The Monti

If you don't know that I love This American Life, then you don't know me.  I'm addicted to Ira Glass!  And even the local NPR station plays a 30 second clip of me fawning all over this radio host, then back-peddling to stumble over how I still love my husband even though I love Ira Glass - I can love both right? Keep your ear a-tuned for the Marvelle 'My Source' on WUNC.  And if you want to hear it just email me and I can send you the MP3 because I can't for the life of me figure out how to post it to this blog. 

Well the Triangle has it's own pseudo This American Life called The Monti. Every month a group of story tellers get together and tell a real life story (without notes) on a specific topic. I have been trying to get tickets for a while, but every time I remember to look they're sold out! Then eagle-eye Nathan spotted on one of our favorite Durham blogs, Bull City Rising, that there was a Durham event on September 23rd and we snagged tickets.

The even took place at Golden Belt, a revitalized tobacco warehouse with artists studios. The venue was beautiful. We arrived early to check out the 60-piece exhibition, "The Migration Series Revisited." This exhibit is a complete set of Jacob Lawrence's 1941 series "The Migration of the Negro," showcasing the historical narrative that chronicles the great migration of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North between the two world wars.  This picture is the hall where both the art and the stories were showcased.

We also roamed the grounds and captured a few amazing shots during "magic hour."

A color map of who owns Durham - the dark red is Duke.

Most of the stories were pretty good, a few were disappointing, however, a story by Amanda Lamb was so compelling it made me cry. They usually post the stories on their website ~ a month after the show. So if you get a chance please keep an eye out here (http://themonti.org/audio/listen.html) to listen to this amazing story (especially you parents out there).

Jeff Polish - the founder of The Monti

The Monti is doing another show at Spice Street in Chapel Hill on October 28th. Tickets ($7 general, $5 students) go on sale at 5pm on the 20th (Nathan's bday!). If you are interested in going with me please let me know.