Friend a Day – Jessica Cargill
I’ve gotten to know Jess through my annual trips to Austin for Butt-Numb-a-Thon. For all that I enjoy the 24 hour film orgy that takes place every December, it is every bit as important to me that I get to hang out with friends I rarely see.
Jess and her husband open up their home to a bunch of out of town people each December and it makes that long weekend one of the best weekends every year.
Jess has just left her long term job and is currently looking to figure out what she wants to do and I can definitely relate to her situation. She seems to be enjoying that process of finding the perfect direction for her life and I think it is great that she is fortunate enough to make that exploration.
When the masses descend on her house, she is nothing but gracious. I’ve never felt anything but welcome. Even when conversation has stretched well past 3 in the morning, as it frequently does.
What always strikes me about her is how willing she is to give of herself to others. If you need a ride from the airport or to wherever everyone is eating dinner, she’ll help you out.
Hell, for a long time if you wanted to talk to her husband on the phone, you had to call her.
Her husband has a powerful personality but I’ve never seen her eclipsed by him. She has as much to say as him. On some topics, she has a great deal more. Conversations with her are lively and opinionated, and very interesting.
Almost everything she says online is positive. She enjoys being with other people and will go out of her way to tell them how much she enjoyed spending time with them. She doesn’t say it because she is being polite. She says it because it is true.
For these and many other reasons, Jess is one of those people who brightens up any day that includes her presence.
Jess doesn’t have a blog but she’s a photographer and you can look at some of her work here.
Friend a Day – Mark Lazarchic
Mark loves to argue. He will argue with just about anyone about just about anything. He’ll argue for things he’s against and he’ll argue against things he’s for. Quite frequently, he and I don’t agree.
What makes him the best of people is the fact he can argue with your opinion and disagree with your opinion in the strongest possible terms without ever arguing against you. I’ve had lots of arguments with Mark and we are still friends because we understand that the disagreements are never personal. We are both passionate.
Mark can seem very hard. You have to know him for a long time to really recognize that the hard exterior hides a caring person. Then you begin to understand how much he loves his wife. How much he loves his kids. How much he loves Beethoven.
He is one of the hardest workers you will ever meet. He starts businesses about as frequently as the rest of us celebrate birthdays. He is relentless. He never stops. He never slows down. I would imagine that he won’t even sleep when he’s dead.
It is so easy to argue with Mark and to disagree with him that I fail to make sure he knows how much I admire him. I admire his passion and his focus. I admire the way he is unwilling to be involved in anything that is even one tiny bit worse than perfect. I admire the way he spent hours, days, weeks and months with a daughter who had cancer.
You could say any father would have done the same but the truth is no, not any father would do that. Just the exceptional ones.
His sense of humor is bawdy and loud and his laugh is infectious. When you sit down with him around the fire, you can’t be in a bad mood for long.
As remarkable as the things he has accomplished in his life are the ideas he’s had that never were. He is filled with ideas and never stops coming up with more. He can’t do it all and I think he takes that as a sort of personal insult.
Mark is a hard man sometimes. But that is only the surface. I’m glad that I’ve known him long enough to know the man underneath. It was absolutely worth the challenge.
Mark is a busy guy but he blogs occasionally at Pick Mark’s Brain, where you can find links to his many businesses. I encourage you to use them all. He deserves your patronage.
Friend a Day – Deb Shoenack
I’m proud to be Deb’s friend because her friendship is something that is earned. She doesn’t just hand it out to everyone.
If Deb calls you her friend, you need to have done something pretty special.
I met Deb when we were both part of the band for a dancing troupe at the Renaissance Festival. She played drums with us a few times every day and ran a shop filled with a whole lot of beautiful feather art that never sold and a little bit of horrible stuff that sold all the time. It takes a special kind of artist to be aware that your best work is the work that nobody is ever going to buy.
She would tell long stories about her customers and her life. They were great stories. They were funny stories. They were the kind of stories nobody but Deb could have ever told.
If you get a chance to talk to Deb, ask her about the Ethiopian yak’s tooth necklace.
Deb treated entertainers like equals. She welcomed us into her shop and encouraged us to entrain the audience in front of her door. She made us feel like we were all part of the same show. She was the kind of crafter entertainers gravitated towards.
As many people do, she grew tired of the festival and migrated away. When I walk by the corner of the grounds that used to house her shop, I will always feel a sense of loss.
Deb has a gruff and cynical exterior and I won’t say she isn’t gruff and cynical because I think she’d be insulted if I did. She is gruff and cynical. But she is also kind and funny and fiercely loyal to anyone who has earned it.
She loves her family and is constantly showing pride in them. She embraces the title “Jew Bitch” like it was her given name.
I’m not a big fan of drum circles any more. If Deb was in the circle, though, I’d join in because I wouldn’t want to let her down.
Deb doesn’t have a web page but she is passionately opposed to wolf hunting in Minnesota so I’m linking to Howling for Wolves.
Friend a Day – Kelly McCullough
Kelly is one of my oldest friends. As he once said, we were nerds together in grade school.
He went on to say that we got better but the years have proven that his latter statement was quite wrong. We are both still nerds. We’ve just begun to make something of a living at it. Him much more than me.
Even when we were young, what impressed me most about Kelly was his fearlessness. This led him to take a lot of insane risks when we were in our twenties but it also led him to become a talented and successful writer. He is one of those people who decides he wants to do something and then simply does it.
His writing career is earned. Every day I see him talking about how many words he wrote that day and what stories are in his pipeline. He has truly embraced being a writer as a career and has found success there. I’m happy to see that kind of success in people I admire.
Kelly is one of those people who will say yes to just about anything within reason. On the rare occasions when I’ve asked him to help me with something, he doesn’t just say yes – he jumps in and makes the moment memorable.
And that is another thing about Kelly. He is memorable. He leaves his mark on everything and everyone who comes in contact with him.
He’s got a cheerful disposition that I can hardly ever recall wavering. He always has a smile on his face as if he is just enormously pleased with who and where he is in life. I don’t speak of ego but rather of someone who is supremely comfortable being himself.
I don’t see Kelly too much these days but I genuinely enjoy any time we get with each other. A few minutes here or a Twitter exchange there are always enough to remind me why I’m happy that he’s somehow remained a part of my life for so long.
Kelly blogs about writing at kellymccullough.com.
Friend a Day – Dawn Krosnowski
Dawn is one of the most gifted actresses I know. When I ask her to work on a project with me and she says yes, it makes me feel like I’m doing something right.
I first became aware of Dawn when she took part in a short film I helped write for CONvergence a few years back. I was working on a totally different part of the film so we never actually met. When we finally met at the convention, she was the nicest and most gracious of people I could have imagined.
I’ve never seen Dawn treat anyone poorly in all the time I’ve known her. She is genuinely friendly and interested in whatever others have to say. She’s also game to try just about anything provided she has the time. Which she often doesn’t because why wouldn’t you want her to be part of anything you were trying to do?
As an actress, she typically nails exactly what I need the first time she reads something but whenever I ask her to make a change, she understands what I want and makes the right choices every time.
What surprised me was to learn how good she is as improvisational comedy. She’s so good at everything else, I guess it shouldn’t have come as a shock.
There is a love for performing in Dawn that is contagious. When I came up with an idea to have a script with a Connie puppet, she was practically vibrating with excitement. Well, once she was excited about it, there was no way I could back out, could I?
She’s also generous. She was over at my house for a rehearsal yesterday and was eating a granola bar. The first thing she asked as everyone came in was if they wanted some. That willingness to share is, I think, one of the things that makes her such a good actress. She’s not concerned with the size of the part but rather giving the most of her talents to the part she has.
I’m grateful to have met Dawn. She’s one of those people that brightens the life of everyone around her.
Among the many things Dawn does, she has a podcast about wine called Screw It!
Friend a Day – Michael Lee
Photo by Peter Verrant
I met Michael the back in the early days of CONvergence. He was part of a group that brought in Gary Russell as one of our first guests of honor. Mike has always been passionate about Dr. Who, fandom, and conventions.
When I stepped down as a CONvergence director, Mike was elected to take my place and I couldn’t have been happier because I knew the convention would be in good hands.
He’s stepping away from the board of CONvergence this year but in the last several years, his interests in conventions have grown to the point he is currently helping with a Worldcon bid.
Mike can be a bit quiet until you get to know him but he certainly has his opinions and is willing to share them.
In the years that he has run the convention, I’ve seen him work tirelessly to make things better when he perceives a problem. He has taken the initiative time and again to fix problems that wouldn’t have been fixed had he not made the choice to act. He seems willing to commit whatever extra time it takes to make sure something gets done right.
At the convention, he has also served as a calming influence when tempers begin to flare.
I wouldn’t say he is the biggest Dr. Who fan I know but he is a big Dr. Who fan. For the last several years, he has been the “candyman” who brought new episodes over to our house. I know that on such evenings, my kids were a lot happier to see him than anyone else. In that way, he’s passed his love of the show on to a new generation.
I really enjoy talking to Mike when there is something that excites him. For someone who is so typically laid back, his personality completely changes and he lights up like a big kid. That reaction betrays the passion that is always just below the surface.
I know that Mike will continue to be involved with CONvergence as long as the convention is around. That’s a good thing because the con needs people like him.
You can find his blog at michaell.org.
Friend a Day – Laurie Richardson
Photo by John Solberg
Laurie is one of those people who comes up with exciting crazy ideas and then actually makes those crazy ideas happen. Several years ago, she decided that we should have trading cards for Vilification Tennis. I said that was a great idea and if she could make it happen, I was completely behind it.
Well, she made it happen and it has been a crazy popular idea ever since.
She has a great impish smile that betrays a new idea. She can’t wait to tell you about it and I can’t wait to hear it. I’ve learned to never say anything so foolish as “you’ll never figure out a way to do that” because the fact is she already has.
She’s been a performer with Vilification Tennis for several years and is always writing new material that is clever and unique. I can hear a joke and know it is a Laurie joke.
One of the things Laurie is really passionate about is animals. She’s worked for veterinary clinics and the Humane Society most of the time I’ve known her. When someone lost a pet, she cried with them. When someone abandoned some kittens behind a gas station on a cold winter night, she took the survivor into her home, nursed it until it was healthy enough to find a home, and then found it a good home (ours).
That’s just one animal she rescued. There have been many others.
She understands the bond people form with their pets and shows amazing compassion for pet owners and their animals.
She’s also spent many hours renovating her home. Her house has been transformed by hours of hard work. It takes a lot of drive and determination to buy a house knowing that it will take years to turn it into the house you really want and to continually work towards that goal.
I like Laurie because she does things. She is an idea person who makes the ideas happen. It makes her a really fun person to be around.
Laurie doesn’t have a web site but right now, she is raising money for the annual Humane Society Walk for Animals. It’s something she’s very passionate about. So if you think she’s as cool as I do, you should go to her page and donate a few bucks.
Friend a Day – Eric Knight
Photo by Ryan Haro
Eric and I started at the Renaissance Festival in 1985 and we have been friends ever since. This year both of us will celebrate our 30th season. The years of service awards at the Festival are that much better because I get to share the walk with a good friend.
Eric is well known for being pedantic but that somewhat derogatory term points to how good he is at the little details of so many things. He doesn’t miss much.
He’s been my assistant director for Vilification Tennis for the last several years and the reason is because he will tell me when he thinks I’m doing something wrong. I don’t tend to take such conversations well but I usually come around to his way of thinking because he is usually right.
When I’m working on a new project or a new idea, Eric is one of the best resources for me because I understand the language he speaks. His criticisms and comments are clear and honest and they help me become a better writer.
At the festival, he is a gifted up close performer. His Concierge character is not a boisterous character that draws a crowd but instead, he is a character built around the idea of improving the festival day for everyone who walks through the gate. Every interaction he has with a patron is a positive interaction.
Conversations with Eric typically aren’t short. We used to hold monthly Festival get together parties and Eric was frequently the last person to leave. Often it would be as the sun was rising and he hadn’t yet overstayed his welcome.
Eric is also a gifted costumer, a movie fan, and one of the founders of the CONvergence movie room, Cinema Rex.
I’m lucky to have known Eric for almost thirty years. I’m hoping we’ll be friends for at least thirty more!
Eric doesn’t have a web site but he sometimes tweets as @PedanticEric.
Friend a Day – Teri Flores
Teri is one of those special people that makes you grateful to have been in the right place at the right time to know her.
Teri and I live a long way apart and that is a shame. We see each other once every few years and fall into long, easy conversations that only end when we are in desperate need of sleep.
Pretty remarkable that a friendship can be that strong after only one year at college and long periods of time with little or no contact. The internet has made regular contact much more common and for that small favor, I’m grateful for Facebook every day.
Terry is an artist and she shares her work on Facebook all the time. I know that what I see is only a fraction of what she produces but I love the passion she has to create. She always seems to be exploring that part of herself and every now and again she posts a snapshot of what she’s working on. Every snapshot makes me wish I could see more.
When we were in school together, I remember spending long hours in the art studio talking while she worked. She really loved being an artist even if she was often frustrated by the process of making art. From everything I see, she still loves being an artist.
She has a wonderful wit that gets her though a lot of life challenges. She isn’t always happy but she refuses to be sad.
I think the reason I like talking with her so much is because she is so good at it. Conversations with her are interesting because she speaks with such a distinctive character.
She’s also a devoted mom and whenever she talks about her son, you can see her brighten up more than usual. That kid is super lucky.
But then, anyone who knows Teri is super lucky.
Friend a Day – Levi Weinhagen
What constantly impresses me about Levi is how positive he is about everything. The Friend a Day blog posts, which I borrowed from him, were all about saying great things about people in his life. The internet can frequently be a very negative place and having someone making an effort to actively fight that negativity is refreshing.
Levi is a very talented writer and producer. The shows he produces with Comedy Suitcase (along with Joshua English Scrimshaw) have long been favorites of my kids. There have even been some tears when we arrived at a show too late to purchase tickets.
Not your fault, Levi. You can’t help it if what you produce is so good everyone wants to see it.
In a theater market that is as rich as the Twin Cities, it is great to see Levi and Joshua working so hard to produce comedy that is targeted towards families. I think that has helped inspire me to explore more scripts that my kids could actually watch.
He’s a very devoted dad and that has helped inspire his podcast, Pratfalls of Parenting, a podcast featuring performers who are also parents. He is a gifted interviewer who helps bring out the best in all of his guests.
Watching Levi on stage is a genuine treat because he’s willing to put his body on the line in the most creative ways possible. When he was doing the Pratfall Olympics at Die Laughing, it was as much fun to watch him falling all over the sage as it was to watch his daughter gleefully bounce in her chair.
I don’t get to spend a lot of time with Levi, which is too bad. His positive attitude and intelligence is always worth the time. Someday, perhaps, we’ll end up working on the same project together. That would be all sorts of cool.
I’m pleased that knowing Levi led me directly to this project. I always look forward to what he does next.
Speaking of what he does next – Levi has started up another project called Worth Stealing and you know what? It’s another great and positive idea. You can read all of his friend a day posts on his web site leviweinhagen.com.
Grail Diary 