This is not me. But you'll be able to see and hear Mortifying things about me December 10 at Schubas.
Firstly, MichaelVanKerckhove.wordpress.com is now MichaelVanKerckhove.com. Yeah, I went ahead and bought myself my own domain name, snatching it up from the two other guys on earth I know of with my name–they live in Belgium. All things still point to WordPress. Thought I’d take a moment to celebrate. Take your own moment if inspired.
Secondly, I have a show coming up! I’ll be returning to MORTIFIED on December 10, 2011. I’m way excited! This time around, we’ll be at Schubas. I’ve seen concerts there, and now I get to do my own thing on that stage. Awesome. I’ll be reliving the piece I did in March–hear me share excerpts from my 9th grade journals. GET YOUR TICKETS as it will sell out. Can’t wait to see you there.
Memoirsofaguncle.wordpress.com
Thirdly, my first quarter at DePaul University is officially over. I am currently enrolled in the MA Writing & Publishing program. My grad school re-boot is in full effect and going well. My fiction workshop–Time & Place in Fiction–got my fiction brain back in gear. I had the opportunity to workshop two first drafts. One newish and one really new. (More on the stories themselves to come, perhaps.) We read inspiring and relevant published stories, and got to know my classmates through their work. My Digital Publishing class has pushed me to get this site a good dusting. I also launched a new site as part of my class work: Memoirs of a Guncle-adventures in gay unclehood. The site is inspired by mine and Ernie’s new(ish) unclehood and my essay on my evolving attitude toward kids and fatherhood, An Ernie Yes or No. I also want to add more Chicago focused posts on cool things to do with the young ones in our lives. Please check it out and follow on the Twitter and Facebook and all that good stuff. I want to get a new post up soon and keep it going beyond just the class. Wish me luck. And to all my classmates and profs: Have an awesome break and see you soon!
Finally, I wrapped up my Marketing & Events internship at Open Books, the brilliant Chicago literacy non-profit. All our work on Revelry 2011 paid off. With this opportunity, I was able to get a cool look at the inner workings of a non-profit, broadened my awareness of the city (even from my desk), and picked up some experience points in event planning. I also had the chance to experience an amazing Chicago event space–the Catalyst Ranch. Check out the site! In the weeks ahead, I’m going to re-post some of the more personal writings I contributed to the Open Books blog. Now, I get time back to work with the kids–I’ll be doing another field trip on the 30th. Looking forward to it!
More to come. Cheers.
Michael Van Kerckhove 