Friday, July 22, 2011

Facebook Friends: Elias - Emily

Elias Cantu
Elias is good people. Movie star handsome with a heart of gold. My roommate and his roommate dated and, therefore we were thrown together a lot. Elias was the person that made me feel safe and respected in a crowd that seemed very shallow, dismissive and usually wasted. I'm pretty sure our friendship was 98% platonic and I honestly can't remember if the other 2% was us actually dating, or me just thinking we should so much that I started believing we did. It was a weird time for me, but I'm glad he was in it.


Elizabeth Kell Miklas
Tiny and terrific. Definitely one of the easier people to be around in High School. I have a really good recollection of Liz's laugh and I can't picture her with out seeing Michelle Czj.......kowski right next to her.


Elli Flynn
Elli Jo, the Funniest Girl I Know, is theatrical and full of character. When she tells a story, every part of her body tells it with her. Her hands, her eyes, her hips, heck, I'm pretty sure even her toenails were in on it. She doesn't walk; she prances.

I owe so much to Elli Jo. I really don't know if I would be an artist today had I not met her. I also doubt I would have the sense of humor that I do. Elli and I spent 2-3 years in high school passing notes back and forth every single day. Not just any notes. These were legendary. Funny scenes and illustrated comics involving people we knew and people we made up, which, looking at them now, are disgusting, sort of mean and not nearly as hilarious as they were at the time, but nothing from our youth ever is. I didn't realize it then, but it was this partnership that was the cornerstone on which the rest of my creative life has been built on. It stretched me. Up until that point, I knew I could draw rose tattoos on people at lunch, but that was about the extent of my artistic self-awareness. So, if I ever end up a famous dead artist and they do a documentary on my life, my stupid comics with Elli Jo will be my point of revelation. The point where I realized what I loved to do.



Emily Bogolin
This is Emily. She happens to be my beautiful, wonderful niece's beautiful, wonderful best friend, but I love her all on her own. I don't know what the future holds for this 13 year old, but I'm sure she'll do great things. She's got all the things that greatness requires: ambition, drive, leadership, self-awareness, confidence and a hefty dose of P.M.A. (Positive Mental Attitude). None of these things come to me naturally. I have to work at them, but Emily has them in spades. I can't wait to see where her life takes her–or–should I say, where she takes her life. She's not going anywhere unless she wants to. (Acts of God not included.)


Emily Boyd
I met Emily my freshmen year in college. I can picture her now. Teenie, tiny, crazy-haired, punk rocker Emily strolling through the halls of the art department with her precocious 4-year-old daughter skipping along beside her. I was pretty intimidated by her at first. She seemed dark and edgy and smart enough to give me a good verbal lashing if I said something super uncool. You see, I was afflicted with suburban white girl syndrome. The palette of people I had been exposed to up until that point was somewhat limited. I didn't know what Emily was, but I didn't think she was the sort to sit at home on Thursday nights watching Friends with a bag of Funyuns in her lap. I had to figure her out. And, I sort of did. It turns out, Emily wasn't nearly as intimidating as I thought. She's actually very warm, kind, outgoing, encouraging and awesome. Not to mention just crazy enough to be entertaining. I was right about her being smart enough to shred people with words, but I think she's pretty responsible with not misusing her gift.

Facebook Friends: Donna - Elaine

Donna Pullen Johnson
Donna is my OTHER beautiful, kind-hearted, Harley-Davidson-loving, cousin from my homeland of Gainesville, Florida who I haven't seen in 15 years. Seriously. Someone put this reunion together. Don't put me in charge. It'll never get done.


Douglas Lakey
Long before Doug was happily married, he and I dated. We bonded over our love of being hilarious and disgusting. Doug is a very clever and witty guy. Beloved by pretty much everyone. He's also a super suburban athlete. That's right. He's a professional bowler. He's better than everyone and he's got a giant thumb to prove it. He even hosts a radio show dedicated to the sport. You can check it out here. He also enjoys guitar playing, bar-b-queing, hanging out with The Friends and mens fashion.


Drew Krueger
I don't know Drew, but I do know Andy! Andy and my brother were best friends before my family moved to Atlanta. He's a good kid with a great family and wicked bar-tending skills.


Dustin Swartz
My sweet wonderful Dustin!!!!! How I love him so even if we haven't seen each other since college. (my fault) Dustin was my makeshift husband for our big group trip to Europe right after college. I don't know how I would have made it with out him. So much fun, so much fighting, and so much drama. Dustin was my rock and we were glued to one another for the entire trip. I even made him sleep in my room with me to avoid being alone with my assigned roommate Doris who spent half the trip crying and the other half on the phone with her boyfriend. We spent half our time walking the streets of Paris and London and the other half watching dirty Parisian television.

I could do lots of portraits of Dustin and if he lived here I would make him pose for me every time I had an artistic block. He's a block breaker. This crummy post-it just won't do him justice. He has such uniquely beautiful features. Sleepy eyes, a mouth sent straight from heaven and the greatest ears on God's green earth.

Dustin, I miss you!!!!! Let's go to Europe! (You'll have to pay, of course)


Elaine Crossman
Elaine was a prominent piece of my girl gang in high school. Many nights were spent at her house watching Dirty Dancing and Grease while we waited for her grandparents to fall asleep so we could do things we shouldn't. We shared a locker, which probably wasn't a good idea seeing as we were both giant slobs. (I still haven't outgrown that) She always sort of stayed on the out skirts in HS, and then blossomed senior year and won the coveted role of Prom Queen. Now she spends her time being gushingly in love with and married to, sweet Joey Crossman, raising her beautiful little children, and unleashing her inner party animal when she can get a babysitter.

Bellybutton, Elaine. Bellybutton.

Facebook Friends: Derek - Dineen

Derek Goettel
Derek is one very sweet potato. We went to High School together. He could (and still can) grow body hair at rate that puts all other men to shame!–Except on his head.


Derek Goon
Goon!!! Goon was a good buddy of mine in college and I still see him once in a very awesome blue moon. He has the coolest tattoo I've ever seen. And he can do all kinds of things with his hair. He's sort of like the Madonna of our bunch. He changes his hair and looks like a completely different person, but he's always given away by that sweet smile that he always has on. He's also really ballsy and just goes off and lives in other countries like it's no big deal - which always impresses me. He also just got married–see–more ballsyness.


Diane Necker-Cofer
Diane is my sister's sister-in-law, so, what does that make her to me? Well, nothing relation-wise, but she IS my friend and I'm very grateful that my sister has such a great sister-n-law living down the street. She's got a very kind, sweet and generous nature and is happy to help anyone and she's great to just talk to.


Diane Toroian Keaggy
Diane is a born reporter. Very inquisitive with a huge personality, plenty of drive, and a giant backpack full of conviction that she carries with her. If you're a stranger at a party, don't worry if Diane is there. You won't be a stranger for long. She'll have you laughing in no time. But, whatever you do, don't tell her you like Disney World.


Dineen Serpa
Another reason that facebook is cool. Dineen and I got to know each other by commenting on our mutual friends facebook posts. We chatted it up virtually for a few months so by the time I flew to Arizona for our mutual friends wedding, we were already pals who had just never met. It's great to go to a wedding with people you know even though you've never met.

Dineen is clever, outgoing and loves to climb things.

Facebook Friends: Debby - Denny


Debby could have been a supermodel, but chose to use her giant brain instead. She was the girl in High School - and every school had one - who was wicked smart, effortlessly beautiful, genuinely nice to everyone, athletic, able to switch from utter goofball mode to student body president mode in 5 seconds flat. Not to mention cheerleader, mascot, homecoming queen, and general all around do-gooder. If only she didn't have such a great personality too. She's good people.

I got to spend some time with Debby at our 10-year reunion and she is exactly the same - other than the mild british accent she's picked up from living in London, which just makes her all the more charming!


Ah, Dede. The perfect mix of southern charm, northern eastern depth and midwestern inappropriateness. Her life appears to be quite different since the last time I saw her. She's added a husband, a couple of kids, and a near death experience/miracle to her list of accomplishments, but she's still got that same beaming smile and a glow that even shows up in pictures.


I met Deep at a few years ago, and, you know how sometimes you meet someone so amazing that you just know it's going to change your life forever? Well, it wasn't like that, but it was still pretty cool. We had a pleasant and instant camaraderie. I love when I don't have to work for it.
Odds are I'll never see Deep or his beautiful wife again, but I'll think fondly of him forever!


Dena is my beautiful, sunny, radiantly warm cousin who I haven't seen in 15 years. It's circumstances like this that make me so thankful for social media! I think a family reunion is in order, Dena!


Co-worker and friend. Give Denny a pile of scrap wood, some heavy duty styrofoam and some cheap paint and an hour later he'll give birth to a masterpiece. He is 8 parts laid-back, happy-go-lucky, Grateful Dead-loving artist and 2 parts angry revolutionary. He can also illustrate anything and he looks great in a newsboy cap. If you've been to an art/craft show anywhere in St. Louis in the last 10 years, then you've seen Denny's stuff. It's AWESOME and it usually serves some sort of purpose other than just hanging there. See it some more on his website! Click This.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

The Friends - A Defenition.

Since I use this phrase so often, I felt it needed it's very own post.
"The Friends" is the term Amy B and I use when referring to the large group of about 20 of our High School friends, their spouses (usually also classmates), their parents, and the few random stragglers that have been picked up a long the way. They're all thick as thieves. It's sort of a bizarre and wonderful phenomenon that I haven't seen anywhere else. On most weekends you can find The Friends in a giant herd hanging out in someone's garage, patio, pool or the bowling alley. Once a year they all trek to a giant cabin in the Smokey Mountains. They are a super lot of people and I'm lucky to pop in a few times a year from my side of the river to open arms and juicy gossip.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Facebook Friends: Dawn - Debbie

Dawn Stine
The only real-life rodeo cowgirl I've ever met who is also fluent in sign language. Really, the only real-life cowgirl I've ever met period. She lights up any room she walks into.


Deanna Hemmersmeyer
Deanna is gorgeous and REALLY quiet. I love quiet people for two reasons. Number one: When they talk, it's usually worth listening to. And Number two: Every time they give you a bit of personal information, it feels like you've earned it.


Debbie Arnold Gregory
Some people are more fun to draw than others. Debbie's more fun. Big eyes, long lashes, a great nose and a mouth with such great character. When people have really great features you can just relax and have fun. I bet if Talous Lautrec were alive today he'd beg her to be his reluctant model.


Debbie Mackintosh
I haven't seen Debbie since I was about 7 years old. Her and my mom were best friends when they were kids and stayed that way until Debbie and her family moved to NYC to build a church and produce musicals (at least that's what my 7-year-old memory tells me she was doing.) You know, no big deal. I remember Debbie being very kind and radiantly warm and nothing I've seen or heard since leads me to believe she's changed.


Debbie Steudeman Stieferman
Debbie is great and she has the two hardest-to-spell last names of anyone I know. She is also one of those people who made my life what it is today. She gave me my job at the science center nearly seven years ago, even though, looking back, I was pretty terrible. We spent most of the interview talking about cats and crafting, so I guess she thought I was at least qualified enough to be entertaining–lack of talent be damned. She's a tiny ball of concentrated individuality. Her hair was always sticking up and her sweaters were sprinkled with whatever she had for lunch and it was totally and completely charming. These days she is the owner/operator of Gooey Louie. THE BEST gooey butter cake in St. Louis. Food Network even came to visit them!!! Debbie gives hope to creative scatter-brained types like myself. Someday we CAN get our acts together achieve something!!! Thanks for everything Debbie!!!