talent found.
in the past two days, i have been exposed to two new creative ideas from two of my good friends. and it dawned on me… i am surrounded by creativity on any given day from people who are in my life. i thought it prudent to share them here.
rick chyme.
rick chyme was introduced to me when he was still better known as pat cleland and i was in the 8th grade. he was in the 10th. pat played basketball in high school and went on to play in college at western michigan. but beyond being a great athlete and a better friend, pat has an amazing way with words and the talent to put them into poetry and perform them on stage to music in front of hundreds of people.
recently pat — or, as he is better known now, rick — unveiled his new project titled YOUR SONG. YOUR SONG is the opportunity to submit your story to rick and have him translate it into music. check out his website here to learn more. it really is an amazing idea with the potential to put music and meaning into others lives.
erica birkhold.
yes, my sister. i’ve known for a while now that she is a talented artist and has been painting and creating various forms of artwork for years. turns out, she’s better than i thought and her real talents lie in the digital art world.
she recently developed a new blog where you can see her photo collages, her works from school and hire her. 
hathbanger.
the first time i met andrew hathaway was four years ago in vermont. two hours later, he was getting airlifted to the hospital.
hath has a gift of boundless energy, athletic talent and musical acuteness all rolled into one. over the past couple of years, he has been creating mahes and whomping his face off under the stage name hathbanger. i love what he comes up with. it’s out of the box and always fun. some of my favorite stuff is the old stuff, and the new stuff continues to surprise and delight me.
ashley ritter-hansen.
ashley and i used to dress the same and go to school. that’s how long we’ve known each other. and while we’ve lost touch a little along the way of life, we have been able to stay abreast of each others lives via facebook and gossip. 
i was surprised however, when i learned ashley had taken up photography. i had never known ashley to have an interest in the field. i was not surprised, though, to discover she was incredibly talented. ashley specializes in wedding, engagement and child photography and her style is so charming. she really captures the essence of her subject and i’m so proud of my friend.
tom bieszka.
our hometown isn’t big, although it does have more than one stoplight. but it’s not everyday someone from the little town of rockford, michigan makes it big. and that’s exactly what tom did.
tom is 23. and he is the most talented dancer i have ever known. not booty shake dancer, either, though he excels at that as well. but tom is a very accomplished ballet dancer and dances all over europe with his company in toulouse, france. look for him on the stages of paris soon.
i visited tom in toulouse last summer to see him dance and was recently graced with his presence and was able to watch his latest pieces on DVD. i wish i had video to do true justice to his art.
