Chicago, the Wild Wild West, and in the meantime

Well, it's gearing up time. In three days, I make a trip to oil country - western North Dakota - which, I've been sternly reminded by many a concerned friend, is STILL THE WILD WILD WEST.  I know.
And it makes me excited.

But first, a detour through Chicago for the Third Coast International Audio Festival, where radio geeks run wild with headphones around their necks, where story lovers congregate to let each other in on their favorite storytelling secrets, and where, for three straight days, the largest (and dare I say coolest) gathering of radio producers will mingle, exchange advice, and generally kick ass.  Chicago!

I think the first time I became aware of Chicago (since it wasn't on my 1st grade state capitals quiz) was in middle school when we read the poems of Carl Sandburg. Trains. Steel. Blues. Lights in the dark and railroad tracks.  I associate these things with first learning that funny word that I've read since is actually a derivative of the Great Lakes Indian word for onion.

But back to today. I'm on track to air my first radio story for WUTC (Chattanooga public radio station) this week, a piece about the Muslim community. Sadly, I won't be able to hear it since I'll be on my way to Chicago, but hey, I'll be on my way to Chicago! And to listen to radio!

In other news, I've been working on an audio story about the local restaurant, Zarzour's, which is, as someone put it "Chattanooga's version of Cheers." And I was lucky enough to share some thoughts and ideas with Pradip Malde's Lens and Landscape class a couple weeks ago about multimedia storytelling, which turned out to be a great, even inspiring experience. And before that, I was invited to speak to Cindy Potter's 6th grade class to talk about clouds around the world and even got to sing them a song.  Cindy (Mrs. Potter) has since shared with me that one of her students was so inspired, she has started making time lapses of clouds in her favorite places. 6th graders! What cool people.

So friends, there will be more, soon. I just acquired a new lens and I've been photographing all sorts of boring unimportant things trying to get used to the feel of this new appendage. So keep reading! I'll send you word from the land of Carl Sandburg, trains, the WILD WILD WEST. Thanks for reading.