Downtown Bozeman

I was driving across the country on tour by myself
Stopped at a Denny's in Bozeman, Montana
Got a Moons Over My Hammy
It was good
The door opens and a drunk stumbles in and starts creating a ruckus
Wait, you think I'm going to fight him right?
Nah
I just sit there
Enjoy my Hammy
The manager comes over and shoos the hobo out
Manager turns to me
"Only in downtown Bozeman."
Still makes me laugh to this day

That's the Girl For Me

I'm on tour with Saigon
We're playing  Ft. Worth
Bass Hall
It's nice
My buddy Clifton and I wanted to go out
So we go to Dallas
Heard about this club
Heard good things
When we get there it is for sure a good club
They had a dress code
So many beautiful women
Clifton leans in and asks, "who do you like?"
This girl walks under a light and I'm struck
I pointed right at Chelsea and said,
"That's the girl for me."
But our paths don't meet at that moment
Later before I'm about to leave
We bump into each other
A conversation starts
Then we sit down and she asks me out on a date
I call out sick for the next two days
To be with her
Then I asked her to come to Hawaii with me
She did
Chelsea

The gift

I was all dressed up for church and waiting for the rest of my family
I was playing around the curb when I saw this white box
It looked maybe like a fast food container right there in the gutter
But it wasn't
It was plastic
Not Styrofoam
I took a closer look
My family was still getting ready for church
It was something
I opened it and there was a professional microphone
Beautiful
I was enchanted
When my Dad came out of the house I showed it to him
He shrugged and said "Finders keepers."
My folks had this awesome stereo system
It was all big and woody and it had an in Mic input
The mic fit into it
So, the next day I put The Beach Boys Barbra Ann on
And I sang
My sister ran upstairs and said, "Mom, Dad, You gotta hear this."

Homecoming

2018
Homecoming weekend at the University of Washington.
Every year I get an invite from my fraternity for an alumni gathering.
Being an actor I'm mostly not available for weekend gatherings but not this year.
This year I was free.
Still, I found enough excuses to not go until Eric called and convinced me.
I'd fantasized about homecoming before; returning back to where so many memories were created.
After a gathering at Burke Museum (which was nice) we meandered back to the house where it all started.
On the walk over I thought about my first night in the house.
The day before we were to move in I broke in and staked claim to a small room behind the kitchen.
A bunch of young men from the dorms and beyond got together and became brothers.
Pi Kappa Phi is an amazing national organization.
I was lucky enough to be at the centennial celebration and I'm proud to call these men brothers.
This chapter (Alpha Delta) was ours.
29 years later I'm wandering around the house seeing the places so many moments happened.
THIS night, it's filled with a party of young people (I don't know) living their own moments.
Creating their own memories.
It's my home and I feel comfortable wandering the space but I also feel out of place.
It's home from another time.
The nostalgia is strong but I felt like a specter meandering the halls.
It's understandable.
I recall the old guys that helped us re-charter our chapter and how I thought,
What are these old dudes doing here?
And now it's me.
Re-chartering  was challenging.
There were tests and many hoops to jump through to be accepted.
One task was to write a mission statement in under 30 words that succinctly summed our purpose.
THAT chapter meeting was arduous.
Agreement was difficult.
There was bickering and frustration.
Amidst this argumentation I worked on putting the words I was hearing together.
After a while I offered up a suggestion that was agreed upon and ratified.
It was the words of all of us in the room.
That was 29 years ago.
I wonder do these Pi Kapps feel the way I felt about this fraternity.
So many powerful moments happened because of brotherhood.
Friendship is one thing but brotherhood, well that's a little bit different.
Eventually some young brothers approach and we converse.
Not sure what to say I blurt out, "I wrote the mission statement."
Three young men in unison stand up straight and in loud voices boom

Pi Kappa Phi is A Gentleman's Fraternity where brotherhood is the utmost. We strive to attain excellent academic standards and we shall never haze.

They knew ALL the words.
Filled my chest with pride.
Brotherhood crosses generations after-all.

Children's Theater

My first paying gig as an actor was Seattle Children's Theater
I was so proud when I got my first paycheck that I kept it and put it in a scrapbook
It was fun
Doing shows for kids is special cause they really buy in and are with you on the journey
We had a bit in the show where we'd gotten separated and lost each other
We'd walk on the stage backwards and at center stage we'd pivot and walk off the other way
Totally not seeing each other
The kids would lose their minds screaming "She's right behind you!!!"
It was awesome
There was a day when for some reason there were no kids
Well there was one
One kid
I went to the director and asked, "Are we doing this show?"
The guy was kind of a creep but I respect that he said, "Yes. You have an audience."
It really doesn't matter if you play for 55 or 2000 or even one
I learned that that day
So this kid got the show of his life
We brought him on stage and into the play
He did the show with us
It is a precious memory to me
I sometimes wonder if he remembers it or if he went on to become an actor
I'll never know

CC

When I was a senior in high-school I was excited the yearbook was coming out
I still have it
I haven't looked at it in a while
Now I'll probably root around for it
But there was that section where we all voted on who was
Most Likely To Succeed
Cutest Smile
Artistically Inclined
Best Actor
Best Musician
I remember when I was told what I had been voted as
I was crestfallen
It hurt my feelings
I wasn't the best actor
I didn't have the cutest smile
I wasn't the best musician
I wasn't most artistically inclined
These were all truths
I was
Class Clown
It kinda hurt
Back in the day
But you know what
After all these years I think
Yeah I was
And I like it

John

I've written about my Dad before but there are a few more things I'd like to say,
He's a generous man
He cares about his employees and their kids
Although cantankerous he is kind
When Mom wanted him to kill a rat in the garage he just couldn't do it
He never raised a hand against me or my Mom or my sister
He is strong
He taught me, "We all got off the boat with Noah." when talking about races and color of skin
He put me to work, young though
Flipping parts in the garage
Paint fumes and turpentine
I was like 8
But he paid me
He's funny
He's a bit of a loner
Guess I picked that up too
He was burned in a fire when a small child
He saw his deceased grandma at the foot of his bed
They thought he might die
His leg is scarred
They said he might never walk again
He played football and baseball
The closest we ever got into a fight was Christmas Eve over the National Endowment for the Arts
Yet this man has supported my career my whole life
He really likes onions
He told me a story once that was so evocative
He was the youngest of five and because of that fire my great grandad Calvin said "we're taking John out west"
Calvin and Marie (great Aunt)
They didn't tell him though
They just got on a train
He saw his family on the platform as the train pulled away
He didn't understand
Then he did
My Dad wept as he told me this story
I can't even
So he's a bit distant at times
So am I
I love him so much
He's a good
good Dad

YMCA

I work out at the YMCA almost every day
It is a ritual that I enjoy
As a person of habits I tend to go at about the same time most days
Right about noon
There are a number of people that do the same
The Y is a quiet place
We all have our headphones
I see these people all working out every day and maybe I've said "Hi."
Once
You might not believe it but I am pretty shy in public
What? An actor and singer who was social chairman of his fraternity?
I am shy
But I have this affinity towards these people who are bettering themselves
So here is my team
Dr. Gray (He's about 76, always wears a gray t-shirt and gray shorts)
I don't know why I think he's a Dr. but I do
Cartoon Girl (She loves cartoons on Netflix...like really loves and she always has a smile)
They both put in a solid hour
I think of them as my friends though we've hardly shared a word
The Bionic Man (He has the coolest metal leg. It has to be Titanium I suppose it could be Aluminium but it's for sure Titanium. That dude hits the stairmaster super hard.)
I'm always impressed
Seriously
Of course there is
Pretty Girl (She has this really long hair that has curls at the end which MUST take forever to do and it's always perfect.)
Also she works out really well
Impressive
Strong Carlos (He gets after it every day)
There is Mark
That's just Mark
I know Mark
I love the YMCA
All these people working on themselves
Plus now they have Netflix

LAST GAME

Spent 8 years playing in softball in various leagues in NYC but was moving back home to WA.
I loved playing ball in Central Park
Could there be a better setting?
New York is baseball so softball is a big deal too
Sometimes it got really serious
There were some amazing ballers
That New York mixture of cultures
I loved it so much
Favorite thing about New York
People playing in the park
So my last game
The Playoffs
Playing for Addams family (No I was not in the show)
The manager, a friend, Jim Moye, said, "Look we're not scoring I think you need to try and hit a home run."
I was like, okay
This was my last game
I knew it
Hadn't hit a home run all season long
This season I'd focused on hitting for average and my on base percentage was the best of my life but, you know I missed the long ball
I got the heavy $20 cheap ass bat out of my bag
The week before the game I had this incredible experience
THE KODAMA GRIP
It worked
I hit two
After the second one the kid who played Pugsley said. "Stone, You The Man!"
Great last game
We lost
After the game ended I walked out to home plate and knelt down
I ran the dirt through my fingers
I wept
What a wonderful thing to get to play games with friends

Crossing Guard

When I was in 4th or 5th grade at Ridgecrest Elementary in Shoreline, Wa I was offered a position as a crossing guard.
We had this big hill with a four way stop right in front of our school.
The kids, well, we all walked home.
I had a chain around my neck with a key on it.
Latch Key they call it.
They lured me in by saying I'd be getting out of class 15 minutes early.
Course, I learned quickly that crossing guard meant you get home about an hour later.
That meant I'd miss The Bugaloos.
But I loved crossing guard.
They gave us an orange vest, a hard hat and a flag and said, "Make sure it's safe."
So as a 10 year old I would walk out into the street, a busy street mind you, and direct traffic.
I'd put my flag up.
Everyone would stop.
It was pretty awesome.

Pick-up in Ballard

We were playing a pick-up game in Ballard
Street hoops
No refs
Street rules
It was against this strange family
The Manson family
Not literally, but the dad had long stringy hair and prison tats
The sons were tall, young and lean
They could play ball but they played dirty
Undercutting rebounds etc.
It was obvious they knew what they were doing
At one point my friend VanBishler responded with some force
A confrontation occurred and the Manson dude cuffed him across the face
That was it for me
I punched prison dude right in the face and the fight was on
Everyone broke apart and we squared up
He came at me with a move I didn't expect
It was a flying screaming move
He went for my eye and I closed it just a second before he scraped it out
Got my eyelid pretty good though
I dropped back moved left and threw three consecutive left jabs
He didn't expect that
My left is my power
They all rocked
Then his son "Sky" came into the fight.
This kid was tall
Dunked during the game
I dropped low
I got into a stance that I can only describe as crab pose
He didn't know what to do
"It's under the seat go get it", someone shouted
We ran off the court
I hope he felt those blows for some time