Writers are, at heart, storytellers. The first writers were the dudes and dudettes (we never really have agreed as a society on the female word for “dudes,” have we? Let’s work on that this century) who came back to the campfire and excitedly said, “You won’t believe what just happened in that cave over there!”
So yeah, I love a good story. Almost every writer I know takes about 50 percent longer to tell a story to someone than anyone else (my wife’s favorite expression when I’m being long-winded in a tale: “Get to the point, Edna!”). But we’re losing the art of storytelling in our culture; so many of our communications now are in quick, 140-character bytes, or emails and texts. We don’t really spin yarns to each other as much as we used to, I think.
All this is a way of telling you that “The Moth” is one of my simple pleasures in life. It’s a podcast and a show from NPR, and it’s taken from the popular storytelling series in New York City and other places. Basically, you go to a Moth show, get up on stage, and tell a story without notes. It could be hilarious, like one I heard recently about a couple fighting and falling back in love in Italy. It could be heartbreaking, like the one I just listened to Saturday about a father trying to get over the death of his daughter right before childbirth.
Moth stories educate, entertain, and basically remind me how you really can learn something from every person you meet. Some of these tales are five minutes; others last for 20.
But all of them leave you richer for having heard them, because hearing about someone else’s life experience can only inform yours.
If you’ve never heard any Moth stories, check them out here, (I highly recommend the Ed Gavagan one, the Jon Levin one, and the James Braly one) and then download them on iTunes.
**I know, this sounds once again like something made up. But after laughing in horror for the first five minutes, I started to believe this is true.
There is now something called Mantyhose. Yep, pantyhose for men. Because if you’re like me, gents, you spend much of your life walking around thinking, “Hmmm, pantyhose look so comfortable for women. Why can’t I have soft nylon fabric to place around my legs and thighs, as a means to making me look and feel better?”
A website called e-mancipate.net has all kinds of varieties of mantyhose for sale. I know, I know, you wish I blogged about this before Father’s Day.
But really, is there ever a bad time to buy that guy in your life this product? I think not. Make sure in addition to the other frightening (I mean useful) photos, you check out the “how to put on mantyhose” page.
Because really, we all need a little help sometimes.
Wide World of Stuff 
