January 20, 2022 • 34 mins
This week, I sit down with Andrew Davie, co-host of the Happy Hour with Heather and Guest podcast, a show that highlights local artists to perform and promote their music, live events, and more.
Andrew is also a survivor of a life-changing event that happened on his 40th birthday, and he shares that story and more on today's episode.
The Opposing Views That Got Him Into Podcasting
While the podcast that he co-hosts with Heather is his current passion project, Andrew had another podcast that ran for several years, over 500+ episodes. He shares how listening to a podcast where one co-host had to convince the other host why a certain band was good helped him on his podcast journey.
The Expectation in Life of How Something is Going to Be
Andrew used the example of how heavy metal music fans are supposed to look a certain way and how he looks anything but that. And that's something that we need to look at in life, how our expectations are shaped by stereotypical learnings, and how that holds us back.
How a Series of Unfortunate Circumstances Saved His Life
Andrew was due to fly out to visit his family, but his life was about to take a huge turn. Thankfully, as Andrew shares, there was a series of unfortunate - but, as it turned out, fortunate - circumstances that led him to where he is today.
"It's the little things that get you through the difficult days."
Connect with Andrew:
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Andrew (00:00):
I essentially, I turned 40 and then the week after I had the aneurysm,
so my forties have been, you know, it wassort of just when I began to feel like
I was making progress, recovering fromthe aneurysm, the COVID pandemic hit.
And it became, it went from a verypersonal experience to a universal
(00:21):
experience that sort of everybodycould understand because we were
all going through difficult times.
Danny (00:28):
This week, I'm chatting with Andrew Davey.
Who's the cohost of the happy hourwith Heather and gas podcast, a pop
culture show or movies, music, and more.
He's also the author of severalbooks at which we'll probably
chat about later in the show.
So Andrew, welcome to podcast stories.
How about you introduce yourself and your
Andrew (00:45):
podcast.
Okay.
Well, uh, I'm Andrew.
It's great to be here.
First of all.
Thank you.
Um, I work on a show calledhappier with Heather and.
Which, uh, started out pretty muchas a Facebook group that a friend
of mine, uh, put together for, youknow, it was, it was sort of at the
(01:05):
beginning of the COVID ban pet pandemic.
So it was a chance for people justto have a safe Haven, to kind of go
decompress, talk about music, listento about music and stuff like that.
And then, uh, when I started helping.
We incorporated, uh, interviewsand live stream performances.
(01:29):
So for the following year, because somuch of the music scene had shut down and
bands really weren't performing anymore.
This was sort of an outlet for them.
Uh, initially it was just on Facebook.
And then I would say within thelast couple of months, once,
uh, shows were coming back andbands were able to perform.
(01:50):
Live again, we sort of pivoted and wedecided to just do more of a show where
we would comment on albums that had justbeen released by contemporary bands.
Um, we still will do interviews, uh, andoccasionally there'll be a live stream
performance, but for the most part, it'sjust my friend, Heather and I talking
(02:13):
about, uh, albums that have just beenreleased by bands that we really liked.
And it's mostly it strangely enough.
Um, because to look at me, you wouldn'tthink right off the bat, it's, it's
almost exclusively heavy metal.
So, uh, underground, heavy metalbands that haven't really quite
(02:33):
made it to, to universal levels,but, um, but put out great music
regionally, they're usually prettybig and, uh, it's just sort of fun to.
To talk about, you know, neither she orI have a background in, you know, none,
neither of us went to school for musicappreciation or anything like that.
(02:54):
So it's just sort of two fansthat, uh, get together and
talk about, talk about music.
Danny (03:02):
And you mentioned in the green room before we were recording you're by South
Carolina as this bands local to the areaor the, uh, across north America, across
the U S what's the breakdown from these.
Andrew (03:13):
So, uh, well actually I I'm, uh, originally from New York city, um,
my parents are in South Carolina, soI'm staying with them for this weekend.
But, uh, all of the, the bands that we,um, showcase are from all over the world.
Uh that's, that's sort ofthe beauty, these days of
(03:34):
technology being where it's at.
Um, the other day we talked abouta band called slow green thing.
Who's from Germany.
Uh, they're from Dresden, Germany.
So we, uh, at least Ithink they're from Dresden.
I hope they're from Dresden,Germany, but, um, yeah, I mean,
Heather, uh, lives in Illinois.
So sometimes she'll offer aband that's in the regional
(03:57):
Illinois area, um, or Chicago.
Um, but most of the time we, weget bands from all over the world.
Um, we did a, a livestream tour last year.
From a band that's in Ireland rightnow called pure Sonic outcasts.
And they would find bandsto support them on the tour.
(04:20):
So there was a band from Russia,um, bands from the U S there
was a band from south America.
Um, so we don't really have, youknow, like a, like a state that we
sort of come for all of our stuff.
It usually just comes from, from all over.
Okay.
Danny (04:38):
And you'd mentioned that, um, people, if there were to look at you, for
example, uh, they wouldn't necessarilyput you down as a heavy metal, hard rock
fan, but this isn't your first podcast.
You ha you actually had a podcast that yousaw, um, you sunset it called a festival,
a festival, which ran if I'm correct foreight years on, had over 550 episodes.
(04:59):
And that was all about rock and metal.
So what was that experiencelike when and why did you get.
Andrew (05:06):
So the podcast started in 2013 and at the time I was teaching in Hong
Kong and I was a fan of a podcast calledanalyze fish, spelled P H I S H about the
band fish and, um, the entire show wherethese two comedians, where one of them was
(05:27):
a fan of the band and would basically tryto convince his colleague that he should
start listening to the music of fit.
And I thought this is areally funny, uh, formula.
So I thought to myself, well, Ishare an office with another teacher.
Who's a very meek British fellowwho listens to mostly like Brit-pop.
(05:51):
And I thought, why don't we createa show where I try to convince him
to listen to heavy metal music?
So the first year or two.
Of the show was basically once every twoweeks we would record an episode where
I would play, you know, uh, well-knownbit like iron maiden or Metallica.
(06:13):
Um, sometimes we would get a little bitharder or heavier, but it was always
fun just to listen to our banter.
There was one episode where he tookover and tried to convince me to listen
to bands like the kooks and, uh, um, Iforgot the guy's first name, but I know
(06:33):
his, his sidekick is scribbious PIP.
So it, so it was just fun.
It basically started out.
It was just a way to pass thetime and have a good time.
And, uh, you know, the, the subject matterseem to fit based on this other show,
analyze fish that I really admired andthought, okay, this'll be a great way.
(06:58):
And then.
When I moved back to the us, I continuedto do the show with a revolving door
of guests, usually colleagues thatI was teaching with, um, who were
kind enough to grant me their time.
And then during the pandemic, I wouldbasically put out an episode a day by
myself, where I would just sort of doa deep dive on the internet and find,
(07:21):
uh, you know, a band on YouTube thatI thought I would want to listen to.
That deserve to be.
You know, uh, promoted.
So, so it really gave me somethingto do during my downtime,
which was really helpful.
Uh, and then that started tobecome less enjoyable because
(07:45):
it was just a solo project.
And I was also working withHeather on the Facebook group.
So as our, as the Facebook grouptransitioned into more of a show, I
decided to, to stop doing a fistfulof faithful and, and, and, you know,
work with a colleague again, I thoughtit would be more, more enjoyable and
(08:07):
it has been, but yes, but I don't, Idon't have the traditional, you know,
I think a lot of people think about thecliched look of a heavy metal fan having
long hair, uh, and a lot of tattoosand multiple piercings and, you know,
a denim jacket with a lot of patches.
And I look more like I should be, youknow, in the pages of a J crew catalog.
(08:30):
So, so yeah, so that was alwayssomething that I ran with.
Danny (08:35):
It's interesting because you, you see a lot of, um,
what I call classic rock.
Basically my age.
Now I look back, I hear about classicrock bands, like, you know, Def Leppard,
ACDC iron made him the officer Maddow.
Um, and a lot of them know havegot short hair because a lot older.
So they don't, some of them do keep thehair long, obviously, but a lot never got
(08:57):
short hair or shaved heads or whatever.
Um, and it's funny to see that, uh,to your point about the stereotypical
metal head versus the actual artist on.
Andrew (09:08):
Yeah, I think it's, you know, it's always interesting just
in life, the expectation we havefor how something is going to be
versus how it actually is, you know?
And I always thought when, when my brothergraduated from high school in 2003, I
took him to, uh, Madison square gardento see iron maiden and Motorhead and DOP.
(09:34):
He was at, he w he had spent sometime in Italy, in high school and
became a fan of iron maiden throughthe host family he was staying with.
So I thought that wouldbe a great sendoff.
So this is before smartphones.
So I had a camera, um, you know, one ofthose, uh, that, that you would drop off
like a disposable film camera, and they'dhave a photo of me standing next to.
(10:01):
Uh, someone, I didn't know, but he was,he was in the next seat and he and I have
our arms around each other and he has,you know, like a purple Mohawk and, uh,
you know, where he's wearing, uh, youknow, one of the t-shirts of the bands.
And of course I'm in like a polo shirtand khakis and it just, it couldn't
be more different, but it always makesme smile because that's the beauty
(10:24):
of the music is that you don't, itdoesn't matter what you look like.
Yeah, but I think
Danny (10:29):
that's like, um, I always compare it to punk music and
the evolution of punk music.
And I know that obviously a lot ofpunk fans had a very dedicated look.
Um, but the main idea about punk, the sameas metal, uh, to your point is it doesn't
matter who you are and what you look like.
It's about the insight and what youwant to achieve and what you believe
and what you're trying to, youknow, what the music means to you.
(10:52):
And it's, it's cool to hearthat juxtaposition between
the two of you at the same
Andrew (10:56):
time.
Yeah, that, I mean, that's reallybeen, uh, such an eyeopening experience
for me with working with, uh, happierwith Heather and guests, is that
every band that we've spoken to orhas played on our show has been, uh,
extremely generous with their time.
Um, everyone's been really cool.
(11:17):
It's such a great community of people.
Again, full of people who lookradically different from each other.
And probably in their personal livesare radically different, but we can all
sort of come together on this commonappreciation of the music it's been re
it's been a grimy and a great, both,a fistful of faithful and happier
(11:37):
with Heather and guests have beenreally great experiences, different
experiences, but it's all been wonderful.
I mean, I guess that's also the beautyof, uh, you know, the technology being
where it's at in this day and age, Idon't have, uh, an engineering background
or a music background or anything.
It was just sort of, Hey, let's make apodcast and see what happens, you know,
(12:00):
and that was sort of with everythingit's always just sort of been the
punk drive in a way of like, Put outan album, you know, let's, uh, I, I'm
not, you're probably familiar withI'm blanking on the name of the band.
I'll it'll come to me in a second, but,um, they had, ezine called sniffing
(12:20):
glue for awhile and, uh, one of the,and one of the, the issues they put
out there, they put three guitarchords on the back and said, this is
an, a, this is an E this is a gene.
Now go form a band.
So I always, I always looked at the.
Sort of idea of really the only thingstopping you these days is just the drive.
(12:43):
You know, the, the technology isthere and you can learn how to use.
But if you don't have the drive to getup and actually do it, it won't get done.
I remember
Danny (12:55):
like, uh, I don't recall the, the band fortunate, but I remember
that I've heard that phrase before,you know, here are the car, it's just
get out, you know, no, go to a song.
Um, cause there's a really good videoon YouTube, somewhere about, um, pretty
much all songs are based at underthe most basic three or four chords.
And it's just a variation there as to whatyou do of your minor or major or whatever.
(13:15):
It's kind of cool to seeeverything evolved from that
little tiny sliver of mute
Andrew (13:20):
at the last school that I was teaching, I had been a, um, an English
teacher, uh, previously, and the lastschool that I was at, um, I remember
I show I had a, a music appreciationclub that would meet on Friday and
I showed them a clip from a movie.
(13:41):
In which Ian MCI from the band, a minorthreat and later Fu Ghazi said that when
they were growing up in, in the bandsand DC, you know, they, they had enough
money from one of their tours to, tocreate an album, but they didn't know
how to do it, uh, because no, you know,there were no labels back then that
(14:02):
really put out punk music and no one tosort of T so they went to a record store.
But a record and undid thegatefold and then traced it out.
And they essentially went to aprinting plant and had like a hundred
copies made all by just lookingup in the yellow pages and call.
(14:23):
And then they traced it out and thenElmer's glued a hundred copies together
and then just sold them by themselves.
And that always stuck with me again,the fact that if you, you know,
and, and Heather and I have t-shirtsfor sale, one of the, one of the
t-shirts we have is, um, it's the twoof us with our heads superimposed.
(14:44):
Over a Butch Cassidy.
And Sundances a picture at the very endof the film when they're, when they're
bursting out to so, and underneath itsays, if you will, it, it is no dream.
Um, which, which we, we bothenjoy the film, the big Lebowski.
And that's one of the linesthat one of the characters says.
I think he's paraphrasing a politicianwhen he's saying that, but we prefer
(15:09):
from, so that's basically the idea.
Behind our show, if you will.
It, it is no dream.
Yeah.
So festival of faithful and now happy hourwith Heather and guests, it's basically
just two people who are dedicated togetting the music out there for bands
that we think should be listened to too.
Um, and then every, so often it's funto sort of throw in our 2 cents about.
(15:33):
Well, we think of the music
Danny (15:35):
and it's interesting.
You mentioned the, if youwill, it there's no dream.
Uh, and you earlier, you'd,you'd been on a boat.
It's about drive, making somethinghappen when it comes to making
a podcast, for example, or, ormaking music back in the punk days.
Um, cause I know from yourpersonal story, uh, you have had.
Well it a lot, um, from somethingthat happened three years ago
(15:57):
now, I think are all about threeyears ago and your personal life,
Andrew (16:00):
I had just finished teaching that year.
It was 2018 and I was going to flyto visit my folks for the summer.
When I got to the airport, Ifelt fine until I got to my gate.
And then I started tosweat uncontrollably.
Like I had just run a merit.
And at the time I remember thinking thisis strange, but I might be coming down
(16:21):
with a cold or the flu, so I could takea nap on the plane and maybe I'll take
some Advil, but thankfully I fell, youknow, it's strange to say, thankfully
I fell, but thankfully I fell on thegate before I could get on the plane.
And it turns out I had aruptured brain aneurysm.
So.
Through through a lot ofreally fortunate turns events.
(16:44):
Um, I ended up going to the hospital,uh, having surgery that saved my life
and then basically recovered for thenext month and a half in the hospital.
And then the last fewyears have basically been.
Trying to sort of putthe pieces back together.
What's, you know, having the showto work on with Heather has been
(17:06):
really helpful in that it's givenme something to do, to stay engaged.
It was a, it was a sort of steeplearning curve, uh, because very few
people experience what I went throughand he'll close to a hundred percent.
I think I'm, I'm one of the lucky fewthat has very minor physical limitations.
(17:27):
Um, my, my balance.
Isn't very good still.
And sometimes if I move my head, ittakes time for the vision to settle.
But, um, but outside of, I considerthat to be sort of a nuisance
problem, you know, it's sort of likea fly at a, at a, uh, at a picnic.
Like it'll, it'll bother yousometimes, but it's not a problem.
And then yeah, the lastsort of realizing that.
(17:52):
I had assumed eventually I would feelthe same that I felt before the aneurysm.
Like at some point I willjust return to normal again.
Uh, and it took a long time to acceptthat while there would be elements of
the former life that would be there.
You know, I still live in thesame apartments and I'm still
(18:14):
friendly with the same people.
And I still have a great support system.
That many things would be different.
And it was sort of justaccepting that even though it
would be different that's okay.
And I'll, I'll figure things out as I go.
The, the phrase that I like is Ihad to begin to look at obstacles.
Like they were opportunitiesonce I was able to do that.
(18:36):
It, uh, and that took about three, youknow, it wasn't really until September of
this year, That I really felt comfortablewith everything, which I, you know, from
what I've heard, I still participatein a lot of support groups and work
with people, uh, who have had traumaticbrain injuries or are recovering.
(18:57):
And I think the consensus is, you know,usually it takes a couple of years for
the physical healing to, to, um, youknow, show dividends and the emotional.
Um, like I was under the impressionthat they would happen at the same time.
And what I discovered wasthat the physical healing
happened, uh, first pretty much.
(19:19):
And then, you know, then the emotionalhealing sort of came in afterward and
the physical healing is a little bitmore easy to keep track of because, you
know, one day you're walking with a caneand then two months later you're not,
well, you've certainly made progress.
But I'm feeling comfortableemotionally there really?
(19:40):
No, there's really no indicationto let you know that, uh,
that you've made progress.
Um, and I've also learned, youknow, a lot of recovery happens in a
spiral or, or not in a straight line.
So there are days where you feel likeyou've lost all the progress you've made.
Um, you know, if you're having abad day or if things are different,
(20:03):
But, yeah, I mean, fortunately Icould still, you had mentioned, uh,
some of the books I'd written beforeI discovered I could still write.
So that was, again, that wassomething that I could do beforehand
that I could still do now.
Um, and it was really a motivatingfactor doing the, doing the show with
Heather has been a motivating fat.
(20:23):
So it was, it was understanding thatthere are going to be, uh, goals out
there that I might not be aware of.
But I still have goals.
The show writing, um, listened to music,certain things that I can still do that I
appreciate, but eventually coming to thatpoint, took a few and I don't think there
(20:45):
could have been anything other than justthe passing of time to sort of help out.
You know, it was interesting because.
The COVID pandemic.
I had just gotten a job as a tutor thatwas supposed to start in March of 2020.
Uh, and that got canceled, um, becauseI kept thinking, well, you're a teacher,
(21:08):
that's what, you know, you should goback to teaching, but being in the
classroom was a little overwhelming.
So I thought tutoring might be easier.
Uh, and then the job got canceled.
So rather than just be in my apartment bymyself all day, I ended up moving back in
with my parents, uh, for a little over ayear, which turned out to be a blessing
(21:31):
because I could focus exclusively onrecovering rather than, you know, uh,
everyday life going to work, you know,trying to further myself in whatever way.
And it was during that time, I realizedthat teaching is probably not the best.
So when I go back in the new year, I'mactually going to begin a, uh, go back
(21:53):
to school for, um, a mental healthcounseling degree so that I can hopefully
help other people who are recoveringor going through difficult times.
But yeah, that's that, that was,it's been a very surreal time over
the last couple of, you know, myfour, I essentially, I turned 40
(22:14):
and then the week after I had the.
So my forties have been, you know, it wassort of just when I began to feel like
I was making progress, recovering fromthe aneurysm, the COVID pandemic hit and
it became, it went from a very personalexperience to a universal experience that
(22:35):
sort of everybody could understand becausewe were all going through difficult times.
So it's been, it's been very surreal,uh, the last couple of years, but it's
been great to have these things thatI can work on and sort of stay engaged
with, uh, that have been really helpfulbecause often it's those little things.
(22:56):
That gets you through a difficult day,you know, not, not a big revelation of
anything, but just sort of confirmationthat you're, you know, this was,
this was, this episode was fun torecord and people are gonna like it.
And that's another.
To get me out of bed tomorrow.
And you've
Danny (23:12):
mentioned that obviously, um, w we'd mentioned, so you'd want a few books.
And one of the books that you'd written,uh, was, uh, already started at land of
illusions, which I believe it's like,has been based on the personal experience
of, you know, uh, you're on realism,COVID, uh, dating your dating scene.
Um, and, and.
Pulling everything together.
(23:33):
Was that therapeutic for your toe?
I know looking at reviews on Amazon,um, it seems people really took to
it because of its personal approachand because of your writing style and
how you brought them into the fold.
And it could feel this sort of mix ofcomedy, but also like drama and let
Darfur straight in with the dating scene.
(23:53):
For example, how, how was the writing forthat book compared to your other books?
Andrew (23:58):
So this one.
Actually started.
I went to Macau in 2012 to teachand I had, my first thought was
that this would be a travel book.
And that I would write about myexperiences when I was in Asia.
So I had begun sort of taking notes,um, on what, what I would talk about.
(24:21):
And then when I got back, uh, Ifigured I needed more of a subject.
So I thought, well, Uh, I could talkabout some of the career paths I've been
on, uh, you know, teaching, traveling.
Uh, and then I thought, well, my onlinedating life has been pretty funny with
just regard to how a lot of the dateshave planned, you know, panned out.
(24:44):
Um, and it wasn't until after the aneurysmthat I thought, well, The through-line,
you know, having funny moments, coupledwith tragic moments, uh, in the beginning
of the book where, you know, the,the, one of the sentences I have is
that comedy is just tragedy plus time.
So I felt like a lot of the, uh, thingsthat happened to me that you could label
(25:09):
as tragic were actually really funny.
There was a moment when I wasin the hospital, my parents
needed to access my company.
So they kept asking me for my passwordand my father said that I would
just be about to give it to them.
And then I would lecture them on theimportance of protecting that information
and I wouldn't give it to them so thateventually they found a way to get into
(25:32):
my computer, but things like that, uh,I thought, okay, this is at the time.
Probably not very funny, but in hindsight,looking back on it now it's hysterical.
And then obviously some of that.
Things that happened on the online datesagain, at the time they seemed tragic.
Uh, but it was, it was very therapeutic.
(25:53):
And one thing I, I realized was if anyof this can help somebody to feel less
alone, then, then that's the goal.
So the deal I made was that I wouldn'thide anything that would make me embrace.
Or, or make me look like I was afool, but I changed everyone's names,
(26:17):
uh, just in case like I didn't, youknow, not that any of my friends,
uh, or any of the dates that wereon did anything that would have been
embarrassing, but I didn't want anyone.
To feel embarrassed about anything.
So I was more than willing tothrow myself under the bus.
If, you know, hopefully someonemight be reading it and think, well,
(26:42):
okay, I went on a date that didn'tgo so well, but nothing like this
one or, um, you know, or I, I amrecovering from an illness as well.
And it's great to hearthat this is not unique to.
So that it was very therapeutic.
It was different in that most ofthe, uh, stuff that I write these
(27:04):
days is mostly crime fiction.
So I don't really have muchpractical experience with it.
You know, it's, it's a lot of justimagining what it might be like.
Uh, but this was all.
Pretty much based in reality.
And thankfully I didn't need to, I didn'treally didn't need to embellish anything.
(27:26):
So it was mostly like just sortof cataloging the experiences
and trying to keep track of,okay, did this happen this way?
Uh, did it not happen this way?
And then I sort of realizedthat it didn't really matter.
Um, as long as I got to the heart of.
Was trying to happen, but I'vealways, I mean, thankfully even
(27:47):
after the aneurysm, I've always hada pretty good memory for details.
So it was, it was pretty easyto recount sort of the general
ideas behind everything.
And then I was lucky enough tohave a few people who agreed to
read it and it's earlier drafts.
So that was, that was really how.
Danny (28:09):
And have you any plans to revisit it as a, an update you'd mentioned
earlier that obviously your, yourjourney after the aneurism was more a
personal one and that equated to themore global one once COVID kicked in.
So it moved you from this phaseof your life to, to that phase.
And I'm wondering.
Whatever kind of normality, it looks likepost there's, no post COVID, I guess, but
(28:29):
once the world, I guess, lounge to livewith COVID of that sort of description.
Um, are there any plans maybe to revisitand say, well, this is how my life has
gone now necessarily could have gone, hadCOVID never arrived or is that just on
the back burner and it's it's all crime
Andrew (28:44):
fiction podcast.
No.
Oh, I, I, I actually wrote, uh, somethingthat I hope will be, uh, like an identity.
You know, like an, an epilogue typething to the memoir, because I feel
like when people write about recoveryor tragedy or anything like that, they
usually focus on the event itself.
(29:06):
And the very few times, do you learnabout what happened within the next,
you know, five years or 10 years?
Which I really wanted to focus on thatbecause while the physical recovery was
really difficult, the emotional recovery.
Was much longer and, you know,as difficult in different ways.
So I wrote, you know, another,like a 10,000 word, uh, edition
(29:32):
that I'm hoping to put out.
Um, this year that will sort of focus.
I tried to, I wanted to focus more onthe emotional recovery during COVID,
uh, which I did, but I also wantedto look at any of the philosophical.
You know, aspects of the fact, youknow, was there something at play here?
(29:54):
Uh, that I happened to be at the airportat the right time, at the right place,
you know, had I stopped to go to thebathroom beforehand, you know, that would
have essentially changed everything.
So, uh, I actually, I contacted aphilosophy professor who gave me
a couple of people I should readwho focus on things like causality
(30:16):
and, uh, and things like that.
So.
That's going to be, you know, I, Igive a very brief and very amateurish
description of, um, sort of thephilosophical take of what happened,
um, as well as what, you know, whatthe recovery during COVID was like.
And because I make a lot of movieand pop culture references, I
(30:38):
included a bunch of those as well.
So, you know, just sort of how, for mepersonally, when I think of something.
Usually the first thing I thinkof to make a comparison is, oh
yeah, this is just like thatscene in, you know, in this movie.
Uh, or this is like the time thatcharacter said X and, and, you know, then
(31:01):
I sin since I know the context of it or.
For everyone else.
I, and I sort of give the contextin my analysis of how it's similar.
There's a great, uh, book.
And then movie called mother night with,uh, that was written by Kurt Vonnegut
(31:24):
and the movie stars, Nick Naulty.
And he is a, he plays a character whois recruited by the U S government,
right before world war II to become.
Un-American Nazi, sympathizerand propagandist in Germany.
And when the war ends, hecan't tell anyone that he was
(31:45):
actually working for the us.
So he becomes this sort of pariah.
And at one point he's walkingdown the street in New York
city and it's like 1946.
And he says, I suddenly stopped walkingbecause you know, not because of.
Uh, I was angry, not because I was sad.
(32:06):
It was because I had no place to go.
And I remember thinking, wow, that'show I felt at my lowest point.
Recovering when I really didn't knowwhat I was going to do from here.
I knew I wasn't going to goback to teaching, but I hadn't
quite figured out what it was.
So I thought that.
Uh, really power, you know, and for me,that was the first thing I thought of
(32:30):
was what, what movie is this similar to?
Yeah, so the, so the followup we'llhave, you know, obviously real life
situations involving me, but that'llbe much more, uh, focused on the
COVID recovery period, as well as sortof reminiscing about movie quotes.
Yeah, inspirational
Danny (32:51):
in the sense that interest in reading that's hopefully
going to be next year you
Andrew (32:54):
released that was an update.
So I released the memoir, uh, on the,on the anniversary of the aneurysm.
So I was hoping to dothe same thing with this.
So it would be June 29th, 2020.
Okay.
So I need someone releasedto look forward to.
Yeah, well, I, you know, we'll,we'll see how it goes, but yeah,
certainly that would be, that would be
Danny (33:16):
great.
So, Andrew, I've really enjoyed chattingwith you today and I'm sure the listeners
are going to go and listen to this.
When the episode goes out, um,for anybody who wants to connect
with you online, or check out thepodcast or your books, where's the,
the best place for them to connect.
Andrew (33:34):
So if you go to my website, which is just andrew-davy.com and that's D a V
I E uh, it'll have links to everything.
Um, books, podcasts.
What have you, it's all social media.
Everything is in oneplace, so it'll be easy.
And I
Danny (33:53):
can attest to that because when I was checking Andrew site, um, a couple
of weeks back, actually, it's all there.
It's like a small, small,small Gabbard smorgasbord.
I can.
That's the one, that's theone that resource have.
It's amazing.
So, yeah, I'll leave the, the linksto Andrew site in the show notes.
So if you'll listen on your favoritepodcast app, make sure there's always to
(34:14):
check out the show notes and all the linkswill be there to take flute to another
site where you can then find all hisresources to interviews, videos, podcasts.
The works, et cetera, Sandra, again, Ireally appreciate coming on the show today
and I look forward to sharing your story
Andrew (34:28):
with our listeners.
Yeah.
Thank you so much.
I really appreciate it.
I essentially, I turned 40 and then the week after I had the aneurysm,
so my forties have been, you know, it wassort of just when I began to feel like
I was making progress, recovering fromthe aneurysm, the COVID pandemic hit.
And it became, it went from a verypersonal experience to a universal
(00:21):
experience that sort of everybodycould understand because we were
all going through difficult times.
Danny (00:28):
This week, I'm chatting with Andrew Davey.
Who's the cohost of the happy hourwith Heather and gas podcast, a pop
culture show or movies, music, and more.
He's also the author of severalbooks at which we'll probably
chat about later in the show.
So Andrew, welcome to podcast stories.
How about you introduce yourself and your
Andrew (00:45):
podcast.
Okay.
Well, uh, I'm Andrew.
It's great to be here.
First of all.
Thank you.
Um, I work on a show calledhappier with Heather and.
Which, uh, started out pretty muchas a Facebook group that a friend
of mine, uh, put together for, youknow, it was, it was sort of at the
(01:05):
beginning of the COVID ban pet pandemic.
So it was a chance for people justto have a safe Haven, to kind of go
decompress, talk about music, listento about music and stuff like that.
And then, uh, when I started helping.
We incorporated, uh, interviewsand live stream performances.
(01:29):
So for the following year, because somuch of the music scene had shut down and
bands really weren't performing anymore.
This was sort of an outlet for them.
Uh, initially it was just on Facebook.
And then I would say within thelast couple of months, once,
uh, shows were coming back andbands were able to perform.
(01:50):
Live again, we sort of pivoted and wedecided to just do more of a show where
we would comment on albums that had justbeen released by contemporary bands.
Um, we still will do interviews, uh, andoccasionally there'll be a live stream
performance, but for the most part, it'sjust my friend, Heather and I talking
(02:13):
about, uh, albums that have just beenreleased by bands that we really liked.
And it's mostly it strangely enough.
Um, because to look at me, you wouldn'tthink right off the bat, it's, it's
almost exclusively heavy metal.
So, uh, underground, heavy metalbands that haven't really quite
(02:33):
made it to, to universal levels,but, um, but put out great music
regionally, they're usually prettybig and, uh, it's just sort of fun to.
To talk about, you know, neither she orI have a background in, you know, none,
neither of us went to school for musicappreciation or anything like that.
(02:54):
So it's just sort of two fansthat, uh, get together and
talk about, talk about music.
Danny (03:02):
And you mentioned in the green room before we were recording you're by South
Carolina as this bands local to the areaor the, uh, across north America, across
the U S what's the breakdown from these.
Andrew (03:13):
So, uh, well actually I I'm, uh, originally from New York city, um,
my parents are in South Carolina, soI'm staying with them for this weekend.
But, uh, all of the, the bands that we,um, showcase are from all over the world.
Uh that's, that's sort ofthe beauty, these days of
(03:34):
technology being where it's at.
Um, the other day we talked abouta band called slow green thing.
Who's from Germany.
Uh, they're from Dresden, Germany.
So we, uh, at least Ithink they're from Dresden.
I hope they're from Dresden,Germany, but, um, yeah, I mean,
Heather, uh, lives in Illinois.
So sometimes she'll offer aband that's in the regional
(03:57):
Illinois area, um, or Chicago.
Um, but most of the time we, weget bands from all over the world.
Um, we did a, a livestream tour last year.
From a band that's in Ireland rightnow called pure Sonic outcasts.
And they would find bandsto support them on the tour.
(04:20):
So there was a band from Russia,um, bands from the U S there
was a band from south America.
Um, so we don't really have, youknow, like a, like a state that we
sort of come for all of our stuff.
It usually just comes from, from all over.
Okay.
Danny (04:38):
And you'd mentioned that, um, people, if there were to look at you, for
example, uh, they wouldn't necessarilyput you down as a heavy metal, hard rock
fan, but this isn't your first podcast.
You ha you actually had a podcast that yousaw, um, you sunset it called a festival,
a festival, which ran if I'm correct foreight years on, had over 550 episodes.
(04:59):
And that was all about rock and metal.
So what was that experiencelike when and why did you get.
Andrew (05:06):
So the podcast started in 2013 and at the time I was teaching in Hong
Kong and I was a fan of a podcast calledanalyze fish, spelled P H I S H about the
band fish and, um, the entire show wherethese two comedians, where one of them was
(05:27):
a fan of the band and would basically tryto convince his colleague that he should
start listening to the music of fit.
And I thought this is areally funny, uh, formula.
So I thought to myself, well, Ishare an office with another teacher.
Who's a very meek British fellowwho listens to mostly like Brit-pop.
(05:51):
And I thought, why don't we createa show where I try to convince him
to listen to heavy metal music?
So the first year or two.
Of the show was basically once every twoweeks we would record an episode where
I would play, you know, uh, well-knownbit like iron maiden or Metallica.
(06:13):
Um, sometimes we would get a little bitharder or heavier, but it was always
fun just to listen to our banter.
There was one episode where he tookover and tried to convince me to listen
to bands like the kooks and, uh, um, Iforgot the guy's first name, but I know
(06:33):
his, his sidekick is scribbious PIP.
So it, so it was just fun.
It basically started out.
It was just a way to pass thetime and have a good time.
And, uh, you know, the, the subject matterseem to fit based on this other show,
analyze fish that I really admired andthought, okay, this'll be a great way.
(06:58):
And then.
When I moved back to the us, I continuedto do the show with a revolving door
of guests, usually colleagues thatI was teaching with, um, who were
kind enough to grant me their time.
And then during the pandemic, I wouldbasically put out an episode a day by
myself, where I would just sort of doa deep dive on the internet and find,
(07:21):
uh, you know, a band on YouTube thatI thought I would want to listen to.
That deserve to be.
You know, uh, promoted.
So, so it really gave me somethingto do during my downtime,
which was really helpful.
Uh, and then that started tobecome less enjoyable because
(07:45):
it was just a solo project.
And I was also working withHeather on the Facebook group.
So as our, as the Facebook grouptransitioned into more of a show, I
decided to, to stop doing a fistfulof faithful and, and, and, you know,
work with a colleague again, I thoughtit would be more, more enjoyable and
(08:07):
it has been, but yes, but I don't, Idon't have the traditional, you know,
I think a lot of people think about thecliched look of a heavy metal fan having
long hair, uh, and a lot of tattoosand multiple piercings and, you know,
a denim jacket with a lot of patches.
And I look more like I should be, youknow, in the pages of a J crew catalog.
(08:30):
So, so yeah, so that was alwayssomething that I ran with.
Danny (08:35):
It's interesting because you, you see a lot of, um,
what I call classic rock.
Basically my age.
Now I look back, I hear about classicrock bands, like, you know, Def Leppard,
ACDC iron made him the officer Maddow.
Um, and a lot of them know havegot short hair because a lot older.
So they don't, some of them do keep thehair long, obviously, but a lot never got
(08:57):
short hair or shaved heads or whatever.
Um, and it's funny to see that, uh,to your point about the stereotypical
metal head versus the actual artist on.
Andrew (09:08):
Yeah, I think it's, you know, it's always interesting just
in life, the expectation we havefor how something is going to be
versus how it actually is, you know?
And I always thought when, when my brothergraduated from high school in 2003, I
took him to, uh, Madison square gardento see iron maiden and Motorhead and DOP.
(09:34):
He was at, he w he had spent sometime in Italy, in high school and
became a fan of iron maiden throughthe host family he was staying with.
So I thought that wouldbe a great sendoff.
So this is before smartphones.
So I had a camera, um, you know, one ofthose, uh, that, that you would drop off
like a disposable film camera, and they'dhave a photo of me standing next to.
(10:01):
Uh, someone, I didn't know, but he was,he was in the next seat and he and I have
our arms around each other and he has,you know, like a purple Mohawk and, uh,
you know, where he's wearing, uh, youknow, one of the t-shirts of the bands.
And of course I'm in like a polo shirtand khakis and it just, it couldn't
be more different, but it always makesme smile because that's the beauty
(10:24):
of the music is that you don't, itdoesn't matter what you look like.
Yeah, but I think
Danny (10:29):
that's like, um, I always compare it to punk music and
the evolution of punk music.
And I know that obviously a lot ofpunk fans had a very dedicated look.
Um, but the main idea about punk, the sameas metal, uh, to your point is it doesn't
matter who you are and what you look like.
It's about the insight and what youwant to achieve and what you believe
and what you're trying to, youknow, what the music means to you.
(10:52):
And it's, it's cool to hearthat juxtaposition between
the two of you at the same
Andrew (10:56):
time.
Yeah, that, I mean, that's reallybeen, uh, such an eyeopening experience
for me with working with, uh, happierwith Heather and guests, is that
every band that we've spoken to orhas played on our show has been, uh,
extremely generous with their time.
Um, everyone's been really cool.
(11:17):
It's such a great community of people.
Again, full of people who lookradically different from each other.
And probably in their personal livesare radically different, but we can all
sort of come together on this commonappreciation of the music it's been re
it's been a grimy and a great, both,a fistful of faithful and happier
(11:37):
with Heather and guests have beenreally great experiences, different
experiences, but it's all been wonderful.
I mean, I guess that's also the beautyof, uh, you know, the technology being
where it's at in this day and age, Idon't have, uh, an engineering background
or a music background or anything.
It was just sort of, Hey, let's make apodcast and see what happens, you know,
(12:00):
and that was sort of with everythingit's always just sort of been the
punk drive in a way of like, Put outan album, you know, let's, uh, I, I'm
not, you're probably familiar withI'm blanking on the name of the band.
I'll it'll come to me in a second, but,um, they had, ezine called sniffing
(12:20):
glue for awhile and, uh, one of the,and one of the, the issues they put
out there, they put three guitarchords on the back and said, this is
an, a, this is an E this is a gene.
Now go form a band.
So I always, I always looked at the.
Sort of idea of really the only thingstopping you these days is just the drive.
(12:43):
You know, the, the technology isthere and you can learn how to use.
But if you don't have the drive to getup and actually do it, it won't get done.
I remember
Danny (12:55):
like, uh, I don't recall the, the band fortunate, but I remember
that I've heard that phrase before,you know, here are the car, it's just
get out, you know, no, go to a song.
Um, cause there's a really good videoon YouTube, somewhere about, um, pretty
much all songs are based at underthe most basic three or four chords.
And it's just a variation there as to whatyou do of your minor or major or whatever.
(13:15):
It's kind of cool to seeeverything evolved from that
little tiny sliver of mute
Andrew (13:20):
at the last school that I was teaching, I had been a, um, an English
teacher, uh, previously, and the lastschool that I was at, um, I remember
I show I had a, a music appreciationclub that would meet on Friday and
I showed them a clip from a movie.
(13:41):
In which Ian MCI from the band, a minorthreat and later Fu Ghazi said that when
they were growing up in, in the bandsand DC, you know, they, they had enough
money from one of their tours to, tocreate an album, but they didn't know
how to do it, uh, because no, you know,there were no labels back then that
(14:02):
really put out punk music and no one tosort of T so they went to a record store.
But a record and undid thegatefold and then traced it out.
And they essentially went to aprinting plant and had like a hundred
copies made all by just lookingup in the yellow pages and call.
(14:23):
And then they traced it out and thenElmer's glued a hundred copies together
and then just sold them by themselves.
And that always stuck with me again,the fact that if you, you know,
and, and Heather and I have t-shirtsfor sale, one of the, one of the
t-shirts we have is, um, it's the twoof us with our heads superimposed.
(14:44):
Over a Butch Cassidy.
And Sundances a picture at the very endof the film when they're, when they're
bursting out to so, and underneath itsays, if you will, it, it is no dream.
Um, which, which we, we bothenjoy the film, the big Lebowski.
And that's one of the linesthat one of the characters says.
I think he's paraphrasing a politicianwhen he's saying that, but we prefer
(15:09):
from, so that's basically the idea.
Behind our show, if you will.
It, it is no dream.
Yeah.
So festival of faithful and now happy hourwith Heather and guests, it's basically
just two people who are dedicated togetting the music out there for bands
that we think should be listened to too.
Um, and then every, so often it's funto sort of throw in our 2 cents about.
(15:33):
Well, we think of the music
Danny (15:35):
and it's interesting.
You mentioned the, if youwill, it there's no dream.
Uh, and you earlier, you'd,you'd been on a boat.
It's about drive, making somethinghappen when it comes to making
a podcast, for example, or, ormaking music back in the punk days.
Um, cause I know from yourpersonal story, uh, you have had.
Well it a lot, um, from somethingthat happened three years ago
(15:57):
now, I think are all about threeyears ago and your personal life,
Andrew (16:00):
I had just finished teaching that year.
It was 2018 and I was going to flyto visit my folks for the summer.
When I got to the airport, Ifelt fine until I got to my gate.
And then I started tosweat uncontrollably.
Like I had just run a merit.
And at the time I remember thinking thisis strange, but I might be coming down
(16:21):
with a cold or the flu, so I could takea nap on the plane and maybe I'll take
some Advil, but thankfully I fell, youknow, it's strange to say, thankfully
I fell, but thankfully I fell on thegate before I could get on the plane.
And it turns out I had aruptured brain aneurysm.
So.
Through through a lot ofreally fortunate turns events.
(16:44):
Um, I ended up going to the hospital,uh, having surgery that saved my life
and then basically recovered for thenext month and a half in the hospital.
And then the last fewyears have basically been.
Trying to sort of putthe pieces back together.
What's, you know, having the showto work on with Heather has been
(17:06):
really helpful in that it's givenme something to do, to stay engaged.
It was a, it was a sort of steeplearning curve, uh, because very few
people experience what I went throughand he'll close to a hundred percent.
I think I'm, I'm one of the lucky fewthat has very minor physical limitations.
(17:27):
Um, my, my balance.
Isn't very good still.
And sometimes if I move my head, ittakes time for the vision to settle.
But, um, but outside of, I considerthat to be sort of a nuisance
problem, you know, it's sort of likea fly at a, at a, uh, at a picnic.
Like it'll, it'll bother yousometimes, but it's not a problem.
And then yeah, the lastsort of realizing that.
(17:52):
I had assumed eventually I would feelthe same that I felt before the aneurysm.
Like at some point I willjust return to normal again.
Uh, and it took a long time to acceptthat while there would be elements of
the former life that would be there.
You know, I still live in thesame apartments and I'm still
(18:14):
friendly with the same people.
And I still have a great support system.
That many things would be different.
And it was sort of justaccepting that even though it
would be different that's okay.
And I'll, I'll figure things out as I go.
The, the phrase that I like is Ihad to begin to look at obstacles.
Like they were opportunitiesonce I was able to do that.
(18:36):
It, uh, and that took about three, youknow, it wasn't really until September of
this year, That I really felt comfortablewith everything, which I, you know, from
what I've heard, I still participatein a lot of support groups and work
with people, uh, who have had traumaticbrain injuries or are recovering.
(18:57):
And I think the consensus is, you know,usually it takes a couple of years for
the physical healing to, to, um, youknow, show dividends and the emotional.
Um, like I was under the impressionthat they would happen at the same time.
And what I discovered wasthat the physical healing
happened, uh, first pretty much.
(19:19):
And then, you know, then the emotionalhealing sort of came in afterward and
the physical healing is a little bitmore easy to keep track of because, you
know, one day you're walking with a caneand then two months later you're not,
well, you've certainly made progress.
But I'm feeling comfortableemotionally there really?
(19:40):
No, there's really no indicationto let you know that, uh,
that you've made progress.
Um, and I've also learned, youknow, a lot of recovery happens in a
spiral or, or not in a straight line.
So there are days where you feel likeyou've lost all the progress you've made.
Um, you know, if you're having abad day or if things are different,
(20:03):
But, yeah, I mean, fortunately Icould still, you had mentioned, uh,
some of the books I'd written beforeI discovered I could still write.
So that was, again, that wassomething that I could do beforehand
that I could still do now.
Um, and it was really a motivatingfactor doing the, doing the show with
Heather has been a motivating fat.
(20:23):
So it was, it was understanding thatthere are going to be, uh, goals out
there that I might not be aware of.
But I still have goals.
The show writing, um, listened to music,certain things that I can still do that I
appreciate, but eventually coming to thatpoint, took a few and I don't think there
(20:45):
could have been anything other than justthe passing of time to sort of help out.
You know, it was interesting because.
The COVID pandemic.
I had just gotten a job as a tutor thatwas supposed to start in March of 2020.
Uh, and that got canceled, um, becauseI kept thinking, well, you're a teacher,
(21:08):
that's what, you know, you should goback to teaching, but being in the
classroom was a little overwhelming.
So I thought tutoring might be easier.
Uh, and then the job got canceled.
So rather than just be in my apartment bymyself all day, I ended up moving back in
with my parents, uh, for a little over ayear, which turned out to be a blessing
(21:31):
because I could focus exclusively onrecovering rather than, you know, uh,
everyday life going to work, you know,trying to further myself in whatever way.
And it was during that time, I realizedthat teaching is probably not the best.
So when I go back in the new year, I'mactually going to begin a, uh, go back
(21:53):
to school for, um, a mental healthcounseling degree so that I can hopefully
help other people who are recoveringor going through difficult times.
But yeah, that's that, that was,it's been a very surreal time over
the last couple of, you know, myfour, I essentially, I turned 40
(22:14):
and then the week after I had the.
So my forties have been, you know, it wassort of just when I began to feel like
I was making progress, recovering fromthe aneurysm, the COVID pandemic hit and
it became, it went from a very personalexperience to a universal experience that
(22:35):
sort of everybody could understand becausewe were all going through difficult times.
So it's been, it's been very surreal,uh, the last couple of years, but it's
been great to have these things thatI can work on and sort of stay engaged
with, uh, that have been really helpfulbecause often it's those little things.
(22:56):
That gets you through a difficult day,you know, not, not a big revelation of
anything, but just sort of confirmationthat you're, you know, this was,
this was, this episode was fun torecord and people are gonna like it.
And that's another.
To get me out of bed tomorrow.
And you've
Danny (23:12):
mentioned that obviously, um, w we'd mentioned, so you'd want a few books.
And one of the books that you'd written,uh, was, uh, already started at land of
illusions, which I believe it's like,has been based on the personal experience
of, you know, uh, you're on realism,COVID, uh, dating your dating scene.
Um, and, and.
Pulling everything together.
(23:33):
Was that therapeutic for your toe?
I know looking at reviews on Amazon,um, it seems people really took to
it because of its personal approachand because of your writing style and
how you brought them into the fold.
And it could feel this sort of mix ofcomedy, but also like drama and let
Darfur straight in with the dating scene.
(23:53):
For example, how, how was the writing forthat book compared to your other books?
Andrew (23:58):
So this one.
Actually started.
I went to Macau in 2012 to teachand I had, my first thought was
that this would be a travel book.
And that I would write about myexperiences when I was in Asia.
So I had begun sort of taking notes,um, on what, what I would talk about.
(24:21):
And then when I got back, uh, Ifigured I needed more of a subject.
So I thought, well, Uh, I could talkabout some of the career paths I've been
on, uh, you know, teaching, traveling.
Uh, and then I thought, well, my onlinedating life has been pretty funny with
just regard to how a lot of the dateshave planned, you know, panned out.
(24:44):
Um, and it wasn't until after the aneurysmthat I thought, well, The through-line,
you know, having funny moments, coupledwith tragic moments, uh, in the beginning
of the book where, you know, the,the, one of the sentences I have is
that comedy is just tragedy plus time.
So I felt like a lot of the, uh, thingsthat happened to me that you could label
(25:09):
as tragic were actually really funny.
There was a moment when I wasin the hospital, my parents
needed to access my company.
So they kept asking me for my passwordand my father said that I would
just be about to give it to them.
And then I would lecture them on theimportance of protecting that information
and I wouldn't give it to them so thateventually they found a way to get into
(25:32):
my computer, but things like that, uh,I thought, okay, this is at the time.
Probably not very funny, but in hindsight,looking back on it now it's hysterical.
And then obviously some of that.
Things that happened on the online datesagain, at the time they seemed tragic.
Uh, but it was, it was very therapeutic.
(25:53):
And one thing I, I realized was if anyof this can help somebody to feel less
alone, then, then that's the goal.
So the deal I made was that I wouldn'thide anything that would make me embrace.
Or, or make me look like I was afool, but I changed everyone's names,
(26:17):
uh, just in case like I didn't, youknow, not that any of my friends,
uh, or any of the dates that wereon did anything that would have been
embarrassing, but I didn't want anyone.
To feel embarrassed about anything.
So I was more than willing tothrow myself under the bus.
If, you know, hopefully someonemight be reading it and think, well,
(26:42):
okay, I went on a date that didn'tgo so well, but nothing like this
one or, um, you know, or I, I amrecovering from an illness as well.
And it's great to hearthat this is not unique to.
So that it was very therapeutic.
It was different in that most ofthe, uh, stuff that I write these
(27:04):
days is mostly crime fiction.
So I don't really have muchpractical experience with it.
You know, it's, it's a lot of justimagining what it might be like.
Uh, but this was all.
Pretty much based in reality.
And thankfully I didn't need to, I didn'treally didn't need to embellish anything.
(27:26):
So it was mostly like just sortof cataloging the experiences
and trying to keep track of,okay, did this happen this way?
Uh, did it not happen this way?
And then I sort of realizedthat it didn't really matter.
Um, as long as I got to the heart of.
Was trying to happen, but I'vealways, I mean, thankfully even
(27:47):
after the aneurysm, I've always hada pretty good memory for details.
So it was, it was pretty easyto recount sort of the general
ideas behind everything.
And then I was lucky enough tohave a few people who agreed to
read it and it's earlier drafts.
So that was, that was really how.
Danny (28:09):
And have you any plans to revisit it as a, an update you'd mentioned
earlier that obviously your, yourjourney after the aneurism was more a
personal one and that equated to themore global one once COVID kicked in.
So it moved you from this phaseof your life to, to that phase.
And I'm wondering.
Whatever kind of normality, it looks likepost there's, no post COVID, I guess, but
(28:29):
once the world, I guess, lounge to livewith COVID of that sort of description.
Um, are there any plans maybe to revisitand say, well, this is how my life has
gone now necessarily could have gone, hadCOVID never arrived or is that just on
the back burner and it's it's all crime
Andrew (28:44):
fiction podcast.
No.
Oh, I, I, I actually wrote, uh, somethingthat I hope will be, uh, like an identity.
You know, like an, an epilogue typething to the memoir, because I feel
like when people write about recoveryor tragedy or anything like that, they
usually focus on the event itself.
(29:06):
And the very few times, do you learnabout what happened within the next,
you know, five years or 10 years?
Which I really wanted to focus on thatbecause while the physical recovery was
really difficult, the emotional recovery.
Was much longer and, you know,as difficult in different ways.
So I wrote, you know, another,like a 10,000 word, uh, edition
(29:32):
that I'm hoping to put out.
Um, this year that will sort of focus.
I tried to, I wanted to focus more onthe emotional recovery during COVID,
uh, which I did, but I also wantedto look at any of the philosophical.
You know, aspects of the fact, youknow, was there something at play here?
(29:54):
Uh, that I happened to be at the airportat the right time, at the right place,
you know, had I stopped to go to thebathroom beforehand, you know, that would
have essentially changed everything.
So, uh, I actually, I contacted aphilosophy professor who gave me
a couple of people I should readwho focus on things like causality
(30:16):
and, uh, and things like that.
So.
That's going to be, you know, I, Igive a very brief and very amateurish
description of, um, sort of thephilosophical take of what happened,
um, as well as what, you know, whatthe recovery during COVID was like.
And because I make a lot of movieand pop culture references, I
(30:38):
included a bunch of those as well.
So, you know, just sort of how, for mepersonally, when I think of something.
Usually the first thing I thinkof to make a comparison is, oh
yeah, this is just like thatscene in, you know, in this movie.
Uh, or this is like the time thatcharacter said X and, and, you know, then
(31:01):
I sin since I know the context of it or.
For everyone else.
I, and I sort of give the contextin my analysis of how it's similar.
There's a great, uh, book.
And then movie called mother night with,uh, that was written by Kurt Vonnegut
(31:24):
and the movie stars, Nick Naulty.
And he is a, he plays a character whois recruited by the U S government,
right before world war II to become.
Un-American Nazi, sympathizerand propagandist in Germany.
And when the war ends, hecan't tell anyone that he was
(31:45):
actually working for the us.
So he becomes this sort of pariah.
And at one point he's walkingdown the street in New York
city and it's like 1946.
And he says, I suddenly stopped walkingbecause you know, not because of.
Uh, I was angry, not because I was sad.
(32:06):
It was because I had no place to go.
And I remember thinking, wow, that'show I felt at my lowest point.
Recovering when I really didn't knowwhat I was going to do from here.
I knew I wasn't going to goback to teaching, but I hadn't
quite figured out what it was.
So I thought that.
Uh, really power, you know, and for me,that was the first thing I thought of
(32:30):
was what, what movie is this similar to?
Yeah, so the, so the followup we'llhave, you know, obviously real life
situations involving me, but that'llbe much more, uh, focused on the
COVID recovery period, as well as sortof reminiscing about movie quotes.
Yeah, inspirational
Danny (32:51):
in the sense that interest in reading that's hopefully
going to be next year you
Andrew (32:54):
released that was an update.
So I released the memoir, uh, on the,on the anniversary of the aneurysm.
So I was hoping to dothe same thing with this.
So it would be June 29th, 2020.
Okay.
So I need someone releasedto look forward to.
Yeah, well, I, you know, we'll,we'll see how it goes, but yeah,
certainly that would be, that would be
Danny (33:16):
great.
So, Andrew, I've really enjoyed chattingwith you today and I'm sure the listeners
are going to go and listen to this.
When the episode goes out, um,for anybody who wants to connect
with you online, or check out thepodcast or your books, where's the,
the best place for them to connect.
Andrew (33:34):
So if you go to my website, which is just andrew-davy.com and that's D a V
I E uh, it'll have links to everything.
Um, books, podcasts.
What have you, it's all social media.
Everything is in oneplace, so it'll be easy.
And I
Danny (33:53):
can attest to that because when I was checking Andrew site, um, a couple
of weeks back, actually, it's all there.
It's like a small, small,small Gabbard smorgasbord.
I can.
That's the one, that's theone that resource have.
It's amazing.
So, yeah, I'll leave the, the linksto Andrew site in the show notes.
So if you'll listen on your favoritepodcast app, make sure there's always to
(34:14):
check out the show notes and all the linkswill be there to take flute to another
site where you can then find all hisresources to interviews, videos, podcasts.
The works, et cetera, Sandra, again, Ireally appreciate coming on the show today
and I look forward to sharing your story
Andrew (34:28):
with our listeners.
Yeah.
Thank you so much.
I really appreciate it.
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