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.