I got an email with the subject line: National Geographic Best Pictures. I don’t know if that’s true or not and I’ve seen some of these floating around the internet for a while. I picked out some that nudged my imagination into story mode.

I guess I wanted to know what was going on – is the turtle in distress? Is it just merrily swimming? Is it running away from something? What’s the story behind this expression?

Same here – lots of questions.  Did that little inch worm eat that whole leaf?  If so, is it going back for more? is it disappointed to get to the leaf only to find that another bug beat it to the meal and didn’t leave much?

I assume this is a fox that’s diving into the snow.  But could it be half a fox? If so, where’s the other half and what happened to it?

This one just lends itself to a humorous caption as does the next one.

It seems that we just can’t help but attach an anthropomorphic (human characteristics attributed to animals or other nonliving things) meaning thus turning these animal photos into some human story.

Is this a big fish with a little fish boa?  What’s going on here?

And this beautiful optical illusion where the shadows seem more real than the objects.  There’s a great premise for a story here.

Book readings, discussions, groups, meet-the-author events, Tucson is teeming with them. From Green Valley to Oro Valley, there are always lots of literary events for everyone.

Here’s a list gleaned from some online calendars (Examiner.com, Tucson Weekly, AZ Starnet). Make sure to get on the email lists for some or all of these venues so you don’t miss anything!

November 17, 2010

• 1 pm at Mission Library – Winter Reads: This month’s book is Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Stout.
• 3 pm at Kirk-Bear Canyon Library – Dragonfly Book Club: This is a book club for ages 8 to 12.
• 6 pm Poetry Goes for a Hike and workshop with poets Wendy Burk and Eric Magrane at UA Poetry Center. Visit poetry.arizona.edu for more info.
• 7pm at Barnes & Noble Broadway – Contemporary Fiction Book Group: This month’s book is Homecoming by Bernhard Schlink.
• 7:30 at Casa Libre – The Edge Reading Series with Marianne Dissard, Kristi Maxwell and Lucy Simpson.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

• 9 am at UA Bookstore – UA Reads Kickoff Celebration
• 10 am at Oro Valley Library – Great Literature of All Times: This month’s book is The Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald.
• 12 pm at Joel D Valdez Main Library – This month’s book is The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers.
• 2 pm at Tucson Medical Center Senior Services El Dorado Campus – I Love Books Book Club: This month’s book is The Shack by William P. Young.
• 2 pm at Nanini Library – Northwest Readers Book Club: This month’s book is Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck.
• 4:30 pm at UA Bookstore – Meet author Dian Katz, PhD: This is an author event related to Win at Work!

Friday, November 19, 2010

• 8 am to 8 pm at UA Library Special Collections – 13th Annual Milton Marathon: This is a marathon reading of the book Paradise Lost by John Milton.
• 7 pm at Antigone Books – Gloria Feldt will read from and sign her book, No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power.

Saturday, November 20

• 10 am at El Parador restaurant – Saguaro Romance Writers featuring literary agent Susan Ginsburg.  Visit www.tucsonrwa.org for more info.
• 11 am at Bookmans Grant – Arlene Weintraub: author of Selling the Fountain of Youth, a book about the anti-aging industry.
• 1 pm at Mostly Books – This month’s fiction book discussion of The White Tiger.
• 2 pm at Mostly Books – Chris O’Dell author of Miss O’Dell: Hard Days and Long Nights with The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, and Eric Clapton.
• 5 pm at The Source Salon and Spa – Dawn Kulesa signs her new book Fitness Goddess Secrets: Real Women Share Tips for Healthy Living.
• 7:30 pm at 4133 E. Pima Street, Gallery of the Unexpected, poetry readings, film and multimedia performances plus food and drink.  480-390-1063 for more info.

Sunday, November 21

• 12 pm at Bookmans Grant – Nancy Rossman: A signing of her book First Love, Last Dance.
• 12 to 4:30 pm at Clues Unlimited – Mistletoe and Mystery: Three panels featuring different mystery writers including Susan Cummins Miller, Graham Brown, Jennifer Lee Carrell, Tony Hays, Betsy Thronton, Betty Webb, J.M. Hayes and Elizabeth Gunn.

Monday, November 22

• 3 pm at Joyner-Green Valley library, Yoga Book Group: yoga combined with book discussions

I just listened to some amazing storytelling. On Fresh Air, Terry Gross interviewed investigative reporter Robin Fields and Dr. Barry Straube, the director and chief medical officer for the Centers for Medicare on What Dialysis Taught Us About Universal Health Care.

And then I heard Neal Conan talking with Laura Sullivan, National Public Radio’s police and prisons correspondent and Beau Hodai, freelance journalist covering private prisons about How Corporate Interests Got SB 1070 Passed on Talk of the Nation (a piece that all Arizonan’s should listen to.)

Both of these excellent radio hosts ask the kinds of questions that evoke stories from their guests. So in addition to presenting facts, they tell stories about how things work, and the listener gets more of a complete picture. It’s especially important on radio where there is no visual and everything needs to be explained.

I’m a big radio fan. In addition to listening in real time, I’ve discovered podcasts where I can download episodes of my favorite shows to my computer and ipod for free. That way I don’t have to miss anything, I can plug in on my own time schedule.

My present line up is Story Corps, This American Life, Science Friday, Fresh Air and The Moth. I change them around occasionally to keep myself amused.