Twenty-eight minutes into my birthday finds me parked at Faribault Foods, Inc., in Cokato, Minnesota. This is a nice roomy parking lot so its been easy to find a space, and Ive got the curtains all shut and Im now having a late snack before bed. I opened a can of Red Sockeye Salmon and shared it with Howie. As I was nibbling my first bite I suddenly remembered that I have mayo in the fridge ... I almost never do. So Ive mixed a little in and its DELICIOUS! What a perfect way to begin my 55th year on planet earth! Noshing on one of my favorite things ever! And it gets better. To drink: milk. And for dessert: watermelon. Wait a minute ... are we sure Im not being executed in a few hours? This is seriously what I would have for a last meal ... if you added chocolate ice cream and fresh raspberries. :-) I cant believe Im fifty-five years old. For Gods sake, it just seems like yesterday that I was fifty-four and 364 days. *ZING* For those of you who cant count, I was born on August 25, 1959. On the exact same day as (Peter Worth (Happy Birthday Peter!!) Eisenhower was president! Diefenbaker was prime minister! The Beatles hadnt even happened yet. The biggest problem in the world wasnt radical Islam, it was the Cold War. My infant-hood was the nineteen-sixties and my teen years were the seventies. NO WONDER Im an unreconstructed hippie. In the late seventies I fell in love with drama, theatre, acting, and I moved to Toronto, where I got married to Linda and did on average one show per month for the next two and a half years. Then Linda and I moved to New York City, where we lived on the lower East Side and I had the pleasure to meet and make friends with some of the most wonderfully talented and amazing folks you could ever care to know. Lots of theatre, lots of music. Then Linda and I separated (stayed good friends), and in the nineties I moved to Los Angeles, where there was a lot more theatre and music, and many new and absolutely wonderful friends. And finally in 2005 I moved to Minnesota, left the theatre and music behind me (for now anyway), took up photography, ran into roller derby, became a truck driver and ... and whats next? Cause dear God, I feel like Im just getting started! Ive acted in over 150 plays, short films, readings and other whatnot; written two screenplays; composed somewhere around 200 songs and pieces of original music; and taken around two hundred and fifty thousand (Im not kidding) photographs. Ive had two long-term relationships, owned five cars and three motorcycles (one of which was hit at high speed on the freeway with me on it; I walked away from the wreck), met Yousuf Karsh and Casey Kasem and Jerry Lewis, actually become friends with Alfred Molina and Stephanie Zimbalist, and in the last three years Ive driven enough miles in an 18-wheeler to reach the moon. I have had the most fantastic life imaginable. And it wouldnt be worth squat if I didnt have the friends I have right now. The old friends who are reading this and nodding along in recognition with pretty much everything Ive mentioned so far; and the new ones, too, who are maybe reading this and thinking holy jeebers this guy gets around. All friends are jewels to me. All friends are precious and wonderful. Ive realized this as I get older. Pets die. Stuff breaks. Times change. Bands break up. Movie stars and musicians move on. But your friends? Your friends are there for the whole darn ride. They are the ones who matter. They are it. So today, on my birthday, I am reaching into my imaginary bag and Im pulling out presents for all of you, all my friends. New and old, you are the first, last, and everything in between reason that I am grateful and happy to be alive. And that I look forward to the future. Fifty five years old. And look at the wonderful, crazy bouquet of faces and hearts that I have gathered. What could I possibly fear from the future? Nothing. Nothing at all. As far as my eyes can see, the road ahead holds nothing but beauty and laughter. :-)
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 06:02:58 +0000