This Side of Lost

My name is Andrew. Some people call me Wick. It's my middle name.

I was born on a stormy summer afternoon in Saint Paul, Minnesota. I grew up in an old farmhouse in northern rural Washington country, not far from Stillwater, along with a couple sisters and various cats. I generally did well in school, passably well in social settings and not so well in romantic endeavours. I've improved a little since then.

I've been interested in a lot of things throughout my life. Some of the more pervasive ones are computers, faith and religion, science, and music. I'm pretty good at those things too. I never really picked one to excel in beyond the other three, which sometimes bums me out. But things have worked out well so far, so no real complaints.

I attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota for four years. I met a lot of cool people there, many of whom I am still in good contact with. My interests were, for the most part, fostered well there. I also realized that I like to help people learn.

It took a little while to figure out exactly what that meant in terms of a career, but I think I've got it now. So I left Minnesota and got a master's degree in library science from Indiana University. I had a great time being an academic librarian for six years. In 2012, for a variety of reasons, I jumped to the private sector, so now I work for The Man. It's long been blog policy not to talk about work, though, so that's about all you're going to hear.

While I was in Indiana, I met, dated, eloped with and had a wedding-type party with a wonderful woman named Samantha. She's joined me on nearly all of the crazy journey since then. In 2010 a third traveler arrived. She's pretty great, too.

What else? I like to sing. In choirs, mostly, though I'm not picky. I like good food, road trips, fun music and movies, winter, quirky humor, baseball (in general, the Minnesota Twins in specific) and spending time with friends.

I took a long time off from this blog and am in the process of rediscovering if blogging is something that is worth my time. So who know what you'll find here? Though I do plan to continue reviewing movies on the AFI's Top 100 list.

I like keeping in touch with old friends and making new ones. If you are one or the other, drop me a line sometime.

Samantha often reminds me of this whenever I'm standing around in the kitchen waiting for -- you guessed it -- the pot to boil. And, in turn, I always think of an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation where Data is testing this hypothesis. For some reason, his facial expression when the pot does indeed boil is etched in my memory.

Thinking about ST:TNG makes me think of the good old days of early high school, when I would finish my homework, turn down the bed, pull the old black and white TV up next to my bed on top of a beat-up old green ottoman and watch the syndicated episode of Star Trek that played on Channel 23 every weeknight. I mostly despise television now, but I definitely have a soft spot for that show.

Ten years ago today I likely did that very act described above. I don't think my sixteen-year-old self ever would have guessed that I'd be in California working as a librarian at a university, having eloped with a Georgia native precisely one year previous.

Yes, today is our anniversary. One year ago we shocked many, delighted some and disappointed a few (hopefully they've forgiven us now). And if I had it to do over, I wouldn't change a thing. I still look back on that beautiful Indiana autumn day and vividly remember walking to the courthouse, hands clenched tight, scared and excited beyond belief. It was awesome (in a very Aaron Steele sense of the word).

Other news:
* Netflixed recently: Giant (AFI, post forthcoming) and Election, which was incredibly hilarious and highly recommended to anyone with slightly twisted senses of humor.
* Despite the fact that it is not for sale except at shows and there hasn't been a show within 500 miles recently, I have acquired Storyhill's new CD (thanks, Gibbons!). It is good -- not groundbreaking. But apparently it's being courted by a major label. This has spurred me to update and redesign my silly Storyhill site -- more news on this as events warrant.
* I have found an independent root beer that gives Sprecher a run for their money: Virgil's. Mmmmmm -- it is an outstanding beverage. I snuck a four-pack into the grocery cart.

Meh. I guess not much else is new. Apparently it's snowing in the Midwest? Wow -- living in California really isolates one from the changing seasons. I still haven't really pulled out a coat yet. Is it true Californians cease to exist below 50 degrees? I guess I'll find out. Peace, all.