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* Photos above from Fray Cafe in Austin, Texas. Were you there? What is fray day? Fray Day is an annual event brought to you by the storytelling website {fray} that takes place in cities all around the world on the same weekend. Each event features interactive art, featured performers, and a storytelling open mic. [Press release.] Other stuff: » Frequently Asked Questions Donate to Fray Day
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Fray Day 5 San Francisco rocked! Every year I say that Fray Day San Francisco was the best yet, and every year it's true. This year was no exception.... This year we kicked off right on time at 7pm with dj soulpants, who thrilled the growing crowd with groovy beats, which were also going out over a live stream on the net thanks to Live365. At 8pm I took the stage to welcome the crowd (which was now around 200 people), thank all the volunteers and the wonderful folks at Cellspace, and kick off the show with yet another story about growing up in Claremont and accidentally setting things on fire. What can I say? It's a theme. The next two hours saw performances by Rachel Chalmers, Lance Anderson, Brad Graham, Lance Arthur, Shauna Wright, Tarin Towers, and Rob Breszny. (Wanna know the easiest way to become a Featured Performer like these folks? Simple: Write a {fray} story. Everyone's invited!) All the performances rocked, and as the organizer I'm not allowed to have favorites, but I have to say that Lance Arthur's tale of life on the other side of a television camera had me giggling for hours. Any story that involves lactation, puppets, and a child saying bad words is okay in my book. Intermission brought us an amazing set by the Walkingbirds, who did not disappoint to put a song in my heart. Some folks took this opportunity to wander into the gallery space and play with the interactive art projects. A scroll of paper asked "What moves you?" and invited you to pull on the paper and leave your answer. Jay Allen's project invited participants to wrote down what's the best gift anyone's ever given them and put it in a purple velvety box. Heather Champ's "Word Oracle" invited you to draw a random word out of a jar and reflect upon its meaning in your life. (Digital archives of these projects will all hopefully be online soon.) And, of course, there were plenty of random surfaces (walls, books, mirrors) to draw on (which most people used for their intended purpose - next year there will be a firm "no urls" rule for all drawing surfaces - for shame!) Finally (and, admittedly kinda late), was the open mic, emceed by the amazing Brad Graham. Some amazing stories were told here, poems read. Frankly, I was blown away at the quality of the performances in the open mic. We told stories until 1am (that's six hours total!) when we had to shut down. My apologies to anyone who signed up late and didn't get on stage. Next year, come early! To my great delight, everyone mobilized to help us clean up the space all at once. It was the fastest Fray Day cleanup ever. In 20 minutes, Cellspace was sparkling. To everyone who stayed up late with us and helped us clean, thank you! Also thanks go out to Jed Reynolds, our trusty sound guy for four years running! Thanks to all the performers, participants, helpers, and everyone who contributed to Fray Day. You are the heart of the {fray}, and I thank you for it. See you next year!
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Fray Day 5 took place
Grand Rapids >>> Minneapolis >>>
Austin >>> Boston >>> Burlington >>> Cincinnati >>> Kyoto >>> San Francisco >>>
Los Angeles >>> Melbourne >>> 
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