About Me

This is the essence of who I am. But it is not the only things that define me...

At the Renaissance Festival especially, I get real special moments that would put a lump in the throat of a serial killer. These are magic moments that happen when I am not looking for them. These are simple things that get me when my guard is down. It got me when a 7 year old critic who did not believe in magic went hunting for purple baby dragons with me. Or when the little bright eyed kid chased me down and gave me her lolipop because I would not accept a hat pass for the story I drew her.

Remember when you were a kid and laughter came easy to your lips? Children laugh on an average of 300 times a day. 300 times. By the time we are 18 our average has dropped to 12 laughs in a day. 12. As we become adults, we are bullied and bandwagoned by society into being serious. I tell you that it doesn't have to be that way. I take even seriousness humorously.

Something I was completely unready for was happening under my nose without me even being aware of it. The national average is 12 friends to a person. In the midwest where I live, the average is only nine. This thing that I was unprepared for; one day I looked up and I knew that I had a thousand and one friends. Some closer than others, but all friends nonetheless. People who gather to support our friends in need. Great friends that stay awake all night long talking, playing, dancing, and singing together. Sometimes even all at once. And not just an average sampling of people; my friends are open-minded, multilingual, multiracial, multicultural, multireligious, they cook haggis, read your fortune, juggle flaming torches, they have elephants as pets, they train mountain lions, they write poetry and make music. They eat fire. They can navigate by the stars and tell time with a stick. Even the burly men hug each other. And they are fun. And they are funny. And they are brilliant. And I love them all more than I can express.

A Lollipop in a treasure box, 300 laughs a day, and 1,001 awesome friends make me one of the richest adults to walk the face of the planet.