Donna’s Diary - August 2011

Fringe Festivals, sock puppets, and stories oh my! Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Donna’s latest online diary entry (below) has them all – and more. Donna’s diary is always a great read and offers a nice perspective on how engaged she is in her community.

To see all of Donna’s diary entries, click here.

Last Saturday I was a nervous mess as I prepared to read a story at the Boulder Fringe Festival at Naropa University. There were about a dozen of us from CORE/Labor Source classes doing readings, dancing, and singing, and to be honest, when it came time for me to do my reading I had the crud scared out of me. I mustered up some enthusiasm and stuck with it and got through it OK. I stumbled through a couple words but other than that it went smooth.

As for the audience, it seemed like everybody and their brother was there. To say the least, the room was packed! There was not enough room for everyone to sit so there were people who had to stand to watch the performance.

I read a story I wrote about me and some friends having a party. It was a make believe story. I like those because you can put anything in it that you want. I had some stuffed animals in the story, and they could talk but I did the talking for them. Kind of like a sock puppet without the sock.

I actually do have some experience with sock puppets. When I was in the 4th grade, we did a sock puppet show at Loma Linda Elementary School in Longmont. We made the puppets in class and had them square dancing with each other during the show.

So, back to the Fringe Festival. When I was done with my reading I got to watch and listen to my housemate Mandy read her story. By then I was relaxed and got to enjoy listening to Mandy, and she did a great job.

In between readings, me and Gerald and about 10 other people sang and played music. All in all it was a fun day and I hope we get to go back next year.