It's true! On November 25, 2008, I'll be 40 years old. How do I feel? As always, better than yesterday and not as good as tomorrow.

I know I repeat it every year, but that's simply because it's true: my life gets better and richer and more fulfilling day by day. I'm greatly blessed, with so many dear friends, relatively good health, a career that I love, a marvelous home in a beautiful city...it's an embarrassment of good fortune.

I'm so grateful for the many gifts in my life and, as I prepare to begin my fifth decade, so very excited to find out what's coming next!

One of the things one discovers—particularly when one cleans the house—is that, by age 40, I have plenty of stuff. I have very generous friends and have received some lovely birthday gifts through the years but...well, I don't need anything. Really.

However, in recognition of my 40th birthday, I'd like to encourage you to direct your generosity to a worthy non-profit organization, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (The Rep). I'd suggest a donation in the amount of $40 but, truly, a contribution in any amount would be appreciated and put to very good use.

I know a little something about The Rep, since it is not only my favorite St. Louis-area live, professional theatre, it has been my employer for the past nine seasons. A donation to The Rep would be used to continue the theatre's 42-year tradition of performance excellence, and to strengthen and expand our comprehensive education and community outreach programs, designed to introduce young audiences to the joy and magic of live theatre and to encourage them to make a place for the arts in their lives.

I'll be making my own birthday gift to the theatre. Your support would mean a great deal to me, but the opportunity to share theatre—an art and experience I cherish—with a larger audience would be the best birthday gift I could imagine receiving. (And of course, any donation to The Rep is tax-deductible.) Thanks for considering it. Here are three easy ways to give:

Donate Online at The Rep

Click here to make a "tribute" donation using The Rep's secure server. Just select "Online Tribute" from the "Appeal Name" menu and pop my name into the "This gift is being made in tribute to" field. Visa, MasterCard and American Express are accepted.

Donate Online with PayPal

If you prefer, you may use funds from your PayPal account or use a MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover or debit card to donate through PayPal. If you do not have a PayPal account, you may use a charge card to donate without setting up an account. Just click the button above.

Send a Check

You may also donate by sending a check in any amount to The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, ATTN: Tribute Gift/Development, 130 Edgar Road, St. Louis, MO 63119. (To make sure I get the opportunity to personally thank you, please enclose a note or indicate on your check's memo line that the donation is for my birthday!)

So let's celebrate! I hope you can join me for one or more of these glass-liftings from coast to coast.

St. Louis

Monday, November 24, 2008
6 until 9 o'clock pm (or beyond)
Sub-Zero Vodka Bar, 308 N. Euclid Avenue, St. Louis

Stop by for a happy hour or three at one of my favorite Central West End haunts on the eve of my birthday. There's delicious fresh sushi and gourmet burgers to munch, almost 300 vodkas to choose from and a full liquor, wine, champagne and beer selection stowed behind the cool—literally—ice bar.

Chicago

Saturday, December 6, 2008
Time and venue to be announced.

I'm still finalizing the details of this gathering but seeing that it's in my second home, the City That Makes No Small Plans, and involving some of my very favorite folks, it's bound to be a memorable drink-up. Stay tuned!

Austin

Friday, March 13, 2009
Time and venue to be announced.

This'll be the tenth incarnation of the now legendary Break Bread With Brad on the eve of South by Southwest, but you'd best come prepared to toast my continuing aging as well! Food, friends and fun—along with the traditional Crappy Door Prizes™.

New York City

Friday, April 17, 2009
9 pm
Vol de Nuit Belgian Beer Lounge, 148 W. 4th St., New York

Mussels, fries and great beers—including Stella, Leffe and DT on draft—who could ask for anything more? Well, I could ask that you plan to join me at one of my favorite West Village bars to raise a glass!

West Coast

Sometime in late May, probably

A little San Francisco, a bit of Los Angeles, maybe even some Seattle. Could three nights in three bars in three cities be the way to cap six months of celebrating? Could be. Could be indeed.

"Women are most fascinating between the ages of 35 and 40 after they have won a few races and know how to pace themselves. Since few women ever pass 40, maximum fascination can continue indefinitely." — Christian Dior

“35 is a very attractive age. London society is full of women of the very highest birth who have, of their own free choice, remained thirty-five for years.” — Oscar Wilde

“At the age of 20, we don't care what the world thinks of us; at 30, we worry about what it is thinking of us; at 40, we discover that it wasn't thinking of us at all.” — Unknown

“At 20 years of age the will reigns; at 30 the wit; at 40 the judgement.” — Benjamin Franklin

“What most persons consider as virtue, after the age of 40 is simply a loss of energy” — Voltaire

“Forty is the old age of youth; fifty is the youth of old age.” — Victor Hugo