Winter Cafe - Sneak Peek!

by Shawna Lee, staff member

The Clearwater School is celebrating Groundhog Day (February 2, 2012) by hosting the second annual Winter Cafe, an inspirational showcase of student solo and group performances. The showcase will be preceded by a potluck at 12:30pm, and performances begin at 2:00pm. Donations of $5 per person are requested for the performance.

Everyone is welcome, but space is limited. RSVP and reserve your space now by contacting The Clearwater School by phone (425) 489-2050 or email.

Here's a sneak peak in photos and video of last week's rehearsal. (The Clearwater Singers will also be performing, but no photographs were taken of them during the rehearsal.)

Alex singing

Aidan, Leo and Gabriel

Benji on saxophone

Leo on bass

Jacy and Maddy

Benji, Matt, Bryan, Cass (partially hidden), Leo and Aidan

A Tantalizing Video Montage

Lily - Composer & Lyricist

by Shawna Lee, staff member

Lily, who is almost 13 and has been attending The Clearwater School since she was five years old, has been passionate about music for a long time. (Her other great passion is chickens!) Her dad, Matt (a staff member at Clearwater), is a musician and songwriter. For a few years she was an enthusiastic part of the Clearwater Singers, the small choir at school, but her interest in group singing has waned and this year she decided not to be part of the choir.

Now, Lily is working on solo singing and composing songs. She has written musical phrases before, but this year she began writing songs in earnest. "The tune often comes first," says Lily, although with her latest song, "the tune and words came together." She often works out emotions she's feeling in her lyrics. She played around with a tune for months, but the song with the working title, "When I Walk" really came together in the late summer when she felt sad and frustrated, missing her dad who was on a week-long trip.

Lily is working with Matt to make "When I Walk" and another song, "Whispers", better. Just this week she decided to change a line in the verse of "Whispers" to make it more original and more compatible with the guitar accompaniment. "It's a lot better now." She often seeks me out to get my feedback on her latest tune or modification. I love seeing her passion, process and creative joy, as well as her commitment to reworking her songs to make them better and better.

Singer-songwriter and Grammy winner Taylor Swift is a major inspiration for Lily right now. Lily knows Swift's songs backwards and forwards and she's learned a lot about what she likes and how to construct songs from her exhaustive listening. For instance, Lily likes Swift's use of verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus song structure. For a while, "bridges made me feel stuck," Lily said. "But I kept trying out different things until I figured them out." She likes bridges because "they make songs longer and more interesting. I don't like short songs."

There are samples of three of Lily's songs on the video in this post. The first one, Lily abandoned because she just didn't like how it was working. The second one is about her love of rain and the third is "When I Walk". Her next goal is to finish and polish five songs and make an album--something she plans to do in the next few months. I know I'm looking forward to hearing the early incarnations of her next songs and watching what she does with them.

Clearwater Profiles - Mara

This is the first in a series of profiles of Clearwater students. Clearwater students range in age from three to eighteen, and include kids who've attended since they were three and others who've enrolled later in their schooling.

by Shawna Lee, Clearwater staff member

Mara and I arranged to meet at 1:00 PM and talk about her life at Clearwater. When I tracked her down she was deep in a game with two other girls (10 and 12 years old). All of them were wolves, and Mara was on the hunt for caribou and winter bunnies.

Mara turns 11 in three weeks, and has been at The Clearwater School since she was four years old. This year, she plays a lot of what she calls character and skill games. In character games, she and other players take on different personas, from magic users to animals to warriors. Skill games require the participants to follow clues and solve puzzles in scenarios they create together. Tag games are also a favorite.

Mara, Vera, Jesse and Will

Learning Music at The Clearwater School

Cass

Singing, playing instruments and listening to and talking about music have been a big part of people's lives at Clearwater for many years. A changing group of girls have been members of a small choir for several years. A few students have become proficient at guitar or drums. A few poke around on the piano or take a few lessons.

Maddy and Jacy

This year, enough people are interested in learning to play guitar and drums that staff member and musician Matt Garrity has set aside two mornings a week for scheduled lessons. Four girls are learning to play the guitar and, in addition to their weekly lessons, spend time practicing on their own and learning to play guitar and sing at the same time.

Cass, Matt and Leo

Two teenage boys spend hours each week with each other, alone or with Matt on drums, playing electric guitar and bass. A couple of girls are writing original songs with music and lyrics, consulting with Matt. There have been some piano lessons this year, too.

 Guitar lesson with Matt

Some of the girls who are in the choir are also taking guitar and piano lessons. What they are learning about playing instruments adds  to their understanding of how music works and deepens their singing skills.

Aidan and Matt

It is rare for the music room to be empty for extended periods. Usually, someone is taking a lesson, practicing in a group or alone, or jamming.

Watch this video sample of some of the music making at Clearwater over the past several weeks. The video shows people not performing, but practicing--working to get better at playing an instrument, to create rhythm, melody and harmony, to compose a song which was later discarded, to play the same chord progression or improvise something new together, and to help each other increase their skills.

Tales of Warcraft - Chapter 5

Here is the fifth installment in Meghan's original story set in the Warcraft world. If you haven't read or don't remember the story so far, be sure to check out Chapter 1, Chapter 2,  Chapter 3. and Chapter 4. The story is told from the point of view of Salith, a female half-elf, half-troll rogue. 

 Meghan as Jay Warren in Clearwater's current steampunk LARP

Chapter 5

Deja Vu

Salith's eyelids fluttered and she groaned, lifting her head. An earsplitting headache had made its way into her skull and it was very distracting.

“Mordink” Said a voice to Salith's left. It sounded as if the person to whom the voice belonged had a very broken nose. Salith slowly turned her head towards the voice and, trying not to hurl, she spoke. “Morning...Who are you?”

Salith saw a small and frail-looking human. A tattered light-blue tunic and what looked like a wide variety of rags sewn together and loosely called pants, adorned her ragged figure. The human looked as if she had been thrown down a hole full of starving imps and left there for at least a day, then pulled up with a chain around her neck. Salith felt sorry for her, despite how Salith herself looked. The human took a little while to answer. She seemed to be looking Salith over, then finally, after a long pause, she replied, “Rowda.”

Salith inhaled deeply, still trying not to hurl. She nodded to the girl, “Salith. Nice to meet you, Rowda.” Rowda laughed, which segued into a large and lethal-sounding coughing fit. Having composed herself, she corrected Salith. “Do, R-o-w-n-a”

“Rowna?”

“Yes”

Salith assumed 'Do' was meant to be 'No'. She continued, “What happened to your nose?” Rowna shrugged “I was undonscious for most of it. I just dow it hurt, a lot.” It looked like it took a lot of effort for Rowna to talk, so Salith decided to leave her be for the moment.

She looked herself over. Salith was still wearing the prison clothes Ceradar's men had put on her--a simple brown shirt and pants, but the pants were shredded near her feet and the left sleeve of her shirt had been torn off completely. With a pang, Salith remembered that she had left Delaralas and Varawien to fend off all of those men by themselves. She surprised herself with how much she cared about the two that she hardly knew. A ferocious sneeze coupled with a sick splattering noise from Rowna's direction made Salith finally throw up. She spat on the floor repeatedly, disgusted.

Worgen

The clattering of chains and bizarrely familier shuffling footsteps made Salith look up, and there before her was the undead she had seen talking to the mysterious worgen lady--and, to Salith's horrified surprise, Varawien.

“Vara!” Salith cried, remembering too late as she tried to pull towards her friend, that her bindings were rigged to cause her horrible pain if she moved. The undead laughed cruelly as Salith dropped her head, barely holding back a scream and fighting tenaciously to stay conscious. She had fainted too many times recently to do so again.

Varawien looked dead. She was pale and broken-looking, wearing nothing more than Salith herself. Various torture scars were showing on her bare arms, some even still dripping blood. Salith stared straight into Varawien's dull eyes and felt her spirits plummet.

She asked quietly, “Delaralas...?”

Varawien looked away. “Dead.”

Tales of Warcraft - Chapter 4

Meghan

Here is the fourth installment in Meghan's original story set in the Warcraft world. If you haven't read or don't remember the story so far, be sure to check out Chapter 1, Chapter 2 and Chapter 3. The story is told from the point of view of Salith, a female half-elf, half-troll rogue. 

Chapter 4

Traveling

They were back on the road. Varawien had decided to join them on their 'quest', as she called it. She was astride a great black steed with white socks and a white diamond-shape on his forehead, whom she called Topaz .

Y'know, I don't think she believed a word you said!” Varawien laughed.

After a small silence in which the birds sang and the wind gently rustled the leaves on the trees, she continued.

“But it would have looked too suspicious if she hadn't let us go--with the innkeeper watching and all.”

Salith stayed silent, watching a hawk flying lazily overhead.

“It was still a bit of a close shave. However did you come up with all that?” Delaralas asked, riding up so that Drake and Topaz were neck and neck.

Salith shrugged.

“Not all of it was made up. Erilikoth is real, so is Alin'kah, and the Emerald Grove is a myth,” she said, still watching the hawk.

“Not all myths are legend,” Delaralas said, sounding rather mysterious.

Salith slowed Bandit to a walk.

“What do you mean?” she asked, bewildered.

“I mean, some say dragons are only of legend, but they are blinded by their own limits. If they opened their eyes, they would see that--”

Tales of Warcraft - Chapter 3

Those of you who have been following Meghan's original story set in the Warcraft world are long overdue for the third installment. If you haven't read or don't remember the story so far, be sure to check out Chapter 1 and Chapter 2.  If you'd like to re-read the first chapter, click on the link above, then enjoy Chapter 3, below. The story is told from the point of view of Salith, a female half-elf, half-troll rogue. 

Tales of Warcraft

Chapter 3
Stormy escape

Salith awoke to the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance. She got to her feet and looked out of her cage at the sky where clouds so gray they were almost black gathered on the horizon.

“A storm is brewing,” she said, grasping the two nearest bars and gazing out at the darkening sky.
“Indeed.” A cool voice came from behind her.
Startled, Salith whipped around and bared her teeth.
“Who are you?” she demanded as thunder rolled once more.
“I am known as Delaralas(1),” the stranger replied.

He wore a long emerald cloak and leather garments, half-concealed by the cloak. As he pulled down his hood Salith realized he was an elf, with long purple-ish ears and markings painted across his face.
“What are you doing here?” Salith’s accent faded and she hid her tusks.
“I am here to rescue you. Don’t bother hiding them, I know what you are,” he said.
She scowled and showed her teeth, eyes flashing.
“Why would you come to rescue me? You’re an elf of high-birth and I’m nothing but a lowly half-breed. I don ‘t get it.”
Delaralas shook his head and exhaled softly.“Heh. Neither do I, my friend, neither do I.”
Salith spat contemptuously while lightning flashed behind her.
“Anything but, elf!”

Delaralas actually laughed, echoed by thunder, closer now than before.
“Come now, you don’t want to be stuck in here when that storm hits, now do you? Grab my hand and we’ll get out of here,” he said, sticking out his hand and stuffing the other into his robe.
"I’ll have to trust him…" Salith thought.
She grabbed his hand and just as their palms touched, the storm broke.

Aidan's New Blog

Aidan, who is 12 and has attended Clearwater for 6 years, recently started a blog called The Rest of the Iceberg. He describes the focus of the blog this way: "Whatever happened to the rest of the iceberg? Underneath the tip of it you'll find bite-sized short stories, rambling rants, inner thoughts and strange musings."

He'd thought about starting a blog for a little while. One night when he couldn't sleep, he decided to go online and see if he could set one up on his own. Voila!--The Rest of the Iceberg. He sometimes has insomnia and discovered that writing down what's in his head helps quiet his mind. 

Aidan's first post is a short story called, "Cogs and the Lack Thereof", which takes place in a dystopian future and is a delightful commentary on creativity and its ability to change the world. Another post, "Creative Evolution", features a character he created while playing World of Warcraft. He describes that story as "the first thing i ever wrote, unedited complete with no punctuation and general painful-to-read-y-ness."

With Aidan's characteristic gutsy-ness, he publishes it raw in the blog. Later in the same post he reveals what happened to that first story after he spent six more months working on it. In my interview with him, he quoted Oscar Wilde, "Books are never finished, they are merely abandoned." Although, he doesn't enjoy re-reading his past work, he recognizes that he is always learning more about writing by doing it.

When Aidan began writing, he read several writing blogs to get other writers' advice on the craft of writing. He said he waits for inspiration to strike and like many writers feels like he knows his characters personally.

He admires Neil Gaiman, Lemony Snickett, Jasper Fford (Shades of Grey, One of Our Thursdays Is Missing) and Robert Kirkman (writer of  the comic series The Walking Dead and Invincible).

Aidan incorporates links to music in some of his stories. So far he has written two posts featuring Victor Jerami, the titular unorthodox demon hunter, who slays demons by playing rock music. Each post has links to specific songs used to dispatch the monsters. One of Aidan's inspirations is the Joss Whedon TV series, Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. The title character of that series is not-so-subtly alluded to in the second Victor Jerami post, "Unarmed and Unplugged."

He does not have a posting schedule for himself and warns there may be long dry spells, but also times when he posts several entries at once.

At this point in his life, he is interested in becoming a career writer of fantasy and science fiction novels.

Aidan's mom, Alicia, announced his blog on her Liberating Kids facebook page and noted, "He was never formally taught to read or write." Aidan told me he started learning to read when he was three or four. He used some reading software initially, and reads a lot. He taught himself typing by using the online chat function while playing World of Warcraft.

I look forward to reading more of Aidan's writing.

Cosmos: The Graphic Novel

Samadhi has been a student at Clearwater for 9 years--he enrolled when he was four and is now almost 14 years old. He has been drawing since he was six and began making comics two or three years ago.

This year he started writing and illustrating a science fiction graphic novel series titled Cosmos. He has completed 16 pages in the first of seven planned books in the series. Book one is subtitled "Sol System", and will be around 200 pages long. He is using Adobe Photoshop to color the comic.

Samadhi has another comic series in mind, also science fiction. He maintains he cannot make a comic series without outer space in it. He explained that the humor in his comic is inspired by Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which combined sci-fi and comedy so well.

Many graphic novels fill Samadhi's shelves at home. Some of his favorites are Bone, Usagi Yojimbo, Amulet, Missile Mouse and Lackadaisy. He admires the last one because it is well drawn and combines comedy and drama.

Without further ado, here is Cosmos. Many pages are followed by Samadhi's comments. Click on each image to enlarge for reading.

Comic Prologue page 001

Comic Prologue page 002

Page 003 Shipslicer!

(click to embiggen)

Page 004 The Vanishing...

(click to embiggen)

And, now The Title Page!

(Click to embiggen and discover the name of this Opus)

And The first page of the actual comic!

(Click to check out those awesome night time effects close up)

Page 007 (Sodalicious!)

Page 008 (Suddenly, better shading! Wow!)

Page 009 (Lamps with eyes are the best kind of lamps. I’d totally buy that lamp.) 

Page 010 (Oh wait no that’s no lamp. Shocking twist. What is even this guy’s deal with these lamps.)

Page 011 (PLOT!! That’s a sound effect that needs to be used in comics more often.)

Page 012 (Shocking twist #2. Man Lekku what is even up with your mane in that last panel. Brush strokes eternal.)

Page 013 (Motion blur always. I have to draw those couches so many times i will just drop a spaceship on one, which just actually happened. Oh wait now it’s harder to draw. Dang)

Page 014 (See, when you cut something with a sword that looks like a peeled banana it clearly can’t be fixed. This is what happens in my world.)

How many couches CAN I destroy???????? Next on Cosmos!

Samadhi's comic was first published on his mother Roseanne's blog, Breaking Sod, in three installments: one, two and three. 

End of post.

The Armory

When walking around Clearwater's grounds, I'm always impressed by the student-made toys and weaponry. Home made or heavily modified Nerf guns morphed last year into potato artillery, and potatoes were deployed with gusto, to much applause. If you don't think the word "industrial" could be used to describe a hula-hoop, you haven't seen the Clearwater hula-hoops.

So this last month or so, swords and shields have been cast around the play yard or used in battle. They look to be made of 90% duct tape, but these photos show that is not the case. Leading the charge, so to speak, is staff member Mat. When the zombies attack, you want Mat on your side.

Getting Ready for Whistlepig

Many Clearwater students and all four staff members are spending the week in a state of high expectation and preparation for Whistlepig, Clearwater's fourth annual festival of music, food and sun, this Sunday, May 1, 1-6pm. (We hope the sun cooperates and shows its welcome face on Sunday.) Details of all the great things you can see and do at Whistlepig are at the end of this post.

First, here's a sneak peek at two of the performances that will be featured at Whistlepig.

Jacy, Maddy and Keenan are the 1, 2, 3's, who will be performing their latest choreographed spinning routine, Spintastics. I sat in and videoed some of their latest choreography.



As I watched, I was struck by the deep friendship between these three that enables them to work together with ease, honesty and mutual support when creating their spinning choreography. They have been friends for many years and the trust and respect between them is evident.

This mutual trust and their affection for each other is a product of years spent figuring each other out, working hard to understand complicated, difficult feelings, learning to appreciate each others quirks and strengths, and their commitment to honesty.

When they work together on a project such as their upcoming Whistlepig performance, they know each other so well that they can jump right in, communicate clearly without worrying about stepping on each other's toes or feelings, and collaboratively create something they love with efficiency and skill.

Most schools are not equipped to provide uninterrupted time, space and an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect for children to explore and develop honest, rich relationships with each other. Fortunately, at Clearwater, students can devote the fullness of their energy, creativity and time over days, months and years (not just at recess or breaks between classes) to developing relationship skills that will serve them well throughout their lives.


Another amazing performance at Whistlepig will be the Wiggling Monkeys, Clearwater's choreographed hula hooping group. They have been spinning hoops together for several years now, and enjoy the opportunity to create something that is exciting for them and their audiences. This year will be no exception.







Finally, here are full Whistlepig details. We'd love to see you, your family and friends. If you can't come, consider making a tax deductible donation via Clearwater's home page.

Featured performances by:

Kimo Muraki
Clearwater Singers
Zoe’s Fuse – Irish music and dance
We Shadows Theatrical Troupe – scene from Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”
Wiggling Monkeys – choreographed hula hooping
The 1, 2, 3’s – Spintastics (choreographed spinning)

Come hungry! The menu will feature sandwiches made with pulled pork smoked on site and prepared by Clearwater’s Master Chef students; fresh green salad; vegetarian entrées and sides; snacks and beverages.

Then, indulge in homemade scrumptious pastries and yummy desserts made by the amazing bakers in our community.

More favorite activities:

• Tap into your inner wisdom with palm, aura and tarot readings
• Be part of Whistlepig’s carnival vibe and pick up a mask, mardi gras beads, head dress and other festive gear
• Make a one-of-a-kind button you can wear proudly at any occasion
• Decorate yourself with divine body art

$10 suggested donation

End of post.

Tales of Warcraft, Chapter 2

Last month the first chapter of Meghan's original story set in the Warcraft world appeared on this blog. She has written five chapters so far. If you'd like to re-read the first chapter, click on the link above, then enjoy Chapter 2, below. The story is told from the point of view of Salith, a female half-elf, half-troll rogue.

Tales of Warcraft
Chapter 2
A Terrible Reunion

Salith’s consciousness returned only when she was shoved roughly up against a stone wall and was surprised to find her hood intact and upon her head. “And so we meet again, my slippery little friend!” said a cold voice from above her. Salith opened her eyes. Before her were the shin-high boots of a human she had met only once before and she did not plan on repeating the encounter, though she felt this would be entirely different.

Salith discovered there were at least two more armored humans behind her; one of them took hold of her tattered hood and ripped it off her cloak entirely, revealing red-orange dreadlocks that fell just past her shoulders and a face much less like what the human’s thought she was. Her face was bluish with a tint of lavender and her eyes were glowing orbs, a ghostly ivory.


The human before her reached out a gloved hand and took hold of her dreadlocks. Not wishing to have her hair pulled out, Salith was forced to look up into the face of the human she had dreaded ever meeting again.
“Where be dah true king!?” she demanded, and the man tightened his grip on her dreadlocks.
“I am the king, Half-breed!”
Salith bared her yellowish teeth. “You are no king!”

Before she knew what was happening, the man had let go of her dreadlocks and waved his hand to the man to her left, who took hold of her arm and wrenched. Salith screamed and fell to the floor; she lay face down, her arm sticking out at a weird angle. She bit her lip so hard to keep from whimpering it bled.

The man who claimed to be king knelt down and took hold of her dreadlocks once more, pulling her head up so that she had to look him in the face. “I am the rightful king. Question my rule again and the pain will be much, much worse” he whispered. His voice was cold as ice and his eyes burned with blue flame. Salith bared her teeth, but didn’t have the strength to retaliate, nor did she want more pain; she was almost overwhelmed by it already. “Remember Cerader*,” was the last thing Salith heard.

Thump thump thump. What was that sound? She didn’t care. Why was the ground swaying? She didn’t know. Salith opened her eyes to find a metal roof above her head and bars all around and discovered the sound was her heartbeat. Sitting up slowly she looked around. She was in a hanging cage attached to the side of the main castle of the city of Dunatar. Below was a large courtyard filled with bustling villagers. A fountain sat in the middle of the busy courtyard, the water sparkling with coins that had been tossed in.

A group of young villagers stood beneath her cage, glaring up at her and occasionally throwing small rocks up at her.
“Demonspawn!” one of them called, a tall man clad in leather garments.
“Half-breed!” called another, a shorter man in violet robes.
“Lay off guys!” cried a young women wearing a dress with a white top and blue bottom. reaching out to put a hand on the leather-clad man’s shoulder.
He turned and pushed her roughly aside. “C’mon, let’s leave it to rot.”

Salith wasn’t stung at all by any of the insults, for all of them she had heard many a time before. Instead she turned her attention to the rising sun which turned the clouds pink and showered the surrounding forest with golden rays of light. Salith sighed, rubbing her broken arm gingerly. "What does Cerader want with me?" she wondered, shuddering at his name. It seemed as if it had been burned into her memory. Her mind whirled and her arm throbbed. "If I survive this, it’ll be a miracle," Salith thought miserably. She lay on her back and stared up at the roof of her prison and soon blackness consumed her.

*Pronunciation guide: Cerader (Seer-a-dar)

End of post.