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I wrote a collection of 10 short stories with the help of Perplexity,ai. The collection is called Gawkers, True Believers, and Trolls. This episode includes one of those stories, "Spirits of the Steel Valley," sandwiched by musings on the efficacy of AI voices and how graphics have crossed the uncanny valley, but voices haven't.

This is the final installment of the audio drama Kid Again. Mike's friends are getting suspicious of his behavior, and we find out if he's managed to cover up the truth well enough.

This is Episode 9 of the audio drama Kid Again. The episode is entitled "Termination, in which Mike helps his friend Abigail at Planned Parenthood, and finds himself at a crossroads with his girlfriend Susie.

Mike discovers—or re-discovers—some upsetting news both from his new friend Abigail and from his mother.

Mike finds himself back in high school in this time traveling audio series. This is Episode 7, "The Exchange Student."

Some spectator  behavior has been so bad that it has stuck with me for years and  decades. Some of the stories became cautionary tales that I told my Intro to Theatre students to suggest poor theatre etiquette in hoping they'd be better. Here are those stories.

Kid Again is an audio drama about a person named Michael who suddenly realizes he is in his 9th grade classroom in Catholic school. This is a surprise because, before he went to bed, he was 39 years old and packing for a move with his pregnant wife. Is he dreaming? Did he actually travel back in time? And for how long? And…if he is going to experience those years again, knowing everything that he knew when older, how careful does he have to be to not effect great changes while at the same time having more fun than he did the first time around? Mike finds himself with a girlfriend who seems interested in having a very physical relationship with him.

Kid Again is an audio drama about a person named Michael who suddenly realizes he is in his 9th grade classroom in Catholic school. This is a surprise because, before he went to bed, he was 39 years old and packing for a move with his pregnant wife. Is he dreaming? Did he actually travel back in time? And for how long? And…if he is going to experience those years again, knowing everything that he knew when older, how careful does he have to be to not effect great changes while at the same time having more fun than he did the first time around? In this episode, Mike makes a new friend: Joey, who may in fact be attracted to him.

My religion—Catholicism—was presented to me as Holy Armor, to be worn as protection against the evils of the world. But armor tends to rust, as mine certainly did. So I see the world through the lens of secular humanism. Also, pop quiz: what does a bodhisattva and an escapee from Plato's Cave have in common?

People will sometimes ask others, "What are you afraid of?" Here's my answer, which includes heights and public speaking. Well, I got over that one. Listen to find out how.

The audio series Kid Again continues with Episode 4 with Mike, once again a teenager, finding himself presented with new opportunities to use his adult experience at a makeout party. How far will he go to make his second time around a lot more fun?   You can listen to the other Kid Again episodes by checking out: AC Episode 44: KA Episode 1 AC Episode 49: KA Episode 2 AC Episode 57: KA Episode 3

As a young undergrad snob new to academia, I was pretty full of myself about that. I denigrated mere laborers. And that's odd since I came from such humble beginnings, and had many not-great jobs. Luckily, with age comes wisdom and tolerance, at least in my case.  

People love that Christmas classic stop motion animation version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and watch it annually. But for me, it embodies so many terrible ideas. Pro-conformity, anti-environmental, anti-union, anti-individual...it's the embodiment of so many things I value.

The Christmas photos provide distinct evidence for my Huckleberry Hound doll. He, along with my GI Joes, vanished into thin air, and I wonder where they got to.

I loved cars when I was a kid, and even contemplated going to Vo-Tech to learn auto mechanics. But my experience being unable to work a model car suggests that that was a serious strange and misguided thought.