just radio. Best of luck to you. Whether you win this contest or not, I have a feeling you'll be very successful.
thanks for your comments about Freaks, i really think you have great talent!!!
That was riveting. Very good job.
Aspiring to turn all of America into geeks, one person at a time. Click here to hear how.
ABSOLUTELY GREAT!
Your voice is so likeable and you sound confident and at ease with your audience. I think you'd make a great NPR storyteller. Five stars.
ADQ
Please and Thank You for your Vote:
http://www.publicradioquest.com/audio/user/6914
Keep on rockin' in the free world.
Fascinating entry! Thanks for your very human approach and of your support of others involved in the quest. You have a great voice that's easy on the ear and that inspires others to share their stories with you. You sound like you'd be very easy to talk to and like you'd have something interesting to say in return. Best of luck!
Your style is natural and likeable. I think you'll make it to round two for sure. Jade
Thank you so much re: YOUR RIDIC NICE COMMENT about my entry...honestly, i feel the same way about yours.
wonderful luck!
EZ,
I voted on yours ages ago and even came back to listen again a few times. But I waited to comment until now. Why? I needed to think about what I wanted to say. Since then I've been impressed with your presence on this site. Thanks for being such a positive, sharing person.
It was very brave of you to make this recording when you didn't even know what you'd be doing with it or that you would end up interviewing people as a career. It gave me chills when you said that. What a brilliant way to show something about who you are.
Your idea for a program is spot on. It's actually the same one I want to do. Maybe that's why I was shy to leave a message. There are many other talented producers and reporters looking for this kind of show, waiting to share the stories they've collected. Who knows, maybe we'll all get together after this is over and do it ourselves. (Did I just coin a new acronym? DIO!) If you don't make it all the way first, that is.
Thanks for making public radio a part of your storytelling.
Theresa
...do you really need to hear it from one more? Probably not. But do you want to? Of course.
I liked your piece a lot. I liked your voice a lot. I wanted to hear more. I wanted to hear more of you though because I think you probably have a lot of great stories to tell and can tell them in an interesting charming way. But I know that talking about yourself is not what you're looking to do. Because you don't seem like an egomaniac. And that's just one of many reasons why I liked you. I could list more but I'm lazy. I'll admit it. So I'll be hush hush even though i'm not downtown right now....Go get 'em, ez e.
Yeah, you're right. I definitely still want to hear it. Thanks for listening and taking the time to leave a comment. I love when people do that. When this thing is over, I think I'm going to ask my co-workers to leave me several encouraging e-mails every day. Maybe I can get my mom to do it. It's been great. I don't want it to stop. And, yes, I wish I had more "me" in there, too. While that isn't really what I'd go for in a show, I've heard a lot of great entries that do a better job of self-promoting. So many things I'd do differently ... Oh well. I'm pretty happy with the way it is. Glad you liked it.
ez
U had me with your Gramma on the train talking about dynamite then reeled me in with a transgendered youth and your idea for a show so seamlessly. Am I that easy or are you that good? :) Nice stuff.
Thanks for your compliment. I appreciate it coming from a lady like yourself. Your piece is awesome and I love it. You have a great idea for a show and people would have a great interest in it. Good luck.
Rebecca Wirtel
Whatever you vividly imagine, earnestly desire and enthusiastically act upon must inevitably come to pass.
I loved your ideas, and this is the best use of interview samples that I've heard. They tell their own story in a few seconds, and they are well integrated into your piece. It all reflects your hostiness! Sorry about your grandma - she sounds like a fascinating person.
I believe in what you talk about here - we all do have stories and you left me wanting to hear more. Strong, confident and easy to listen to voice also. I think it is one of the strongest I've heard. Good luck!
Sure, some lives have (maybe, although not necessarily) more fascinating overall arcs to them, but that's more what Terry Gross focuses on: famous people. Everyone has at least one really interesting chapter, and of course everyone's story is equally valuable. And like you said, these everyday stories can offer something to us all. Certainly not everyone has the desire imbedded in them to seek them out, which is your unique offering. Great work here. I'd listen!
Oh, and so they just blew his house up?? Wow, and I thought cities obsessed with giving parking tickets were annoying! ;)
Ha! Yeah, they just blew it up. He only had time to grab a couple of things. He didn't think to grab the family photos, letters, clothes, or other things one would want or need after losing everything in a catastrophic earthquake. He grabbed a wheelbarrow to transport the ice cream maker and the silver. That is all. I wanted to put that in soooo badly. But alas, we were only given two minutes and my grandmother had many, many stories to tell. Like, for instance, how her great-grandmother walked across the Panama canal pregnant and gave birth two weeks after arriving in San Francisco. She is buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in Alaska after following her husband on a failed quest for gold. The women in my family ... strong stock, I tell you.
Anyway, thank you so very much for your kind comments!
-elizabeth
I imagine the silver has been spent by now, but does somone in your family still use the ice cream maker?? I bet you wanted to put that in! Great stuff. This two minute exercise really forced us to pare things down (kind of painful, actually).
Your great grandmother sounds like a legend.
Steve
Yeah, she was a legend (and actually a great-great grandmother ... if I have that right). But so many people are legends, and don't know it, as you mentioned before.
I wish we still had the ice cream maker. But no, not that I know of. The wheel barrow ... that too is lost to time.
I used to want to be an art major. I'm only ok at visual arts in general, but actually a pretty decent potter/3d artist. One of my favorite ceramics teachers had us do 2 minute teapots. We could have a sketch before-hand of what we wanted to do. But we had to create the entire, functional teapot in exactly two minutes. Then, we'd critique what we had. As with this contest, it was a great exercise in creativity. There is a skill in boiling down an idea to its most fundamental essence. A lot of detail, grace and beauty is lost along the way. But when you make it work: Wow! So, I am so flattered that you liked my mishapen lump of clay, here. There are many things I'd like to do to make it more beautiful, but I tried to make what I had work. Thanks for taking notice.
ez
I think this is a great way to see this exerise, Elizabeth. What I ended up trimming from my entry was more of the music, and it did make it tighter, although "tighter" is not something that necessarily works well with classical music, since it's typically pretty expansive. Love that Prelude in B-flat and wanted to play as much of it as possible. :)
I read an article the other day that reminded me of you and your entry. I'll see if I can get a hold of it and email it to you. It was an article about four kids--two that are friends of mine--who basically just played in the mud all day. Somehow, in this small town of Rolla, Missouri, word got out and a brilliant reporter made her way to the scene and wrote it up, interviewing the kids about how much trouble they'd probably be in and everything. It was so well written. Deep even.
It seems like what you'd be doing is kind of like This American Life, only more intimate, which I would prefer. There is a definite place for you on public radio. Your lump of clay didn't seem mishapen to me.
Steve
Great voice
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