Sunday, May 07, 2006

How To Waste 24 Minutes of Your Life Without Really Trying

Thanks to the efforts of the EdTech Office at The University of Airplanes and Micheal The Reader (yay!), you may now download the Stetson reading.

I will ask you to keep in mind as you watch the first two minutes of this video that I teach public speaking. Do a shot for every "um" and see if that doesn't fry your kidneys.

This is the Whitman's Sampler Version of "The Waltz." I read maybe a third of the piece here.

and, um at: mb@blondechampagne.com

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oooh, lovely lyrical piece and very pretty dress! :)

Anonymous said...

That was so totally amazing. I've always been impressed by your writing, but that was so personal and so moving.
Plus, to see you reference the rack with your own voice, well! What a bonus!

Anonymous said...

You, um, piqued my curiosity so I, um, just had to, um, count. Eighteen in the first, um, 2 minutes - yowza!

Anonymous said...

I know, I know. Kill me. Kill me RIGHT NOW. I had not done a reading since grad school and there was a weird solar system of planets colliding in the audience, so I was really nervous. I wish I could do the whole thing over.

Anonymous said...

Really? since grad school? You never made a reading at THE WOMB?

Since my boss is a cheap bastard and we have a really crappy internet connection at the office, I will have no choice but to wait until I get home to watch the video :(

Anonymous said...

Why did you make sound like it would be so terrible?

The reading was fantastic! It was so personal and honest. I'm excited to read the whole thing (after I get out of this money-sucker called college for the summer and actually make a little money...)!

Anonymous said...

I did a few readings at The Womb, but, alas, that was before grad school.

Anonymous said...

Aw, thanks, stacey. I just wasn't happy with the introduction-- too many "um"s for a communications teacher for my tastes :) But you made me feel better.

Anonymous said...

I love you MB. I'm not a real fan of horse racing (no reason, just never got into it), but you make it so exciting. Loved reading that essay and loved hearing you read it on the clip.

As for your essay 'The Waltz', thank you! It's so wonderful to hear another person who has the same irrational fears. And Marc Summers has OCD? Who knew! I vote you to be the OCD spokes person. I can't wait to read the whole version when it gets published.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for taking the time to watch mary. I love me too.

Anonymous said...

You should talked some more to that EdTech office... They may have been able to save you a lot of pain and put the whole video onto a streaming server for the entire world to enjoy as well as make a DVD.

Dantelope said...

I just watched the whole thing. You were absolutely amazing, MB. Your character, your poise, the slightly nervous overtones blended with the razor sharp wit and powerful imagery are incredibly attractive and a joy to watch.

Although I am certain you said "um" and did things for which you would scratch deep red ink to your student gradebook, I saw and heard none of it. I was transfixed, in a world completely drawn by your vocal pen.

I have already ready the essay on Pat Dane here, and yet to hear you read it and to see you deliver it, it was a completely new experience, saddled with colors and shapes and movements not brought out in your writings -- things seen only through your weak-while-strong, innocent-but-worldly way of bringing it to life.

It is true that in most of my future comments and posts to this board I will be the same old Dantelope -- sharp-tongued, rude if it's funny, thoughtful, and hopefully somewhat intelligent -- I write this now humbled, stupefied, and -- after I write this last word -- speechless.

Josh The Pilot said...

How do y'all like my video shooting skills? I worked really hard on the angle transitions, if you couldn't tell. :)

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much, dantelope. Such lovely words.

I think JTP wants some videography side work....

Anonymous said...

Ok i finally was able to download the video, saw it and I think it was great! I have to admit that it was kind of difficult for me to follow what you were saying in The Watlz essay, but that's my fault (remember guys, english is not my native language)and I know it was supposed to be fast-paced.

But I really liked it: you looked and sounded great. Congratulations, and thanks to Michael the long-time reader, and to Josh for recording the whole thing with his amazing drunken-style panning, BUT if you think Josh that we are going to forget you promised to include a director's commentary WELL THINK AGAIN MY MAN :-)

PS: What did that sign in front of the podium say? I'm curious.

Anonymous said...

It said "Just Say No To Dark Lords" with a picture of Darth Vader. Because that's what ALL the best New York literary gathering places have.

And actually, the garbeledness was MY fault. I went too fast and was too far away from the mike for a place with such crappy accoustics.

Anonymous said...

Nice vocal quality - do an audio blog!

I'm with Red Pill Junkie, I'll wait for the director's cut on DVD ;-)

Glad you explained the sign on the dais. I thought it looked like a skunk, as in "No Stinkers Allowed".

Jenib said...

The "ums" are not your fault. The presenter before you infected the podium with her own volley of "ums" and they attached themselves to you without your knowledge. It was a secret plot to undermine your speech class cred.

Yeah, that's it. It was all HER fault.

I believe I enjoyed listening to this more than I enjoyed reading it. The voice made it even more personal and visual. Thanks for sharing.

By the way, you look fabulous. The style of dress you are wearing is very flattering.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, jenib. I love doing readings and hearing other peoples' work-- wish you guys could have been there! The dress' rackage area is actually safety-pinned, because there were childen in the audinece. I'm even happier to hear you say you like it since I got it a few years ago, before I gained my EPCOT weight... glad to hear you think I can still pull it off :)

Anonymous said...

dantelope: Your character, your poise, the slightly nervous overtones blended with the razor sharp wit and powerful imagery are incredibly attractive and a joy to watch.

Seconded. Thirded. Twelfthed. And then, when you had concluded, you jumped and giggled. How you manage to be both studious and yet as effervescent as a freshly-uncorked bottle of blonde champagne is one of the many reasons why you and your writing have fascinated me for many years.

Well, that, and the rack, and yowza, what a great dress. :)

Anonymous said...

I was finally able to watch it this morning.

It was a joy to "be there" for the reading. You really are a dynamic presenter.

Anonymous said...

Awwwww... warm fuzzies... many thanks, you two. I think I'm going to print these for days when there's nothing in my life but hurricanes.

Josh The Pilot said...

Director's commentary is in the works, I promise!

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