Cast of Characters

It has been brought to my attention that the euphemisms I use on this blog to identify friends, comrades, compatriots, colleagues and fellow makers of mischief are not universally understood. Going strictly on memory and in no particular order, my blog victims are:


Kitten
A close friend and comrade in geekdom going back to my sophomore year in high school, Kitten is a staple of the Atlanta Industrial/Goth scene. He has a penchant for cyberpunk fiction, loves his Volvo and is vain about his hair in a manner unrivaled among heterosexual men. Our banter is erudite and laden with inside jokes to the point that listeners often wonder if we're actually speaking English or some strange syllogistic language akin to that in the TNG episode "Darmok."* This episode of TNG also comes up whenever we are confronted about the opaqueness of our communication. His blog, though rarely updated, is well worth the read.

Sadly, Kitten suffered a brain bleed and proved his un-rivaled Gothness by dying on Valentines' Day, 2010. He was one of my best friends and he is dearly missed.


Friendly Genius
My best friend from childhood, Friendly Genius and I lost touch when I moved cross country at the age of eleven. By a strange fluke of fate, he and I re-encountered each other entirely by accident at the age of 21. He is a mathematician by training and he has a disinterest in popular culture that I can only hope to emulate. He is the only person with whom I can interact for an entire day without resorting to banality and gossip. "Friendly Genius" was the name of his, now extinct, website and blog.


Killyin
In adolescence and early adulthood, I and my two best friends formed an evil triumvirate that, in varying periods over the course of ten years devoted huge amounts of energy to vandalism, semi-professional theatre and being aimlessly 20-something; each in succession. Killyin is one of those two and the one with whom I remain in contact. He managed to be, simultaneously, the pretty one and the sensible one, a ladies man with a 3.8 average. He is also the only other of my old friends to have achieved some simulacrum of his youthful dreams. Like me, and like we promised each other as teenagers, he has grown up to make movies. He works at a post house in California and occasionally comments here.


White Lightning
The second of aforementioned friends, White Lightening and I are no longer in touch. In our young entente he was the wild one, the epicurean lover of life who often walked a bit too close to the third rail. He was also the first in my circle of friends to learn to drive and half of my high school memories that do not take place backstage took place in or near his dilapidated Honda. He morphed into a neo-hippy in college and tried a brief stint as a professional actor. He is currently an officer in the US Army. I last spoke to him just before Killyin's wedding nearly two years ago.


Joker
Between my two stints in college, I drifted a bit. During this time I made several enduring friends, Joker foremost among them. A fast liver who threatened to crash and burn so brightly as to be talked about in hushed tones for the next three decades, I met him on virtually the day he decided to turn his life around and join the Marines. A gifted rifleman, mechanical genius and social butterfly he oozes a confidence normally reserved for movie stars and high powered lawyers. He has a super human ability to attract the attention of women and an unenviable habit of dating those women that are worst for him. He is also a first order geek, proudly displaying his Star Wars and Superman memorabilia beside his military commendations. He is my favorite friend with whom to go carousing and I would ask Joker to speak at my funeral if I thought there was the remotest chance that he would outlive me.


Bugsy
More than ten years my senior, Bugsy is my closest professional colleague. He and I administrated an indie theatre troupe for several years. He ultimately hired me as an audio assistant and gave my my start in the world of film & TV. We've worked on over a dozen movies together. Perpetually tardy and almost always exhausted despite a daily Red Bull regimen that would frighten a meth-head, he is a master of his craft with audio experience going back twenty-odd years. He has taught me most of what I know about that end of the business. He can be insufferably neurotic and transcendently wise in the same breath. He also dates a stripper half his age.


The (Ex)Wife
Friend of twelve years and roommate of three, The Wife got her nickname when she and I realized that, under an archaic Georgia statute, we are common-law married. A grad student in art history, she is an expert on industrial fabrics. Unreasonably pretty and intellectually confident beyond her years, men become infatuated with unerring celerity. She is currently engaged in upsetting the balance of post modern culture through the revolutionary practice of home crafting. She is also the only person who can tolerate me without complaint for days on end.

-- Update, since the first writing of this FAQ, The (Ex)Wife has acquired solo lodgings and changed careers. She now joins me in the making of TV and movies. She works in the Art Department and is exceptional at it.


Rawkst'ahr
Finally, Rawkst'ahr, whom I mention more than anyone else and who's name I constantly find new ways to spell, was my girlfriend for nearly five years. Presently a junior editor on a 24 hour information channel, she is an aspiring entertainment journalist and full time pop music enthusiast. She is easily in the 98th percentile of both spunky and cute, forcing everyone around to wonder what she ever saw in me. Though we broke up in the fall of '10, I love her every bit as much as I frustrate her and we continue to be close.


I'm sure I've left some people out so if you find a nickname somewhere on the Blog, I invite you to ask with the caveat that I may have met that person only once and made up a name because it was convenient. Alternately, remembering that I am a storyteller by nature and make no pretense of honesty, I may have just made that person up. If you do email or comment with such an inquiry, please include the link for the post in which they are mentioned.




*If you don't know what "TNG" means, then you're not enough of a geek to care and you shouldn't trouble yourself wondering.