stephenschrum

I Do Believe in Ghosts!

I’ve had some brushes or encounters with the mystical and supernatural which have led me to believe in a metaphysical world that a phenomenon we would call “ghosts” exist. One morning, while preparing to go out, an object suddenly fell off the shelf in the bedroom closet. I felt no earthquake (it was in California)Continue reading “I Do Believe in Ghosts!”

Sniffing Name Tags

The title comes from my description of a certain behavior I often witnessed at conferences. Two conference attendees are approaching each other in a hotel hallway or on the exhibit floor. One of the attendees (the distance determined by their eyesight) looks at the other’s face. If they do not immediately recognize the person, theyContinue reading “Sniffing Name Tags”

Who Owns the Flag?

Many so-called patriots proudly fly their American flags all the time—on their houses and properties, on their trucks, on their clothing. They want to prove how proud they are to be Americans, and the deep connection they have with the symbol of their country. I too have a strong link to that piece of cloth.Continue reading “Who Owns the Flag?”

More Mobile Game Ad BS

I continue to rail against the ads that appear when I play certain games. These continue to astound me in their ridiculousness, and I would think that, in most businesses, they would have no success or people would be fired. But maybe no one really cares anymore. The first ad I want to mention appearedContinue reading “More Mobile Game Ad BS”

Comme Ci Comme Ca

My last blog post railed against universities cracking down on protestors; I’m following that up by attacking free speech in the form of these ridiculous spam texts I keep getting. This person didn’t even try to address me pretending to be the person in Miami there were supposedly contacting. He/She just went right for theContinue reading “Comme Ci Comme Ca”

Campuses: WTF?

When I arrived at Berkeley in 1985, I saw a makeshift shantytown on the campus. It called attention to apartheid in South Africa and sparked my awareness of that situation and of politics in general. I mean, the campus was steeped in political protest since the free speech movement decades earlier had ignited a trend—thatContinue reading “Campuses: WTF?”

“You Are The Killer!”

This past weekend we had the premiere presentation of our interactive murder mystery, Whispers in a Dark Manor. I’d venture to say that it was overall a success. When talking with a local hotel to use their conference room for a performance, they expressed interested in doing a murder mystery dinner. We agreed, and IContinue reading ““You Are The Killer!””

I Like Your Ensemble!

These ads for mobile games (that appear while I play other mobile games) continue to march across my screen. Most of them are lame or unwatchable, a few are utterly fascinating and confounding (how do I get an AI GF to be an effective dominatrix? I’m not making an in-app purchase to find out!), andContinue reading “I Like Your Ensemble!”

You Haven’t Got a Pray-er

I recently had a conversation with someone about the power of prayer. Actually, that’s not accurate; it wasn’t a conversation, but more of a monologue. He had two stories on this topic. Honestly, there may have been more, and I may have forgotten them in the amount of verbiage coming out of this guy. TheContinue reading “You Haven’t Got a Pray-er”

Storytelling 101? They Need the Remedial Class!

I started a new theatre and performance group called StoryZ because I think storytelling is at the center of what it means to be human, Yes, sometimes people weave tales that end up as conspiracy theories, but my premise is still sound. However, not everyone who tries to tell a story is any good atContinue reading “Storytelling 101? They Need the Remedial Class!”