Adam Daniel Miller, contributing blogger

Adam Daniel Miller is a self-proclaimed writer and comedian of sorts having performed professionally for six months once. He has also written a multitude of short stories, 10-minute/one-act plays, two full-length plays and many various other bits of writing. He is a graduate of the University of Iowa where he managed to obtain a degree in English with a specialization in Creative Writing as well as a Theater minor. Both of which he does very little with but capitalized to make it look impressive. He has a true passion for the English language in all of its complexities and absolutely adores alliteration above all. His favorite book is the thesaurus or as he calls it "synonym for thesaurus." Miller has a true passion for humor and uses it on a fairly regular basis. Although, he has been known to deviate and be serious once in a while too.

If you so desire, you can follow Adam Daniel Miller on Twitter @TheMindofADM or read more blog posts on rantgaming.com.

Articles by this author

A shekel saved is a quarter earned photo_th

A shekel saved is a quarter earned or: jingle jingle jingle jingle jingle yeah

I just had one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I got to go to Israel on Birthright… and discover the shekel. Now, one might think that there's a lot more to take away from Israel than the shekel, and that is very true. I also took home some Bamba. Read More

What I Did Today In Reverse Alphabetical Order

In honor of the 29th of February, I decided to not have a very ordinary day. I chose to have a day that might happen only once every 4 years. At least in my life anyway. A day in which I tried to do something that started with every letter of the alphabet. Following is a list of my activities that took place throughout the day. Read More

My views on Jews and tattoos

I recently learned that there are more divorces today then tattoo removals. I'm assuming that’s a fact. And while both are supposed to be permanent, the tattoo ironically seems to be the one that sticks around till death do you part. Well, let's just say till death. Read More

Death by hypochondria

I am probably going to die of a heart attack. Or not. I don’t know. I’ll probably have to wait until to find out. Most likely, my hypochondria is going to be the end of me. It may even cause that heart attack. I let my hypochondria run rampant so much that any time I feel anything out of the ordinary, I think “Hmmm, how’s this going to kill me?” Read More

Saying Chai to the 18-year-old bar mitzvah

When I was 13, I knew nothing. In fact, when it was 13 minutes ago I knew nothing. Even more in fact, when I started writing this sentence, I had no idea how it would triangle fish button. See? Knew nothing. The point is that when it came to my own bar mitzvah, I wasn’t aware enough to appreciate it for what it was. Read More

Getting Your Money’s Worth: 6 Mini Blogs for the Price of One

Welcome, welcome, welcome! Yes, welcome to my blog. A blog where I like to treat my readers right. So that's why I came up with this idea that instead of giving you one blog every now and again, I should give you a whole bunch at once. I'm doing this because I love you. And you're very attractive. Read More

Five holidays that are more important to me than Chanukah

Chanuka, Chanukah, Chanukkah, Hanukah, Hannukah and my personal favorite, Cha-noo-kah. The list goes on and on but I only have so much time here. As you can see, there is not as much care put into the spelling of this holiday because, contrary to popular belief, this holiday is not nearly as important as a multitude of others. Read More

Productively procrastinating: A blog I’ll finish later

I submitted this blog at the last second. Really. I did. Do you have any idea how long this took me to write? Months. Months would be a lie. Weeks. Weeks would also be a lie. But days…days would be accurate. I’m already procrastinating on getting to the point so let’s just get there, shall we? Read More

I’m sorry for this blog: an apology for being apologetic

That’s a bad title. I’m sorry. I mean, I apologize. I mean…I have to stop that. I say something along these lines more than I rightfully should. Maybe it’s the stereotypical Jewish guilt. I don’t know. Sorry I brought it up. Whoops. There I go again. See? My apologizing is getting superfluous. Read More

Yom Kippur reflections: No mirrors necessary

The dumbest thing I do every year is to complain about hunger in the immediate hours after the sun goes down on the night of Kol Nidre. For whatever reason, those first hours always seem much tougher than the final ones. Read More

Adam’s Amazing Appendectomy Adventure

I am alive to write this thanks to my hypochondria. Remember my hypochondria? Of course you do. I talked about it so much that one time. See my hypochondria led to me successfully realize I had a ticking time bomb in my abdomen. That ticking time bomb was appendicitis and I was going to have to have surgery. Read More

Six More Mini Blogs For The Price of One

Welcome, welcome, welcome. Yes, welcome to my blog…again! For you see, this is not the first time I have treated my oh so attractive readers with such generosity that is currently happening and is about to follow. I gave you a great six mini blogs for the price of one deal before and feel you deserve the privilege yet again. I'm like a Groupon. Or perhaps, a Jewpon if you will. And oh, I will. Read More

Reflecting on the tragedy in Newtown

I have never been so shaken so quickly as I was today. When I first saw the story, all I saw were random words, phrases and numbers and they added up to something insane that made me feel some sort of emotion I can’t comprehend right now. Read More

Realistic New Year’s Resolutions Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Set Realistic Goals For Myself That I Truly Want To Accomplish In 2013

1. Shorten the titles of my blogs for Oy!Chicago.2. Stop listing things before the actual introductions of my blogs for Oy!Chicago.Welcome to the delayed introduction of my blog post for Oy!Chicago! A post that is so much more than a blog. A blog that is, in fact, a vessel of hope and inspiration for the full year lying before us. Read More

Humor and Anti-Semitism: A Match Made In Controversy

If there’s one thing I do in abundance, it’s make fun of myself. I have to in order to survive. It’s a defense mechanism as well as a way of life for me. Even without being prompted, the self-deprecation I have towards myself is always there, but only because I love who I am. When someone tells me I’m funny, I instinctively say it’s because of the face. It’s always good for at least one laugh. Read More

The Thrill of the Afikoman and Other Stories

Okay. I lied. There are no other stories. Yes, I must be the wicked child. Despite my age of 25 (going on 26!), I am still a child. Passover still tends to be one of my favorite Jewish holidays of the year. Believe me, when I’m in my local Jewel Osco, and yes I shop there because it’s JEW-el Osco, I never PASS OVER the chance to check out the kosher section. Read More

Writing Is Right: A Lefty’s Perspective

Roger Ebert’s passing hit me hard – harder than I would have imagined. The effect was so profound I simply expressed that now all the greatest reviews for movies have been officially written. I always respected Ebert as a writer rivaled by very few and as a voice of honesty. Read More

The Bar Mitzvah of My Bar Mitzvah

This year, May 20 was the most significant May 20 I had since the May 20 that was 13 years ago. For you see, on this May 20, it was exactly 13 years since my Bar Mitzvah, or as I have been saying, the Bar Mitzvah of my Bar Mitzvah. I should make that the title of this post. Read More

Motivating Myself To Motivate Myself

It took a lot of convincing for me to write this. Of course that’s what happens when I try motivating myself to motivate myself. But in all honesty, for one reason or another, I’ve been finding myself much more motivated recently, mostly because I stopped looking for myself when I wasn’t motivated. Read More

The Constant Change of Consistency

I rewrote the title of this post more than two dozen times. The one that you see, that’s actually the first one I wrote which is actually rather fitting. See, I had a revelation recently. Read More

History of the Best Mel Brooks Jewish Moments: Part 1

Mel Brooks is the greatest man I’ve never met. And I’ve not met a lot of people. Almost a few dozen I think. You see, I’ve always loved movies—and comedy. And if there’s one thing Mel Brooks does well, it’s comedy movies. Growing up, I became obsessed with Mel Brooks. To a point that maybe it wasn’t healthy. Read More

The Woes of Being an Introvert and Other Shenanigans

I used to think I was shy. Turns out I’m not. Hi, my name is Adam and I’m an introvert. Now, could you please go away? It’s not that I don’t like being around people; it’s more that I don’t like people. Read More

The Significance of the Chanukah Nickel

I want to tell you a story. One of the best gifts I ever received I never actually got. I was moving out of my parents’ house into the city and my birthday was about six weeks prior. My brother decided he wanted to get me a shower radio for my new apartment. We have always shared one because we shared a bathroom. He told me he was going to get this for me, but he never did. And I didn’t care. Read More

18 Reasons I’m Finally an Adult

It’s been more than a Bar Mitzvahs length of time since my Bar Mitzvah, and now, finally, I am an adult. I know what you’re thinking. Nope. Not this guy. Even with the face and the beard and the Bar Mitzvah length since Bar Mitzhvah, nope – he’s no adult. Read More

18 Honest New Year’s Resolutions

Let's be honest: I'm honestly not honest when it comes to my New Year's resolutions. Honestly. So this year I thought I'd set a few resolutions that are truly more obtainable. Read More

Local Man Enjoys Dinner On The Road For “Just One”

When one is a self-proclaimed introvert (because they wouldn't want to ask anyone else to proclaim it), doing activities out and about can be a bit of a bother. Sources have confirmed, however, that introverted East Lakeview resident Adam Daniel Miller recently went out to dinner by himself, remarkably managing to have a good time. Read More

18 More Reasons That I’m Finally an Adult

If there’s one thing my mother has taught me, than she wasn’t a very good mother because mothers should teach you more than one thing. Luckily she is a very good mother and I’ve learned a great deal of things. But that’s not the point of this. Read More

The Pursuit of My Afikoman

Around the beginning of spring every year, or as Chicagoans call it, “three quarters of the way through winter,” lots of us are having fun-filled family functions where searching is the primary activity. Read More

18 Things I Did Not Write About for This Blog Post

It seems that I’m always writing about things for Oy!Chicago. But I’ve noticed there are so many things I have not written about. I’d even go as far to say there are more things I haven’t written about than I have written about. Strange how that works. Read More

18 Chicago Facts (Sort of) That You (Probably) Don’t Know

The Big Apple, The Big Easy, The Big Cheese. These are all words with the adjective “Big” before them. They also happen to be nicknames for cities. Except the cheese one. That’s just a phrase about an abundance of cheese. Read More

Na-nu Na-nu

In the wake of the tragic loss of Robin Williams, I once again turn to writing and humor as a way to find solace. So thank you for humoring me as I attempt to humor you. I was originally going to write about something more light-hearted. Like how right now I have to be scared of Ebola again. But that’s not happening anymore. Well, the Ebola thing is actually still happening, I’m just not writing about it. Read More

10,000 Days of Me

On September 27, 2014, I turn 10,000 days old. That’s a lot of days of Adam. Lucky you, you didn’t have to spend all of them with me. Read More

18 Ways You Can Be Less Awful in 5775

Every year on the High Holidays, we think about what we can do to be better people in the year ahead. Well, change is like, hard, especially the self-improvement kind. So, we thought maybe it’s a bit more realistic to ask ourselves “how can I be less of a terrible person?” Read More

The Fault in My Friendships

As I grow a little bit older, a little bit wiser and unfortunately a little bit wider, I‘ve learned something about my friendships. I haven’t always done great with them. And more often than not, it’s my fault. Read More

The Bozo Theory

Let’s talk about Bozo. Just to clarify, I’m referring to the clown. So what is The Bozo Theory you ask? A very good question since the title really gives no good context clues other than Bozo is involved in some way. Read More

Alone At Last: Or Why I Stay through Movie Credits

Everyone has their own routines when going to the movies. What time they get there, what concessions they get or where they sit. For me, it’s 12-15 minutes before, I never concede and preferably in a seat. But one thing I always do every time I go to the movies – as you may have guessed from the title of this piece, you astute, attractive reader you – is that I will, without question, stay through the entirety of the film’s credits. Read More

Literally falling in love

For the woman I love, I jumped out of a plane at 14,000 feet. It's the biggest leap of faith I've ever made. Now I've done some pretty crazy things for love. I've gone camping (on purpose!), I've woken up before 7 a.m. (also on purpose!), and I even once wore a pair of brown loafers (not on purpose!). Read More

My Troubles with Eating Alone

I’m terrible at feeding myself. Not literally – when it comes to getting a forkful of food to my mouth, I’m actually over 98 percent accurate. What I mean is, in this life that could be considered adult, when I am tasked to eat a meal by myself, I constantly feel as if I’m failing quite spectacularly at it. Read More

The Seder Plate of Me

Passover is one of my favorite holidays. My third favorite, in fact. One element I enjoy is the Seder Plate and the items we put on it. In general, we Jews like to use symbols – or in the case of Passover, food – to represent things. It’s why, especially during this holiday, if I walk past a fellow Jew all I have to do is shout, “Represent!” and they know exactly what’s going on. Read More

Amazing Unbelievable Coincidences

Do you believe in miracles? Of course you maybe do or don’t! In my 28 years on the third rock from the sun (not the TV show, I mean Earth), I’ve experienced a lot that has truly blown my mind Read More

Loving the Little Things

Well hello there! Welcome to my Oy! post, “Loving the Little Things,” a post that could have also been titled, “Enjoying the Small Stuff” or “Appreciating the Wee Wonders” or “Insert Synonym-Filled Title Here.” Read More

The Voices in Our Heads

There are many voices in my head. This is mostly because I consider myself somewhat of a voiceover enthusiast, but also because I like to talk to myself. Read More

Journey Back Into Imagination

Come with me, and you will see, my world thrown back into imagination with just one spark. Yes, journey with me on a discovery that was more of a re-discovery. For I want to tell you a tale. Read More

My First Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except me, who took every possible moment to tell everyone how long it was until Christmas. Read More

5 Reasons Video Games Are My Books

Life. Not the cereal, or the “Game of,” but the one we all live in. That life. It’s a tough one, and sometimes, a little escape is in order. Read More

30 Things I Will Do Before 30

I’m 28 years old, going on 29. Right after that (a year, not immediately), I turn the big 29 plus 1. Quite the milestone -- though if we were in any other country, it would be quite the kilometerstone. Read More

My 29-Hour Birthday

I’ve never been big on birthdays. I’m usually normal size. Read More