Today marks a monumentous occasion - for me, my family, the entire state of Tennessee and last but not least, the acting community of the southern states! An entire blessed half cetury ago, my little brother, Bruce McKinnon, was born.

With Mom here helping Stef and I, none of us were where we would prefer to be today, celebrating with my brother and his friends in Maryville, our home town. However, we were in on the surprise gathering and had fun keeping it from him on our call this morning.
On my 50th birthday, my bro went all out and found a creative and engenious way to become the hightlight of my party here in Orange county, all the way from Maryville. He made a movie, just for me, interviewing all the Tennessee family members, having the Maryville High School band sing Happy Birthday, and last but not least, the whole scene and hilarious skit with the hedgehog, called Norman. Priceless and unforgettable and very meaningful to me.

Thank you Bruce. Zach and I had some great things planned for our retaliation, but life throws you some curves sometimes and just know things are still in the works. If we plan carefully, you won't be 51 before we are done!

I love you borother! HAPPY 50th BIRTHDAY!!
Norman, Mom, Zach and Stef


THAT LIVES IN US
If you put your hands on this oar with me,
they will never harm another, and they will come to find
they hold everything you want.

If you put your hands on this oar with me, they would no longer
lift anything to your
mouth that might wound your precious land –
that sacred earth that is your body.

If you put your soul against this oar with me,
the power that made the universe will enter your sinew
from a source not outside your limbs, but from a holy realm
that lives in us.

Exuberant is existence, time a husk.
When the moment cracks open, ecstasy leaps out and devours space;
love goes mad with the blessings, like my words give.

Why lay yourself on the torturer’s rack of the past and the future?
The mind that tries to shape tomorrow beyond its capacities
will find no rest.

Be kind to yourself, dear – to our innocent follies.
Forget any sounds or touch you knew that did not help you dance.
You will come to see that all evolves us.

~ Rumi ~