moonbridgebooks

So did you celebrate National Day of Listening last Friday? Here’s how my day went: The 97-year-old woman I wanted to interview has not been feeling well these days, and I am afraid she may leave this world taking untold stories with her; instead I used my new Olympus DS-40 digital voice recorder to interview my 90-plus-year-old neighbors about their early lives. After initial uneasiness over the presence of the little recorder, they settled into good conversation, adding to and correcting each others’ memories as older married couples are prone to do. They were a wealth of information about the old town we live in, taking me back to simpler days of few cars, lots of walking and plenty of green space between houses. They were less forthcoming about their personal experiences, not that they were shy but rather they seemed to have forgotten! What games did they play as children, were there any moments that stood out in their memories, what did they remember about their lives during the Depression…

Perhaps it would help to prepare for an interview by giving out questions ahead of time and to make them very specific. That may seem like homework, but it allows for time to remember. I am suspecting that my mother may be unusual in that her incredible storehouse of childhood memories bubbles easily to the surface. For the rest of us it really takes some introspective thinking to pull out the details. I have concluded that storytelling and lifewriting are good exercises for the brain, and that keeping a journal starting at a young age is a good idea.

By the way, that DS-40 is easy to work, has an easy to read screen (for my older eyes) and produced an outstandingly clear recording, but since I let it run for 2 hours without stopping, the file was too big to fit onto a CD. I downloaded the wmv file to my laptop, transferred to iTunes which converted it to mp3, but it was huge and there seems to be no way to now cut the file in pieces. Fortunately the recorder can play back at slow speed so I hope to easily transcribe the recording with my nimble typing fingers. Live and learn.

Linda Austin
“Cherry Blossoms in Twilight”
http://www.moonbridgebooks.com

NPR’s StoryCorps is sponsoring the first annual National Day of Listening on November 28. Thanksgiving is a time of gathering together, and while we are gathered, what better way to pass the time vegetating after good food than to tell our stories. Instead of cruising parking lots and fighting the Black Friday crowds, relax by a warm fireplace and spend some quality time with the people you love. While you’re at it, think about recording the conversation, either with a good digital voice recorder, like Olympus DS-30 or DS-40, using certain mp3 players or iPODS that can record, or, preferably, by videocamera. The more people involved in the gathering, the less the recorder or camera will be noticed. The StoryCorp website has a great list of questions you can ask, such as:

What is your earliest memory?
What was the happiest moment in your life?
What are you proudest of in your life?
Do you have any regrets?
What were your parents like?
Did your parents tell you any stories?
Did you ever get into trouble?

My favorite question is for our grandparents: What was my Mom/Dad like when he/she was growing up? Let’s get the real scoop about our parents! Load your audio/video file onto the computer and burn it to CDs to share with everyone – get the kids to do it if you don’t know how.

I plan to sit down with my mother’s 97-year-old African-American neighbor sometime during the holiday weekend. What history she must hold! StoryCorps asks us to honor those we care about by asking them about their lives and listening, really listening, to their stories. I hope you’re in the listening mood this weekend. Happy Thanksgiving!

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Linda Austin
“Cherry Blossoms in Twilight”
http://www.moonbridgebooks.com