if you’ve been wondering just where the heck i’ve been for the last year, read on! if you haven’t been wondering about my whereabouts, you might consider reading on for the sheer joy of reading. reading, much like singing, is a therapeutic endeavor that helps one digest after large meals, postulate ridiculous theories of space/time travel, and freshen up beautiful flower gardens.
my virtual disappearance began last march (2007) when i somehow mysteriously got roped into a t-ball coaching job. imagine me, little ol’ andy, surrounded by twelve 4-6 year-olds, each one special – very special – in his or her own special way. hmm. special in a special way, i say. my team was like the bad news bears… but much smaller and younger… and with red uniforms, not yellow. we managed to pull out a few wins in our ridiculously long and drawn out schedule, but honestly, if i didn’t love baseball as much as i do, i don’t think i could have seen it thru to the end. my motivation waned a bit when my players’ parents were more interested in getting their child to that nascar event, rather than to our game. so t-ball ran thru to the beginning of july... me clutching my sanity to the very end.
then there were august and september: the months of getting to know new friends, spending a weekend in ocean city, maryland, and t-ball recuperation. i know it doesn’t seem like much, but if you’ve ever been introduced to super stellar people in the middle of a life event (in this case, the eventful and time-consuming task of coaching small children), the actual “getting to know you” part of friendship-forging tends to get put on hold. so these months of late summer madness were put to good use in the company of several most excellent new peeps. between the trips the river, awesome games of catch phrase and the weekend construction of one attached backyard deck, august and september flowed seamlessly by… melting into a pool of good beer, yummy food, and a diet of engaging conversation and bouts of guitar hero. it was like a vacation without the dread involved in knowing that very soon you must return to work.
upon the arrival of october, i was caught somewhat off guard in knowing that one of my favorite days of festing – namely, halloween – was only a few short weeks away... and much to my dismay, i had not yet completed my awesome costume that i was supposed to sport the previous year: i was to be gaara, the most skilled and fierce of the kid ninjas from the sand village. many of you may be familiar with the anime series naruto from its airings on cartoon network. what you may not know is that my goal for the past couple of halloweens has been to recreate gaara in the flesh. much of the month of october was to devoted to finishing the creation of my costume, complete with paper mache sand gourd and authentic-looking mock ninja shoes. i finished the gourd on the 30th only to come to face the impossible task of consoling my new friends on the loss of their new dog on halloween afternoon. it was very sad. so gaara must wait another year.
when the month of november struck, it felt as if my life was in fifth gear. it felt like all was smooth sailing into the end of the year. i took a trip to chicago to meet up with an old friend, and almost instantly fell in love with the city. i’m not sure what it was about that place. it was the first time i had really had the opportunity to tourist around the city and in the company of a close friend… it was amazing. we went to the lincoln park zoo (I love zoos!), braved the top of the sears tower, and walked the pier. all in all, it was a great jump start to the month of turkey. i returned to richmond only to leave it a few days later when i ventured up to ohio to lay down a few background vocal tracks on eric himan’s upcoming cd, which i’m super stoked about! eric and i spent a few days together – i tried not to give him my sickness during that time – and then we parted ways to get ready for that time of giving thanks. that next week, pema’s folks rolled into town and it was family fun for everyone. by that weekend it was the end of november… and december was only moments away.
with the arrival of december, there are always many holiday functions to attend. this year was no different. one weekend in particular, we busted out three full parties complete with drinks and snacks. what a great flippin’ weekend! i’m not a huge party person… but any time i can pull off the consumption of yummy food with good drink to wash it down, i certainly cannot and do not complain. and thus, mid-month had come and gone. by the end of december, pema and i were gearing up for our trip to visit my family in texas. we arrived on friday night and didn’t sit still again until we had boarded the plane to return to richmond on christmas day. that saturday was doggie rescue day (long long story!!), sunday was last-minute-shopping-and-recuperate-from-doggie-rescue-day day, and monday was use-your-fat-stores-from-eating-so-much-to-open-your-gifts day. it was a great trip! always awesome to see mom and dad (love you!). and then… the end of december, new year’s with the richmond peeps… and here we are to the present.
january 2008.
i failed to mention that during my months-long hiatus, i have been playing occasionally, writing and working, and thinking and scheming. now, i’m currently in the process of getting a new EP together called “5 in common.” the goal is to get the disc done by mid-march. what you’ll hear is previously unreleased material that is paving the way for a new full-length cd due out this year. excited?? i am!
in the upcoming weeks, you’ll see new points of interest on the website, especially on the “store” page, and new shows on the up, so keep checking back. until the next update, i’m andy, and you’re not. ☺ ciao.
p.s. now you should go check out your garden!!
