Happy Birthday Brotha!

Today is my brother Parker's 22nd birthday. I seriously love this kid. He is funny and clever and we have so much fun together. My nickname for Parker is Bug, which never gets old as there are many possible variations to apply such as Bugly, Bugaboo, Buggleupagus... This name came about several years ago, I think because I maybe called him a little bug once while we were bickering about something stupid- I said it half in jest and half in irritation and all as an insult. Not an expletive that I am in the habit of using, and I don't know where in the world out of my head it came from on this occasion. I forget the full context of the story, but it was so out of nowhere and ridiculous that we had a satisfying chortle over it and the name stuck. It isn't only funny for its randomness, but also for its delightful irony as bugs are small and Parker is... not.

Exhibit A- Bug & I in Times Square:

Bug has been attending film school in Bozeman, Montana. He is wonderfully creative and has been sincerely enjoying all the aspects of movie making that he has been learning about, and I have no doubt that he will go far. I mean, if he doesn't, he can always fall back on being a cutter of cheese (not like that, people, geez. I mean literally, a person who slices blocks of cheese. We are a salty/cheese loving family and when he was little he said he wanted to be a 'cheese cutter' when he grew up, like that's a real thing). I'm have confidence in him doing well with the film route though, particularly because if he doesn't, then how am I going to get those cameos and that Assistant credit I have been promised ...

Bug. I hope that one day you will be able to look back at your career with similar sentiments as these, from our beloved Jim Henson:

I cannot say why I am good at what I do, but I can say that I work very hard at it. Nor am I aware of any conscious career decisions. I've always found that one thing leads to another, and that I've moved from project to project in a natural progression. Perhaps one thing that has helped me in achieving my goals is that I sincerely believe in what I do, and get great pleasure from it. I feel very fortunate because I can do what I love to do.

Even more elaborate, though at the risk of sounding morose, I hope that you will one day have a memorial that will look something like Jim's as well. Not including a premature death like him, silly, but with throngs of people wanting to come and pay tribute to you for your innovation and for what your work meant to them:

I especially hope that people will be wearing suits and haircuts like the voice of Wembley Fraggle in this video. PS, I became thoroughly weepy as I was sifting through the memorial and other tributes to Jim on YouTube. Why am I such a sap?

So, my snug as a Bug in a rug, many happy returns of the day to you, and to many wonderful times to come, because you and I, we're kindred goofballs, and I am your one person.