all things andrewjthomas

Drew's starting middle school this year, and growing up entirely too fast. So this song makes me verklempt lately.

@mizzchelle I'll see your Josh Ritter Modest Mouse cover and raise you a Sun Kil Moon Modest Mouse cover

Continuing on a theme for the day... BTW, audio NSFW

For the record, this is how I feel about Prop 8 in general. The pigs have won tonight.

@wat3rm0le So we're posting songs about seeds? In that case, here's some old school lo-fi for ya!

Cool song, cool video. This one goes out to all my desk jockey friends!

New music to get you moving this morning!

Unfortunately, this song describes my 20s with amazing accuracy

Old school + Mashup = Teh Awesome!

And now, a song in honor of Chuck, which I'm still hoping gets renewed for a 3rd season.

In honor of the Hypnotoad, some experimental electronica.

When I fell in love with this song at the ripe old age of 10 or so, I never thought it would be so self-identifying to me in adulthood.

In remembrance of the holiday (and I'm a sucker for trumpets/banjos). This song always makes me verklempt. And he takes, and he takes, and he takes...

This song reminds me of my father's funeral, especially the line "that light you love now just won't shine" and the feeling of being lost at sea.

I will most likely be returning to some form of blogging for a while as I continue to process my dad's death. For me, writing is my most cathartic outlet. I finally managed to write a poem around this. It's just a start and I'm sure there are many more to come. I hope, beyond being an emotional outlet for me, it is enjoyable on some level for you to read. Thanks.

( An Ant Problem )

I am in shock. There is yesterday and there is everything after. The same is surreal, and the different is heartbreaking. My father is dead.

He would play Grateful Dead music all the time when I was in high school. I got sick of the constant hippie rock, but that was his thing. This one's for you, Dad.

Ripple from http://andrewjthomas.vox.com/

Prop 1A: No
Prop 2: No
Prop 3: Yes
Prop 4: No
Prop 5: Yes
Prop 6: No
Prop 7: No
Prop 8: No
Prop 9: No
Prop 10: Yes
Prop 11: Yes
Prop 12: Yes

I urge everyone in California to vote for Prop 3 for totally self-interested reasons. My child regularly visits Children's Hospital in Oakland because of his hemophilia. That place is wonderful to us and everyone else that seeks treatment there. They deserve the money and it will go to a good cause.

I struggled with Prop 4 until I realized the only issue I really had was about notification in general, not the timing. I believe parents should be notified, especially for any surgical medical procedure. However, that notification could easily come after the procedure was completed. I wish they'd pass that law, and not this one that subtly tries to violate personal rights.

Voting against Prop 8 should be self explanatory. If you vote yes then you're a bigot. It's that simple.

As for Prop 11, I admit it has some flaws. That said, I want something to be done about districting and it's clear to me that elected politicians should not be in charge of their own districting (just like they shouldn't be in charge of their own pay raise). Sadly though, I doubt this will pass.

And my support for Prop 12, another completely self-interested vote, is due to being a veteran. I would like to someday own a home in California. It doesn't seem possible, but I know if I make the attempt, I will need the VA home loan benefit. I served my country, which is more than most can say, and I do think I ought to get some tangible benefit for that service. I'd also point out to folks that this prop does not cost taxpayers anything. It just approves the state to give out more loans to veterans that they would have to pay back.

Feel free to argue with me in the comments.

Hi All,
I went ahead and got one of the new iPhones. As a result, now that I have a device that can really use this information, I'd like to get all of your contact info organized on it. So, if you'd like to be in my virtual Rolodex, just leave a comment here (auto-screened) with email, address, birthday, and phone numbers, along with any other info you'd like to share, and I'll add you in.
Thanks!
Andrew

Got the new Wii update and the latest version of the embedded Opera browser. In this update was extensive support for USB keyboards. So I went out and got a wireless keyboard and can now blog comfortably from my couch over the Wii and my 50" TV. I realize this could've been achieved before, but I never bothered. The Wii just made it easy enough. w00t!

Admittedly he looks like he might be at a strip club getting ready to be a very "generous gentleman" but in reality that's Rich Thomas (no relation) putting his money where his mouth is, literally (notice the correct usage of this word). If you care about fighting censorship, are into Flickr and new online media, or generally like a good throwing down of the gauntlet, then check out his post and get involved.