Open Mike LIVE

Open Mike LIVE

Join Mike George for his wanders, as he completes his quest to return home from Louisiana, battling various foes, fears and follies along the way…

Featuring occasional appearances with Dave, unidentified stoners in the park, WANDA, and Parking Garage KAREN.

Play along and join my next LIVE stream. You might be the next essential guide for Mike to finally reach home.

This collection chronicles over 7 years of live-streaming video posts I’ve recorded.

This raw format is a move from static text to video, facilitating a more immediate and direct connection with others. They are unscripted and unpolished slices in my life, documenting my travels and adventures across various locations in North America.

A man with dark hair and a bandana around his neck stands in front of red and white striped fabric and a blue section with white stars, reminiscent of the American flag.

I hope you enjoy these productions and find some small value from my story.

I’m an engineer in the industry of energy and electric power who, like many of my beloved colleagues, asks myself “how can we do better?”

Gazing upon the marvels of which humanity is capable, I can’t help but compare the promise of our time to what we see happening on the news today and what anxieties haunt our children about the world we leave them. And that comparison grows more and more difficult to paint kindly.

But I cannot stay silent. So here I am to offer some civility, humor, and critical insight into how I believe we can restore American excellence, starting with each of us.

Follow my journey through the following places in America in which I’ve called home:

  • Columbus, Ohio

  • Portland, Oregon

  • Montreal, Quebec

  • Alexandria, Louisiana

  • Steubenville, Ohio

Mike George (signature)

Featured Episodes

Featured
The Thankless Toil
Crimson House
The Thankless Toil
Crimson House
Crimson House
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Columbus Metropolitan Library
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Columbus Metropolitan Library

These episodes focus on the concept of artificial intelligence (AI), exploring various facets of intelligence itself and distinguishing real from artificial intelligence. We question how intelligence is defined, debate whether it involves acquiring and retaining information, goal-oriented learning, and the ability to adapt or alter goals.

Columbus Metropolitan Library
AI Fueled Performance Evaluation
AI Fueled Performance Evaluation

Mike utilizes Google's artificial-intelligence platform Notebook LM to review his video collection. This AI-generated analysis serves as a unique self-evaluation, highlighting Mike's adaptability, resilience, and observant nature as he navigates various life challenges, including housing insecurity and financial struggles.

My Stolen Birthday
My Stolen Birthday

Mike shares his recent struggles, including the theft of his belongings around his 39th birthday. Despite these setbacks and over two years of living on the streets, he remains resilient, finding gratitude in those he's met during this journey.

Columbus is a Winter Wonderland
Crimson House
Columbus is a Winter Wonderland
Crimson House

On his first broadcast of the new year, Mike shows off downtown Columbus, following the city's fresh snowfall.

This walk along Broad Street includes a glimpse of the nativity scene of St. Joseph Catholic Church and the Ohio Statehouse.

Crimson House
Penthouse Loft
Crimson House
Penthouse Loft
Crimson House

Mike finds a fabulous and unexpected solution to his present housing woes.

Crimson House
Past versus Present Futures
Past versus Present Futures

Mike observes how the genre of science fiction has shifted in tone from utopian visions of humanity to a more fractured and tribalistic society, mirroring societal changes in the real world away from embracing globalization to the balkanization of global politics, economics, and culture these days. From this imperfect future stems the notion of the multiverse.

Places Now & Then
Places Now & Then

Mike reflects on how notable places in our life anchor us to the past.

Rain Delay
Rain Delay

Mike shares a raw and candid reflection on his recent struggles and observations. He begins by noting a "rain delay" in his evening, which metaphorically mirrors a period of personal stagnation and disillusionment.

WANDA’s Legacy
WANDA’s Legacy

Broadcasting in transit aboard a commuter bus in Columbus, Mike reflects on his relationship with WANDA, the bright musical baton that routinely accompanies his commutes throughout the city, discussing the factors that necessitated its creation in the first place - unsafe streets that expose pedestrians to motor vehicle collisions and tragic accidents - and remembering its evolution into a political creed for pedestrian safety and commuter accessibility.

The Good & Quiet Ripple
The Good & Quiet Ripple

Mike recounts a Bible passage in which Peter's shadow serves to heal the sick, emphasizing that Peter was merely a vessel for God's power - unaware of the miracles occurring around him.

In an age driven by boastfully sharing our lives on social media, even good deeds and extemporaneous acts of kindness can often feel transactional. There is a magic that occurs when good deeds are done for their own sake, which produce secondary, tertiary, and unforeseen reverberations of wholesome goodwill.

Stroll down Masonic Drive
Stroll down Masonic Drive

During his first week living the streets of Alexandria, Mike bemoans the lack of consideration for pedestrians and non-motorists in the design and construction of roadways throughout American cities.

Reflections on Home, Family & Belonging
Crimson House
Reflections on Home, Family & Belonging
Crimson House

Mike reflects on his personal experiences during the holiday season, reminiscing on his mother, a Taiwanese immigrant adapting to American life in Steubenville, Ohio. He praises Steubenville for accepting his mother and recognizing her strength.

Crimson House
Humility, Listening & Understanding
Crimson House
Humility, Listening & Understanding
Crimson House

Mike shares his thoughts on the declining state of American society, emphasizing the loss of humility and genuine understanding in online and real-life conversations.

Mike also expresses his deep concern for the political shift in his home state of Ohio, attributing it partly to demographic changes linked to the shale gas boom and an exodus of college-bound graduates away to coastal cities.

Crimson House
Skip to Videos
  • A Beer Across the Continent
    8/24/20

    A Beer Across the Continent

    On medical leave from his job in Portland, Mike relaxes outside with a beer over a conversation with his friend David in Montreal, who is working to complete a stressful proposal before undergoing eye surgery. Their conversation flows between personal updates, including relationships and social gatherings like grilling steaks, to broader topics like gun laws among different regions and the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Road to Redemption and Renewal
    1/7/18

    Road to Redemption and Renewal

    Mike makes the trek from Ohio to Iowa for a parole check-in, using the opportunity to debrief his recent month following a dramatic breakup with Matt in Portland and his subsequent mental breakdown. Attributing a significant part of this breakdown to his chronic cannabis smoking, he celebrates being clean from substance use for several weeks and highlights the empowering feeling of reclaiming his mind. He reflects on the importance of community support, the pain of losing friends to suicide, and the need to learn from the struggles to foster self-love and support from others.

  • Lazy Saturday Morning
    2/19/22

    Lazy Saturday Morning

    Mike shares a lazy Saturday morning, covering an eclectic mix of topics. He begins by expressing frustration of Alexandria, Louisiana's urban planning, specifically the lack of sidewalks and car-centric road design, which he argues makes the city dangerous. After sharing some recent musical finds, Mike introduces a cooking segment, extolling his new stuffed pepper recipe.

  • The Prolonged Void
    12/23/24

    The Prolonged Void

    Mike uses the coping mechanisms that he's learned over the course of previous dark holiday seasons to coax himself out of his holiday blues this year.

  • Reflections on Houses & Home
    2/19/23

    Reflections on Houses & Home

    Mike contrasts between his times of being broke/unhoused versus those of financial abundance with a roof over his head.

  • Package Reveal
    2/19/22

    Package Reveal

    Mike shares the excitement of opening a package he'd forgotten that he ordered.

  • Vive La Liberté!
    4/11/19

    Vive La Liberté!

    Mike basks in the beautiful spring weather of Montreal, in anticipation of reporting to the police station in 24 hours.

Journals & Musings

  • A hand-drawn graph on white paper shows the relationship between boredom and the tendency to write a blog. The graph has two lines, one in pink labeled "intensity of opinion" and one in orange. The pink line increases more steeply than the orange line. The title at the top reads "Figuring things out..." in green. The pink line and text indicate that as the intensity of opinion increases, so does the tendency to write a blog, especially at higher levels of opinion intensity.

    Figuring Things Out

    2013-2020

    Graphics are colorful, they invite a myriad of differing interpretations, they portray trends, etc.  Plus, they're less prone to language barriers.

    Figures make complicated concepts easier to understand, simplify, and organize. Plus, I was too lazy to write longwinded essays anymore.

    Read
  • Close-up of a person's face with blue lighting, showing a serious expression.

    My Little Corner of Semi-Reality

    2004-2013

    My life is an open book. Please don't burn it.

    Read