Recently, friends have mentioned that they’ve seen some changes in me. Some strange behaviors that don’t seem very “Andy-like.”  Don’t worry, I am still the hilarious, triple threat, creative genius that you all know and love. But, there have been some developments that make people go “huh!?”. No, I am not turning into a werewolf (as far as I know), BUUUT I think I might be turning into… A BRO. Dun dun dunnnn.   Here are 2 reasons:

1. During one of the many random conversations we have at WT, I revealed that my mother was a Metal Head.  I have distinct childhood memories of sitting in the back seat of the car, being scared that the Enter Sandman was going to get me. So I thought, what the heck. I ditched my usual morning Lady Gaga sing-a-long and filled my iPod with The Black Album and Master of Puppets. Either Metal Head-ism is genetic or all those years of back seat listening seeped into my brain. I somehow knew all of the lyrics and guitar riffs, and it was as if Metallica haunted my dreams. Now, I Ride the Lightning every morning on my way to work. Who would have thunk it? Good old, Kanye West loving, Beyonce obsessing, Andy.
2. It’s hard for me to even say this, but… I watched football the other night.  Background info: I am sports-deficient. I don’t know what came over me. I heard my neighbors going crazy and it was almost as if my thumb was possessed. Somehow, I found that I had ditched my BRAVO and was now on ESPN watching the Bears. How did I even know the channel?! After five minutes or so, I called my mother to try and get some sort of explanation.  My mom has the minimal amount of knowledge of sports  in order to have something to talk to her husband about.  She explained what she could about touchdowns, halfbacks, hunchbacks, and so on. By the end of the game I was excited about the win, and I may even watch again next week. I still don’t get the tights tho. I joke, I joke.

Are we seeing a theme here? Is this the beginning of a long string of changes? Will I wake up one day and realize that I am playing beer pong and fist pumping at the Superbowl? Am I becoming a bro-wolf? I guess we will have to wait and see, but for now I’m cool with a playlist of Metallica and Rihanna. Hmm, come to think of it, that could make an interesting mash-up.

Carving Pumpkins is a sacred Halloween tradition. It starts with finding the perfect pumpkin. Small or big, tall and skinny or short and fat, even misshapen—whatever speaks to you! Unfortunately I didn’t have enough time to visit a pumpkin patch and ended up getting one from the local grocery store. Some people used templates, but the scars on the skin of the pumpkin ended up being the inspiration for our design.

Next gather your tools. I originally scoffed at the “pumpkin carving kit” but quickly switched over to it because a regular knife is a lot harder to wield. Then comes the fun part: digging out the guts. There’s nothing quite like sticking your hands into mushy, cold, and wet pumpkin innards. The hostess of the carving party gathered the seeds and roasted them as everyone continued to carve, so by the time we were done there were bowls full of delicious roasted pumpkin seeds.

My finished pumpkin had a devil’s lock and fangs and was among the favorites at the end of the night. Unfortunately the warm weather rotted it within a few days, but there’s still a chance to make another one before trick-or-treating!