Friend a Day – Brianne Bilyeu
I’ve only called Brianne a friend for a couple of years now. We knew each other but it was only once I started co-hosting Geeks Without God that I began to grow more familiar with some of the prominent secular voices in my part of the country.
Because it impresses me, I’d like to tell you what Brianne does on weekends.
She goes to women’s health clinics and escorts patients past the protesters who are standing out front.
She walks women (and men) past crowds of people who are there to call them names.
I don’t care what side of the abortion debate you are on – what Brianne does is amazing. She stands up and defends those who have made a decision that is, to some, extremely unpopular. She shows them that there are people out there willing to sacrifice time so they might have some dignity at a very difficult time.
There are lot of other things I like about Brianne, but what she does so many weekend mornings is, to me, heroic.
Brianne blogs as Biodork on the Freethought Blog network. She blogs about social issues and atheism but she also does a lot of photoblogging. It makes her blog one of my favorites on the site. She has a voice that is one of my favorites and I always look forward to a new post.
As the result of appearing on Geeks Without God, Brianne is also responsible for introducing me to Lords of Waterdeep, which is only a problem because all I want to do is play *more* Lords of Waterdeep.
She’s one of my favorite sources for new games. Whenever we are at Omegacon together, she makes me play at least one new game that inevitably results in dropping several dollars at the Source one or two weeks later.
Finally, while I could say this about most of my friends, Brianne has one of the best smiles around. It is a smile that will brighten anyone’s day and it is a smile that she hardly ever puts away.
Brianne is a great friend and a great person. I’m glad that choosing to use my voice helped me to get to know hers.
Friend a Day – Jerry Belich
I don’t know how long I’ve known Jerry. I’m fairly certain I was aware of him long before I got to know him.
He’s one of those ubiquitous people who floats through my friend cluster and we finally managed to get caught in each other’s gravitational pull.
Jerry is a wonderfully inventive person. Whether it is his Choosatron or coming up with ways to do special effects for an epic Sweded version of Dune, Jerry just manages to come up with clever ideas and he executes them with imagination and style.
He collaborates very well with others. When we work on a project together, he is very clear about what he can bring to the table and what he can’t. If I’m the director, he only injects his opinion if I ask him to (of course I always do.)
In addition to his other talents, he’s also extremely funny. As a participant in the Stop Talking shows that I’ve done at the Minnesota Fringe, he is almost savant like in his ability to play the game. He’s also wickedly funny even while he is managing to play the game better than anyone else.
We are both exploring the freelance path at the same time. I’m dipping my feet in the pool while he dived into the deep end. It makes him a valuable person to talk to as we are having somewhat relatable experiences.
The biggest challenge we face together is we both have a lot of good ideas but we don’t have a lot of time to execute them. The reason that is a shame is because they are really good ideas. Making those good ideas with someone like Jerry is a lot of fun and I think we are both frustrated we haven’t had the time to get them done.
When they do happen, they will be amazing.
I’m very happy that Jerry and I have managed to slip into each other’s orbits. He’s one of those people who makes life a lot more interesting.
Friend a Day – Chrys Buckholtz
Photo by Kristin Thesing
I’ve known Chrys since she became part of Vilification the old-fashioned way – by standing up on stage at the Renaissance Festival and trying to insult someone. She started out well and has continued to improve since then.
She has a drive to write the best material possible. She spends a lot of time working with her partner to refine the jokes she writes because she wants them to work the first time she throws them. It may not be a 100% success rate but most of her new material hits the mark.
When she is on stage, she looks confident and prepared. I’ve never seen her arrive at a show anything but ready to do her best. I’ve never seen her at a loss for a joke.
Off the vilification tennis stage, she is a gifted costumer. Her work has been on stage at the CONvergence masquerade and in the halls of the convention. If you want a well made corset, I know who would be on the top of my list for a recommendation.
That attention to detail she brings to costuming is probably why she is so good in her job. As a property manager she is clearly meticulous and attentive. Those traits are a part of who she is and it makes her valuable.
Chrys and I share a lot of the same political views, which is not a reason I like her specifically but, like many of the people I know, she often helps lend perspective to a situation I’ve been thinking about. She doesn’t arrive at an opinion without some thought and because of that, I find her opinions worth hearing.
Like most members of the vilification cast, Chrys has brought her personality to the mix and it has added something that wasn’t already there. I think the diversity of who we are makes a huge difference in the success of our show.
I’m glad Chrys stepped onto our stage to give it a chance all those years back. It means I’ve gotten to know a really cool person.
Friend a Day – Eric Thompson
Photo by John Solberg
I’ve only known Eric for a little over a year. He tried out for the Vilification Tennis and won the amateur show in 2013 and he’s been another one that surprised me.
Eric appears to be pretty laid back and I didn’t know if that would work on stage. With the material he writes, it works tremendously well.
Since he joined the cast, he has proven to be an asset because he has good ideas for more than just Vilification Tennis. He brought the idea for Double Blind Improv to me and it was clearly a great fit for Fearless Comedy. Then he went through the trouble of setting up everything for the show.
It’s great when someone comes to you with a good idea. It’s even better when they are willing to do almost all of the work to make it happen.
He’s got a dry, patient wit. He will sit back and wait for an opportunity to be funny, which makes him dangerous because the audience loses track of him. Then he says something wickedly clever and they fall in love with him.
Eric has a lot of irons in the fire. In addition to working with Vilification Tennis and Fearless, he is also doing a regular podcast and, apparently also has a job. I guess I like him in part because I’m a little bit reminded of myself.
Another trait that impresses me is his willingness to do just about anything. He’s a cast member I can count on to just stand up and make something happen. When we needed someone to handle challenges for Die Laughing, he was the person who stepped up and coordinated.
It was a lot of work. But Eric is someone who will put in a lot of time when he believes in something.
I’m glad that Eric tried out for Vilification Tennis. He’s a great guy and I probably wouldn’t have met him any other way.
Check out the High Five Guys Podcast!
Friend a Day – Chris Arneson
As I’m currently in South Dakota performing with the Dregs, today seemed like a good day to write about a Dregs super fan.
Chris has been a loyal fan of our band for as long as I can remember. In one of our earliest incarnations, she came up to us and the end of the year and presented us with a paper bag. Inside the bag was a beautiful Irish Clauddagh that she had bought for us just because she loved our music.
We hung it in the pub for several years but eventually feared it would be damaged. At the moment it is in my basement, which is a bad location.
It was the first time anyone gave us a gift just to say “thanks” for entertaining them and it still is a special memory.
Chris comes to most of our shows but she has her priorities. She misses a few because she is watching her grandchildren. She misses others because she’s watching the Vikings. She’s missed a few lately because of health problems.
We always notice when she’s gone because she’s it feels like she’s part of the pub now.
She becomes part of the family for seven weekends a year. She’s one of the people who cries on the last day of the festival because it’s all going away and she isn’t ready.
I think Chris is a naturally cheerful person. She enjoys coming to the shows because she likes to laugh and she likes to sing along and she feels invited to be a part of the experience. That’s something that clearly connects with her.
For me, she is a great example of what being an entertainer is all about. It is making a personal connection with someone you hardly know and making a difference in their lives.
It’s great that we have made a difference to her. The great thing is that she has also made a difference to us.
Friend a Day – Joseph Scrimshaw
I’ve known Joseph from somewhere around the beginning of CONvergence back in 1999. At that time, his career as a comedian was just starting to develop while I had no idea that I might one day be looking to do the same thing.
For the last several years, he has been a terrific sounding board for me. He’s walked a road I’d like to walk and what makes him great is the fact he’s willing to talk to me about the journey. He is extremely generous with advice if you ask for it but he doesn’t offer it unless he thinks you are interested.
Joseph is one of the hardest working comedians I know. He is always writing something and the diversity of what he writes is staggering. He has written some of the funniest and most successful plays at the Minnesota Fringe. He writes a very funny blog. He’s written a book. And so on.
When he’s on stage, he looks confident and comfortable but never cocky. He is in his natural element and he likes it there. When he is clearly enjoying himself, the viewer can hardly help but to do the same.
We have had many conversations over the years about comedy and he takes it very seriously. He spends a lot of time thinking about what makes comedy work and how he can make his comedy better.
Recently, he moved from Minnesota to California, which is a big risk. If I know anyone who can make the move successfully, it would have to be Joseph. Sure, there are a lot of random factors involved but he is talented and an extremely hard worker.
For someone as talented as he is, he shares the stage with others extremely well. His Obsessed podcast could easily be much more about his cleverness than about his guests’ obsessions but he does a terrific job of using his questions to bring out the comedy in his guests rather than worrying about providing it himself.
Life is full of comings and goings but I’ll admit that when the Scrimshaws moved to California, it was a going that made me a little more sad than most. I definitely miss their presence even as I celebrate what I hope will be great success.
Joseph has a comedy blog over at www.josephscrimshaw.com. You also can (and should) support him on Patreon.
Also, he’s doing a performance in Minneapolis on Saturday at the Comedy Corner Underground. If you haven’t seen him live and you are in the Twin Cities, you should go!
Friend a Day – Melissa Kaercher
Photo by Amanda Celeste Jaeger
I knew Melissa before I really knew her. I ran into her at GE, where we both worked at the time and I recognized her from the Renaissance Festival and CONvergence. I believe I said something to the effect of “is there anywhere you aren’t?”
That’s a good question for Melissa overall because it does seem like she is everywhere and doing everything. She attends several conventions a year, she is on a bunch of podcasts (one of them with me), and she is part of no small number of other creative endeavors. The answer to my question, it would seem, is no.
We first bonded over a mutual love of movies. She’s seen all of them and I have seen many, but considerably less than her. She proceeded to provide me with title after title that I “needed” to see and she was, of course, always right.
She’s an expert at navigating social situations. She makes friends easily and often. If she’s met anyone she didn’t like, she keeps that information to herself.
Instead, she is constantly sharing her home for any number of events – usually associated with movies. She truly enjoys sharing her passion with others whenever there is a chance to do so.
When is comes to the projects we work on together, she has a tendency to be the one who keeps the rest of us organized and on task. She has a knack for that sort of thing. The Smackdown panel would not take place without her constantly goading Christopher Jones and I to do our jobs.
Melissa also has a knack for design and she’s helped me out on several occasions with art for Vilification Tennis or a logo for one of my many projects (the logo for Geeks Without God is one of hers).
The creativity that she shows in putting together things like Judging a Book or Killer B’s is remarkable. More remarkable, she does it without any expectation of recognition for what she has done. Instead, she does it because she thinks it is a fun idea.
The energy that she brings to everything she does is amazing. I’m glad to know Melissa simply because she is an example of someone who is squeezing everything she can out of life.
She blogs over at Tin Lizard Productions.
Friend a Day – Karl Anderson
Karl is my oldest friend. We’ve known each other since we were in grade school and while we have drifted in an out of each other’s lives, we have never drifted too far.
When I moved out on my own, he was my first roommate. He was the first person I called when I learned my dad had died. He was the best man at my wedding. I introduced him to his wife. At least I think I did. I’m going to take credit for it.
There is something about Karl that is comforting. As everything around us changes, he always feels at least a little bit the same. He gets older, sure. So do we all. But his personality has remained just about the same.
He’s quiet and mostly private. He would prefer to spend the majority of his time in front of the computer or with his family. In front of the computer. Yet every now and again there is an unmistakable twinkle that betrays a dry, sharp, and (to some) surprising sense of humor.
When we were growing up, I was always impressed by his artistic skill. I’d always hoped that he would become a cartoonist because he has a real knack for it. Webcomics are out there so maybe someday soon he’ll give it a try.
These days, Karl and I see each other mostly at Omegacon and CONvergence. At Omegacon, he’s one of the folks I try to make time to game with. He’s sharp, quick to pick up rules to new games, and he is always up for something he hasn’t played before.
We’ve shared a lot over the years and while we haven’t always lived in the same home or had a lot of time to spend with one another, he’s one of those people whom I’ve always been grateful to know.
Friend a Day – Sharon Stiteler
Photo by Bill Stiteler
I’ve known Sharon for about five years now. We aren’t super close friends but I enjoy what time I spend with her because she is ceaselessly interesting.
Sharon is well known as a birder. Heck, she’s written books and stuff. However, most of my experience with her is in comedy shows and I find her about as intimidating as they come. She is one of those folks who is effortlessly funny. When I’m on stage with her, all I think about is how much funnier she will be than me (and everyone else on stage). She makes it look easy. It never feels like she’s trying at all.
Confidence is one of her best qualities. It really feels like she knows what she is doing all the time. She believes in her own capability to do it right.
When it comes to birding, I think that she enjoys the process of sharing that passion with others. She writes, she blogs, she podcasts, and she gets together with other birders. Yes, it is her career so she needs to do those things. But I have to think that she gains a lot of pleasure from sharing her knowledge and experience.
She can talk for a long time on just about any topic because she knows a lot about them all. I admire smart people and she is one of the smartest. I don’t think that I would ever want to get into an argument with her because I’d probably be wrong and she would sound far more interesting than me even if I was right.
Sharon is a great communicator, as evidenced by all of her writing to be sure. She organizes her thoughts well and she organizes them rapidly. She doesn’t try to be interesting, she simply is interesting.
While being around Sharon may intimidate me a little, it’s well worth the effort to get over it. I’m glad that I’ve had the chance to know her a bit better.
You can read her blog over at birdchick.com.
Friend a Day – Nick Glover
I’ve known Nick for a long time but really only got to know him after he joined the vilification tennis cast and became my podcasting co-host on Geeks Without God.
Nick is a huge comic fan and over the last few years, he has introduced me to a ton of new comics. As a fan, he finds titles for me that go beyond the standard stuff that everyone has read. I appreciate the depth of his knowledge and his willingness to find me interesting new reading experiences.
We agree on a lot of topics but what always amazes me about Nick is his ability to boil his argument down to one or two insightful and cogent sentences. I’ll spend fifteen sentences to say what he says better in only one.
He has a relaxed attitude about working on stage that makes it easy to ask him to do just about anything. You never feel like something makes him uncomfortable. His response is always yes, and I can add this extra thing that will make it an even funnier idea.
When I have a complicated scenery item that I need, Nick is regularly the person who conceives of how to solve the problem. He made the elevator prop for an adaptation of The Shining I did this month and, as usual, he made it look better than I had expected and he did it for no cost. He loves solving those sorts of problems, I think, and he solves them well.
Nick has a very impish sense of humor. Usually, he keeps a straight face but every now and again, you can catch him being pleased with a joke he made. You catch him having fun with himself and it is charming.
I really look forward to recording new episodes of Geeks Without God and a big reason is the fact I get to hang out with my co-hosts before we record. Nick is a great guy and I’m very happy to have had the chance to work with him so often.
Grail Diary 