A Pretty Good Day

If for no other reason, today was note-worthy for this: I ran into six people I knew, entirely by coincidence. Erika, an actress from Charlie’s Aunt, I ran into on the Metro. On my return trip (following an audition), I ran into someone else I knew. Then, getting off the Metro back in Gaithersburg, I met up with a co-worker. Craziness. Then tonight, I encountered three guys I knew in High School. Wasn’t looking for anyone, and I ran into six old friends and acquaintances all in the same day. Small world.

But that wasn’t the only reason today was so good. I also saw my friend Nano perform tonight. He was in a one-act in Herndon. Not to put too fine a point on it, he was excellent. He has a quality I realized tonight reminded me of John Goodman (nothing to do with girth). Nano and Goodman can both take a role and make it their own, and make it seem completely natural, believable. It’s harder than it sounds. The other thing that made me think of the comparison… they’re equally talented at comedic and dramatic roles.

Nano has made me laugh, and I consider myself lucky to have worked with him. Relying on another person to pull off a two-man performance is unlike any other show I’ve done. I hope he’d agree… Nano has made me laugh, but tonight he held my attention in another capacity entirely; as a firefighter struggling to put into words his feelings of loss following the events of 9/11. The play could have been overdone, it could have been melodramatic, it could have been a lot of unnecessary things. It wasn’t any of those things. It was just right.

The point of this minor tirade? Coincidences are fun, and Nano rocks. That’s all. More to follow.