now playing: goldie's last day by the late, great pfr
hello blogosphere! It's Tuesday. Wait, no, it's monday night. I just got done working a little OT (which is a lot like a hockey game, but less exciting). Today as I was on the phone discussing our company and what we offer, I managed to give myself THE WORST PAPER CUT, EVER!!!! No word of a lie. It actually hurt quite significantly. It went like this: "Yeah, hard cover is an option but *pause while Andrew thinks of words he'd like to say* sorry... yeah, hard cover is an option but..." It was quite humorous - much akin to the time that I stapled my finger while selling a pair of cell phones. That time, i was way manlier (probably cause there was a 50 dollar commission in it for me)—I actually completed the sale (while the lady was like... "Is there a staple in your finger?") before I took the staple out.
A pair of brown shoes can be a man's best friend. Comfortable brown shoes are even more likely to acheive that status. I spent the last two months searching for brown shoes that would fit. Sound ridiculous? Yeah, well... it is. Everytime a freak like me goes to look for shoes, it's a bit of a laborious process. When you're a 13-14w, it's hard to figure out just precisely what fits. In the last two months, i've tried on a pair of vans 13s (way too small), a pair of walmart 13W (way too small), several pairs of payless 14s (some too small, some too ugly). Finally on Saturday I saw two pairs of brown "old man" shoes (the very best kind!). They had both a 14w and a 13. Obviously, since up til this point my experience had been heavy in the "too small, freak" vein, I tried the 14w first. For once, I felt like a normal person: they were huge. Positively, absolutely too big. It was awesome. Luckily the 13s fit.
Okay, so the men out there are going "why is he rambling about buying shoes? Is this andymack's blog? Did I get the address wrong?" I feel like my shoe buying experience has mirrored the downfall of customer-oriented sales environments. It used to be that people in stores wanted to help you. They would go out of their way. In all my time shopping for shoes in the past 2 months (probably 4 hours total - and I'm not a shopper, i prefer to go in, grab what I need, and book it) I have found one helpful employee. I think his name was Chad. When I told Chad that I was looking for shoes, he actually got my size and went "in the back" (aside - what does it mean when they say "let me check in the back"? I wonder what's really back there) to find the two pairs they had at that size in the entire store. Juxtapose that experience with the girls at payless... no word of a lie, this is how the pitch went:
her: "Is there anything I can help you with today?"
me: "Yeah, I'm looking for shoes, and I need them in an abnormally large size like a 14."
her: "Wow, that's too bad." *walks away*
What the heck? Isn't she getting paid to help me buy shoes? Isn't it about the consumer? So, while I'm glad about my brown shoes, they really are a sign of the end of western civilization as we know it... retail isn't about the consumer any more. I guess I'll just take my brown shoes and walk.
what about that nut from the observer... Frank something... you know, the one who's in love with his typewriter?
20050527
on / off relationships
NP: recruiting sargeant by great big sea. gotta love the sea.
So, I have, or appear to have, an on / off relationship with my blog. When it's on, boy is it on. When it's off, not much can get me motivated to write. Then, I get frustrated with never screaming "listen to me, oh please, listen to me" (basically the content of a blog post, no?) and so I start again. Wash, rinse, repeat until hair acheives desired softness.
Anyway, it bugs me. I read serious writers, and they all write something--anything at all--at least once a day. That's how they pull off the whole "Yes, I do what I love and manage to subsist on it." I envy them that. Not so much the money (although money isn't "the worst thing in the world"--just the root of evil), but the doing what they love and pulling it off.
I was reading about the Lemony Snicket dude -- how brilliant is that (note - I am not speaking to the content of the books... I have only seen the movie, and probably won't ever read the books. I will note that I'm not sure how gung-ho I am about kids books trending darker. Seriously, I was in the kids book section at Chapters yesterday and WHA! Talk about darkness)... he creates a character and then lets the character write the books. That's smart! And, it makes for some pretty good jokes.
So, i guess that's it for my "On" post. I guess I'm back on for now.
So, I have, or appear to have, an on / off relationship with my blog. When it's on, boy is it on. When it's off, not much can get me motivated to write. Then, I get frustrated with never screaming "listen to me, oh please, listen to me" (basically the content of a blog post, no?) and so I start again. Wash, rinse, repeat until hair acheives desired softness.
Anyway, it bugs me. I read serious writers, and they all write something--anything at all--at least once a day. That's how they pull off the whole "Yes, I do what I love and manage to subsist on it." I envy them that. Not so much the money (although money isn't "the worst thing in the world"--just the root of evil), but the doing what they love and pulling it off.
I was reading about the Lemony Snicket dude -- how brilliant is that (note - I am not speaking to the content of the books... I have only seen the movie, and probably won't ever read the books. I will note that I'm not sure how gung-ho I am about kids books trending darker. Seriously, I was in the kids book section at Chapters yesterday and WHA! Talk about darkness)... he creates a character and then lets the character write the books. That's smart! And, it makes for some pretty good jokes.
So, i guess that's it for my "On" post. I guess I'm back on for now.
20050524
Photos from Jenn and Jord's wedding
Hi Guys. Jenn and Jordan are now the newest branch of the Webb Family, and that's pretty stinking cool. I've uploaded the best of my photos from the weekend to www.photobucket.com. You can login with the username andrewmackay and the password mackay. If you want to actually get prints, you can contact me and I'll send you the original files (about 2x the resolution of those posted to photobucket.com... basically way better for printing from). So, there you have it, or most of it. Also, there's photographic evidence that I'm actually fractionally taller than Kara, and I'm excited about that!
20050518
My friend Matt Cook is a dad
Dear friends, surf on over to http://matthewcook.blogspot.com and rejoice in their gladness. How cool is that!
20050514
also, read this...
Hokey dinah. I can only imagine one better way to see star wars than the way this guy managed it. What a neat experience.
There is nothing like...
now playing: high noon by andrew peterson.
There's nothing quite like driving through country side in spring time and listening to folk music while you do it. We went to Peterborough today. It was a good trip. We saw family and had a good time.
I think watching the farm process is good for a man. As we drove down highway 28 we passed unplowed fields. We also passed freshly plowed fields. In between the two, we passed a field that was just getting started. There was a man in a tractor (yes, in... not on. Tractors are way fancier than how a cidiot imagines them) pulling a plow behind him. In the manner of any imperfect analogy, it reminded me of the work of God. Sometimes my heart is a lot like an unplowed field - hard, caked together, kinda nasty. You can tell that maybe something grew there before, but you have to stop to wonder if anything ever will again. All that's really necessary is some work. It's encouraging to see that process taking place.
I guess that's it for me. I need a cup of tea. No more rhymes, I mean it. Does anybody want a peanut?
There's nothing quite like driving through country side in spring time and listening to folk music while you do it. We went to Peterborough today. It was a good trip. We saw family and had a good time.
I think watching the farm process is good for a man. As we drove down highway 28 we passed unplowed fields. We also passed freshly plowed fields. In between the two, we passed a field that was just getting started. There was a man in a tractor (yes, in... not on. Tractors are way fancier than how a cidiot imagines them) pulling a plow behind him. In the manner of any imperfect analogy, it reminded me of the work of God. Sometimes my heart is a lot like an unplowed field - hard, caked together, kinda nasty. You can tell that maybe something grew there before, but you have to stop to wonder if anything ever will again. All that's really necessary is some work. It's encouraging to see that process taking place.
I guess that's it for me. I need a cup of tea. No more rhymes, I mean it. Does anybody want a peanut?
20050511
read this
now playing: zombie by the cranberries.
In the spirit of my previous post, read this article about absolutes and evangelical culture. I think it's a good read, and it's short too.
In the spirit of my previous post, read this article about absolutes and evangelical culture. I think it's a good read, and it's short too.
animal crackers
Now playing: don't tell me, the avril and central vac, the mom.
I bought animal crackers. You know, animal crackers—the popular children's snack; predecessor to Goldfish and other gimmicky kids snacks: what were the graham cracker bear things? I totally can't remember. I'm actually presently looking quite forward to enjoying some animal crackers with my tea. Which has now steeped for far too long. One sec. One tip on animal crackers before I move on: don't buy the cheap ones: they all look like mutated bisons. All of them. 'Cept maybe the lion, cause he's skinnier.
So, here's what's been bugging me about my thought processes of late. There is no synthesis. It's not like I don't have a solid grasp on who I am or anything dumb like that, rather I do not think critically and incisively about the events that take place around me or that I read about. I read about the pastor who left the church after the whole political thing blew up in his face and think "Hmm, I wonder what happened in NHL negotiations today." This reveals two things actually. 1. I'm really, really dumb. Nothing happened in NHL negotiations today! Duh, I already knew that, cause nothing ever happens in NHL negotiations. So, that was just stupid. 2. I've slipped into a dangerous apathy.
If I'm going to be a true Christian—a thinking Christian whose worldview impacts the way he sees the world around him, whose desire is to see change (not necessarily governmental or institutional) and to have an impact, I'm going to have to change that. "'Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.' Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise' (Eph. 5:14-15).
Yeah. So, lets challenge each other as a generation to not fall into the same traps of apathy and self-centeredness that have plagued us for so long. Lets try to have a sphere of awareness that is encompassing, not just obsessed with whether or not the NHL plays hockey this year, or whatever other mundanity may be easy to obsess about.
Welp, I hope that made some sense to someone other than me.
I bought animal crackers. You know, animal crackers—the popular children's snack; predecessor to Goldfish and other gimmicky kids snacks: what were the graham cracker bear things? I totally can't remember. I'm actually presently looking quite forward to enjoying some animal crackers with my tea. Which has now steeped for far too long. One sec. One tip on animal crackers before I move on: don't buy the cheap ones: they all look like mutated bisons. All of them. 'Cept maybe the lion, cause he's skinnier.
So, here's what's been bugging me about my thought processes of late. There is no synthesis. It's not like I don't have a solid grasp on who I am or anything dumb like that, rather I do not think critically and incisively about the events that take place around me or that I read about. I read about the pastor who left the church after the whole political thing blew up in his face and think "Hmm, I wonder what happened in NHL negotiations today." This reveals two things actually. 1. I'm really, really dumb. Nothing happened in NHL negotiations today! Duh, I already knew that, cause nothing ever happens in NHL negotiations. So, that was just stupid. 2. I've slipped into a dangerous apathy.
If I'm going to be a true Christian—a thinking Christian whose worldview impacts the way he sees the world around him, whose desire is to see change (not necessarily governmental or institutional) and to have an impact, I'm going to have to change that. "'Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.' Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise' (Eph. 5:14-15).
Yeah. So, lets challenge each other as a generation to not fall into the same traps of apathy and self-centeredness that have plagued us for so long. Lets try to have a sphere of awareness that is encompassing, not just obsessed with whether or not the NHL plays hockey this year, or whatever other mundanity may be easy to obsess about.
Welp, I hope that made some sense to someone other than me.
20050510
everybody's working for the weekend?
now playing: video killed the radio star // the presidents of the united states of america, covering the buggles.
Hiya folks! It's the end of a Tuesday, and I'm not too sad to see it go. (You'll note that the comma in that sentence was necessary as it was splitting two complete sentences (subject and predicate) joined by a conjunction.) I realized today at work that I've turned into one of those people who live for weekends. I guess that to a certain degree everyone does it... but, it can't be healthy. I guess I haven't really capitalized on the things about my job that i enjoy and can be happy about. (You'll notice that, while there was a conjunction in it, the preceding sentence did NOT need a comma as the conjunction joined a compound predicate. Basically, the easiest way to distinguish is to ask yourself "is there a new subject?" If not, then no comma. If so, then throw the comma before the conjunction. Of course, when you're separating items in a list or a series, there's a whole different set of rules (including the dreaded serial comma). We'll handle that next week or something.) There's absolutely no reason to constantly rush headlong through life looking forward to future events. That sort of an attitude is simply silly, wasteful, and immature. (<-- Serial comma... did you see it?) So, I guess i need to take a page from monty python and "Always look on the bright side of life."
Good tip. This message brought to you by Elements of Style and the Chicago Manual of Style. Your ad could go here next post. Contact me at thisspaceforsale@orsomething.com.
Hiya folks! It's the end of a Tuesday, and I'm not too sad to see it go. (You'll note that the comma in that sentence was necessary as it was splitting two complete sentences (subject and predicate) joined by a conjunction.) I realized today at work that I've turned into one of those people who live for weekends. I guess that to a certain degree everyone does it... but, it can't be healthy. I guess I haven't really capitalized on the things about my job that i enjoy and can be happy about. (You'll notice that, while there was a conjunction in it, the preceding sentence did NOT need a comma as the conjunction joined a compound predicate. Basically, the easiest way to distinguish is to ask yourself "is there a new subject?" If not, then no comma. If so, then throw the comma before the conjunction. Of course, when you're separating items in a list or a series, there's a whole different set of rules (including the dreaded serial comma). We'll handle that next week or something.) There's absolutely no reason to constantly rush headlong through life looking forward to future events. That sort of an attitude is simply silly, wasteful, and immature. (<-- Serial comma... did you see it?) So, I guess i need to take a page from monty python and "Always look on the bright side of life."
Good tip. This message brought to you by Elements of Style and the Chicago Manual of Style. Your ad could go here next post. Contact me at thisspaceforsale@orsomething.com.
20050509
resigned detachment
Now playing: Big Yellow Taxi, Counting Crows. Heh. Ironic.
I'm struggling with how to interact with the world. I look at the news (yes Justin, at www.foxnews.com) and I have a hard time not going "meh, who cares?" It just seems easier to not be concerned at all about the world around me. Why should I bother? I've got enough to worry about, darn it.
If I was being dishonest, I'd probably blame my eschatology. Afterall, everyone knows that a dispensationalist - even a progressive one - can't have a positive outlook on the direction the world is going. On the one hand, that's kinda true. On the other hand, when you look at the news and the leading story is about two second graders being found stabbed to death, it's hard to understand how anyone could have a positive outlook on the ultimate direction of mankind and history.
I know better. My eschatology does lend itself to caring about the individuals who populate the world. They need Jesus, and how.
So, it ends up being far more basic than that. It ends up being a selfishness thing. Cause ultimately, I sell myself on the fact that I'm better than them, and more deserving of good things; ultimately, I convince myself that loving myself is really the best thing to do.
Why am I telling you this? Cause confession is good for the soul? I'm not sure. What I do know is that my perspective is off. I guess starting from a selfish perspective leaves you with no choice but determining in the end that it's all about numero uno.
Blah blah blah, I'm rambling.
You should read matt cook's blog. It's funny. I'm not only a member, I'm also a client.
Wow. Maybe I'll come back when I can act like maybe the world isn't all about me, and make some logically sound, relevant arguments. G'night!
I'm struggling with how to interact with the world. I look at the news (yes Justin, at www.foxnews.com) and I have a hard time not going "meh, who cares?" It just seems easier to not be concerned at all about the world around me. Why should I bother? I've got enough to worry about, darn it.
If I was being dishonest, I'd probably blame my eschatology. Afterall, everyone knows that a dispensationalist - even a progressive one - can't have a positive outlook on the direction the world is going. On the one hand, that's kinda true. On the other hand, when you look at the news and the leading story is about two second graders being found stabbed to death, it's hard to understand how anyone could have a positive outlook on the ultimate direction of mankind and history.
I know better. My eschatology does lend itself to caring about the individuals who populate the world. They need Jesus, and how.
So, it ends up being far more basic than that. It ends up being a selfishness thing. Cause ultimately, I sell myself on the fact that I'm better than them, and more deserving of good things; ultimately, I convince myself that loving myself is really the best thing to do.
Why am I telling you this? Cause confession is good for the soul? I'm not sure. What I do know is that my perspective is off. I guess starting from a selfish perspective leaves you with no choice but determining in the end that it's all about numero uno.
Blah blah blah, I'm rambling.
You should read matt cook's blog. It's funny. I'm not only a member, I'm also a client.
Wow. Maybe I'll come back when I can act like maybe the world isn't all about me, and make some logically sound, relevant arguments. G'night!
20050508
what a funny world
now playing: Am I Wrong by Love Spit Love / from the Angus Soundtrack.
We live in a funny world - a world of instant publishing, where anyone can have a platform, anyone can spread a message, and supposedly everyone has a chance. I was thinking about this as I started a book today that was writtin in the early 19th century. The author had been rejected (like most traditional authors go through today, at least for a while) outright for her first book. Her second book managed to find a publisher (for good reason: I won't mention the title, cause it's a little lame, but she uses lots of big words to describe people, and she's very british), and she lucked out. It's not like she could've started a blog or written a book on a web page. She couldn't have published an E-book in PDF format for free. We've got it easy.
I think a little bit of everyone wants to be a writer. It's inherent to our nature to want to leave something behind, something permenant. The written word is really one of the few tangible things that tends to stick around if it's done well. It's easy to want to be a part of that. It's really a lot harder to actually be a part of that.
If you do some research, you'll be told to write every day, write with discipline, write with soul, write what you love. Not that any of that stuff is bad, but darn it, I just need to write. Forget about it being good or bad: that's what revision is for.
Why am I lecturing you all? I have no idea. This one's really for me. Don't think about writing, don't intend to write. WRITE!
I think that's it for me, for now. You may notice updated links at the side. Visit some of them.
We live in a funny world - a world of instant publishing, where anyone can have a platform, anyone can spread a message, and supposedly everyone has a chance. I was thinking about this as I started a book today that was writtin in the early 19th century. The author had been rejected (like most traditional authors go through today, at least for a while) outright for her first book. Her second book managed to find a publisher (for good reason: I won't mention the title, cause it's a little lame, but she uses lots of big words to describe people, and she's very british), and she lucked out. It's not like she could've started a blog or written a book on a web page. She couldn't have published an E-book in PDF format for free. We've got it easy.
I think a little bit of everyone wants to be a writer. It's inherent to our nature to want to leave something behind, something permenant. The written word is really one of the few tangible things that tends to stick around if it's done well. It's easy to want to be a part of that. It's really a lot harder to actually be a part of that.
If you do some research, you'll be told to write every day, write with discipline, write with soul, write what you love. Not that any of that stuff is bad, but darn it, I just need to write. Forget about it being good or bad: that's what revision is for.
Why am I lecturing you all? I have no idea. This one's really for me. Don't think about writing, don't intend to write. WRITE!
I think that's it for me, for now. You may notice updated links at the side. Visit some of them.
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