whale with hat

I am so excited about something.

Which is why I mention it here.

But first I need to start from the beginning, which is a little joke I share with a friend in the cast. It began in Toronto, and we've mentioned it ever since.

See, there is one part in the show where we are all standing upstage, facing the mirrors. We are holding hats, respectively, and are appropriately beveled. My friend, referring to that section of the show, later tells me that she feels like an absolute whale in her leotard.

Now, I tell her she may be certifiably insane for even entertaining this thought since anyone with even half a brain would say that she looks amazing in her leotard. Seriously gorgeous. And not just normal gorgeous, either; the kind of stunning that makes you emphasize both syllables of the word so that they sound like two separate words.

You know, Gor Geous.

Anyway.

She then says, No, I am a whale. A whale with a hat. And the imagery of that makes us both start to laugh. She goes on to say that if only she were a fine artist of some sort, she would paint herself in that leotard with that hat and label it Whale With Hat.

And Whale With Hat was born. As was an idea I had for a present for her...

My friend is leaving the cast in just one week, so a few weeks ago I call my sister-in-law about a proposition.

Rebekah, I say, I know this sounds really weird, but is there any way I could commission you to draw a cartoon whale who is standing upright and holding a gold hat with the words, Whale With Hat underneath?

To her credit, she takes this request in stride and allows me to tell her the background story.

She's a great sport and an even better talent and immediately says she would give it her best shot. And I immediately know her best shot would be perfect.

I email her this dorky picture of me, just to give her an idea of what kind of a pose I am talking about, as well as the positioning of the hat--
And she sends me this, via Drew--
Now I just need to hunt down a frame in this fine city of Chicago and voila! I can give my friend this gift. I love giving gifts, especially ones with some thought behind them.

And that whale is just so adorable--isn't Rebekah a talent?

p.s. from the images of me on this blog, you may be under the impression that I wear that purple sweater a lot. If so, you are absolutely right. It was a gift from my mom and I happen to really like it which is why I wear it pretty consistently. That's all.