Just for today, please allow
me the indulgence of bragging about my friends. Specifically, the rest of the
Part Time Authors. I’m kind of proud to know these guys, despite the fact that associating
with them is intimidating and talent-wise, I am the slightly-less attractive,
nobody’s-favorite guy in every boy band.
That's me in the middle.
Blondie on the right, back.
I'm pretty sure I'm the guy in the back, on the left.
Let’s go in order of our
posting schedule, shall we?
Patrick. (You know him as
Tuesdays.) Did you know Patrick once
wrote an off-off- OFF-Broadway musical? Well, me neither! It was called R.R.R.E.D. and it played in L.A. and
N.Y. I found this out a few months back. I was so embarrassed I didn't know
this earlier! Patrick and I have been good friends for forever! Well,
technically, not forever. We hung out a LOT and produced some truly fantastic
plays together in the Premortal Life, but then, due to creative differences, we
spent the first half of our mortal lives apart. But now…now he is a joy to
behold. I love listening to Patrick sing and play the piano. He is tremendously
talented and blends comedy and poignancy beautifully. At Christmastime we heard him perform with his
trio, The Tuesday Night Supper Club. It was delightful. My favorite was an
original song Patrick wrote about Dancer, the reindeer. It was called “Dancer,
the Reindeer.” Or maybe just “Dancer.” Or maybe “Not Prancer.” I’m not sure.
Patrick is so artsy, his choices are sometimes confounding. The song has fast
become one of my favorites. I don’t want to give it away, but I will say that
it is hilarious, and at the exact same time, it will break your heart. I wish
the whole world could hear it. Patrick also wrote a song for a play his lovely
wife, Lindsay, just produced and directed at BYU. The play was incredible, and
so is Lindsay. Together, they are a force to be reckoned with.
Chris. I've known Chris the
longest, of all the PTAs. We were friends back in college, before any of us
were married and it was not a problem at all to eat a full meal at Village Inn
at 2:00 in the morning. And one of my favorite things about Chris, from the
first day we were friends, was that he could grow a beard overnight. Well, not
really. (He CAN, that’s just not my favorite
thing about him.) (It’s my third favorite thing.) Sincerely, it was his
creativity and his confidence in building a career where he could specifically
use that talent. Chris is a renowned and highly-sought-after director now, and
it is my goal to see anything he directs. And regarding his amazingness, you
don’t have to take my word for it. The man just swept a national theater award
competition, the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. You can readall about it right here. He’s kind of a big deal. Congratulations, Chris! I am so pleased, and you absolutely deserve it.
Josh. Josh is a magnificent
storyteller and prolific writer. Conversations with Josh are some of the most
entertaining you can ever have. And they are especially delightful if you are
eating something – something he himself has made. Once last year, when I was
still living in Las Vegas, I came up to Utah for work and Josh invited me over
for dinner. I don’t remember the details, but his day ended up not going the
way he had planned. So I showed up to eat, and he was frantic, and I was not
going to let him off the hook, so he whipped up this dinner, and – I’m not
kidding – it was amazing. Like, he didn't have a recipe in front of him, he was
just kind of off the hook, “Oh, I made this thing once that I think I can do
pretty quick,” and it was like a movie with pots and pans clanking and stirring
utensils in them and flames and buzzers going off. And suddenly there was this
delicious spinach salad with bacon and I think an egg on noodles and he acted
like he needed to apologize and I was like, “Are you KIDDING ME?!” If he had
shown up at my house like that and my day had gone like his, then he would have
enjoyed a singular bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats. (With toast and a glass of
juice, part of a balanced breakfast and/or dinner. I mean, I’m not an animal.) My
point, Josh is a fantastic cook; I envy his instincts, and I’m grateful when he
shares it with his friends.
Brett. As you read last week,
Brett is in a movie! Yeah Brett! I've seen Brett perform, and he is
sensational. There is this mountain of creativity percolating in Brett’s mind
at all times. He is very still and relaxed on the outside, so as to disguise
his genius. Then you are sitting there trying to come up with an idea or a story line or something – and Brett speaks, and he just nails it. Whatever it
is. He is a versatile actor and, as it is with Chris, I would try to see
whatever production Brett is performing in.
Thank you for letting me brag
about my friends. I just think they deserve great things.
