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Brian Andreas

Brian Andreas Biography

Writer

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“I've always seen hidden meanings in everything. Whenever I used to do those puzzles in children's magazines, the ones where you're supposed to find all the hidden pictures, I'd never find the right ones. I'd say I found the griffin, and the Wesselman steam engine, and the missing little finger of the mummy of Tut, and everyone would give me a strange look and say, All you're looking for is a yellow duck. […] work up to the voices of places you can only imagine. Ask where to find the griffin, and the Wesselman steam engine, and the little finger of Tut. I know they're out there, and usually in the strangest of places. And if you find the yellow duck, let me know. That's the one I always miss.”

ImaginationPuzzlesStrangenessPlacesLookingVoicesFindingHidden MeaningsChildren S MagazinesYellow Duck
Book:Still Mostly True: Collected Stories & Drawings
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“1. The main thing to know about the future is that it's only good for one thing: it keeps us being all anxious, which is probably exactly what we need to get stuff done. 2. The future doesn't have to look any particular way, but around here, if it doesn't, a lot of people will never speak to you again. 3. The future is a guess. Sometimes you guess right. Be careful with that, because pretty soon you'll be guessing all the time & acting like it's true & next thing you know you'll forget you do your best work in the present. —Things to Know About the Future”

PeopleOne ThingFutureAnxietyThe PresentAll The TimeMain ThingGet Stuff DoneNext Thing You KnowThings To Know About The Future
Book:Theories of Everything
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“Things they don't tell you before you were born (because, most likely, there are quotas & they don't want a lot of people backing out at the last minute) 1. Everything good we're telling you you're going to forget & you'll only start to remember once you give up acting like you know what you're doing. This can take a long time. 2. You're going to end up with people who do crazy stuff, but who act like it's normal & you, who just wants to have fun being alive, have to go along with it so they'll feed you. After a few years like this, you'll start doing the same crazy stuff. (Obviously, we're still working out the kinks.) 3. There'll be so much cool stuff to play with it'll take you awhile to settle down. There's a good chance we'll lose you along the way to some of those things. It's OK. You just die & then we'll tell you everything all over again & we'll all keep our fingers crossed & hope it goes better the next time.”

PeopleFunStuffChanceNext TimeEverythingThingsKinksA Long TimeThe Last Minute
Book:Theories of Everything
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“One day he decided he was more dependent on the kindness of women than he liked so he went off to hunt wild beasts with his bare hands. But all he found was a stray dog & a couple of old pigeons & it was cold & he missed the sound of soft voices, so finally he came back & never worried about it again. —Iron John”

SoundWomenKindnessWild BeastsSocial ConstructsStray DogBare HandsIron JohnOld PigeonsSoft Voices
Book:Still Mostly True: Collected Stories & Drawings
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“That was the day the ancient songs of blood and war spilled from a hole in the sky And there was a long moment as we listened and fell silent in our grief and then one by one, we stood tall and came together and began to sing of life and love and all that is good and true And I will never forget that day when the ancient songs died because there was no one in the world to sing them.”

WarMusicAncientSongs
Book:Traveling Light: Stories & Drawings for a Quiet Mind
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“Once upon a time there was a boy who knew what he was going to be from the very moment he was born. As soon as he was able to talk, he told everyone, I am a builder of dreams. No one in his family had any idea what that meant, except maybe his Aunt Dorothy, who knew about dreams & how they form you into the thing you’re going to be, even when you think you have other plans. The rest of his family did things like work with numbers & fix old cars & bake bread in a bakery. When he first told them what he was going to be, they thought it was cute & then, when it didn’t stop, it was something not to be mentioned at family gatherings & finally, it was something that would lead to personal suffering if he didn’t start getting his head on straight, by god. So, he stopped saying it out loud, but he never forgot & when he got older, he moved away & his family told the neighbors he was working as a manager & every one nodded & was pleased that he’d finally come around to viewing life as it was & not how you wish it would be. But he didn’t really care because he was building things of air & sunlight & the laughter of children & the sharp smell of lighter fluid at a summer barbecue & the flash of color on the throat of a hummingbird & all of them were things that had no real name, but people felt them all the same. They felt them all the same...”

LifeFamilyDreamsOnce Upon A TimeSocietal ExpectationsAll The SameBuilder Of DreamsOther PlansThe Thing You Re Going To BeThings That Had No Real Name
Book:Still Mostly True: Collected Stories & Drawings
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“He is self-conscious because everyone knows he has wings but they've never seen him fly. Now & then there will be a feather in odd places or maybe a footprint to show he was there. All in all, he thinks it's nobody else's business what he does with his free time.”

WingsFlyingFootprintSelf ConsciousnessFree TimeFeatherHe Was ThereNobody Else S BusinessOdd Places
Book:Still Mostly True: Collected Stories & Drawings
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“A short list of things you need to know if you want to make sense of any of the rest of it. 1. You know all the times that people say stuff & it sounds like it's absolutely & positively true & then they tell you that You Better Listen if you know what's good for you mister (or Miss, as the case may be) Well, in about 100% of all cases, someone else told them that the very same way & they believed it & now they want you to, too. Don't. That's it for the list. Thank you. —Need to Know”

StuffSenseListNeed To KnowA Short ListAbout 100 Percent Of All CasesList Of ThingsThe Rest Of It
Book:Theories of Everything
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“It is not what you first think. There is no effort of will, no firm resolve in the face of this thing called living. There is only paying attention to the quiet each morning, while you hold your cup in the cool air & then that moment you choose to spread your love like a cloth upon the table & invite the whole day in again.”

LifeThat MomentInvitationPaying AttentionFirm ResolveIn The FaceEffort Of WillIt S Not What You First ThinkThe Whole DayThis Thing Called Living
Book:Theories of Everything
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“They couldn't reach the cord to make it stop & so it flew about scaring the older ladies just out of church. It left behind a trail of wet feathers & a renewed sense of the presence of evil among the faithful. Once they found out who started it, everyone settled down & went back to hating the usual stuff.”

HateFearChurchUnfamiliarityCordRenewed SenseThe FaithfulThe Presence Of EvilThe Usual StuffWet Feathers
Book:Still Mostly True: Collected Stories & Drawings
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“The day he first told me he was starting to disappear I didn't believe him & so he stopped & held his hand up to the sun & it was like thin paper in the light & finally I said you seem very calm for a man who is disappearing & he said it was a relief after all those years of trying to keep the pieces of his life in one place. Later on, I went to see him again & as I was leaving, he put a package in my hand. This is the last piece of my life, he said, take good care of it & then he smiled & was gone & the room filled with the sound of the wind & when I opened the package there was nothing there & I thought there must be some mistake or maybe I dropped it & I got down on my hands & knees & looked until the light began to fade & then slowly I felt the pieces of my life fall away gently & suddenly I understood what he meant & I lay there for a long time crying & laughing at the same time. —Disappearing”

LightMistakeLaughingPiecesWindCryingRoomDisappearingPackageThin Paper
Book:Still Mostly True: Collected Stories & Drawings
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