Idiot Parade

My name is Andi McDonough. I’m twenty-one-years-old. I live in the ass-end-of-nowhere with my wonderful, incredibly loving and supportive boyfriend, Jason. He is the love of my life, my constant hope and inspiration, and the days when I want to strangle him are still better than the days when I didn’t have him. This place also houses one Molly (dog), one Melody (cat), one Pheobe (fish), and one Harold (X-Box).

Until June 2009, I lived in Santa Clarita, CA. My parents are still in the same house, with my dog Mischka and a tortoise called Steve McQueen. I was born and raised in that town, same house from infant to almost 21. Growing up in SCV was like an eternal game of Six Degrees of Separation. We all went to the same middle schools and high schools, and most people who’ve left town (myself included) shudder to think what would have happened had they stayed in that soul-sucking pit of despair. Well…maybe not soul-sucking. It does have a mall. And a couple In-and-Outs. How bad can a place be if you have constant access to Animal Style French Fries?

I will give credit where credit is due, and say that my parents did a damn fine job raising me. There were some pretty large speedbumps along the way, but I was generally a good kid who wanted for nothing.

My father raised me to love all of the arts. Shakepeare, Monet, The Clancy Brothers, Baryshnikov…all of my favorites come from him. We also share an intense passion for the Boston Red Sox. The insanity that this house sees during the playoffs is not for the faint of heart.

My mom is my best friend. Any scrap of patience or cheery disposition that I have…it’s all her. She’s a bizzarly tiny woman that passed her love of food on to me. Because of her, I will eat just about anything, provided it’s gluten-free. And I will do a happy-food-dance while eating. It’s the little things in life.

The rough patches started around middle school, where I was known as the Satanic Lesbian (I’m actually neither), and continued through high school. A good part of the maturing process was forced upon me by the death of my best friend, Sam Loeb, and the depression that followed. Nearly every woman can ambigouously refer to a time in her life when she was in a “bad place”. I lived there for a while. Wouldn’t recommend it. The weather’s awful.

Early in 2007, I was able to take what happened to me and, with the help of Profesor Susan Hinshaw, turn it into a one-woman show. It was the most cathartic experience of my life, and the first time I was really able to begin healing. There are still some days when the wounds open up a bit, but overall, I think I’m okay.    

Right now, most of my time is consumed by being a full-time English major at Cal State University, Los Angeles. Not UCLA. There is a CSU. Honest. I’m on schedule to graduate with my BA and teaching credential in 2010, and from there…who knows? I work (read: volunteer) at the Southern Califorina Renaissance Faire as a Country Garden Dancer and May Reveler. The people I’ve met there are the loves of my life, and I can’t imagine what I would be like if I didn’t have such a wonderful group of friends. I also play D&D, I swing dance, and I’m learning to brew mead. Past that…I’m just trying to carve out my own little niche in the world and fill it with as much love as I can.

“Why ‘Idiot Parade?’”
It’s a phrase my friend Katie Kellenberger came up with when we were small and all excited and dorky about seeing an early screening of the first Harry Potter film. The term ‘idiot’ took on a special meaning later on in my life when it became the proudly-worn title of the 2004 Boston Red Sox. And then, well…sometimes, my life just seems like a constant stream of idiocy–both the idiocy of my peers and friends, as well as my own. We amuse us.

love letters/hate mail: andi@idiotparade.net

Special thanks to The Tim for being my mod, and generally just a God of All Things. We loves him.