It was a chilly forty degrees at 7am on a Saturday morning, and my friend Chris Cuddihy was standing outside the CBS studios in a kilt. You may be thinking he must have been doing so for a very good cause, and you'd be right. But those of you acquainted with Chris also know that he might have done it just for fun.

Chris has rowed across the Atlantic Ocean (yes, rowed, with like, oars) and run seven marathons on seven continents in seven days. He does these things for charities like the Wounded Warriors Project and Isaac's House, an orphanage in Uganda. His latest adventure will take him from New York City to Washington DC. On foot. He's running a punishing 250 miles to deliver a petition for a Veterans Bill of Rights to our Congressional Representatives.

Understand that Chris is not a professional athlete. He's also no spring chicken. He came back from his 7 in 7 on 7 trek with some very messed-up feet. You don't even want to know what rowing an ocean will do to a guy's ass cheeks. It takes a very determined and rather remarkable sort of man to undergo such things.

But Chris is a middle-aged guy who lives on Long Island and works for the county. He is a husband and father. He taught me how to design this website. He goes to church.

Not that I want you to think he's 'just a normal guy'. He sports a ponytail and tattoos, and can rock a peace sign and a 'Support the troops' sign simultaneously. He is quintessentially American despite his Scottish heritage. (And don't think his ancestry explains the kilt. He likely just enjoys wearing skirts.)

Chris and his family come over for dinner sometimes and he and I talk about all that's wrong and how we will right it through grassroots philanthropy. We have great discussions about the importance of backing up one's spiritual endeavors with actual work. More than most I know, he puts the 'active' in activism. There's is no doubt in my mind that his mad stunts do save lives and improve our planet's future.

His greatest legacy may well be with his son. Ryan has apparently inherited the active philanthropy gene. He recently hiked the entire Appalachian Trail south-to-north through rain, cold, mosquitoes and loneliness for the Wounded Warriors Project. And he did the whole thing in a kilt.

Of course the true hero is wife and mother Pat. During our Sunday dinners, she and Robert are forced to listen to Chris and I drone on about all the ways we'll save the world with just one more step. One more signature. One more dollar. One more day.

You don't have to be Madonna or Bono or Desmond Tutu or Bill O'Reilly (chas v'shalom) to make a difference. You needn't run seven marathons either. Your impact can be simple and immediate. Just find a way to share your passion.

Share ridiculously.

Do it now.

JSB

Please visit http://www.nydcrun.com/ to track Chris' progress and add your name to the petition for a Veterans Bill of Rights.

It's happened again.

I was at the gym, ruminating on the plight of gay Ugandans while  going rather aggro on a pair of unsuspecting dumbbells, when it occurred to me: I'd just turned thirty-nine the day before. I'd marked the occasion by shearing my blue mohawk to a brutal looking crew cut. I had, once again, become a character in one of my plays.

Now it's not that odd that I should have a few things in common with the fictional Roderick. When I wrote The Jamb, I imagined that role for myself. Chances are that I will never play it. That's fine. Especially now that I've actually become am an increasingly regimented and generally self-righteous quasi-activist with an ego-driven need to save everyone but himself...in real life.

Roderick is way too judgmental. He's addicted to anger and to turning bad boys into pet projects. He has no patience for your processes.

But he's also driven and disciplined. He's passionate. He's doing his best to turn all his perversions and peccadilloes into something useful. He is fiercely loyal. Roderick's motivation to change is an unflagging faith in the power of love.

I like my crew cut. It suits my soldier mood. In this last year of my thirties I am getting down to business and kicking some ass. Fast. Clean. Strong.

Yeah I have become one of characters yet again. Thank G-d this one's sober.

Anyway, it's high time I had a damn website so here it is.

JSB

By the way, you can see someone else in the role of Roderick when The Jamb opens at Eclectic Company Theatre in January 2010.