April 13th, Presenting Owen Patterson (Take 2!)

Thursday, April 13, 2017 - 6:30pm to 8:45pm

Oak Park Library - Maze Branch

845 Gunderson Ave, Oak Park, Illinois 60304

Owen Patterson, a native Chicagoan, is this month's featured reader. He will be reading from his book, The Dis-Condition of Ease. To learn more about Owen and his book, check him out here: https://booklife.com/profile/owen-patterson-14779

We have 10 minutes for anyone who wants to present their latest creative endeavor. Treats to share are awesome, but we will provide munchies. Spectators are welcome and appreciated!

The No Shush Salon is a monthly Open Mic for all creative types who what to share their works-in-progress or newly finished endeavors. We often begin with a featured performer / reader or we have a theme. No registration required, just drop in and share your talents!

Can't make it? Follow us through our blog: noshushsalon.blogspot.com and like us on Facebook: No Shush Salon

CANCELLED --- March 30th No Shush Salon --- CANCELLED

THERE IS A FLOOD!!! 

Okay, maybe not that dramatic, but the Meeting Room at the Maze Branch has flooded so we have to cancel our No Shush Salon tonight. (Boo!) 

However, Owen Patterson is such an accommodating and nice presenter, that he is willing to reschedule!  

April 13th

Woot! 

I would also like to apologize for never getting a write-up written about our February Open Mic. It was a great night and interesting hosting it in the kitchen / staff break-room. (Double bookings are no good!) 

A big THANK YOU to Anna, Alex, Brendan, and the ever elusive Ed for being so accommodating. Thanks for taking pictures again, Anna! Also, thanks to Ed for pizza & bakery items. YUM!!!

(Hopefully, this is the end of the scheduling weirdness...)

Upcoming!

Along with our No Shush Salon Fantastic February! event this coming Thursday,  we have lots of exciting things coming up! The big one is the Wednesday Writers' Word Feast is changing to the Writers' Word Feast since it will be ADDING both a Saturday and a Sunday starting in March. Here's what's coming up:

• Thur. Feb. 23, 6:30 to 8:45 pm = Fantastic February!
• Wed. March 1, 10 am - 1 pm = Writers' Word Feast
• Sat. March 11, 1:30 - 4:30 pm = Writers' Word Feast
• Sun. March 19, 1:30 - 4:30 pm = Writers' Word Feast
• Thur. March 30, 6:30 - 8:45 = Presenting: Owen Patterson
• Wed. April 5, 10 am - 1 pm = Writers' Word Feast
• Sun, April 9, 1:30 - 4:30 pm = Writers' Word Feast
• Sat. April 22, 1:30 - 4:30 pm = Writers' Word Feast
• Thur. April 27, 6:30 - 8:45 pm = Presenting: Maha Rakta
• Wed. May 3, 10 am - 1 pm = Writers' Word Feast
• Sat. May 13, 1:30 - 4:30 pm = Writers' Word Feast
• Sun. May 14, 1:30 - 4:30 pm = Writers' Word Feast
• Thur. May 25, 6:30 - 8:45 pm = Presenting: Logan Lu

Check out the sidebar links with more details.

January No Shush Salon: Bring in the New! Review

This month's No Shush Salon was a delightful Open Mic!

Check out these random and mixed-up snippets of what was read:

They're going to an execution. - Sweeping piles of ash into a paper bag. - Her life was so perfect, it could only end in tragedy. - You didn't hear? Peshtigo burned. - ...until the outsiders arrived. - Certified Armature Cartographer - Miss Eloyese Felton - They'll only germinate when covered in ash. - Gloria Sweden killed me. - Huge limbs out of joint with time. - Wildebeest Steaks - I was starving! - Fires happen. - Does a salmon try to swallow the sun? - Like a statue of a hand, not an actual hand.

Our next No Shush Salon will be February 23rd at 6:30 pm

Maze Branch of the Oak Park Library

January: Bring in the New!

A New Year, A New You, A New OPEN MIC!!! 

Our January theme is "Bring in the New!"

When: January 26th at 6:30 pm

Where: Oak Park Library Maze Branch 

845 Gunderson Ave. Oak Park, IL 60304

What: Share at our open mic your NEWEST words, music, dance, comedy, or whatever creative endeavor you have been working on. If you have nothing new, share anything you created -- in 15 minutes time slots. 

Who: YOU!!! Show us what you've got!

No need to register; just drop in and share your talents! Can't make it? Follow us through this blog like us on Facebook: No Shush Salon

Treats to share are welcomed!

Spectators are welcome and appreciated!

No Shush November Featured Sheila Johnson

Everything changes... this is the theme of the story that Sheila read from her book, All Our Loved Ones Together, on November 10th. Two brothers, a daughter / niece, and a Dryad show us how change is a powerful force. "Sometimes, the truth is a spell that loses its power when spoken aloud." 

If you wish to know more about this delightful creature named Sheila and find out how to purchase her book, please check out her website: sheilacjohnson.wordpress.com

The Open Mic gave us Alex's 4 and 20 Blackbirds. We heard about how Marta used the magic of the blackbirds and how her bother Yohan had changed. Ron followed it up with a musical rendition of Give a Little / Makin' Whoopie / Glory of Love / Paper Moon mixed with other songs. Then he tickled our funny bones with Ventriloquist Love. Next was Brendan who read from his book The Hidden Lands where Amber was on a train and met Lin Mae. They discussed Boarding School rules. Matt brought us Mythical Mike and his gang of Comic Bookstore misfits in an effort to "make the streets safe for the comic buying company." Ed brought us Spider-Man Unlimited and the True Meaning of Thanksgiving with Ted, the weredog, from accounting. Rhiannon brought us blue magic wielding elves who were on an investigation. But they got sidetracked in tossing Kava (magic). J9 shared a bit about Hazel, the Luchadora Librarian.

All pictures by Anna Peterson.

Just a reminder, we are off for December, but will be back on 

January 26th at 6:30 pm with the theme, Bring in the New!

The Three Year Anniversary of the No Shush Salon!

Presenting: Cemetery Guardians

What an awesome night! We had four readers from the Cemetery Guardians and a fantastic Open Mic. Plus there was pizza and salad and cake! If you'd like to see the live stream of the event, Wes posted it here:  

Part 1 of the No Shush Salon Three Year Anniversary Reading 

and here: 

Part 2 of the No Shush Salon Three Year Anniversary Reading

Also, please check out the Cemetery Guardians for more awesome stories and great art!

Our next event will be November 10th with Sheila Johnson as our featured reader! 

Link to more info in the sidebar.

September 29th: Kilty Pleasure

Thursday's event was awesome! 

Kilty Pleasure gave us a great show. Check out these mini-videos I recorded:

Kilty Pleasure 1

Kilty Pleasure 2

Kilty Pleasure 3

To check out more Kilty Pleasure, they'll be performing at 2 pm for the Danada Fall Festival at Danada Equestrian Center on October 9th. 

They are also often found playing at the Two Way Street Coffee House!

Much thanks to Anna Peterson for these excellent pictures!

After our delightful concert, we had our Open Mic.

Ed presented a Visual Novel of flash fiction that he and a few other writers are putting together. (Multi-media platforms for the win!) He shared some from his story with King William the 3rd and Rolf who was accused of putting Decart before de horse. He also shared Tim Yow's Call Me Cersei who is always listening and asserted that virtual Andrew would be better than actual Andrew. He shared Kashia Nowden's poem the Sin Tree which grew from the deadly sins the narrator planted. Eventually, the Visual Novel will be posted on  http://writingjourney.org/

Sheila gave us Saint Blow Me in which the old gods were pissed and trying to wipe out the small town of Hedwig with a tidal wave. We heard about crazy Mark and the Ironic raining of Lake Hedwig. "If this god stuff were real, it'd show up on Youtube." and "The Apocolypse will be reblogged!"

Alex shared the end of his story, Seeing Blue where Willow took after Red and became a Seeker. At Sacred Lake, making paint with mew colors by the Bright Rock. It was thought that, since Red "was no maker, her breath held no magic." But then it did and she wondered, "could one be a seeker and a maker?"

Jeanine gave us a few snippets of her life with Little Jeani One Note and read part of a poem called The Undying about her brain injured sister.

Our next event will be on October 27th, at 6:30 pm. This will be our THREE year anniversary! We'll have pizza and cake and readings from https://cemeteryguardians.com/

Aug. 25th Highlights on the theme: What is Family?

Another Open Mic filled with great storytelling and discussion!

Ed read his story, "The Kidnapper", where you can't believe everything you hear. He then shared a story about last week where the song was changed to Hotel North Dakota.
Alex shared "Seeing Blue" about seekers and makers where Red, a seeker, followed a snowy stag and we met Mother Maker.
Sheila read from her upcoming book, Open Arms, Steady Hearts, about Mirabird who posed the question, "is it okay to be a doctor when I grow up instead of a dragon?"
Jeanine shared, "Demons Love Latin", where a flirtation went all wrong since one of them was a demon.
Mike read, "Return of the Zombie", where a kid bought a zombie making kit from Mama Midnight to make a new friend.

Thanks again to Anna Peterson for her picture taking prowess and sneakiness!

Joyful July!

It was great to have Nathan Beachamp as our featured author!

Candid shot of our Featured
Reader Nathan Beachamp

From the Clones Anthology, Nathan read his story, "The Replacement Husband". Without giving too much away, 'cause really, you should read this story, I will say it captured the sense of loss and everything being wrong incredibly well. I was drawn in from the beginning, and thought I knew where things were going, but I was wrong... which is delightful!

What will we read?

Collage of Open Mic-ers - From top L
to bottom R: Brendan, Sheila, Jeanine, & Alex

Our Open Mic was also filled with great storytelling! We had something under the bed in Mike's story about shedding skin and a father that's truly terrible at lying. Ed brought us a spy-thriller about cookies that could solve world hunger and queried what that would entail. Sheila finished up A Gift Most Wanted, leaving us wanting to know more and more about Carol the hunter and her lover Looze (sorry for the misspell!) who was/is a meteoroid / asteroid / traveler. J9 gave us Demon Eye, a tiny poltergeist who haunts glasses. Alex had us Seeing Blue, where we met Red and learned about Seekers and Makers... Seeker Man - Maker Woman, though it sometimes gets turned around. Brendan brought us to the Chicago Arts District where we found a woman under a hood who intrigued and tantalized our protagonist and us. 

Discussion!

All of that and a bag of doughnuts... and ginger... and chocolate covered candy... and... I'm pretty sure I'm missing something else yummy, but it was an evening delicious to the taste-buds and the ears! 


Much thanks to Anna Peterson for her picture taking prowess and sneakiness!



UPCOMING:

Aug. 3rd, 10am - 1pm
Wednesday Writers' Word Feast
A writers' group for all types and genres meeting at the Main Library
Second Floor - Book Discussion Room

Aug. 25th, 6:30 - 8:45pm

A No Shush Salon Themed Open Mic: What is Family?

Meeting at the Maze Branch of the Oak Park Library Meeting Room