Essay Fiesta is run by Keith Ecker and Alyson Lyon. I was first introduced to the wonderful world/community of Book Cellar literati by my friend and Here’s the Story comrade Janna Sobel. It is on my mind today because I, along with about a dozen other fans, had gone out to see her perform a story about a journey to New York to see an old friend. . . .
The above clip was not from the last show I attended, rather it was from the first. I feel lucky that it exists online so that I can share it now, because it stuck with me. I’m a big believer in retelling other people’s stories, and retweeting, reupping, relinking all count for me. I recall sneaking through the stacks of books and hearing him shout, “Weeeee!” And thinking, “I don’t want to have self control.” I couldn’t see him, I could only hear his “Weeeee!” and it brought me immediately by way of uncontrolled imagination-retrieval to the seat of my bike: racing no one in particular down a hill, the thought of Lake Shore Drive, the smile of passers by, the whip-zig-zag of dodging through traffic with headphones on, and looking back only to see if my friends are keeping up.
If a story sparks a personal memory — one I can’t help but see vividly, whether through pure subject, artful telling, or a surprise shout of “Weeeee!” while I wander absently through rows of colored spines — I like it.
Maybe I’m too easy, too vain, too interested in my own thoughts or maybe that’s an okay thing to like, or or or — maybe that’s just me?
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[…] Lyon is co-producer of the monthly reading series Essay Fiesta at the Book Cellar — She is also a founding member of The Chicago Story Collective and can be […]
[…] there, in fact, of all the shows in Chicago, be it Jen Bosworth‘s Stories at the Store, or Alyson Lyon‘s Essay Fiesta, or any number of shows between, I may be the least. But I do a lot of other […]