i'm busy

a few weeks ago someone asked me whether i had any prayer requests. i thought for a moment and settled on the impossible. "i need more time," i said, "perhaps an extra hour every day, or an extra day of the week."

i wanted a miracle.

another friend demanded that i write more on my novella. "but i don't have time!" i replied.

i happened to have some highlighters handy, so i sketched him a seven-day calendar and then started filling in the squares. by the time i finished, there were about six hours free. so where does all my time go?

1. 40 hours a week at my old full-time job editing psychiatric stuff.
2. 8-25 hours a week managing the imagination section of the other journal.
3. 3-7 hours a week taking editing courses at the UW.

and then this sunday pastor richard encouraged the congregation at bethany to examine how we spend our time. he warned that a bulging calendar is sometimes the harbinger of an unpleasant paradox, sometimes we cram our lives with stuff in order to avoid a clash with meaning, truth, and emptiness.

well, i'd love to take some time to consider this, but i have an essay on capitalism to edit.


photograph: andrew david. "revelations." mount st. helensish, wa.

news

it's been a busy weekend.

monday is the launch of the first issue of the other journal with me as the creative writing editor, so i spent all of saturday editing content and assisting my editor-in-chief and managing editor. monday is my second day of class (a fun yet grueling 3 hour affair), so after church, i spent sunday reading, hating the NFL, and doing homework. monday is the return of my continentally-estranged s.o.; i didn't really have to do anything to prepare for this, but it hopefully means that i'll be busy on tuesday.

yikes, i'm going to be worn out.

also, i'm probably headed to oregon this week: my grandpa passed away early saturday morning, and the memorial service will probably be this week. we sang a song in church today about christ's death and resurrection, and i had to stop singing because i was a little choked up. if you're a 17 point scale loyalist, my grandpa's the one that i've been posting interview segments from. i don't know what i think about adding more interview segments at the moment. in the meantime, here's a song that i've posted before, which somehow seems to fit how i feel right now:

http://www.roachmusic.com/music/AJ_Roach-Grandaddy.mp3

my grandpa certainly never "ran whiskey" but i really like that last verse; i think it communicates what people thought of my grandpa. he was an amazing man:

granddady passed away on his birthday,
just a couple ---- of a century ----.
everybody was ---- just to help him celebrate,
and we all cried when he didn't wake up.
mama' gave me a black and white picture framed
of the man in his funeral clothes.
had to hold five or six separate services,
and everybody in the county must have showed.
john, you're gonna shine like silver.
yeah, you're gonna' hear such a beautiful grievous sound
when you're floating over them jordan river,
and we lay your earthly body down.

ah, i love that verse.

(by the way "----" means that i'm not sure what singer says, not that i think he's swearing!)

big events in the real world

for once i feel legitimately vindicated in my 17 point scale absence. since we last spoke, my world has exploded. by world, i mean my friends, my teams, and myself, and by explode, i mean that the last two weeks have been crazy ridiculous.

my friends

1. alex got married and headed off on his honeymoon
2. sean finally left on his honeymoon
   
3. my roommate got laid off
   
4. beth and her roommates got a tentative eviction notice
5. the other andrew and some of beth's roommates (i.e., whitney and nora) confirmed that they were beginning new life adventures in sunny california while others (i.e., joel & sara, mari, my parents) set off or prepared to set off for trips to china
   

my teams

1. the sonics drafted kevin durant and jeff green and signed wally szcerbiak, delonte west, general manager sam presti, and coach pj carlesimo
2. the sonics traded ray allen and rashard lewis
3. the muckleshoot indian tribe is considering the possibility of the construction of a new sonics arena
   
4. the mariners are still winning, and at 50-36 are only 2 games out of 1st place in the west and 1 game out of 1st place in the wild card race
5. after jj putz and ichiro, a pair of sports bloggers may be the leading MVPs for the mariners this year; perhaps i'll explain more later
   
6. the others, my amazing soccer team, are 0-3 with an ever climbing goal differential and potential for success

myself

1. i finished the text for the first issue of that silly newsletter that i mentioned a few months; i'll post a link when it's all fine and dandified
2. i spent the last week or so in ocean shores with the s.o., her family, and my family; it was the first meeting of the two clans
3. i have a new job! i am the assistant creative writing editor for the other journal; i'll explain more later
   

if life slows down and gets ordinary again, i'll be sure to visit more frequently.

andrew david. "the wize young iguana listens patiently to andrew's list" san ignacio town, belize.

ratings updated, the reviews (and links) are not

i'm worn out from tonight's soccer practice. it's hard work pretending to be the coach. anyway, i've added several books and movies to the rankings on the left (in bold), including mikhail bulgakov's the master and margarita, a 20th century russian "masterpiece" that you're far better letting other people read.

i'll post something worthwhile someday. in the meantime, this is my favorite picture from the mayan ruins of tikal:

andrew david. "frond framed ruins." tikal, guatemala.

no time for a decent blog

errrrrr....here's what i hope to blog about soon:

1. my cat dream
2. some movies (blades of glory, the queen, the last king of scotland, spiderman III)
3. some books (the martian chronicles, all the pretty horses, the crossing, an american tragedy)
4. something thoughtful; at the moment the blog feels like it's drifting in a sea of the mundane, and i'd like to change that, but if i try too hard, my posts have a flashy, contrived feel (like in the last post).
5. an excerpt from my first newsletter article. i know you're all rather anxious to learn about biomarkers and alzheimer's disease!
   

andrew david. "tourists and the oddly shaped nests of the montezuma oropendola." tikal, guatemala.

crazy weekend, boring post

i haven't posted a weekend wrap-up in a long time, but today the bliss must end. over the course of the weekend, i completed the following activities

• watched 300 with sean, rebecca, mark, and golden boy
• sat in a bar and quizzed tavia, brook, veronica, and devon about whitney, the birthday girl
• played pull tabs
• tossed a bowling ball in the general direction of some pins
• kicked a soccer ball with mark
• ran to the carkeek park beach (6m) as part of my training for the marathon in which i probably won't run
• competed in the st. patrick's day dash (5k)
• at broccoli with my breakfast
• biked to beth's in sandals and pajamas
• rehearsed mari's arrangement of "chicago!" with my fellow bandmates (we haven't yet discussed an offical moniker)
• climbed on my roof in a failed attempt to break into our house
• hired a locksmith to perform the aforementioned break-in

however, i did not complete the following:

• pay my taxes
• watch tsotsi, the son, or babetta's feast
• update the movies on my blog

and that's all i have to say for now.


andrew david. "as i prepared for the next shot, an ooze monster jumped out of the hazardous waste bin and mauled me" seattle VAPSHCS, wa.

happy halloween

here's an update of what's in the works for upcoming 17 point scale posts:

1. a conclusion to the ongoing saga of the other andrew; in this post i will finally address the original topic that rallied so much support among my unfortunate readers;
2. the launch of a new grammar oriented feature;
3. a book review blurb for image update (james perry walker's the reverend);
3. the official 17 point scale endorsements for the november 7th elections. i doubt i'll endorse any candidates, but i'll take a stab at some of the initiatives. (by the way, both the times and the pi endorse a no vote on the evil i-91. as expected, the stranger endorsed a yes, but surprisingly, it's a luke-warm yes that is nuanced with a realization that i-91 is an 'angry,' 'nasty' initiative that could prove deterimental to the city. but i'm getting ahead of myself. i'll explain why we must vote no on i-91 in a later post....);
4. a masterpiece post that i've been working on for a long time but may not finish for another few months;
5. a return to the sequential presentation of my pictures rather than a blatterskatch method that i've been using for the last month. blogger still isn't working for me, but flickr seems to do the job okay;
6. something else that i forgot....


andrew david. "lunch & the s.o." somewhere, mt (day 2).
312 to go.

real life gets in the way of blogging

i stayed in town this weekend! odd to be at home for so long.

saturday: changed my oil and hung out at alki
sunday: ate a catapillar
monday (today): watched more 24
tuesday: read my newly published book blurb in image update
wednesday: keep on the sunny side
thursday: always on the sunny side
friday: keep on the sunny side of life
saturday: hike with steven on hwy 20 or something like that...


beth the s.o. "the loser" shekinah, saskatchewan.

five days in review

thursday: watched smoke on the mountain at the taproot theater. the music and acting were great. i'm not sure if the play was hoping to be good-natured and funny, spiritual, or satirical. if you like blue grass, ol' time gospel, and either of those three things motives, go see some smoke.
friday: boated to cypress island (in the san juans)
saturday: hiked to something-or-rather point and hot-tubbed
sunday: out-farmed beth, mr. and mrs. van selus, and mr. and mrs. oines
monday: i am tentatively planning to buy alex a drink in honor of his promotion to executive assistant at dc3

my computer is acting lazy. it's about three keystrokes behind everything that i write. this means an end to the evening's post.

matt basinger. "the solitary subline" nyc, ny.

(by the way, that's me. if i were to guess, i'd say that i'm either considering how a blithe twenty-something-year-old seattlite could best serve the urban dungeons of nyc or i'm posing)

life gets in the way of blogging yet again

friday - hot tubbed in portland
saturday - mocked rose paraders, tried to climb an elephant, shopped at powell's, ate pietro's pizza, played sardines
sunday - ate barbeque, river frolicked, and played horseshoes at the oines bungalo on puget island
monday - dined at the mountain something cafe, watched my first free movie from blockbuster online (munich)
tuesday- no plans
wednesday - no plans
thursday - no plans
friday - go out of town?


andrew david 'loot' yelapa, mexico.

i'm not quite sure what i mean by loot. i didn't have a chance to rummage through their contents. probably contraband of some kind, but that unknown is part of the mystery that i hoped to convey. however, i obviously didn't frame the picture very well. when looking at this one, my eyes go directly to the boring blue sky and then they're lost. can anyone think of a good crop? also, the boxes mimic the hills in the background, and rather than compliment one another, this proves counter productive. still, i really like the sand shadows in the foreground.

real life gets in the way of blogging again

monday: lost two basketball games, 7-11, to nathan; watched 24
tuesday: celebrated beth's new job at tuta bella; watched 24
wednesday: barbeque with mark?
thursday: see the da vinci code
friday: hear bach at st. james
saturday: not sure. possible church dinner.
sunday: not sure. possible compline.


andrew david 'a not-so-photogenic cat' yelapa, mexico.


andrew david 'stray cats aren't fire proof' yelapa, mexico. these pictures really stink, BUT i thought it was quite shocking that the cat was so startled by my nikon and i that he fled through the fire. by the way, i hope these pictures load, they seem to be having some difficulty.

a 17 point scale absence

i'm going to nyc this weekend to visit matt and jacinda. hoooray!

andrew david 'bird and boat' yelapa, mexico.

real life gets in the way of blogging

monday - watched 'friends' and built a chair
tuesday - mark and i ran a record 1.6 miles; beth and i built three chairs and a table
wednesday - played basketball, ate at romio's, and talked sex/jobs (that's NOT sex jobs) with nathan; spoke to beth for 27 minutes
thursday - relaxed with mark; went to 'church' at the kangaroo and kiwi
friday - in a homecoming of sorts, beth and i will go out on a double-date (and a half?) dinner with anya and mike at the woodinville las margaritas; perhaps i can convince beth to go for a night swim in cottage lake...
saturday - play tennis (if my thumb heals) and poker (if the crew can be assembled) with skeith
sunday - go to church, finish my pg-13 post


andrew david 'gourmet' yelapa, mexico.

a failed blog entry

a nasty night for blogging. that is, i have some tales to tell, but mark kept me up till midnight. then, by the time that i decided on the next picture to upload, it was 12:15am. so, you'll have to be satisfied with a list:

THINGS I'LL DO THIS WEEK:
monday - listen to anne lamott (a renown mother, author, and bush-berater) and pleasantly discuss milosevic's eternal destiny as we (beth and i) dine at the blue bistro (home of adequate food and blessedly intimate ambience)
tuesday - watch 'american dreamz' with beth, nathan, and julie
wednesday - attend a free ts eliot class (message me for more details!)
thursday - run with mark, go to 'church' (sean's pub)
friday -
saturday - work, go to ikea, go see a baby, dine with (a temporarily babyless) jonathan and kim, and watch an improv performance
sunday - keel over in exhaustion as i watch the final 4 episodes of 24's second season

INSIDE THE HEAD OF A FLUNKING FOTOGRAPHER:
below is an ugly picture of a sunset. the first picture is the original shot. the second picture is the product of several minutes of fruitless photoshopping. here's the deal: when i initially saw this photo, i suddenly thought of a scene from spy games. the film-maker takes libya, a bullet-ridden scene of poverty and chaos, and occasionally interrupts the narrative to give us glimpses of adulterated beauty -- laundry flapping in the wind, a child on a bicycle, a tea house. in the picture below, i was hoping to simulate a similar contrast. somehow i thought that the fiery reflection might serve to accentuate the dull night sky and peeling paint of an otherwise ordinary, not-so-good life.oh, well.

happy monday to you

yes, i'm oddly blessed; today is my monday, yet friday is less than 48 hours away. still, like many mondays, i'm a bit work weary and unwilling to splatter my brains about the keyboard as i struggle to wittily recap my adventures in paradise. i'll save that mixed joy for another day. in the meantime, i have about a billion pictures from the trip (well, at least 750), so perhaps i'll include sequential puerto vallarta pictures at the end of my next several posts. like usual, i may also do a few picture-only posts.

oh, and here's andrew's calendar for the month of march:
1. study, study, study. gre is on april first. i'm serious
2. escape the evil clutches of jack bauer and the first season of 24. i'm sure that liz would be delighted to know that i watched episodes 1-2 this evening. uh oh.


andrew david. 'day 1' sea tac airport.
ugh. my computer tells me that this photo was taken at 5:09am. that's after catching a cab, checking in, and jostling our way through security. our threesome was understandably exhausted. in fact, i'd been sick for the previous few days and unable to sleep. angie (pictured here) pulled a v-day all-nighter ('a singles party...the best party ever...did i tell you about the jellow shots? ohhh...scandalous...' she would later recount over and over again).

goin' to MEXICO!

the 17 point scale will be taking a week long sabbatical in the eighty-five degree paradise of puerto vallarta and yelapa. i will be returning to seattle on tuesday, february 21. in the meantime you can look forward to a final post on the seahawks, a groundbreaking cartoon, and some more 17 point scale nonsense.

-andrew