A Spoonful of Sugar...

mojito,

mojito,

citrus vodka shot.

martini,

licorice,

a round of frozen choc.

That pretty much sums up the end of Friday

 night.  The final day of Writers Workshop and we were helping the medicine go down.

When traveling as a quad, there is often a lot of coordination that occurs to get all parties to the same location at the same time.  A libation or two is often a necessity while

 waiting to intersect with your companions.  

And then, of course there are some targeted treats and  libations, like a trip to the sweets shop and the frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity 3 (google for more movie/tv significance).

Friday is celebration day at Writers Workshop.  Each participant shares a small mo

ment piece that they have been working on all week and recieves feedback, (compliments only at this point), on their use of different craft moves.  In some sections the pieces

were read to partners, and in others, like mine, we put our pieces on our desks with a comment sheet and then browsed the room reading other pieces and leaving specific words of encouragement.  There was time for more instruction too - revising, editing, spelling and mechanics, management, and developing units of study...

The keynote speaker was by Carmen Agra Deedy, storyteller extraordinaire

 and author of Gift of the Masai - the true story of how nomadic Masai people gave NYC the sacred gift of 14 cows after 911.  The lesson behind it all - big needs little, (Aesop's lion with the thorn in his paw).  Well, there was a lot more to it than that, but that is the short version. 

At the closing session 8 people read their small moment pieces to the full house.  They were all beautifully written, often tugging at your heartstrings.  One hilarious piece was about the adolescent pride and foolishness of a guy who took on a dare to put paperclips in th

e electrical  outlets of a high school classroom to prove that they didn't work.  It was a belly-aching riot!  And needed after many of the other tear jerkers we listened to.

Quotes and summarization from Lucy Calkins at the closing: 

-Time is all we really have so be mindful of it and how you spend it.  With who and 

where and how you use it.  We are here for a short amount of time and then it's gone.

(it's not a new concept but she said it so eloquently, -I can't do it justice here just wanted to reinforce and refresh the sentiment.  

The throngs of "students" leaving the Friday keynote, on their way to morning sessions.

mojito,

mojito,

citrus vodka shot.

martini,

licorice,

a round of frozen choc.