Microstory 2558: Documentarian

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I am a historian, if you can believe it. That’s what I studied in college, graduate school, and for my PhD. That’s what I wanted to teach at university. I was competing for jobs against some really great, knowledgeable people, and there just weren’t enough spots for all of us. In order to make a little cash while I kept looking for work, I started to make documentaries online. I called my channel Fourk History, because I made it with a four prong approach. The way I see it, not everyone trying to learn something is trying to learn the same stuff, and definitely not the same way. Instead of only making one video on a topic, I decided to make four. Quick aside, some people who start watching my videos don’t realize this, and call me “Mr. Fourk”. That’s not my name. It kind of sounds like a name, but it’s a blending word. That’s it. As I was saying, four videos. One video is one or two minutes long. This gives you a very brief overview on some historical moment. Watch one of these if you just haven’t heard of Daun Macht 1912, or the Peace Treaty of Alslierde. You don’t wanna look foolish in front of your friends, or you just want to be able to answer a question with a reasonable expectation of accuracy on trivia night. My seven- to ten-minute long videos go a little deeper. This is what you’ll need if you’re trying to answer one or two short answer questions on a homework assignment or exam. It’s not enough to write an entire paper, but it gives you a decent understanding of the topic. The longest video can take up to an hour, and this is what you need if you are writing that paper focused solely on this subject matter. The fourth and final prong is the full course, for people who are serious about history. It’s not a perfect analogy, because said course will be a convergence of multiple trio sets, for different topics. Like, you’ll get three vids on The Battle of Sandsbarry Wharf, and three different ones on the Siege of Green Hamlet. Both of these happened during the First Colshire War, which will comprehensively be a course, covering both battles and topics, among others. I don’t know why I’m bringing all of this up, but I think someone at the Landis Tipton Breath of Life Foundation liked my stuff, or at least found it useful, because they have asked me to document their story in an official capacity. I don’t work for them, and I have full creative control over the direction of my piece. This is the largest project I’ve ever started, but I know that I can handle it, because I’ve been writing and performing video essays and full lectures for years now, having long ago given up on teaching only one class at a time. I have eleven million subscribers now, so I know what I’m doing. I’m not saying that there’s some scandalous secrets at the hotel, but whatever the truth is—even if all is as it appears to be—I’ll find it. I’ve never explored the present day before, but that’s what’s so great about the opportunity. I’m here on the ground, watching history in the making.

Microstory 2312: A Great Audience

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Hello, it’s Kelly again. Welcome to the last post ever. I hope that it lives up to your expectations, but there’s only so much I can do. Nick was a very important part of a lot of people’s lives, including my own, but I recognize that others have their own personal experiences. That was kind of the original idea behind the Forum Memorial, but I suppose that the comment section serves that purpose too. Beyond that, I wanted to thank Jasmine for taking the time to express her final thoughts before this site comes to a close. It was really nice to hear from her again, wasn’t it, folks? Moving on, I was planning on just sort of shutting myself away from the world after this, but my friends have suggested that I keep things alive in a new way. People have evidently responded well to my contributions, even before Nick went away forever, so I do want to continue in some capacity, but before I get into that, you should know that this blog is still ending. It was never really mine, and I want my own space on the web. Stay subscribed to Nick’s social media accounts, where I’ll let you know how to keep following along, if you want. I think this is the right way to do it. All of you subscribed to hear from him, or at least about him. It wouldn’t be fair for me to sort of usurp this whole audience for my own gain. I should have to start over, and you can choose to follow me on the other side, or not. I won’t blame you if you don’t. I would rather know that everyone is there because they want to be, not because they forgot to fully unsubscribe from this site. So, there it is. It’s over. As they say, it’s been a hell of a ride, so far, but it’s not truly over. This version of Earth kept spinning after Nick and Dutch died, and will continue doing just that even when every single one of us follows in their footsteps. These words, though...the blog updates, the book, the musical; they could live on forever. Alienoid ultrahumans five billion years from now might be enjoying what we’ve created over the last 365 days. That goes for everyone, with your own accounts, storing your own original thoughts. It’s crazy to think about it this way, but it’s comforting too. You can all live forever if you do something with your lives. It doesn’t have to be huge, or mind-blowing. You don’t even have to become famous. You just have to have something to say, and a means of recording it. Thank you again for being here, and participating in the global discourse. I wouldn’t call us boring at all, and I think Nick would have changed his mind about that by now. Signing off for the last time here. I’ve been Kelly Serna...and you’ve been a great audience.

Microstory 2311: Nice to Be Back

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Hello readers, this is Jasmine again. I asked Nick if I could write another guest post for his blog. This was obviously before he died, and it never ended up happening. I was having tea with Kelly this weekend, though, and mentioned it, so she asked me to finally follow through with it. I was gonna say a whole bunch of stuff back then that’s no longer relevant nor appropriate, but it’s nice to be back here. This website feels like home. When I was his assistant, I helped a lot with managing it, and making it look better than it did before. I rearranged some of the auxiliary elements, and reformatted some old posts. He had to use a number of different word processors over time when his life was all about staying in motion, so things were just a little messy in the beginning, but he had always wanted everything to be more consistent. Anyway, I’m still working at the jail, and things are going very well. He did a great job formulating this team, so if anyone asks whether he made a positive impact on the world, there can be no doubt. I’ve run into a surprising number of people who assumed the whole project fell apart when he was forced to leave, but that’s not how he set it up. Nothing was ever balanced on the shoulders of one person, not even him. We’re still working our butts off. We hope to see real changes in the system by the end of next year. For those of you who watched the memorials, I was present at both. I even spoke at both, so now you know what I look and sound like. It was my honor to relate my experiences with such a great friend. I’ll never forget what it was like to meet him and know him. I appreciate that he’s being kept alive, not only through the work he did, but through this site, and all of his friends, followers, and fans. It’s sad, but it’s sweet too. I’ll miss him, but at least I knew him at all. Thanks.

Microstory 2310: Whole World

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Welp, pretty much everything is out of this place. I’ve stuck all of Nick and Dutch’s possessions in temporary storage, along with a lot of my own stuff. I packed up the other rooms too, like the kitchen, to give the majority of it away. I’m only keeping a little bit for myself, like a couple of plates, a few forks, etc. Like I’ve said, I don’t need much, and I don’t need much space. The three of us actually struggled to furnish this oversized house when we first moved in. Now that I’m re-downsizing, I can go back to a simpler way of doing things. It’s surreal to be in this place now. It’s so empty and creepy; even worse than it was just last week. I’m going to snag a few nights at a hotel until my new place is ready for me to move in. Both the seller and I are highly motivated to expedite the process. We could finalize it by Monday. I told you yesterday that I won’t have a whole lot to say for these last few posts, and it would seem that I was totally right about that. I’ll try to come up with some memorable final words to say, but I am not a wordsmith, like Nick was, so don’t get your hopes up. Until next week, I would just like to thank you all for joining us on this journey. Every blog starts out with zero followers, but now you number in the hundreds of millions. That’s amazing. Thank you so much. It’s sad, how it ended, but at least we had a little time together, and I wouldn’t trade that in for the world. Nope, I’m not supposed to say that. Nick taught me to never say that. He put it in perspective for me. It’s the whole world. I would give up just about anything for it if I didn’t already own it anyway. Ha, I’m not sure I agree with that, but I can appreciate the sentiment. Have a good weekend.