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.