Perusings and Dreams

My days are now filled with house keeping, food finding, piano playing, juggling, and looking forward to improv. My food supply is brilliant as I belong to a CSA that make up a bag of produce for me weekly for only $9, and the rest of my shopping I do at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. The piano playing is coming along well, and I'll be jamming on some jazz standards in no time. The temp work is slow but I think the best way for me to get work here in the summer. Still the bottom line is that I love the city of Chicago. It's marvelous.


So I’m reluctant to write about what’s going on when things don’t go exactly according to plan and thus the delay. The bad news was that I didn’t get the summer internship with Uncommon Ground nor did I get into the UNC MBA program. Yeah, boo those things. Getting denied is a new thing for me, as far as auditioning and interviewing for previous jobs I always got the part. From my freshman year at UNC getting into Hot L Baltimore, to applying for a spot on the Habitat for Humanity’s Honduras trip- I was always chosen. I mostly believed that it was because of my confidence that people trusted my judgment that I knew what I was doing by applying… that was my choice. Well folks have stopped going along with my choice it seems. But now the good news- I got into both Claremont and Babson (which is where I want to go) and I just bought a bike. Just wait once I get excited about a prospect or an activity I’ll really get going on describing it. I’d like to mention three such things right now, one of which is a book that I’ve recently read.
The Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins is a book about a new kind of oppression, where in US development companies (power, infrastructure, etc) go into developing countries and plan development projects. The countries see the projected growth benefit and can’t deny the project so go to a global institution, such as the World Bank, for a loan. The projections of the development project are often exaggerated and the country becomes enslaved by the debt they owe because the projects don’t pay out. This is the work of an economic hit man or EHM. I found this perspective, although perhaps exaggerated, enlightening and it now becomes clear why opposition to the World Bank and other such institutions makes sense. I was also intrigued by the story because of many similarities between John Perkins and myself. He was in the Peace Corps in Ecuador, he then took the business route (which I’m doing), and is now concerned with creating a better world supported by his activities in the Ecuadorian jungle called Dream Change. Well, I’m skipping the whole exploitation part and I’m focusing on improvement for the masses. If you’ve ever wanted to verbalize activism for these causes the book is a must.
Another of the activities I’m involved with is improv and I’m taking class at iO, formerly known as the Improv Olympic before they were successfully sued by the Olympics for using there name, so now it’s just iO. By taking classes I get to see most of the shows there for free, which usually cost anywhere between $5 and $15, so it pays for itself. Improv and theater is a tricky deal for me because it’s impact and benefits are much lass concrete and are more secondary. I’ve been thinking that even though the Peace Corps volunteer activities are not always well coordinated and organized, and there are volunteers who do slack off a bit, the impact is greater than a Broadway musical, in which much more funding is needed. Broadway musical vs. Peace Corps taller (educational talk), I’d say that even when the taller is poorly attended it has great impact. I mean singing and dancing, that’s entertainment not development. I’m partly playing devils advocate here but it is difficult to explain what you accomplish from putting on a play. Perhaps it makes people introspective and better people or simply more informed. Even so I love theater and improv and to entertain. So I’m at odds here but I will continue to improvise because I feel it in my heart and it gives me great confidence.
Another of my whimsical thoughts pulled from my tumultuous mind combines these two concepts. This is the concept of dreaming your reality and making it so and the concept of finding meaning in improv. So my reality will definitely be a microcosm but it will include strong community, confident people, and delicious food (which will help make folks happy mmm, mmm). There will also be chocolate and blueberries and other healthy foods. I am of course talking about the Fireplace Theater run by Creighton and yours truly. I’m thinking that the theater will somehow be associated with the chocolate making that I envision. This could be my special slant in the chocolate world- theater chocolate! Don’t steal my idea. It would also be an educational facility and in fact Creighton and I in drafting up our ideas have used interchangeably theater and educational center. Well anyways, it’s fun to explore dreams and so I ask you now to take 5 minutes and explore your own dream, flesh is out some and dream that reality into being. Much like in the song of South Pacific, “you’ve got to have a dweam. If you don’t have a dweam. How you going to have a dweam come twoo?”
BOOM

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