Silent Surprise says “Open Your Eyes”
DOWNTOWN INDIANAPOLIS- While I was putting coins in a parking meter on Meridian Street I glanced about the Indiana War Memorial Plaza and took in all the flags at half staff. Tomorrow is Veterans’ Day and most flags are at half staff in honor of a tragic shooting last week claiming the lives of many servicemen in Texas last week.
While taking in the serenity that was accompanying the sunshine on this fine, fall day, I noticed a peculiarity. There was a woman in white at the base of the flagpoles, all dressed in white, moving with tai chi like movements. No sooner had that registered when I realized that there was another woman several feet away mirroring these exact movements. They both were facing southward toward the World War Memorial Building on Michigan street where there were even more ladies in white making these same graceful movements. Now glancing all about, I noticed that there were about a dozen of these white clad dancers spread over the city block square area. What was going on?
Since I always have my digital camera with me, and my curiosity was peaked, I took out my notebook to collect some news. This is what I discovered.
I had stumbled upon RANDOM ACTS OF IMPROV. This was one of several surprise activities that will take place throughout the city during the ten days of the SPIRIT AND PLACE FESTIVAL taking place November 6 – 15th. (see Spiritandplace.org for more details).
This particular display, put on by Susurrus Performance Group (website click here) happened right at the noon hour, causing many city pedestrians stopping on the sidewalk and asking me what was going on. They joined me watching in wonderment momentarily before they continued on their way.
I believe that this is one of the goals of Susurrus and the many other performance groups partnering with the Spirit and Place Festival as they encourage some people to interrupt their mundane routine long enough to get involved in their surroundings; to stop and take notice of what is happening in their neighborhood. How refreshing it is to enter into a moment of wonderment and to take time to engage with other people that we would normally just walk by.
In that regard I challenge those of you in the Indianapolis area to keep your eyes open for surprise happenings and the opportunity to engage. There are going to be dozens of happenings over the next week that are unannounced. Thus, the Random Acts of Improv will surprise people. So keep your eyes open. Maybe we will learn to be not only see our community with fresh eyes, but perhaps, we might take it a step further and become actively engaged.
NOTE: not all events are surprises. There are also 40 events–nature walks and driving tours, dance and theatre performances, conversations and workshops, panel discussions and potlucks, and much more! Over 85% of these activities are FREE!
Former Indianapolis Mayor Bill Hudnut will be present at the marque event on the last day. There is simply too much to cover here… so please visit the Spirit and Place Festival web site by clicking here.
Thank you to Susurrus and the Spirit and Place Festival (and the many other partners) for being such a blessing to our community by reminding us that we all can bless one another by just taking a moment to engage with another person in creative ways.
FAS Friends
I met with a new friend tonight who I call “Fishers Fran.” We both have Foreign Accent Syndrome, (an extremely rare
Eastside Ellen and Fishers Fran shake up a local Steak 'n' Shake. ---Photo by waitress Cloe.
medical condition that causes a person to speak with a foreign accent that is not their own) and live in the Indy area.
Fran had some friends tell her about hearing me on the WIBC 93.1 FM radio spots I’ve been doing over the last couple Tuesday mornings by invitation of the Morning Show personalities Terri Stacy and Big Joe Stayzniak. Her friends told her that she must listen. Then Fran took the initiative to call the radio station and they passed along my name and told her I was on FaceBook where she sent me a message.
Last Tuesday evening when we first spoke by phone, Fran had her normal voice. Her foreign accent came on suddenly for her along with left side neuromuscular symptoms back in 2005. Unlike me, her regular voice has returned, but she does have episodes where the accent returns for a few days. In fact she recently was interviewed about her Foreign Accent Syndrome story in an article for the April Issue of a magazine that is popular with the Catholic faith. I am sorry that I do not have the publications name right now, but I will edit this post when I have it.
Today she called to say that her voice has “flipped” so that she has the accent again. Her voice does have strong similarities to my own, but is definitely different. She can say some long “A” sounds that I cannot, and I can pronounce the “SK” sound that she cannot. So it was very enlightening as we met at a northeast side Steak and Shake for a friendly supper. Many patrons stared as we spoke and laughed together. Our waitress asked the inevitable “where are you from” question. To which we both smiled and replied “where do you think?” “Think” was pronounced “Sink” by Fran and more like “Tink” by me. Our waitress took a while to understand the fact that we are not FROM Europe and now living in the Indiana. Rather, we are both Midwestern Americans who are speaking with very strong foreign accents. She guessed Fran as more Eastern European and me she placed as Irish. LOL. Anyway our waitress Cloe was kind enough to snap our photo with my camera.
Given that there have been reportedly less than one hundred cases of Foreign Accent Syndrome ever reported worldwide and that so very few people, including medical professionals, have even heard of the affliction, I believe our budding friendship is an answer to prayer! It was encouraging to talk to someone who understands what it feels like to not have the voice/accent you have had your whole life. I feel greatly blessed by meeting her, and especially since she is within short driving distance.
We may have discovered a new comedy team in the making as well. We thoroughly entertained Fran’s daughters and husband with our silliness as we each corrected the others accent. Though our accents have some similar qualities, Fran sounds more Eastern block European (more Russian), whereas my accent sounds more French mixed with Norwegian. Her husband said that we sound like we are from different parts of Europe, but European all the same. I think it was an encouragement to her family as well as we were able to lightheartedly share our stories. Her family was able to see another person with the same thing happening so that they could feel less alone in the peculiarity of it.
Below is the link to a video that her daughter Celia shot of us. Please be kind to us as this was totally impromptu shooting so I am not wearing any make up and am looking more unkempt than I would have liked. However, the spontaneity of the shoot makes it too good not to post.
Foreign Accent Syndrome Friends
Now, I really would like to hear what you think about this post so please leave a comment. Thanks.
Laughter is the Best Medicine, Right?
This morning I was interviewed by our local Indianapolis radio station WIBC. Big Joe and Terri Stacey have both seen and talked with me at radio events in the past, so they know that this new voice is not my regular voice. They are as facinated by this strange occurence as I am.
This foreign accent syndrome is so quite an interesting phenomena!! There are many different videos about it on YouTube even tho it is so rare as to have only 100 people in the world with it. Apparently, it is so rare that not many regular doctors have heard about it before either.
They asked if I would come on the morning show with them to discuss this recent verbal U-turn in my life and I was more than happy to. I can think of nothing better than to share this rare occurance with my friends and neighbors over the 50,000 watts (or however big an area it is now), so that more people are made aware.
Also, as it is happening to me, I totally trust these dear radio personalities, because I have seen the love in their hearts for the community expressed over and over again. So I trust them to ask me whatever they want and I will answer it! They both are witty as well, so we can also have fun and laugh a bit, so as not to get bogged down with some kind of gravity of the situation. It is out of my control. I do NOT know if I will get my regular voice back, or if I will be continuing to sound like a world traveler that has never really gone anywhere.
This interview was a very good one — balancing out the bizareness with the scientific wonder as well as keeping it light with humor. Way to go Terri and Joe click this link to listen>> .wibcinterview090526
A Chance to Win a Pocket Video Camera
I was given a nice bit of information today. So in all fairness, I am turning around and sharing that free information with you. Here is a chance to win a great little piece of technology. Check it out at Creative. The actual contest can be seen at one of the blogs I follow called AsTheyGrowUp. These are good examples of how web2.0 can get news out about people and products. Good luck to us all!
Image of VadoTM Pocket Video Camera from Creative Website link.
Update: 2 Arrested in Car Crash
Local television stations are reporting more details about last night’s crash. James Hopkins, 21 of Indianapolis, and a female passenger were arrested for the incident. They reported that they had been carjacked. This is also what I had heard first from his mother when she spoke with me last night across from scene. WTHR news is reporting that the story they told appears to be not exactly true.
As it turns out, Mr. Hopkins should not have been out driving at all because he was under house arrest. Though I have yet to see the scene in the daylight, the reports are saying that a bush, a pine tree and a gas meter were the major damages done by the vehicle. The house was spared from major damage and no injuries were reported.
Car Crashes Into House
BREAKING NEWS — Indianapolis Eastside…. 
in the 7200 block of Pleasant Run Parkway. VERY near where I live. At about 10:30 p.m. I noticed some flashing lights of emergency vehicles in our backyard and apparently very near the front of a neighbor who has a child with health concerns. From the upstairs bathroom I had a better view as I noticed the two fire trucks, and rescue vehicle were moving slowly down the block. This didn’t make sense. They had appeared to be in front of one house for quite a while, but now they were moving! So it couldn’t be a fire or home rescue.
The other odd thing, along with the policemen who were arriving, there must have been a dozen or so neighbors milling about. Standing at the edges of their lawns, sidewalks or drives and looking up and down the street. There were several people shining flashlights along the side of the road, sidewalk and into some lawn edges. From where I stood, I could see one neighbor and he son paying quite a bit of attention to something large lying in the road near the far curb. But it was too dark to see very well, I could just make out it’s size from the flashlights beams dancing across it. Several different people acknowledged this thing lying in the street but kept a respectful distance from it. What was it? Was that a body?
Since the neighbor and his son were going over to the house of my newer neighbor friends, I decided that a real investigation was in order. I put on my shoes and headed to David and Ann’s house (not their real names).
This is what I discovered:
David and Ann had been watching T.V. in their living room when they heard a racing car and a very loud “BOOM”. Ann said that it sounded like a blowing transformer only multiple times louder like an explosion. They both jumped up out of their chairs and ran through their front door that was only about 10 feet from the couch. As they emerged out onto their front yard they could see the car it had come to crash into a house at the other end of the block!!
See the satellite photo with markers:
This is what is surmised at this time: (see the photo with numbers)
As I walked with my camera along the north sidewalk, I noticed a good deal of wire that appeared to be either telephone wiring or some kind of cable broken and lying along almost the entire walkway as I went down to where the police activity was happening at the far end of the block. There was a teal colored car [4] with its passenger front end crashed into the brick of a house where a state trouper lives!
As I was body-tripodding my camera shots, another car drove up and the gray headed woman started talking with me. She said that this crashed car was her son’s. He was at his apartment right now and told her that he had been hit on the head and someone took off with his car. She asked me if it would be able to be driven away. I told her, that it looked too smashed into the house to be able to drive. She got a cell phone call and started to get into her car, so I ran to the group of officers saying “officer, quickly, that lady over there says she is the driver’s mother and she’s getting ready to take off.” Two officers went straight to her, and another listened to what I had to report. He chuckled when I repeated the part about the son claiming to be hit over the head. “I am sure that’s not the first time you’ve heard that one,” I said to him, as he laughed and nodded.
I then asked that officer if I might get some closer photos. He then asked if I were a reporter. I said that I do some neighborhood reporting with IndyChristian.com but that I live nearby and just want to get a few pictures. He told me that since any photo I took may be evidence he didn’t want me taking any more photos. I told him that I would gladly hand over anything I took, but sadly I would comply.
Luckily, I had already taken some photos, though the darkness and all the lights reflecting off the rain hindered my photographic abilities. At least I have a couple of shots to prove that I was there. Maybe I’ll even scoop the Indianapolis Star. LOL