A Year of Seconds - 7 - January

Obligatory New Year's post, but I loved it because the entire town came alive with car honks instead. It was deafening.

And then the following night was wine and video games. You just can't plan for what you're going to get.

Game nights

Home made burgers (from scratch!)

Home made pasta (FROM SCRATCH!)

Being brought home by a wonderful friend who literally drove me over an embankment; his justification: We're not the first ones.

Middlescott Sketch Battle for days!

Climbing polls in acting lab.

And then road trips to Canada for East Asian cuisine (& it's vegan too)

So it was a full first half of the month.

I don't know what else to say...yes, I do.

Thank you.

A Year of Seconds 6 - DECEMBER

Today, let us discuss December.



There it is.

I finished my Nanowrimo! But, not the project. The project turned into an epic historical fantasy extravaganza, the likes of which I am still reeling from. I am afraid for how long I want this single "novel" to be. Think hundreds and thousands of pages. It has been done, but this is like my second project. Scary tree.

I went to a few more tree lightings.

Got an award for my writing from Nano friends (and a date).

Found my Breakfast Club. Turns out in a room full of theatre kids, I am cool enough to be Bender.

Saw some fantastic student art. Keep making kids, you're better artists than most of us.

Went to a few more game nights.

MADE A FUCKING SOUND STUDIO. That was rad.

Worked on a holiday show. That was amazing. It goes in my credits. I PLAYED THE GRINCH.

I wrote and starred in a short film, which was amazing.

Had some classy meals.

Had some not so classy meals.

And then went and celebrated New Year's on Campus Martius done right.

The End.

of the year.
Not me.

A Year of Seconds 5 - November

Today, we discuss November,



Nanowrimo, of course, began! Hit my 50,000 wordcount on Anne Shakespeare. But, it has turned into a bear of an historical novel. 50,000 words was barely cutting it. It may be a series or a tome or I just need to edit it waaaaay down.

Write ins galore, I met some really lovely people through them.

Art galleries to boot!

Offbrand pringles are terrible, guys.

Out campaigning for the election: Regional Transit. We need it guys, we need it.

Drinking AFTER the election. For days.

Amanda Fucking Palmer guys. She is just magical.

Tree lighting and dinners at home. Still art.

So many silks classes.

Tree lightings at home.

Games for days.

And the holiday show.

To name just a few.

A Year of Seconds 4 - October

Today, we discuss October,



There...it happened. Now, what?

I went to my first ever Hand Egg game at Wayne State. That was a trial and tribulation, if for no other reason than I was introduced to tailgating culture, which let's be honest, I do pretty well. But, more importantly, I met my personal superhero: a dancing man, dressed as a Viking warrior in a line dance.

I ran over four miles to reach the end of Open Streets Detroit, which if you haven't gone out to support local community programming, you really should; it is free and also the only way that they can show that these programs have value.

I seen the Gilmore Girls craze at Avalon and got me that free coffee.

Also saw my first sunrise in years--GETTING UP EARLY!

First look at AltSpace, which everyone should definitely check out.

Game nights and pumpkin carvings for days.

So many pumpkins!

Writing letters.

Directed for the first time in years.

Was a part of an immersive experience.

Started my aerial silks classes.

Threw something off my balcony, which was amazing--THREE STORIES.

Played pong at the local Target, which immersive advertising is the way of the future.

And finally, finally, finally, hosted a Halloween gaming experience. I AM IN THE MAN IN BLACK.

A Year of Seconds 1 - July

Today, we discuss July,







I went walking...a lot!



The most feral child scream I ever heard. Seriously, this kid volunteered for EVERYTHING during the show.



The Rosa Parks bus is held at work!



I found some pretty spectacular sights, including a couple of street festivals (the band playing) that I didn't know Detroit held (Atlanta has a million of them).



The Underground opened and closed its 3rd season, which I got to see all of, but didn't have to lift a damn finger (it's a pretty amazing thing to see these things come and go).



Pokemon Go took the world by storm. I captured a Pikachu in Campus Martius!



We started an artistic fellowship at the house.



Star Wars came back to the big screen (the grainy bits).



I saw a puppet theatre perform Ubu Rex.



It was a pretty full month.

A Year of Seconds 3 - September

Today, we discuss A Year of Seconds p.3,







This was September.



In it, I was employed by my now, dear, dear friend, Erada Svetlana, who I am sure is a Russian spy novel waiting to happen.



I worked with my dear, dear sister Sarah Hawkins Moan and her lovely husband David, who is one of my best friends in the world. I read and listened to Little Women in the span of a few days because I was so committed to the show and the idea of being "cool" in art.



I went "Up North" in Michigan for the first time in four years of being a resident here.



I went on walking tours of the Eastern Market district, trying to find all of the murals on my own. I found a lot of them.



I went walking so far that I found some of my old haunts in New Center Park. For those who don't know that is a long ways, about two hours of walking (one direction) from Eastern Market.



I revisited some places. I had some great planning sessions with the members of YFH and...yeah. It was great.



It was miserable too, don't let social media fool you, but I have decided to use it as a positive reinforcing tool rather thanremember all of the negative that swells in my mental, mental life.



Thank you. Good Night. I hope you're happy.

PTSDetroit l I am an unoriginal by Miles Boucher

Today, we discuss me.







There I am!



Hullo, me!



Anyway, this was an excerpt from our work on PTSDetroit, otherwise known as Plant the Seed, Detroit.

It was hosted on January 20th, 2017 and started at 7:00pm (Eastern).

That day I had watched the Inauguration as had approximately 30.6 million according to the Atlantic.

It was hard to see.

For those who couldn't watch, you should watch it.

For those who can't here is the transcript, provided by the Washington Post



It was hard to watch; incredibly divisive for a president.

But, what could you expect?

I had decided weeks in advance, my audition for PTSDetroit, if you will, was to lift out a chunk of text from President Donald Trump's Inaugural Address and see what could possibly be done with it.

I figured, we had chosen the date of the performance anyway, let's make it significant with the day.

It would also prevent me from over planning or overcooking my performance.



In the end, I had to back away.
I couldn't use his actual text.

For performance reasons.



So I turned to why I wanted to do it in the first place and what I ultimately concluded was this:

I wanted it to be something true.



Something true.



On this day of days, I wanted something that was said to be true.

I didn't want it to be half-truths and half-lies.

I didn't want to hear something to appease the fan base or congratulate conservatives or console liberals.

I wanted people to really think and consider just what had happened and our actions in letting it occur.



So I went with Shakespeare.

Henry VI part 2 as a matter of fact.

John Cade's Rebellion: 

a populist leader who ultimately through his brash and insolent nature almost overthrows the monarchy, but is ultimately executed in a garden by a loyal knight of the crown, all but nameless in his cowardice until he dies. 

And is beheaded.

I don't know why I thought it would make a good substitute, but the bravado and the appeal to almost dream-like promises seemed accurate.

So I ran with it.

I copied it down verbatim into my journal and then wrote bookends for it that would be absolutely true.

What came out was a critique on truth.

A critique on the hashtag culture that we are living in and the horror of the reality of Aaron Sorkin's The Newsroom, which foretold:

"People choose their facts nowadays."

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it.

I hope it made you think; it certainly has made me think about what it is we are all doing here.

Please, please, please, love one another and love yourselves.

Ultimately, the demagogues perish because they are alone.

They cannot help but be alone because they drive a wedge between everyone until they are the only ones left.

It happens all of the time.

Stand together. Stand up. And take care.