The Castle

As mentioned previously I now live in Chicago, in a castle. Many friends, family, and random guys on the street have asked me why I moved to Chicago. The answer is simple, I love Chicago! It is my favorite US city, especially with spring coming on and the trees leafing out. The city is so diverse with so much to do (so much of it free), I mean Millennium Park is worth it alone then there are all the farmers markets
and of course the improv and my tight group of friends. It almost makes me want to put off business school and savor the moment.
Also I have promised to post photos of where I am living so here they are, Miles new abode in the castle, my room located right next to the kitchen.
So let's hear it for up town Chicago, where the sun shines, the panhandlers are numerous, and you can always eat subway. BOOM

I swear

Hello, hello
As I sit here at the Avanti Cafe on Southport Blvd. I am inspired to do a brief post to catch folks up to speed and just unload. I'm still unemployed here in Chicago and I've been going to see a myriad of improv shows. It was the Chicago Improv festival this week and Thomas Whittington helped introduce me to some big stars in the improv world, like Mick Napier and Joe Canali. My favorite show was Ike Borenholtz and Jordan Peele, who do a two man long form based on movies. They were visiting from LA so if you live out there you should check that show out at iO west. My second favorite show that was a bit sillier was the Shakespearean Improv Company that performs at iO here in Chicago Fridays at 8pm. They have a mastery of old English and quick wit that will have you in stitches just because of the absurdity of it, at some points you'll think that Shakespeare actually wrote some of what they say.
I also wanted to farther comment on my life. I'm enjoying living in the castle (I swear I'll get pictures up once I replace the download cable from my camera). I've been teaching improv with the Young Chicago Authors on Saturday morning, and after teaching English in Ecuador it is a blessing. These young high schoolers are better writers then I am. The classes have been going well and it's too bad the class is coming to an end. I've also starting volunteering with the non-profit Growing Power and spent a wonderful day weeding in the middle of Grant Park last Wednesday, right next to Buckingham Fountain. Lastly I'm taking piano lessons and will soon have the songs Summer Time and Mack the Knife under my belt. BOOM

Welcome to the Miles Blog

Yes the Ecuadorian Adventures are over and the Costa Rican Weeklies are long gone, so now that my life is “normal” (meaning I’m not living in a foreign country) how am I to keep people up to date? I didn’t want to continue sending out emails that say “I took out the trash today and worked on decreasing my foot odor” so I thought I’d start this little blog to keep folks up to date without pestering them and so I can direct folks to my new photo collection.

Let me start this blog post with a quick synopsis of What the hell are you doing Miles?
As many of you know I’ve recently moved to Chicago after bouncing around the world for awhile. The series of events and peak moments of my life that preceded this move were as such:
October 29, 1982 I was born in Albuquerque, NM in a house with a hot tub.
June 1983 the fam moves to Heritage Hills, NC.
Most of those early years I remember little besides annoying my sister and creating snow sculptures with my neighbor Brian Rahea.
Moved to Carrboro for elementary school and avoided the girls and kisses during recess.
Moved to downtown Chapel Hill, but managed to stay in the same school district and attended McDougal Middle School in Carrboro, where I still didn’t hit puberty so was the envy of all my classmates because of my zitless face. Because of the confidence I exuded won both popularity contests receiving both the McDougal and the Mustang award.
Went on to CHHS where I excelled academically and because of my sister discovered improv and theater in a big way. I continued winning awards, the We-Blow award in Chemistry, I was crowned as the Powder-Puff Queen, and gave the graduation speech in the Dean Dome.
Continued my education at UNC-Chapel Hill and majored in biology. I also gained some farm experience down-under in the family pecan business. I also had my first kiss at age 20 with a very hot lady named Joey of all things. From here on out it’s been me chasing the girls at recess.
Three important things to know about my college career: I roomed with old first grade friend Tim Matson all four years, I spent almost all of my extracurricular time in theater doing plays and improv, and my junior year I studied abroad in Costa Rica.

Once I graduated I had lots of peak experiences: I sailed from Sitka Alaska to Glacier Bay on a 45’ sailboat, I took a road trip around the US with Costa Rica buddy Chris Jager, and lived on Sustenance Farm in Bear Creek, NC with Harvey Harman and family. All this before heading out on a defining era, which was my Peace Corps experience in Ecuador.
Two years and six months later I’m back in the states and have now idea what career I want and nothing but travel plans. During the next 8 months I do not spend more than 2 weeks in any one location. My destinations included: Chapel Hill, NYC, Boulder CO, Ashland OR, Austin TX, Byron Bay Australia, Toowoomba, Alice Springs, the Kimberly Mountain range, Broome, Halls Creek, Brisbane, O’Reilys, LA, Palm Springs, Dallas, Denton TX, Boston, and Chicago. A number of these places where visited several times.

My main project during this time was to figure out what to do next. I took a two pronged approach: one was to find a dream job and do it, the second was apply to grad school.
The two approaches are accompanied by two dreams that I have which are:
Start and run a theater with long time friend and creative genius Creighton Irons
and…
Start a chocolate business/ factory (bean to bar)
So where has this all lead me: well I’ve got applications in to business school for entrepreneurship and management and I’ve moved to bloom’n Chicago.
I’m currently waiting to hear back from some job prospects and I’m furnishing my new room on 4521 Malden St., which is in fact a Castle! Stay tuned for Miles updates weekly. BOOM