Fray Day 8: Oct. - Dec.
Los Angeles, CA: Oct. 23
Grand Rapids, MI: Nov. 13

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Photos, Etc
Posted by Robert on Saturday 11 October 03 @ 11:42AM

The first Fray Day Houston went well, with over 40 people showing up and 8 people telling stories. Photos are here and here. Plans are afoot to put the audio online, and you can check with this site for when this will be ready. Perhaps the most intriguing story was Matt Mullenweg's story about The Little Red Button that Changed My Life. I could tell you more about this button, but unfortunately it's a secret! For those who signed your name on the list I passed around, I'll let you know when we have a similar event. Another thing (which I forgot to announce). In 2 or 3 months I'll be starting a site called the Houston Literary Calendar, which will contain a list of free or low-cost events like this.

Fray Day on Houston Radio
Posted by Robert on Friday 3 October 03 @ 7:57AM

This morning I did a little promo appearance about Fray Day Houston on KPFT Radio. For those wondering who told the stories that went on the air, here's information about that. John Halcyon Styn (aka Life Student), told the great story about his grandfather, Lunch with Grandpa Caleb. (More stories here ). BTW, Grandpa Caleb has his own wonderful website ; Grandpa even has a weblog . Also, the second piece they played, Another Day at the Video Store, was written and performed by Kevin Smokler , a young writer living in San Francisco (more stories here). These stories came from the Fray Cafe 3 Austin CD, which can be purchased for $13. By the way, neither John nor Kevin live in Houston, so they won't be at the event tomorrow (except perhaps in spirit). Have no fear though; The Houston Fray Day event will undoubtedly bring entertaining stories by Houstonians as well. If you want to hear to hear the stories featured on the radio again, you can actually download or stream the audio for free.

Coming to Fray Houston
Posted by Robert on Monday 29 September 03 @ 10:34AM

Some notes about getting to Nexus Cafe. Nexus Cafe is on the 2nd floor of Walden Internet Village leasing office. To enter Nexus Cafe, park and walk through the giant doors in the middle of the row of the Walden apartment buildings (You will not need to go through the security gates). Chances are you won't be able to find a parking spot at the front, but you can easily park across the street or at the church parking lot on the other side. The event starts at 8:00, and seating is very limited, so come early.

Also, be sure to eat before coming. The cafe offers only the basics of coffee, beverages and vending machines. We are not talking about a fine dining establishment, but more of a geek hangout. Please don't bring any food or drinks.

Another thing. The flyer mentioned that we will have music, and at the moment that appears not to be the case. Also, we still have a few more openings for storytellers. --If anybody has ideas, please contact me at idiotprogrammerNOTTHISPART@fastmailbox.net. The event is free, but a $1 donation is recommended.

How to Learn about Storytelling Events?
Posted by Robert on Monday 29 September 03 @ 10:22AM

How does one hear about literary/storytelling events in Houston? In addition to the Houston Storytellers' Guild Calendar , there is Houston Great Books , Event Calendars by KUHF and KPFT , Readings at Brazos Bookstore and Margaret Brown Reading Series , Houston Press' Picks of the Week , CityCafe and Meetup Houston . Also, Fray founder Derek Powazek's Storyblog offers excellent picks about online storytelling sites.

List of Featured Storytellers
Posted by Robert on Wednesday 17 September 03 @ 10:44AM

Brian Herod (Bio) is a professional storyteller and member of the Houston Storytellers' Guild. He has received several awards and grants for his storytelling.

Robert Nagle (me). I'll be telling a story, "Finding Sako" about my attempt to track down an Albanian artist in Tirana, Albana. I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Albania between 1995 and 1997.

Katy Kirby is an writer and independent filmmaker with a background in TV, documentaries and film. She has lived and worked in Texas and New York and has been known to hang around the Aurora Picture Show and KPFT radio station. Her story will be about her adventures on the New York City subways.

David Chien is a young graphic artist and cartoonist. His story is entitled, "The Nasty Leg Scar."

Matthew Mullenweg is a student at University of Houston, web programmer (and lead developer of wordpress), saxophone player and photo fanatic . He attended HSVPA high school in Houston.

Cliff Maat is a 38 year old engineer and schoolteacher from California. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana and Russia; his story is about a certain cave trip to Russia...

More to come. Feel free to email me if you are interested in being a featured storyteller.

What Stories to Tell?
Posted by Robert on Tuesday 16 September 03 @ 11:05AM

Some have wondered what kind of storytelling works well for Fray Day? Fray has some helpful performance guidelines. Read on for some other idle thoughts....

Continue reading "What Stories to Tell? " »

Share Stories/Share the Music?
Posted by Robert on Tuesday 16 September 03 @ 10:34AM

A random thought. I recently wrote an essay, Share the Music, calling for people to share their music more. So I thought, if a cultured crowd of people are getting together to swap stories, why not swap music as well? So if you want to participate (and this is purely voluntary ), bring 2 copies of a mix CD you made, and bring it to the event. Then we can swap. That will show the RIAA Bullies a thing or two.

Fray Day is Free!
Posted by Robert on Tuesday 16 September 03 @ 10:26AM

Just in case you were wondering, Fray Day 7 Houston is a free event! But a few things to keep in mind: Nexus Cafe will have concessions (coffee, snacks, etc) for a small fee, and I will have Fray Day 7 T-shirts available for sale at the event as well. Also, a small number of CDs from the 2003 Fray Cafe in Austin will be available for sale as well.

Sound recording anyone?
Posted by Robert on Monday 15 September 03 @ 10:01AM

I don't know if sound engineers read sites like this, but if anyone has the desire and/or the capability to record this event, let me know. If so, then then perhaps these recordings could be put on the Net for everyone to hear.

Downloadable Flyer Available
Posted by Robert on Monday 15 September 03 @ 6:37AM

Houston artist and web designer David Chien has made a cool Fray Day Houston poster. He will also be a featured performer at the event. You can view his portfolio which includes comics, murals, and animation.

It's Official!
Posted by Robert on Wednesday 30 July 03 @ 10:27AM

Hi, I'm Robert Nagle (see my bio or weblog), and I'll be organizing Fray Day 7 in Houston.

The event will take place at Nexus Cafe in Walden Internet Village in southwest Houston. View a rendition by artist Christian Carroll.

Nexus Cafe is located on the second floor of the main building of Walden Internet Village in southwest Houston. (Get Directions). In addition to being a meeting area for geeks, it is a setting for LAN parties and contains 40 100 MB Internet Connections. Actually I live in this apartment complex and heartily endorse it.

From time to time I'll update this announcement page with more information. I'm still at the stage of looking for storytellers. If you live in Houston and want to be on the roster of storytellers, please contact me.

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