Birthday Pictures 9

From a friend I have yet to meet:


"Here's a picture of me that my sister took while we were waiting for fish & chips at the Ivar's restaurant in Burien, WA.  It was the first picture my Sis took with a cell phone.  The T-shirt I'm wearing celebrates the BBC series Red Dwarf, which was carried by the Seattle PBS affiliate.

A few weeks later, after lunching at the same restaurant, I won a doubles bowling tournament with a young man who had recently returned from Army duty in Afghanistan.  Since we had left the tournament before it ended, the tournament director couldn't take a picture of us (with an oversized prop check) for their website. When the tournament director called to tell me I won, he asked if I could e-mail a picture.  This is the one I sent him."

Birthday Pictures 8

I love it when good people get to be parents.  This picture is from one of the kindest, most supportive people I know.

"I hope you enjoy the photo of Eli attempting to camouflage his way into his blanket."

I sense a future Hide-and-Go-Seek champion on the horizon...

Birthday Pictures 7

I got some birthday pictures from friends AND some nice folks I have yet to meet.  This is from an improvisor and her story is this:

"This is a picture of me (right) improvising on stage with Dooley (left, adult) and his baby... This was taken at the 6 year anniversary show of the group we used to perform in together, and which I still perform in.

In this picture I am improvising with a baby.

This picture makes me have strange feelings."

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From my friend Bill, who said of his companion in this picture: "When I'm with her I'm spending 100% of my energy being in the moment..." Yay for love!

Birthday Pictures 5

A couple of years ago, I got my first ship contract with The Second City.  Our first cruise was from Miami, through the Panama Canal and up to Long Beach, CA.  Our first port was Cartagena, Colombia. This picture is from one of my castmates:

"Since on the cruise ship we only got to see it during the day, here's
how it looks in the walled city of Cartagena at night.  I was there in
June and still traveling about Colombia."

Birthday Pictures 4

From a dear, sweet, talented and kind friend who did something very brave in moving to Chicago:

"Here's a photo of the Damen Blue Line Stop I took this past autumn. I chose this photo for you because I took a leap of faith by moving to Chicago in September 2012. I didn't have a job for three months after moving, and I was sleeping on an air mattress in a tiny 8x10 bedroom in Wicker Park. The Damen stop will always remind me of my big move to Chicago."

Birthday pictures 3

A picture and some travel advice from a friend.  Not sure if she knew this, but crispy cheese (what I call "cheese scab") is my favorite food of all time:


Here is a picture of a cheeseburger from Shady Glen. Manchester Connecticut (where I'm from) is known for three things:

1. Silk Worms
2. Being the retail capital of CT (all of the stores, all of the time)
3. Shady Glen cheeseburgers

If you were a theater kid growing up in Manchester (or any of the surrounding towns) you went to a post show dinner at Shady Glen. And if you weren't a sociopath, you ordered a cheeseburger (or a grilled cheese sandwich, but only if you were vegetarian/trying to impress a dude).

The trick to the Shady Glen cheeseburger is taking three to four slices of American cheese and cooking them on the burger so the cheese on the burger melts into the meat and the cheese on the side fries into this crisp halo of happiness. The result is nothing short of amazing/horrifying (but only when you think of what you're putting into your body).

I highly recommend it. IF YOU GO, DO NOT GO TO THE SHADY GLEN IN THE PARKADE. I cannot stress this enough.

Birthday Pictures 2

From my friend Thomas: "(T)his photo has given me great laughs (and still does). This is marketing! or the exact opposite of that...I took this photo in a Carrefour City grocery on the Rue de Faubourg St-Denis in Paris..."

Lady 'Gina, Rubyfruit Flavor. It's the pulpiest!

Birthday Pictures

On my birthday, I requested that my friends, acquaintances and perfect strangers send me pictures.  I love photography so very much and I love stories even more and have requested pictures and the stories behind them multiple times over my life.  I'm finally starting to go through my birthday presents and am sharing them now.

This is from an improvisor friend who said that he loved this picture of himself because it was an early indication of his love of play and creativity. Rock on, my friend.  Rock on.