Friends I Admire (and Why) - Part 2

Comrade rides upon a Siberian steed!

Kit “Comrade” Baker -

• He just that friend that… gets it.
• Gets it so much you go to SIBERIA together. (In fact, responds with-- "Yeah I absolutely have friends all over Russia and parts of Poland..." ...cuz... he's that guy...the guy with friends in Siberia...)
• And when he asks you to go to that weird cafe on 2nd Avenue, or meet you in deepest Brooklyn, or go to the weird art exhibit or whatever-- you just go.
• He is the friend that reads your unpublished novel. Because he is that kind of friend that likes you enough to read your unpublished novel. 

Beautiful La

Lara Pulver

• We've known one another for many years but have truly grown to be each others' "people" in recent years, but she is the "La" to my "Al" and our backwards nicknames please us very much thank you. 
• La is one of those people is in a constant state of openness and growing from whomever it is she comes in contact with. When we speak, we both share and learn. And laugh. A lot.
• Lara is pretty faaaaamous (and about to be even moreso), but probably the only artist friend I never speak with about "the business" (except how it affects us spiritually). When we FaceTime... for over an hour. I appreciate that as much as I marvel at it. There is nothing that lies there that truly matters, on the deeper levels, to either of us. 
• We have strolled the streets of London town, had adventure days in New York City, and climbed to the top of the hills of Los Angeles together. Where to next La?  
• A few years back when we were both navigating the depths, we were one anothers' "Ariadne," holding onto the string at the mouth of the labyrinth, making certain we didn't get eaten by our respective Minotaurs.
• She is more than a survivor--she is a thriver. 
• She, quite seriously, makes me feel more celebrated than any other person in my life other than my mother.

Nikka Lanzarone

• One of the few friends I ever made “instantly”
• Makes me feel totally "seen--" in every way.
• She does a really a-ma-zing impression of "El Stans" (aka Elizabeth Stanley)
• The first time we talked we "went there" and have never gone back
• She pulls out (and off) witty one liners like no other:

1. but I want to be in the show"
2. "things i was not kidding about"
3. "it is not fair to others..."
4. and a strategic use of "too soon?" is included here... out of homage to her genius. and timing.

• She is a style genius.
• She introduced me to Pinterest. So there's that. 
• She is the "Whore" to my "Wife." (Our anniversary is 'The 12th of May.' Duh.)
• She makes things. Like a style business. And amazing music. And a killer podcast. 
• Her solo show is based on the structure of a vintage Rock documentary. It doesn't reeeeeally get cooler than that...
• She has world-class legs. 
• So sometimes, you (translation: ME) don't really cry (unless you happen to be in a corset and being paid) but you still have a liiiiiittle bit of a weepy New York style shaking-your-head-and-mumbling-stuff-circling-a-subway-entrance-like-a-crazy-person meltdown after the audition/voice lesson/day/month/week from hell. Then you have the great idea to call Nikka, you go immediately over to her apartment, you 'feel all the feelings' and she says, "We could make a Pro and Con list... but...I dunno...maybe we should just eat chocolate instead." And then you do. And immediately after you do, you decide to do fun German accents. Then you spontaneously make an Avant Garde Expressionist video....  Ja.
• She is a poster child for only children gone sooooo right.

Arielle

• She is one of those people that, given any task or life situation, she could excel at ANYTHING. If she were forced to be a surgeon she be all "Ughhhh I hate blood but LET'S DO THIS..." Or say, a taxidermist, or a cop, or an auto mechanic--she’d be the most successful all-of-those in the state. She's just...one of those people.
• She is that friend where you doesn’t have to do anything other than sit on a bench and eat frozen yogurt and you still feel super close. 
• Her photography is so beautiful not simply because it is visually stunning and technically perfect-- it is because she manages to not merely capture the way a person, a place or an event looked, she captures the uniquely magical way they feel. That's true artistry.
• When someone's child gets their middle name after you (and coincidentally her husband's best friend is also an "Alexander/Sasha")-- that's old fashioned, epic style friendship. 
• She is my first, and truest “Chosen Sister—” and the closest thing I know to honest to goodness, real-life, separated-at-birth, soul-matey type sisterhood.