Space Murder

During this past February I appeared in a science-fiction murder-mystery-comedy called Space Murder. The show was performed in the University of Oregon's Pocket Playhouse. I played the apathetic doctor Lilac: as a fun side note, the scientific name for the Lilac flower is "Syringa vulgaris," which seemed oddly appropriate for the character (when I pointed this out to the director, he agreed, glad for the happy coincidence).

Spoiler alert: the show was about a murder in space. The doctor, who said himself that "I'm too important to die," bit the dust (but he wasn't the first!) There were many aspects to the show that were interesting, but the fact that I wore leggings and what was essentially a dress on stage in front of audiences will always be the standout for me.

Photo courtesy of the Pocket Playhouse Board.

Supergalactic Girlfriends / The Legend of Barnes

Over the last term, I've been involved in a few performances. First, I've had two brief appearances on the DuckTV show Supergalactic Girlfriends, created by Alex Crowson. My two lines consisted of a pair of silly science jokes: below is the second episode, in which I make my appearance during the very first shot. I'm the guy who says "If I've told you once, I've told you a saintly six-point-zero-two-two times ten-to-the-twenty-third times." The punchline, which is inaudible, is "Holy Moly."

I also appeared recently in the Pocket Playhouse for the show written by Bryce Bivens and directed by Toressa Moretti and Kelsey Ketcham, called the Legend of Barnes. The play is loosely based on The Legend of Zelda video game franchise, and the majority of the play is set inside a video game in which the main character fights to save The Prince (who resembles his now ex-boyfriend from the real world). It is a story of self-empowerment and finding self-worth, but is, at heart, an absurdist comedy. I played a Non-player Character, or NPC, in the game world, as part of an ensemble. I played a castle soldier, a spiked monster (see below), and a character who was strongly based off of the happy mask salesman from the Zelda franchise.

FIG Assistant

Over the past term, I have been working as Freshman Interest Group (FIG) Assistant at the University of Oregon, where I am currently studying Journalism and Theatre Arts. This position has allowed me to mentor a group of incoming freshman students and help introduce them to the University through the lens of a common interest, which, in my group's case, was "Shakespeare's Stage."

Students in a FIG are enrolled in two lecture classes and a one-credit "College Connections" course, which is run jointly by the FIG Assistant (myself) and the professor who runs one of the two lecture classes (for the FIG I help fun, this is Assistant Professor Michael Najjar of the Theatre Arts department). For Shakespeare's Stage, the two classes include an English class that looks at four of Shakespeare's later plays and a Theatre Arts class, taught by Michael Najjar, called History of Theatre I (it is the first in a sequence of three classes: this one covers antiquity to the Jacobean era, slightly after Shakespeare's time).

In addition to running a few simple classes about campus resources as part of the College Connections course, I helped organize a few group outings. The photo above is a group photo from when we went as a group to see The Comedy of Errors performed at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. I also organized and led groups to activities during the weekend before classes started and also one on Halloween night (see below). These activities functioned both as a chance for my students and I to bond and connect with each other, but also as a way to provide safe, alcohol and drug free activities during these times during the first term when parties with illicit substances are common.

At the end of the term, once we the students had performed their final projects (eulogies for William Shakespeare, given from the perspectives of various historical figures in Shakespeare's life), we threw a small party, with a themed cake: one of the reading from the very beginning of the term in History of Theatre had the actors ceremoniously cutting a Hippopotamus-shaped cake that represented the evil god Seth. For our party, we got a cake with a Hippo face and I recited a few short lines from that scene. The class almost fell apart with laughter: the whole experience was marked by friendly leadership and mentoring, and I am very much looking forward to doing this again next year.

Portlandia: A Photo Essay

Portland, Oregon. A city so great, it has its own goddess: Portlandia.

Portland is, without doubt, the most beautiful city I've ever seen.

This sight is a common scene in the suburbs.

Portland blends old, older, new, and future perfectly.

Portland is like that eccentric uncle: it has a strange style, an abundance of interesting stories, never quite fits in, but you wouldn't have it any other way.

Did I say that Portland is weird? I think the person who tied his plastic unicorn to the street would agree.

On a random street, you might find a couple of perfectly working typewriters set out for public use.

We have views like this.

They're everywhere.

And they never get old.

Portland photo safaris often turn into flower photo safaris.

This is a common occurrence.

It's actually quite alarming.

It happens nine times out of ten.

There's a good reason we're called the Rose City.

We have fountains in the middle of the city.

My use of the plural is not mistaken.

These fountains are also really common.

This is the second one on the western waterfront alone.

We also have the nations largest continually operating outdoors market.

This thing is massive; I can get maybe a third of it into one photo.

No amount of photographic skill can capture just how good this smells.

These food carts are the best eats in town; in a city of foodies, that is saying something.

We love bicycles. It's only partially a joke to say that Portland is the most European city.

We can travel all over in Portland: one minute, you're in Japan...

and the next you're in China!

Then, all of a sudden, you're in Narnia!

Portland does get some things backwards; rather than build a parking garage over a public square, it built a public square where there used to be a parking garage.

Psst! It turns out that UP! was a documentary!

John Oliver said it best: "We get it, Oregon, you people live in a cartoon." Yes we do, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

The One And Only

   It annoys me to see that there are zero posts here, so I'm making this little introductory blurb. I am currently enjoying the summer preceding my sophomore year as Journalism/Theatre Arts double major at the University of Oregon, where I am both a student and an employee; I work with the FIG (Freshman Interest Group) program as FIG advisor, or FA. I am an atheist, student, writer, poet, and actor. In the past year I have been involved with three theatrical productions on as many stages before a diverse range of audiences. Over the coming years, I would like to expand my audiences and the work I put out, a summary of which will be available here. Welcome!