::kimweitkamp::

Time, Is On My Side...Yes It Is

kim@kimweitkamp.com (kim weitkamp) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:10:00 +0000

I guess it was about 5 years ago that I bought my first tube of anti-wrinkle, hope a miracle takes place, cream. It was about 3 years ago I became a grandmother. That term still makes me slightly queezy even though I love my grandkids. And it was sometime last year that my doctor started using words like, high blood pressure, calcium intake, and regular visits.

There are two things that are unstoppable. A woman at a TJ Maxx one day sale and time.

Time. Not enough of it. Precious. Tick tock.Winding down. Sands in the hourglass.
Unlike Mick Jager, I do not feel like time is on my side.
Actually, after seeing him on TV recently I think even Mick would rethink those lyrics. But I digress.

As I type this I notice defined wrinkles on my hands where at one time, smooth young skin stretched out to handle my daily tasks. The wrinkles remind me that my time is running out. What do I have left? 25 years? 30? 45? No idea. But it does make me aware of the fact that I had better get a move on. What dreams have I not yet given life to? Who have I failed to forgive? What stories have I not shared? What places have I not seen? What words have I not yet whispered?

Although growing older does have it's snags, I wouldn't trade it to regain my youth. It used to be that I greeted the day with a distant nod, no proper courtesy...I was cocky and invincible.
Now, as I rise with each sun, there is a reverence towards the blessing of having another 24 hours. I used to think I knew everything. Now, there is a hard, fought for wisdom that is rooted in the soil of clueless. At one time I ran amuck, now I am more careful where I place my feet, the footprints I leave holding great value. I hug harder, listen closer, laugh louder, talk less, think carefully, and care deeper. So I guess, in some way...time has been on my side. It has been a great teacher.

As I travel the country sharing The Wrinkles Project, I am in awe of the beauty, wisdom, humor, and history that I am honored to see in each of the seniors I meet. With paper thin hands and raspy voices they share with me things that only time can teach.

www.thewrinklesproject.com

Work

kim@kimweitkamp.com (kim weitkamp) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:43:00 +0000

I have a lot of fun doing what I do.

I love doing what I do.

But it comes with a price. I work really hard. I mean 24/7. Emails, booking, contracts, contacts, networking, creating, creating, creating, practice, travel, tell, tell, tell.

Sometimes at 3am my husband will walk into my office and ask when I am coming to bed...but the mojo is flowing and I cannot stop.

My daughter told me that it is like having divorced parents, she only sees me 2 days a week. (Don't feel to bad about this, she is 20 for goodness sakes.)

My friend told me she might be moving. I said that it would be sad if she moved. She said that it shouldnt matter...we never see each other anymore.

My dogs are shifting their loyalty to my husband. Now this smarts.

My gardens are not what they used to be.

But I wouldn't change a thing.

I had a woman come up to me with tears in her eyes and tell me that she was so touched by my story that she is going to start visiting her mother more. Her mom is in a nursing home.

A little girl named Jeannie kept her head down and shuffled her feet as she told me that she was a tomboy too. And I told her that was okay. And she smiled up at me.

A roomful of people laughed and then cried as I told them how I danced with my mother.

These three things happened in one day. One day of many.

So, sleep can wait. My daughter will build her own life. My friend will always be my friend. And the dogs, well...they keep my husband company.

I cannot stop. I love what I do.
Actually, it is not about what I do....it is more about who I am.
I am a storyteller.

Dwelling On the Past

kim@kimweitkamp.com (kim weitkamp) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 03:12:00 +0000

Be forward focused, keep your eye on the prize, reach for the goal, move forward, look to the future. All wonderful little zips of encouragement that help us build momentum so we can jump the hurdles that are to come.

Face forward, don't look back, do not dwell on the past!

Can't. I make my living by dwelling on the past. Dwelling on the past normally has a negative connontation to it, but in my world dwelling on the past is a delight. It is where I pull most of my material from. Memories dangle like ripe fruit in the recesses of my mind waiting to be plucked and squeezed.

The coming times are covered in a thick-mantled mist overcast with doubts and uncertainty. But the green paths of the past, the cool meadows of memory is all my own. Nothing is uncertain. On quiet hills the past has bloomed and I can choose to stop and smell the good and tread over the bad.

I think I will keep dwelling in the past. I have found many treasures there.

kim@kimweitkamp.com (kim weitkamp) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:01:00 +0000

Wow. It has been a long, long time since I sat down to drip drop a blog into cyberspace.

I don't think anyone reads them. So why write? Because it feels good to hear yourself type.

My website is being redesigned. I have to decide whether or not to put a blog on it.

I got an invitation the other day to be a fan of myself.

I just spent three hours answering emails that were backed up into the alley.

My IPhone never leaves the palm of my hand. I hold on to it tighter than I did my kids hands when we crossed traffic.

I eat Twinkies because I feel guilty for not accepting green plants and pieces of rice on Facebook.

And I want to know why I am tired and stressed. Ahhh, technology.

Thank goodness I get to hop in my car on an almost daily basis, put the windows down, turn the music up and drive for hours. I love it. Wanderlust runs in my family. My grandfather was a huckster. My dad sold RV's on the road. And I am a traveling storyteller. The DNA of our family is based in asphalt and dirt, twisting up into lines sprawled across a wrinkled map.

I'd have it no other way. My car is like a respite. An escape. A humming spa of tire and tread, magnified heat through the window glass, Etta James in the passenger seat and wide open spaces filled with new ideas, dreams, and memories.

I love to go.

The Mothership

kim@kimweitkamp.com (kim weitkamp) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:48:00 +0000

I have just returned from the mothership.

Jonesborough.

It is the hot spot, the portal, the magnet for storytellers, storylovers, and people who just want to investigate the spoken word.

It was wonderful.

I had the priveldge of telling on the Exchange Stage. A lovely crowd of 1500 or so folks, on the edge of their seats hungry for a good tale. What a great audience.

All of my friends were there to support me and cheer me on. I think that one of my favorite things about going to the National Festival each year, is seeing all of my friends and co-workers from around the country. If you can call this work.

My new CD is out, "Freckles, Fibs, & Family." I am pretty proud of it.

Drop me an email and let me know whats going on in your neck of the woods.

Kim

I have a secret...

kim@kimweitkamp.com (kim weitkamp) — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:09:00 +0000

I have a secret. A confession of sorts, not the type that will make you lose face or end in repentence. Just a little secret between me, mother nature...and now you.

When I travel to a new place, which is frequently, I like to settle in and then wait for the moment when the evening tucks it's grey blanket over the fading blush of day. Then, I kick off my shoes and pad quietly outside and walk barefoot. I also indulge in this little habit early in the morning, when the grass is wet and cool. I love to find warm spots where the yawning sun has already smiled upon the earth.

Something happens when you walk barefoot...a kind of intimacy, kisses on the toes, a thrill in your heart as if any moment you might come upon a tiny bearded man sitting on a mushroom offering you a sip of port from a whittled mug.

I have dug my toes into the ash of a spent volcano, examined my steps etched in a million grains of sand, dried my toes on the orange stones of Utah, and felt the dew of cushioned steps alighted on the moss of Williamsburg. A hundred years of history becoming my pedestal.

So now you know, my little secret.

Poetic, but not a poet.

kim@kimweitkamp.com (kim weitkamp) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 02:26:00 +0000

I fancy myself to be a bit poetic. I think everyone at one time or another feels poetic. If they don't, then that is sad because anytime you are inspired beyond repair you should feel poetic. Even if nothing comes out of your mouth. So the people who have never felt poetic, have never been inspired beyond repair and in their brief wisp of life they have missed 'it'.

I digress.

I fancy myself to be a poetic person, but not a poet. Words are constantly tumbling out of my mouth and some actually tend to land on the floor in an interesting pattern with some moderate flare. This does not happen often.

I had the opportunity to visit a vineyard on my last trip. This is one of my favorite things to do when traveling. I had the luck of passing one of my favorite vineyards and I stopped in. It had been 2 years since I had been there and I had completely forgotten how stunning it was.

After I had a beautiful Riesling delivered to me, I walked to the lake and crossed the bridge where a small table beckoned me to sit and breathe and listen and see.

So I did.

And the world received my attention and in turn, inspired me beyond repair.

And I became poetic.

And words tumbled out.

The weeping willow wallowed against the sky,
As it's tendrils traced over the surface of
the waters
Undulated with the cadence of comfortable lovers,
Made so by the turning of time &
its winds
Brushed my skin cooling the drops,
Called forth from my body by
the heat
Of the sun kissed my face spreading warmth,
like the touch of a new lover & friend.

Poetic, but not a poet. And that's okay. As long as you stop and breathe and listen and capture it with your heart.

New CD!!

kim@kimweitkamp.com (kim weitkamp) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:58:00 +0000

Finally!! The day is approaching for the new CD release!

It has been a long process, but worth every minute of it. Be on the lookout for information on how to get a copy.

Other than that, it has been go, go, go. It feels like I have been on the road non-stop and it is just beginning. That wonderful busy time of the year is here. Next week I am off to the TimpFest in Orem, Utah. I am honored and very excited to be a part of this event. Things are moving so fast, that I am finding it hard to keep up at times. Several years ago when I decided to do telling on a professional level, I would have never dreamed that so many wonderful opportunities would open up.

On the horizon: A book entitled, "You Have My Heart" is being worked on. This book tackles the issue of interracial adoption and interracial families. For children ages 0 - 4 and beyond. Of course it is dedicated to my beautiful grandson who is a glorious mix of Cherokee, African American, German, Scott Irish!!

A new CD project is underway entitled, "Stories on Skin". I am uber excited about this one. More information to follow. I am keeping it under my hat a bit. Letting it simmer.

A tour with Andy Offut Irwin and Bil Lepp is coming up next spring. During the months of Feb - April we are booking the "Uncalled for Tour" anywhere they will have us.

So, things are going very well. My car has been giving me a bit of trouble - but considering I put almost 37,000 miles on it last year, I guess I can't get upset at it. If you have a dependable car that you would like to donate to a traveling artist...give me a call!! Thankfully I will be flying a lot this fall.

Thanks for stopping in, your support and care mean a lot. I appreciate those of you who faithfully stay in touch with encouraging words.

Kim

Doc McConnell

kim@kimweitkamp.com (kim weitkamp) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:50:00 +0000

What a shock, losing an icon within the world of storytelling. Doc McConnell passed away recently. I still cannot believe it. Just about a month ago, his wife and I were talking about him and his health and about how he was doing better. When I got the news, it literally took the wind out of me.

Within our little subculture of storytelling, Doc was an anchor. I cannot begin to imagine what it will be like in Jonesborough this year as I walk to the spot that is 'his'.

It is things like this that confirm in my heart that I have done the right thing in following my dreams. Doc followed his, right up to the end.

Thank you.

kim@kimweitkamp.com (kim weitkamp) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:30:00 +0000

Just when I forget about this blog...someone reminds me that I have not updated it in awhile. Thank you to the faithful few who take the time to actually stop in.

Big news on the homefront. Here is the update:

The Wrinkles Project has been nominated for the Governors Award for the Arts 2008. Keep your fingers crossed. The results are scheduled to be announced by the middle of July.

The Junebug Center for the ARts in Floyd Virginia is teaming up with me to help boost the New River STorytelling Festival to a new level. Very cool.

I have been asked to perform on the National STorytelling Festival on the Exchange Place stage. Yee haw mama! I made the big time!

Other big gigs coming up...Four Corners, New Mexico; Timpanogas Festival, Orem Utah; Williamsburg Festival, Williamsburg VA; Talespin, Chatanooga TN; Southern Ohio SToryfest, Chillocothe Ohio; and on and on.

I was accepted by the Virginia Commission of the ARts to be an approved artist in their 2009-2010 tour directory. A big deal and an honor. IT comes with funding. Very cool.

Anyway, I mention all of this for one reason. To thank you. IF you are reading this, then you probably have had something to do with helping me reach all of the goals of the past year.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Just to much....

kim@kimweitkamp.com (kim weitkamp) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:21:00 +0000

Okay folks...lots going on!

Just got back from TN - The Smoky Mountains Storytelling Festival. It was a wonderful event. I enjoyed myself very much and made some lovely friends in the process.

While I was there I got to take part in the National Youth Storytelling Showcase. I did a workshop and got to see the youth in telling action! They were amazing. Our future is secure! I have taken on the honor of being the Virginia rep for NYSS. If you live in the Virginia area - get ready! Next year I want our state to be representing at the Showcase. Please contact me if you would like to help me in this endeavor.

Richmond Virginia has a new venue for storytelling. After working with the owner of The Camel, Alan has decided to dedicate the third Sunday of every month to storytelling. There will be a featured teller followed by an open mic. This past Sunday (Feb 17) was our first night and it went wonderfully. Check out Ellouise Schoettler's blog for a full run down ellouisestory.blogspot.com

There are some great upcoming events! Be sure to check out the event page at www.justkissthefrog.com for all the latest information.

Thanks for your support!

2007 Highlights

kim@kimweitkamp.com (kim weitkamp) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:13:00 +0000

The 15th is a week away. I am excited. It marks my last performance of 2007. I will have a four week break! It has been a phenomenal year. I have had the opportunity of sharing the stage with some magnificent talent and I do not take that for granted.

I have met so many wonderful people this year and I am so blessed to have a tight circle of storytelling friends to whom I owe a debt of gratitude in one way or another. Whether it be for encouraging words, recommending me for a gig, critiquing me with a smile or giving me a place to sleep...the list goes on.

2007 had many highlights for me. To many to list. I thought that having Carmen Deedy start a standing ovation for me was going to be the highlight of my year.

I was wrong.

Last weekend I performed at 4 stages in Colonial Williamsburg. The first stage had about 500 people at it. A nice crowd that responded well. The second stage had about 800 people at it and they responded well too. But the third stage...aah yes... the third stage had 4,200 people at it. And they were so quiet as I told. The cold midnight air filled with a misty rain. They laughed at all right places, applauded lightly at the best spots and gave off an energy that fueled my telling to a new level.

But even that was not the highlight of my year.

The highlight was when I went home for Thanksgiving and my mom, dad, brothers and sisters talked me in to telling a few stories in the family room at a plastic table with my nieces and nephews there.

That was the highlight - although, I could get used to crowds of 4,000 real easy!

Happy Holidays.

Getting Better

kim@kimweitkamp.com (kim weitkamp) — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 02:27:00 +0000

Just returned from a WONDERFUL weekend trip. Hit Richmond, went to The Camel for a storytelling show then slept in my friends living room. Woke up headed to Courtland, enjoyed a ton of kids from the gifted program. We had a blast as I told stories and hopefully awoke in each of them the storytelling bug.

From there took the ferry across the beautiful James River and went to Williamsburg where I rounded out the weekend with a wonderful time of telling at the Williamsburg Tellebration. A lot of great tellers performed and I was honored to be featured with them. Stayed at a friends house - always an adventure. Thank God for people who will let you stay for free!

Now on to a little soapbox.

Artists (any type, but here we will mainly focus on storytellers) always want to get better at their craft. It is important. If you want to make a living doing what you love to do, then you better be good at it. To get good at it you better be open to criticism. I love criticism - even when it comes from a wrong heart, because usually there is truth in it. And truth brings realization and realization offers up the choice to change and get better or stay the same and stagnate. I prefer realization with the outcome of change.

I think, and forgive me if I am wrong, that many tellers seek out the kind, positive words of admiration when they are done performing. Some of these comments are offered up to them only out of kindness, not truth. So they walk around duped - believing that they are better than what they really are. This leads to confusion, because in the end they do not get the call back or get the gig.

I encourage you, no matter what your art medium is, to surround yourself with people who will tell you the ugly truth because they love you and want you to succeed. I am so grateful that I have friends who will do this. It has enabled me to fine tune much of what I do. And just when I think I am really hitting a home-run, they make sure I am brought down to earth with a few loving comments that let me know I have a long way to go before I hit perfection.

Loving criticism is really just pruning. Pruning brings growth . If you are interested in being pruned, give me a call. We can take turns clipping each others branches.

Whew!

kim@kimweitkamp.com (kim weitkamp) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 02:19:00 +0000

Whew! Take a deep breath...what a month.

September was amazing. I did a ton of shows. For one festival I did 10 shows in three days. It is exhausting but oh so much fun.

I was just at Jonesborough (if you don't know about Jonesborough it is the mothership for all storytellers). It was like being a professional bubble blower and standing in the middle of a bubblegum factory and someone saying - you cannot touch the gum. Just look at it. Ahhhh!!

I enjoyed my time there and all the tellers were great but the desire to be on the stage...any stage was overwhelming and exasperating. I came home and looked at my calendar and saw that my next gig is not for two weeks. TWO WEEKS!!! That is a lifetime when you have an itch to scratch.

So...I will make some calls and go somewhere and tell. Dinner tables, campfires, parking lots. The world is a stage.

Upcoming news:
Berry Hill Plantation (private show) and Smithfield Plantation are the next gigs on the map. Not my regular type of shows but it is good to be stretched.

After performing at the Colonial Williamsburg Storytelling Festival, I was invited back to Williamsburg as the featured teller for Tellebration. An honor. I will be performing in South Boston on November 16th and heading to Colonial Williamsburg on the 17th.

Hope you can come.

An Update

kim@kimweitkamp.com (kim weitkamp) — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 02:17:00 +0000

Thanks for stopping by. Lot's of great things going on. Just finished writing several new pieces of material. It's odd how the creative flow comes in waves.

Uncle Cigar makes an appearance for the first time. The Dandelion Festival in Pitscreek runs into trouble. Songs start showing up at the end of stories. Flying sleds, UFO's, inner tubes, Gollywhopper eggs, and more crazy Uncle Norm contraptions have been added. Grandma Anna shows her crazy side and the squirrels come home.

Confused? Well, you'll just have to check the events calendar and find a date that suits you and come out and hear what is going on.

I have some pretty good gigs coming up, and if you are a story lover, I will probably see you there. Williamsburg VA, Gettysburg PA and Bluefield VA are just around the corner. Real exciting news, I was just added as a featured teller for the Smoky Mountains Storytelling Festival in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee this coming February. An honor.

I will be sharing at the Swapping Grounds in Jonesborough. If you are going to the National Storytelling Festival, check in and see when I am telling. I need all the support I can get!! I will be doing my performance on Saturday at some point. Don't know the exact time till I get there.

The new CD should be out this month. Thanks to all of you who pre-purchased. I appreciate your patience. It will be worth it, I promise.

Thanks for your support! Keep checking the web site for updates.

Laughter

kim@kimweitkamp.com (kim weitkamp) — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 12:35:00 +0000

I recently had someone ask me a great question. What is the one thing you couldn't live without doing?

Well, that may be an easy question for you...but for me it's real tough because I like to do so much. I write, perform, paint, read ( a lot), sing, play three instruments, camp, travel, entertain, and on and on it goes.

That one question made me pause, in the midst of the busy, and really think.

And I figured it out.

Laughter.

I could not live without laughter...mine or other peoples laughter.

If every word I said made you laugh, I would talk forever.

I love performing and hearing the response of laughter. It fuels me. To know that I can entertain people for 30 - 45 minutes and take them away from the hussle and flow of life, relieve them momentarily of pain, make them forget the job-arguement-sickness...is a wonderful thing.

So I will keep on writing, telling, performing and laughing.

Make 'em laugh. Laughter is the best medicine.
Laugh as much as you breath and love as long as you live.
The human race really only has one effective weapon, and that is laughter.
Nothing shows a mans character more than what he laughs at.
The earth laughs in flowers.
A laugh is a smile that bursts.
Laughter is the shock absorber that eases the blows of life.
What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul.
Laughter is an instant vacation.

The Little Voices...

kim@kimweitkamp.com (kim weitkamp) — Wed, 23 May 2007 20:43:00 +0000

I was talking to a reporter the other day. She was interviewing me and asked how I get the ideas for my stories. I proceeded to tell her that I keep a notebook by my side at all times. I told her that there is a constant flow of thoughts in my head, mostly humorous, that I try and keep at bay when I am doing the daily routine of life. But sometimes, a really good one just pops to the front and I jot it down in my notebook. When I take time to sit down and allow those thoughts to come to the forefront, I have more ideas than I have time to work into stories.

She was quiet for a minute and then I realized that she probably thought I sounded a little...uh, well...nuts.

But if you are an artist or a writer, then you understand. It's not little voices or anything like that. It is just the glaring reality of life, filtered through a creative eye, and then bounced around on the facets of a creative mind and a wild imagination.

I love it.

The Tale is Wiser....

kim@kimweitkamp.com (kim weitkamp) — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 17:23:00 +0000

The tale is usually wiser than the teller.

Boy isn't that the truth. The tales I usually hear or tell contain a lot more wisdom in one tiny sentence than what I have in my whole head. The tale usually conveys a deep truth in a way that is easy to swallow. The listener takes in the story, rolls it around in their mind, pulls out the truth, has an epiphany and is suddenly inspired to make a change in their thinking or behavior.

How wise the tale is. We usually shout the truth in anger, hurling it like a verbal fist and then expect the recipient to thank us and change - hopefully making our life easier.

We usually speak truth out of selfishness and hurt.
Stories speak truth with no conditions, asking nothing in return.

We have a lot to learn from these spun tales.