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Andrew Davie on a Life-Saving Series of Unfortunate Circumstances
Episode 35 • 20th January 2022 • Podcaster Stories • Danny Brown
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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:

Contact me: danny@podcasterstories.com

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Transcripts

Andrew:

I essentially, I turned 40 and then the week after I had the aneurysm,

Andrew:

so my forties have been, you know, it was sort of just when I began to feel like

Andrew:

I was making progress, recovering from the aneurysm, the COVID pandemic hit.

Andrew:

And it became, it went from a very personal experience to a universal

Andrew:

experience that sort of everybody could understand because we were

Andrew:

all going through difficult times.

Danny:

This week, I'm chatting with Andrew Davey.

Danny:

Who's the cohost of the happy hour with Heather and gas podcast, a pop

Danny:

culture show or movies, music, and more.

Danny:

He's also the author of several books at which we'll probably

Danny:

chat about later in the show.

Danny:

So Andrew, welcome to podcast stories.

Danny:

How about you introduce yourself and your

Andrew:

podcast.

Andrew:

Okay.

Andrew:

Well, uh, I'm Andrew.

Andrew:

It's great to be here.

Andrew:

First of all.

Andrew:

Thank you.

Andrew:

Um, I work on a show called happier with Heather and.

Andrew:

Which, uh, started out pretty much as a Facebook group that a friend

Andrew:

of mine, uh, put together for, you know, it was, it was sort of at the

Andrew:

beginning of the COVID ban pet pandemic.

Andrew:

So it was a chance for people just to have a safe Haven, to kind of go

Andrew:

decompress, talk about music, listen to about music and stuff like that.

Andrew:

And then, uh, when I started helping.

Andrew:

We incorporated, uh, interviews and live stream performances.

Andrew:

So for the following year, because so much of the music scene had shut down and

Andrew:

bands really weren't performing anymore.

Andrew:

This was sort of an outlet for them.

Andrew:

Uh, initially it was just on Facebook.

Andrew:

And then I would say within the last couple of months, once,

Andrew:

uh, shows were coming back and bands were able to perform.

Andrew:

Live again, we sort of pivoted and we decided to just do more of a show where

Andrew:

we would comment on albums that had just been released by contemporary bands.

Andrew:

Um, we still will do interviews, uh, and occasionally there'll be a live stream

Andrew:

performance, but for the most part, it's just my friend, Heather and I talking

Andrew:

about, uh, albums that have just been released by bands that we really liked.

Andrew:

And it's mostly it strangely enough.

Andrew:

Um, because to look at me, you wouldn't think right off the bat, it's, it's

Andrew:

almost exclusively heavy metal.

Andrew:

So, uh, underground, heavy metal bands that haven't really quite

Andrew:

made it to, to universal levels, but, um, but put out great music

Andrew:

regionally, they're usually pretty big and, uh, it's just sort of fun to.

Andrew:

To talk about, you know, neither she or I have a background in, you know, none,

Andrew:

neither of us went to school for music appreciation or anything like that.

Andrew:

So it's just sort of two fans that, uh, get together and

Andrew:

talk about, talk about music.

Danny:

And you mentioned in the green room before we were recording you're by South

Danny:

Carolina as this bands local to the area or the, uh, across north America, across

Danny:

the U S what's the breakdown from these.

Andrew:

So, uh, well actually I I'm, uh, originally from New York city, um,

Andrew:

my parents are in South Carolina, so I'm staying with them for this weekend.

Andrew:

But, uh, all of the, the bands that we, um, showcase are from all over the world.

Andrew:

Uh that's, that's sort of the beauty, these days of

Andrew:

technology being where it's at.

Andrew:

Um, the other day we talked about a band called slow green thing.

Andrew:

Who's from Germany.

Andrew:

Uh, they're from Dresden, Germany.

Andrew:

So we, uh, at least I think they're from Dresden.

Andrew:

I hope they're from Dresden, Germany, but, um, yeah, I mean,

Andrew:

Heather, uh, lives in Illinois.

Andrew:

So sometimes she'll offer a band that's in the regional

Andrew:

Illinois area, um, or Chicago.

Andrew:

Um, but most of the time we, we get bands from all over the world.

Andrew:

Um, we did a, a live stream tour last year.

Andrew:

From a band that's in Ireland right now called pure Sonic outcasts.

Andrew:

And they would find bands to support them on the tour.

Andrew:

So there was a band from Russia, um, bands from the U S there

Andrew:

was a band from south America.

Andrew:

Um, so we don't really have, you know, like a, like a state that we

Andrew:

sort of come for all of our stuff.

Andrew:

It usually just comes from, from all over.

Andrew:

Okay.

Danny:

And you'd mentioned that, um, people, if there were to look at you, for

Danny:

example, uh, they wouldn't necessarily put you down as a heavy metal, hard rock

Danny:

fan, but this isn't your first podcast.

Danny:

You ha you actually had a podcast that you saw, um, you sunset it called a festival,

Danny:

a festival, which ran if I'm correct for eight years on, had over 550 episodes.

Danny:

And that was all about rock and metal.

Danny:

So what was that experience like when and why did you get.

Andrew:

So the podcast started in 2013 and at the time I was teaching in Hong

Andrew:

Kong and I was a fan of a podcast called analyze fish, spelled P H I S H about the

Andrew:

band fish and, um, the entire show where these two comedians, where one of them was

Andrew:

a fan of the band and would basically try to convince his colleague that he should

Andrew:

start listening to the music of fit.

Andrew:

And I thought this is a really funny, uh, formula.

Andrew:

So I thought to myself, well, I share an office with another teacher.

Andrew:

Who's a very meek British fellow who listens to mostly like Brit-pop.

Andrew:

And I thought, why don't we create a show where I try to convince him

Andrew:

to listen to heavy metal music?

Andrew:

So the first year or two.

Andrew:

Of the show was basically once every two weeks we would record an episode where

Andrew:

I would play, you know, uh, well-known bit like iron maiden or Metallica.

Andrew:

Um, sometimes we would get a little bit harder or heavier, but it was always

Andrew:

fun just to listen to our banter.

Andrew:

There was one episode where he took over and tried to convince me to listen

Andrew:

to bands like the kooks and, uh, um, I forgot the guy's first name, but I know

Andrew:

his, his sidekick is scribbious PIP.

Andrew:

So it, so it was just fun.

Andrew:

It basically started out.

Andrew:

It was just a way to pass the time and have a good time.

Andrew:

And, uh, you know, the, the subject matter seem to fit based on this other show,

Andrew:

analyze fish that I really admired and thought, okay, this'll be a great way.

Andrew:

And then.

Andrew:

When I moved back to the us, I continued to do the show with a revolving door

Andrew:

of guests, usually colleagues that I was teaching with, um, who were

Andrew:

kind enough to grant me their time.

Andrew:

And then during the pandemic, I would basically put out an episode a day by

Andrew:

myself, where I would just sort of do a deep dive on the internet and find,

Andrew:

uh, you know, a band on YouTube that I thought I would want to listen to.

Andrew:

That deserve to be.

Andrew:

You know, uh, promoted.

Andrew:

So, so it really gave me something to do during my downtime,

Andrew:

which was really helpful.

Andrew:

Uh, and then that started to become less enjoyable because

Andrew:

it was just a solo project.

Andrew:

And I was also working with Heather on the Facebook group.

Andrew:

So as our, as the Facebook group transitioned into more of a show, I

Andrew:

decided to, to stop doing a fistful of faithful and, and, and, you know,

Andrew:

work with a colleague again, I thought it would be more, more enjoyable and

Andrew:

it has been, but yes, but I don't, I don't have the traditional, you know,

Andrew:

I think a lot of people think about the cliched look of a heavy metal fan having

Andrew:

long hair, uh, and a lot of tattoos and multiple piercings and, you know,

Andrew:

a denim jacket with a lot of patches.

Andrew:

And I look more like I should be, you know, in the pages of a J crew catalog.

Andrew:

So, so yeah, so that was always something that I ran with.

Danny:

It's interesting because you, you see a lot of, um,

Danny:

what I call classic rock.

Danny:

Basically my age.

Danny:

Now I look back, I hear about classic rock bands, like, you know, Def Leppard,

Danny:

ACDC iron made him the officer Maddow.

Danny:

Um, and a lot of them know have got short hair because a lot older.

Danny:

So they don't, some of them do keep the hair long, obviously, but a lot never got

Danny:

short hair or shaved heads or whatever.

Danny:

Um, and it's funny to see that, uh, to your point about the stereotypical

Danny:

metal head versus the actual artist on.

Andrew:

Yeah, I think it's, you know, it's always interesting just

Andrew:

in life, the expectation we have for how something is going to be

Andrew:

versus how it actually is, you know?

Andrew:

And I always thought when, when my brother graduated from high school in 2003, I

Andrew:

took him to, uh, Madison square garden to see iron maiden and Motorhead and DOP.

Andrew:

He was at, he w he had spent some time in Italy, in high school and

Andrew:

became a fan of iron maiden through the host family he was staying with.

Andrew:

So I thought that would be a great sendoff.

Andrew:

So this is before smartphones.

Andrew:

So I had a camera, um, you know, one of those, uh, that, that you would drop off

Andrew:

like a disposable film camera, and they'd have a photo of me standing next to.

Andrew:

Uh, someone, I didn't know, but he was, he was in the next seat and he and I have

Andrew:

our arms around each other and he has, you know, like a purple Mohawk and, uh,

Andrew:

you know, where he's wearing, uh, you know, one of the t-shirts of the bands.

Andrew:

And of course I'm in like a polo shirt and khakis and it just, it couldn't

Andrew:

be more different, but it always makes me smile because that's the beauty

Andrew:

of the music is that you don't, it doesn't matter what you look like.

Andrew:

Yeah, but I think

Danny:

that's like, um, I always compare it to punk music and

Danny:

the evolution of punk music.

Danny:

And I know that obviously a lot of punk fans had a very dedicated look.

Danny:

Um, but the main idea about punk, the same as metal, uh, to your point is it doesn't

Danny:

matter who you are and what you look like.

Danny:

It's about the insight and what you want to achieve and what you believe

Danny:

and what you're trying to, you know, what the music means to you.

Danny:

And it's, it's cool to hear that juxtaposition between

Danny:

the two of you at the same

Andrew:

time.

Andrew:

Yeah, that, I mean, that's really been, uh, such an eyeopening experience

Andrew:

for me with working with, uh, happier with Heather and guests, is that

Andrew:

every band that we've spoken to or has played on our show has been, uh,

Andrew:

extremely generous with their time.

Andrew:

Um, everyone's been really cool.

Andrew:

It's such a great community of people.

Andrew:

Again, full of people who look radically different from each other.

Andrew:

And probably in their personal lives are radically different, but we can all

Andrew:

sort of come together on this common appreciation of the music it's been re

Andrew:

it's been a grimy and a great, both, a fistful of faithful and happier

Andrew:

with Heather and guests have been really great experiences, different

Andrew:

experiences, but it's all been wonderful.

Andrew:

I mean, I guess that's also the beauty of, uh, you know, the technology being

Andrew:

where it's at in this day and age, I don't have, uh, an engineering background

Andrew:

or a music background or anything.

Andrew:

It was just sort of, Hey, let's make a podcast and see what happens, you know,

Andrew:

and that was sort of with everything it's always just sort of been the

Andrew:

punk drive in a way of like, Put out an album, you know, let's, uh, I, I'm

Andrew:

not, you're probably familiar with I'm blanking on the name of the band.

Andrew:

I'll it'll come to me in a second, but, um, they had, ezine called sniffing

Andrew:

glue for awhile and, uh, one of the, and one of the, the issues they put

Andrew:

out there, they put three guitar chords on the back and said, this is

Andrew:

an, a, this is an E this is a gene.

Andrew:

Now go form a band.

Andrew:

So I always, I always looked at the.

Andrew:

Sort of idea of really the only thing stopping you these days is just the drive.

Andrew:

You know, the, the technology is there and you can learn how to use.

Andrew:

But if you don't have the drive to get up and actually do it, it won't get done.

Andrew:

I remember

Danny:

like, uh, I don't recall the, the band fortunate, but I remember

Danny:

that I've heard that phrase before, you know, here are the car, it's just

Danny:

get out, you know, no, go to a song.

Danny:

Um, cause there's a really good video on YouTube, somewhere about, um, pretty

Danny:

much all songs are based at under the most basic three or four chords.

Danny:

And it's just a variation there as to what you do of your minor or major or whatever.

Danny:

It's kind of cool to see everything evolved from that

Danny:

little tiny sliver of mute

Andrew:

at the last school that I was teaching, I had been a, um, an English

Andrew:

teacher, uh, previously, and the last school that I was at, um, I remember

Andrew:

I show I had a, a music appreciation club that would meet on Friday and

Andrew:

I showed them a clip from a movie.

Andrew:

In which Ian MCI from the band, a minor threat and later Fu Ghazi said that when

Andrew:

they were growing up in, in the bands and DC, you know, they, they had enough

Andrew:

money from one of their tours to, to create an album, but they didn't know

Andrew:

how to do it, uh, because no, you know, there were no labels back then that

Andrew:

really put out punk music and no one to sort of T so they went to a record store.

Andrew:

But a record and undid the gatefold and then traced it out.

Andrew:

And they essentially went to a printing plant and had like a hundred

Andrew:

copies made all by just looking up in the yellow pages and call.

Andrew:

And then they traced it out and then Elmer's glued a hundred copies together

Andrew:

and then just sold them by themselves.

Andrew:

And that always stuck with me again, the fact that if you, you know,

Andrew:

and, and Heather and I have t-shirts for sale, one of the, one of the

Andrew:

t-shirts we have is, um, it's the two of us with our heads superimposed.

Andrew:

Over a Butch Cassidy.

Andrew:

And Sundances a picture at the very end of the film when they're, when they're

Andrew:

bursting out to so, and underneath it says, if you will, it, it is no dream.

Andrew:

Um, which, which we, we both enjoy the film, the big Lebowski.

Andrew:

And that's one of the lines that one of the characters says.

Andrew:

I think he's paraphrasing a politician when he's saying that, but we prefer

Andrew:

from, so that's basically the idea.

Andrew:

Behind our show, if you will.

Andrew:

It, it is no dream.

Andrew:

Yeah.

Andrew:

So festival of faithful and now happy hour with Heather and guests, it's basically

Andrew:

just two people who are dedicated to getting the music out there for bands

Andrew:

that we think should be listened to too.

Andrew:

Um, and then every, so often it's fun to sort of throw in our 2 cents about.

Andrew:

Well, we think of the music

Danny:

and it's interesting.

Danny:

You mentioned the, if you will, it there's no dream.

Danny:

Uh, and you earlier, you'd, you'd been on a boat.

Danny:

It's about drive, making something happen when it comes to making

Danny:

a podcast, for example, or, or making music back in the punk days.

Danny:

Um, cause I know from your personal story, uh, you have had.

Danny:

Well it a lot, um, from something that happened three years ago

Danny:

now, I think are all about three years ago and your personal life,

Andrew:

I had just finished teaching that year.

Andrew:

It was 2018 and I was going to fly to visit my folks for the summer.

Andrew:

When I got to the airport, I felt fine until I got to my gate.

Andrew:

And then I started to sweat uncontrollably.

Andrew:

Like I had just run a merit.

Andrew:

And at the time I remember thinking this is strange, but I might be coming down

Andrew:

with a cold or the flu, so I could take a nap on the plane and maybe I'll take

Andrew:

some Advil, but thankfully I fell, you know, it's strange to say, thankfully

Andrew:

I fell, but thankfully I fell on the gate before I could get on the plane.

Andrew:

And it turns out I had a ruptured brain aneurysm.

Andrew:

So.

Andrew:

Through through a lot of really fortunate turns events.

Andrew:

Um, I ended up going to the hospital, uh, having surgery that saved my life

Andrew:

and then basically recovered for the next month and a half in the hospital.

Andrew:

And then the last few years have basically been.

Andrew:

Trying to sort of put the pieces back together.

Andrew:

What's, you know, having the show to work on with Heather has been

Andrew:

really helpful in that it's given me something to do, to stay engaged.

Andrew:

It was a, it was a sort of steep learning curve, uh, because very few

Andrew:

people experience what I went through and he'll close to a hundred percent.

Andrew:

I think I'm, I'm one of the lucky few that has very minor physical limitations.

Andrew:

Um, my, my balance.

Andrew:

Isn't very good still.

Andrew:

And sometimes if I move my head, it takes time for the vision to settle.

Andrew:

But, um, but outside of, I consider that to be sort of a nuisance

Andrew:

problem, you know, it's sort of like a fly at a, at a, uh, at a picnic.

Andrew:

Like it'll, it'll bother you sometimes, but it's not a problem.

Andrew:

And then yeah, the last sort of realizing that.

Andrew:

I had assumed eventually I would feel the same that I felt before the aneurysm.

Andrew:

Like at some point I will just return to normal again.

Andrew:

Uh, and it took a long time to accept that while there would be elements of

Andrew:

the former life that would be there.

Andrew:

You know, I still live in the same apartments and I'm still

Andrew:

friendly with the same people.

Andrew:

And I still have a great support system.

Andrew:

That many things would be different.

Andrew:

And it was sort of just accepting that even though it

Andrew:

would be different that's okay.

Andrew:

And I'll, I'll figure things out as I go.

Andrew:

The, the phrase that I like is I had to begin to look at obstacles.

Andrew:

Like they were opportunities once I was able to do that.

Andrew:

It, uh, and that took about three, you know, it wasn't really until September of

Andrew:

this year, That I really felt comfortable with everything, which I, you know, from

Andrew:

what I've heard, I still participate in a lot of support groups and work

Andrew:

with people, uh, who have had traumatic brain injuries or are recovering.

Andrew:

And I think the consensus is, you know, usually it takes a couple of years for

Andrew:

the physical healing to, to, um, you know, show dividends and the emotional.

Andrew:

Um, like I was under the impression that they would happen at the same time.

Andrew:

And what I discovered was that the physical healing

Andrew:

happened, uh, first pretty much.

Andrew:

And then, you know, then the emotional healing sort of came in afterward and

Andrew:

the physical healing is a little bit more easy to keep track of because, you

Andrew:

know, one day you're walking with a cane and then two months later you're not,

Andrew:

well, you've certainly made progress.

Andrew:

But I'm feeling comfortable emotionally there really?

Andrew:

No, there's really no indication to let you know that, uh,

Andrew:

that you've made progress.

Andrew:

Um, and I've also learned, you know, a lot of recovery happens in a

Andrew:

spiral or, or not in a straight line.

Andrew:

So there are days where you feel like you've lost all the progress you've made.

Andrew:

Um, you know, if you're having a bad day or if things are different,

Andrew:

But, yeah, I mean, fortunately I could still, you had mentioned, uh,

Andrew:

some of the books I'd written before I discovered I could still write.

Andrew:

So that was, again, that was something that I could do beforehand

Andrew:

that I could still do now.

Andrew:

Um, and it was really a motivating factor doing the, doing the show with

Andrew:

Heather has been a motivating fat.

Andrew:

So it was, it was understanding that there are going to be, uh, goals out

Andrew:

there that I might not be aware of.

Andrew:

But I still have goals.

Andrew:

The show writing, um, listened to music, certain things that I can still do that I

Andrew:

appreciate, but eventually coming to that point, took a few and I don't think there

Andrew:

could have been anything other than just the passing of time to sort of help out.

Andrew:

You know, it was interesting because.

Andrew:

The COVID pandemic.

Andrew:

I had just gotten a job as a tutor that was supposed to start in March of 2020.

Andrew:

Uh, and that got canceled, um, because I kept thinking, well, you're a teacher,

Andrew:

that's what, you know, you should go back to teaching, but being in the

Andrew:

classroom was a little overwhelming.

Andrew:

So I thought tutoring might be easier.

Andrew:

Uh, and then the job got canceled.

Andrew:

So rather than just be in my apartment by myself all day, I ended up moving back in

Andrew:

with my parents, uh, for a little over a year, which turned out to be a blessing

Andrew:

because I could focus exclusively on recovering rather than, you know, uh,

Andrew:

everyday life going to work, you know, trying to further myself in whatever way.

Andrew:

And it was during that time, I realized that teaching is probably not the best.

Andrew:

So when I go back in the new year, I'm actually going to begin a, uh, go back

Andrew:

to school for, um, a mental health counseling degree so that I can hopefully

Andrew:

help other people who are recovering or going through difficult times.

Andrew:

But yeah, that's that, that was, it's been a very surreal time over

Andrew:

the last couple of, you know, my four, I essentially, I turned 40

Andrew:

and then the week after I had the.

Andrew:

So my forties have been, you know, it was sort of just when I began to feel like

Andrew:

I was making progress, recovering from the aneurysm, the COVID pandemic hit and

Andrew:

it became, it went from a very personal experience to a universal experience that

Andrew:

sort of everybody could understand because we were all going through difficult times.

Andrew:

So it's been, it's been very surreal, uh, the last couple of years, but it's

Andrew:

been great to have these things that I can work on and sort of stay engaged

Andrew:

with, uh, that have been really helpful because often it's those little things.

Andrew:

That gets you through a difficult day, you know, not, not a big revelation of

Andrew:

anything, but just sort of confirmation that you're, you know, this was,

Andrew:

this was, this episode was fun to record and people are gonna like it.

Andrew:

And that's another.

Andrew:

To get me out of bed tomorrow.

Andrew:

And you've

Danny:

mentioned that obviously, um, w we'd mentioned, so you'd want a few books.

Danny:

And one of the books that you'd written, uh, was, uh, already started at land of

Danny:

illusions, which I believe it's like, has been based on the personal experience

Danny:

of, you know, uh, you're on realism, COVID, uh, dating your dating scene.

Danny:

Um, and, and.

Danny:

Pulling everything together.

Danny:

Was that therapeutic for your toe?

Danny:

I know looking at reviews on Amazon, um, it seems people really took to

Danny:

it because of its personal approach and because of your writing style and

Danny:

how you brought them into the fold.

Danny:

And it could feel this sort of mix of comedy, but also like drama and let

Danny:

Darfur straight in with the dating scene.

Danny:

For example, how, how was the writing for that book compared to your other books?

Andrew:

So this one.

Andrew:

Actually started.

Andrew:

I went to Macau in 2012 to teach and I had, my first thought was

Andrew:

that this would be a travel book.

Andrew:

And that I would write about my experiences when I was in Asia.

Andrew:

So I had begun sort of taking notes, um, on what, what I would talk about.

Andrew:

And then when I got back, uh, I figured I needed more of a subject.

Andrew:

So I thought, well, Uh, I could talk about some of the career paths I've been

Andrew:

on, uh, you know, teaching, traveling.

Andrew:

Uh, and then I thought, well, my online dating life has been pretty funny with

Andrew:

just regard to how a lot of the dates have planned, you know, panned out.

Andrew:

Um, and it wasn't until after the aneurysm that I thought, well, The through-line,

Andrew:

you know, having funny moments, coupled with tragic moments, uh, in the beginning

Andrew:

of the book where, you know, the, the, one of the sentences I have is

Andrew:

that comedy is just tragedy plus time.

Andrew:

So I felt like a lot of the, uh, things that happened to me that you could label

Andrew:

as tragic were actually really funny.

Andrew:

There was a moment when I was in the hospital, my parents

Andrew:

needed to access my company.

Andrew:

So they kept asking me for my password and my father said that I would

Andrew:

just be about to give it to them.

Andrew:

And then I would lecture them on the importance of protecting that information

Andrew:

and I wouldn't give it to them so that eventually they found a way to get into

Andrew:

my computer, but things like that, uh, I thought, okay, this is at the time.

Andrew:

Probably not very funny, but in hindsight, looking back on it now it's hysterical.

Andrew:

And then obviously some of that.

Andrew:

Things that happened on the online dates again, at the time they seemed tragic.

Andrew:

Uh, but it was, it was very therapeutic.

Andrew:

And one thing I, I realized was if any of this can help somebody to feel less

Andrew:

alone, then, then that's the goal.

Andrew:

So the deal I made was that I wouldn't hide anything that would make me embrace.

Andrew:

Or, or make me look like I was a fool, but I changed everyone's names,

Andrew:

uh, just in case like I didn't, you know, not that any of my friends,

Andrew:

uh, or any of the dates that were on did anything that would have been

Andrew:

embarrassing, but I didn't want anyone.

Andrew:

To feel embarrassed about anything.

Andrew:

So I was more than willing to throw myself under the bus.

Andrew:

If, you know, hopefully someone might be reading it and think, well,

Andrew:

okay, I went on a date that didn't go so well, but nothing like this

Andrew:

one or, um, you know, or I, I am recovering from an illness as well.

Andrew:

And it's great to hear that this is not unique to.

Andrew:

So that it was very therapeutic.

Andrew:

It was different in that most of the, uh, stuff that I write these

Andrew:

days is mostly crime fiction.

Andrew:

So I don't really have much practical experience with it.

Andrew:

You know, it's, it's a lot of just imagining what it might be like.

Andrew:

Uh, but this was all.

Andrew:

Pretty much based in reality.

Andrew:

And thankfully I didn't need to, I didn't really didn't need to embellish anything.

Andrew:

So it was mostly like just sort of cataloging the experiences

Andrew:

and trying to keep track of, okay, did this happen this way?

Andrew:

Uh, did it not happen this way?

Andrew:

And then I sort of realized that it didn't really matter.

Andrew:

Um, as long as I got to the heart of.

Andrew:

Was trying to happen, but I've always, I mean, thankfully even

Andrew:

after the aneurysm, I've always had a pretty good memory for details.

Andrew:

So it was, it was pretty easy to recount sort of the general

Andrew:

ideas behind everything.

Andrew:

And then I was lucky enough to have a few people who agreed to

Andrew:

read it and it's earlier drafts.

Andrew:

So that was, that was really how.

Danny:

And have you any plans to revisit it as a, an update you'd mentioned

Danny:

earlier that obviously your, your journey after the aneurism was more a

Danny:

personal one and that equated to the more global one once COVID kicked in.

Danny:

So it moved you from this phase of your life to, to that phase.

Danny:

And I'm wondering.

Danny:

Whatever kind of normality, it looks like post there's, no post COVID, I guess, but

Danny:

once the world, I guess, lounge to live with COVID of that sort of description.

Danny:

Um, are there any plans maybe to revisit and say, well, this is how my life has

Danny:

gone now necessarily could have gone, had COVID never arrived or is that just on

Danny:

the back burner and it's it's all crime

Andrew:

fiction podcast.

Andrew:

No.

Andrew:

Oh, I, I, I actually wrote, uh, something that I hope will be, uh, like an identity.

Andrew:

You know, like an, an epilogue type thing to the memoir, because I feel

Andrew:

like when people write about recovery or tragedy or anything like that, they

Andrew:

usually focus on the event itself.

Andrew:

And the very few times, do you learn about what happened within the next,

Andrew:

you know, five years or 10 years?

Andrew:

Which I really wanted to focus on that because while the physical recovery was

Andrew:

really difficult, the emotional recovery.

Andrew:

Was much longer and, you know, as difficult in different ways.

Andrew:

So I wrote, you know, another, like a 10,000 word, uh, edition

Andrew:

that I'm hoping to put out.

Andrew:

Um, this year that will sort of focus.

Andrew:

I tried to, I wanted to focus more on the emotional recovery during COVID,

Andrew:

uh, which I did, but I also wanted to look at any of the philosophical.

Andrew:

You know, aspects of the fact, you know, was there something at play here?

Andrew:

Uh, that I happened to be at the airport at the right time, at the right place,

Andrew:

you know, had I stopped to go to the bathroom beforehand, you know, that would

Andrew:

have essentially changed everything.

Andrew:

So, uh, I actually, I contacted a philosophy professor who gave me

Andrew:

a couple of people I should read who focus on things like causality

Andrew:

and, uh, and things like that.

Andrew:

So.

Andrew:

That's going to be, you know, I, I give a very brief and very amateurish

Andrew:

description of, um, sort of the philosophical take of what happened,

Andrew:

um, as well as what, you know, what the recovery during COVID was like.

Andrew:

And because I make a lot of movie and pop culture references, I

Andrew:

included a bunch of those as well.

Andrew:

So, you know, just sort of how, for me personally, when I think of something.

Andrew:

Usually the first thing I think of to make a comparison is, oh

Andrew:

yeah, this is just like that scene in, you know, in this movie.

Andrew:

Uh, or this is like the time that character said X and, and, you know, then

Andrew:

I sin since I know the context of it or.

Andrew:

For everyone else.

Andrew:

I, and I sort of give the context in my analysis of how it's similar.

Andrew:

There's a great, uh, book.

Andrew:

And then movie called mother night with, uh, that was written by Kurt Vonnegut

Andrew:

and the movie stars, Nick Naulty.

Andrew:

And he is a, he plays a character who is recruited by the U S government,

Andrew:

right before world war II to become.

Andrew:

Un-American Nazi, sympathizer and propagandist in Germany.

Andrew:

And when the war ends, he can't tell anyone that he was

Andrew:

actually working for the us.

Andrew:

So he becomes this sort of pariah.

Andrew:

And at one point he's walking down the street in New York

Andrew:

city and it's like 1946.

Andrew:

And he says, I suddenly stopped walking because you know, not because of.

Andrew:

Uh, I was angry, not because I was sad.

Andrew:

It was because I had no place to go.

Andrew:

And I remember thinking, wow, that's how I felt at my lowest point.

Andrew:

Recovering when I really didn't know what I was going to do from here.

Andrew:

I knew I wasn't going to go back to teaching, but I hadn't

Andrew:

quite figured out what it was.

Andrew:

So I thought that.

Andrew:

Uh, really power, you know, and for me, that was the first thing I thought of

Andrew:

was what, what movie is this similar to?

Andrew:

Yeah, so the, so the followup we'll have, you know, obviously real life

Andrew:

situations involving me, but that'll be much more, uh, focused on the

Andrew:

COVID recovery period, as well as sort of reminiscing about movie quotes.

Andrew:

Yeah, inspirational

Danny:

in the sense that interest in reading that's hopefully

Danny:

going to be next year you

Andrew:

released that was an update.

Andrew:

So I released the memoir, uh, on the, on the anniversary of the aneurysm.

Andrew:

So I was hoping to do the same thing with this.

Andrew:

So it would be June 29th, 2020.

Andrew:

Okay.

Andrew:

So I need someone released to look forward to.

Andrew:

Yeah, well, I, you know, we'll, we'll see how it goes, but yeah,

Andrew:

certainly that would be, that would be

Danny:

great.

Danny:

So, Andrew, I've really enjoyed chatting with you today and I'm sure the listeners

Danny:

are going to go and listen to this.

Danny:

When the episode goes out, um, for anybody who wants to connect

Danny:

with you online, or check out the podcast or your books, where's the,

Danny:

the best place for them to connect.

Andrew:

So if you go to my website, which is just andrew-davy.com and that's D a V

Andrew:

I E uh, it'll have links to everything.

Andrew:

Um, books, podcasts.

Andrew:

What have you, it's all social media.

Andrew:

Everything is in one place, so it'll be easy.

Andrew:

And I

Danny:

can attest to that because when I was checking Andrew site, um, a couple

Danny:

of weeks back, actually, it's all there.

Danny:

It's like a small, small, small Gabbard smorgasbord.

Danny:

I can.

Danny:

That's the one, that's the one that resource have.

Danny:

It's amazing.

Danny:

So, yeah, I'll leave the, the links to Andrew site in the show notes.

Danny:

So if you'll listen on your favorite podcast app, make sure there's always to

Danny:

check out the show notes and all the links will be there to take flute to another

Danny:

site where you can then find all his resources to interviews, videos, podcasts.

Danny:

The works, et cetera, Sandra, again, I really appreciate coming on the show today

Danny:

and I look forward to sharing your story

Andrew:

with our listeners.

Andrew:

Yeah.

Andrew:

Thank you so much.

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