David Snippets.

In honor of his birthday today. Some of these will make no sense without the surrounding context. But my friends will get it.

— David, bandana round head, no shirt on, shorts, major hot bod with the big sculpted arms … standing in his living room and repeatedly punching a helium balloon – which was tethered on a string – attached to something immovable – David kept punching it like a punching bag, saying over and over – as though the helium balloon was giving him some lip: “Whose fuckin’ birthday is it? Huh? HUH? WHOSE FUCKIN’ BIRTHDAY IS IT?” He looked absolutely insane. And terrifying. That poor balloon.

— “And you know the courtesans will burn.”

— “I looove the feelin’ of that ROCK in my NOSE in the MORNIN’ – BING!!!”

— The plate dance. It has to be seen to be believed.

— “I’m all talk no action!”

— Standing in the parking lot at Ed Debevacs in Chicago and mooning the passing cars

— Carving pumpkins at David and Maria’s house. It was me, Mitchell, Jackie, David, Maria, and Bobby. Jackie had some problems while carving. She had some good ideas … but then – disaster – she cut out too much and the eye opened up into the lid-top. This was no good. Jackie got upset. David pretended to scorn her horrible pumpkin carving capabilities and started shouting at her, making it into one word: “LIDEYE – LIDEYE – LIDEYE!” I kind of can’t put into words WHY this was so funny … but we still say, on occasion, “lideye” whenever we are talking about any kind of disaster. “Lideye, lideye.”

— Mitchell and David, pretending to be announcers at the Tony Awards: “Ladies and gentlemen …………………………….. CHITA.” Which then morphed into: “A womannnnnnnn … a performer … a singer … a dancer ………… a pudendum extraordinaire ……….. CHITA.” Seriously. It makes total sense. The funny thing was that Maria, Jackie and I had left the apartment to … go shopping? Do errands? We left Mitchell and David there, and they were relatively normal – we came back a couple hours later … and THAT was what they were doing when we walked back in. And they had apparently been behaving that way for hours. Completely happy, entertaining each other.

— Pictionary on Saturdays at David and Maria’s. Those were the wildest games EVER. Mitchell, Jackie and I looked at David and Maria’s apartment on Greenview as a total haven. They had big thick water glasses, and nice china. There was always something yummy that Maria had cooked. Everything was cozy and beautiful. There was also the famous couch. You walked into that apartment – and maybe James Taylor was playing – or Marc Cohn – or Des’ree – and Maria had made a pot of coffee, and the light outside was wintry and chill – and you just felt safe, and happy to be there. The two of them have always created such spaces. It’s a joint effort. You walk into their house – and you just sink into the couch thinking, “Ahhhhhhhhh”.

— Window-Boy called me at David and Maria’s to ask me out. I have no idea why this night, of all nights, stays so vivid in my mind – it’s not even a big deal – but David and I still laugh about it. This was … my… second time going out with the guy? After meeting him on that crazy cosmic-tumbler night – and then meeting him again months later when he finally got my phone number. So anyway – I was, to put it mildly, OUT OF MY MIND about Window-Boy. And I was much younger then so I was blabbing about Window-Boy to eeeeeeeeeeeveryone. It was one of the funniest and craziest adventures I had ever had, and I invited everyone to be a part of it. Window-Boy tracked me down at David and Maria’s. I was playing Pictionary – hooooooooping he would call. Hoping so hard that it actually was unpleasant. That was how much I was into him. David LOVES stuff like this and lives it vicariously. Window-Boy called – and he and I made plans to meet at Southport Lanes. Meanwhile, David and Brian are both screaming in the background, all testosterone – and Window-Boy said, tentatively, “Who are they?” Like: uhm – where is she right now??? I hung up the phone and just scurried about the apartment like a crazy person, putting on makeup, involving everyone there in my love life. They all laughed openly at me. David and Brian drove me to Southport Lanes so I could meet Window-Boy. I even remember my outfit. I was wearing a black derby. This was my inspriation. David and Brian actually escorted me into the bowling lanes – They wanted to get a good look at the guy who was making their friend soooooooo insaaaaane! He wasn’t there yet (thankfully). I don’t think showing up with two guys in tow when you’re going on a date with someone – even someone as WILD as Window-Boy – would have been a good idea. But for some reason, David and I still talk about that night. And Brian – who was already dating the girl he would end up marrying a couple years later – and they now have 3 kids – totally had the impression of me (he didn’t know me that well) that my life was ALWAYS as crazy as it was that summer. Anyway – David’s total support and non-judgment of me during the entire Window-Boy thing – which went on for YEARS – has always meant the world to me. And I still laugh when I think of the three of us parading our way through those old-time bowling lanes, me in my derby, the two of them – big guys, football players – escorting me to my crazy date … beautiful.

— David and I met when I was 16. He was 19.

— During a show once in college – he came up through a trap door into the middle of a scene that he wasn’t even part of. During a performance. He did it on a dare. Just stood there grinning at the other cast members who were stunned into baffled and terrified silence, like … “Uhm … what the hell are you doing here?” He got into trouble but he didn’t care.

— Once at a party in college – at around 5 am – David and I wrote down a vow that we would always be friends, and there was even a pricking-of-the-finger thing that happened – I still have that vow. With this ancient blood-stain on the piece of looseleaf.

— Every day with David is a journey. I see him once every couple of weeks – and he is always living, learning, growing, struggling. He is one of my dearest and most cherished friends. He knows how to listen.

— David, Maria and I were all together on October 27, 2004. It’s a memory that will remain vivid for me forever. I couldn’t have asked for a better place/group of people to be with on that night.

— I stood up in the Barnes & Noble on Diversey – I had been sitting in the same position for a couple of hours – I stood up, had no feeling in my foot, my ankle twisted beneath me and I plummeted down onto the floor, my coffee flying up out of my cup. Employees rushed over. Concerned. This is before we all had cell phones. I didn’t know what to do – One look at my ankle – and how huge it got – it was like a blowfish – terrified me. I couldn’t walk. The Barnes & Noble employees helped me over to the payphone – and I couldn’t think of what to do. So I called David. “David??? Uhm …. my ankle is …. I really hurt myself ….” You could HEAR the focus in his voice immediately. He’s like a fireman that way. “Where are you. I’m coming to get you.” He arrived 10 minutes later – and now my ankle was so huge I was afraid to take my shoe off – He got me into his car, I wasn’t hysterical or anything like that – just hurt and kind of pissed at myself. Did we go to the hospital? I don’t think so. Mitchell was with him somehow. Mitchell and I lived on the third-floor of an apartment building. We got into that lobby – and I stared up the stairs silently. Thinking, “Okay. Just gear up for the climb.” Before I even put one foot on the first stair – David scooped me up in his arms, as though I weighed nothing, and carried me all the way up to the apartment. Even to this day I get a little choked up remembering that. At the time, though, I was just mortified and kept making comments about how I was going on a diet soon … “I’m sorry … I’ll be going on a diet soon …”

— “In you In you In you In you In you” …

— David and I spent a year working on the play Summer and Smoke with our mentor. It was one of the most intense and real and awesome acting experiences I have ever seen. And nobody, except the people in that class, saw our work. I talk about it a bit here. He’s an amazing actor and working on that play, in particular, with him – was truly one of the greatest gifts of my life. I experienced some soul-growth during that year – I kept a detailed journal of the whole process -which I’ve thought of posting here, for you acting fanatics. It’s very technical and analytical – but man, we worked our BUTTS off. Acting with David is one of those things where – it never feels like acting. It’s real. You listen, you talk – he’s unpredictable, I’m unpredictable – it’s not LITERAL … It’s marvelous and exciting. I STILL would love to do that play with him. Even if only 20 people see it.

— The relationship that he and Mitchell have is truly hysterical. They are like Long Lost Brothers, seriously. Sometimes they get so out of control that you almost want to say, “Boys. Time for bed.”

— New Englanders – he’s the one in that commercial with Tim Wakefield – where Wakefield pitches to him and hits him on the head.

— Oh God, and then there was that morning after the craziest college party ever (all my college friends will know EXACTLY the one I am talking about) – and it was a “formal” party – so we all were dressed to the nines – David had on a tux – I had on a black lace flapper dress … We all ended up sleeping over the house – pig piled all over the place – but of course nobody had pajamas or anything – so we all just slept in our formal clothes – people lying in pull-out couches here and there, dressed in tuxedos – and then we woke up the next morning – and all of us – still dressed like that – went out to breakfast at a local diner – and then drove to the cinema to see Seventh Sign. That was the name of it, I believe. With Demi Moore. David looked like a gigolo. His bowtie was bright red, he had loosened his white shirt, opened the collar – but he kept the bowtie on like a Chippendale – he had on mirrored sunglasses – I could not even look at him without bursting into laughter – and we all walked into the Showcase Cinema for a matinee movie dressed in last night’s formal wear …

— He talked to me until my train came. He kept me on the phone.

— “Clip it or cloak it, Chloe.”

— The sun hurt my eyes that day. We sat outside at Cafe Avanti. I was so heartsick that I had become physically sick. I couldn’t eat, sleep. I called in sick to work. It was one of the worst and loneliest days of my life. David came and got me and we spent the day drinking coffee, talking. I remember hunching over the table, protectively. Heartsick. And these words: “Just because something is meant to be, Sheila, doesn’t mean that it will be.” Yup. Healing. In raw moments like that … his big strong presence is healing.

— He ran into Window-Boy at an audition for something. Of course David knew WAY too much about Window-Boy because … well. I was a blabber-mouth and out of my mind about the guy. They had met before. Window-Boy walked in – David observed his behavior for a while – watching him – watching this guy who was such a HUGE part of his friend’s life – it was like he was watching a rare bird in his natural habitat – hahahaha So finally he went over and said, “Hi … I’m David …” Window-Boy, awkward at all times, kind of winced at David – like: “Oh God. Who are you? What did I do?” David said, “Yeah … we’ve met once or twice before – we have a friend in common …. Sheila.” Again: I have the best group of friends in the whole world because David and I STILL laugh about this ridiculous 2-second exchange. Which probably isn’t funny to anyone but those who know me. So at the sound of my name – Window-Boy visibly relaxed – his whole tense demeanor changed, it was like this sudden softness and fondness came over his face – David saw the whole thing (and of course I made him do an imitation of the facial expressions a gazillion times. “Do it again.”) – and – awkwardly – Window-Boy said, “Sheila? Yeah …. yeah … Sheila …. She’s ….” (Long agonizing pause.) Then out came: “She’s a good girl.” Okay – nobody knows any of the participants – but … to those of you who DO know Window-Boy, you will know how ridiculous this moment is. He was a tough gruff kind of guy, completely insane, brilliant, funny, a big jock – and … well. He truly had feelings for me – but instead of saying it in a normal way, like, “Oh, she’s so cool! I’ve really liked hanging out with her” or whatever … he fumbled for words, said my name a couple of times … and then said, “She’s a good girl.” And the second it came out – David said he saw the MORTIFICATION flicker through Window-Boy’s eyes – I’m laughing out loud – like he KNEW – “Oh shit. Did I just refer to her as a ‘good girl’? Did I just say, ‘Sheila … she’s a good girl’ to one of her best friends? Can a hole open up in the ground right now for me??” But funny thing: the stories about Window-Boy were always kind of wild – and my friends had to kind of just think, “Okay – well, Sheila knows what she’d doing … ” But after that moment with Window-Boy – the shy awkward wince, the “she’s a good girl”, etc. – David completely got it. Totally saw what I saw. It was important to me that David “get it”. It always is, I guess. Explaining myself to David, and working things out with him as a listening ear is one of the most important things I can do in my life – and it’s been that way for YEARS.

— He’s one of my “ideal readers”. By that I mean – I feel totally comfortable showing him first drafts of things. Not only do I feel comfortable – but his input has always been invaluable. It’s not about praise – it’s that sometimes he has this way of seeing what I’m TRYING to say before I even can see it … He’s a deep reader. His insights have helped me figure out what I’m trying to express.

He’s one of the funniest people I’ve ever met in my life. One of my dearest friends.

So David:

Whose fuckin’ birthday is it?

Yours, my dear friend.

I know you’re off on some island in Maine right now – and out of contact – but when you get back – just know: that your crazy friend Sheila (“yeah … Sheila … she’s … she’s ……….. She’s a good girl.”) said: HAPPY BIRTHDAY.