Meet Andrew Jones!
Andrew works at Tesla in the finance department at their SLC headquarters, and he manages a popular Flipboard magazine about Materials Science. He was an editor at Black Rock & Sage for two years while being a student at ISU, and, in the words of Andrew, “loved every minute of it!”
This month we had the opportunity to ask Andrew about his favorite places, books, and literary magazines—as well as really important subjects, like the beauty of urban Pokemon Go hikes and how being a stay-at-home dog dad would be a dream job. Andrew also offers some great advice for aspiring artists and literary magazine editors.
What three traits define you? Addicted to learning, frugal, loyal.
What’s one thing you couldn’t live without? Audible, but also my wife.
What is your greatest fear? My teeth falling out randomly.
Where is your favorite place to be? Vegas with my wife.
What is your favorite thing to do? Snowboard/Paddleboard.
What would be your ideal career? Stay-at-home dog dad, who is also paid to write science articles.
What is your favorite book, movie, and band? Current favorite book series, The Expanse by James S.A. Corey; current movie, The Accountant; current music, my Pandora is usually keyed to early 2000’s hip hop (Mike Jones, Nelly, Ying Yang Twins).
What is something that might surprise us about you? I got certified in Carbon Fiber manufacturing after I graduated. I wanted to do something with my hands.
What is your favorite quote? My brain doesn’t work like that, but I bet it could be found somewhere in “The Lies of Locke Lamora” by Scott Lynch. The Audible version has some fantastic performances in it.
f you could have a dinner party with ANY three people (dead or alive), who would they be and why? David Berry (Scientist), Head of DARPA, and probably Patrick Rothfuss (Author).
If you had to eat one meal every day for the rest of your life, what would it be? The Double Double with Bacon from Lucky 13 here in SLC.
If Hollywood made a movie about your life, who would you like to see cast as you? The Raphael Ninja Turtle suit from The Secret of the Ooze movie.
If you were an animal what would you be? My Frenchie, Karl.
If you were stuck on an island, what three things would you bring? If I could bring living things, my wonderful wife, Karl, and some sort of drone ordering service to keep the island livable.
If you could have a superpower, what would it be? Super jumping with the ability to land, because flying is just too much.
What kinds of hobbies and interests do you have outside of work? I am very involved with the local Materials Science scene in SLC. I am mainly focused in composites that are associated with the space industry. I also workout every day and do the occasional urban Pokemon Go hike.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years? My wife is in the Army, serving as a dentist, so wherever they tell me to go, I will be there. Hopefully I will also have a sweet job as well. I am already working within my third major industry so I am pretty flexible.
Do you have any favorite literary magazines/publications that you’d like to give a shout out to? Nothing specific, but I highly recommend any graduates to continue to devour anything that gets your creative juices going.
Do you have any advice for aspiring artists and literary magazine editors? Get a minor! The real world needs more artists and editors but it doesn’t always pay a livable wage right out of college. I highly recommend getting a minor in something that marks another achievement or hireable skill on your resume instead of taking that bowling elective for the 3rd time.
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orks are cultural and historical touchstones by which those of us who did not directly experience the Holocaust or have the faintest inkling what it entailed catch glimpses into a series of events which are otherwise unimaginable. For my pick today, I would recommend adding an anthology called Holocaust Poetry, edited by Hilda Schiff, to the list of acclaimed Holocaust literature, of which there is a great deal. Poetry, as an art form, I believe, is uniquely suited to fill in the emotional gaps in our frequently porous cultural understanding—or, in my case, lack thereof—of the Jewish experience in the concentration camps. The polyvocal quality of the anthology too adds to the reading experience. The collection contains poetry by Anne Sexton, Paul Celan, Sylvia Plath, Elie Wiesel, Czeslaw Milosz, Primo Levi, Bertolt Brecht, and many others. United in this anthology, these voices present a mosaic of insight that implores the reader, to borrow a phrase from Wiesel’s stirring poem “Ani Maamin, A Song Lost and Found Again,” to “open your eyes and see what I have seen.”
One of my favorite comic books I’ve read recently is Snow Blind, written by Ollie Masters with art by Tyler Jenkins and letters by Colin Bell. Snow Blind centers on a teenager named Teddy, who is probably the coolest loner ever—who gets in trouble for sneaking into a library? Answer: my kind of guy. Any who, after Teddy posts a picture of his dad to social media, the FBI show up, and, long story short, Teddy finds out that his family is in the witness protection program and now they’re in danger. I don’t read a lot of crime comics, but this is so much more than that: it’s a really affecting coming of age story that has ridiculously beautiful art and fantastic lettering. This is one to read again and again.
ise by Irène Némirovsky. The story behind this collection is as tragic as its contents. Written in the days of Germany’s invasion of France, Némirovsky was a victim of the Holocaust. Her manuscript for these two combined novels were discovered years later and published. the novels themselves detail how the people of France both feared and coped with their German invaders.The novels are an insightful and often bitter exploration of human vanity in the face of great historical upheaval. Having been introduced to these at school, I believe Némirovsky belongs in the canon of great modernists. A must read for lovers of literature from that era.
English MA program, is currently an associate lecturer here at Idaho State University.
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov is a hilarious fantastical narrative that is at its heart about the importance of art in perilous times. Written in the Soviet Union during the 1930s, the novel was not allowed to published until the 60s. What is within those censored pages is a story of the devil visiting Moscow to torment its most pretensions and privileged denizens. His retinue includes a fallen angel turned hit-man and a daemonic cat with a love for vodka, chess, and firearms. The story that ensues is at times slapstick, at others spiritual and philosophical. This wondrous novel has since inspired such diverse writers such as Salman Rushdie and Allen Moore. It’s definitely an underappreciated treasure!
One of my goals over Christmas break was to catch up on my ridiculously long list of shows to watch on Netflix. Like a responsible person, I was going to start with those farther back on the list. However, when I saw Crazyhead get added to Netflix mid-December, I couldn’t resist. Crazyhead is a six-episode series created by Howard Overman (who also created the fantastic show Misfits), and this is British comedy-horror at its best! The show is about two demon hunters, Raquel and Amy, who are out to save the world from a mass possession. While an intriguing story line in itself, what really sets this show apart is the crude, laugh-out-loud humor, the fantastic acting, and the depth it delivers as it is as much about facing our inner demons as it is about physical ones.
about this. I just read Nancy Butler’s and Hugo Peters’ comic adaptation of Austen’s Pride & Prejudice (produced by Marvel Comics), and I really enjoyed it. In some ways, more than the actual book. In lieu of mounds of exposition we get really well-done drawing, and the pacing of the story is excellent. It de-emphasizes the role of the ancillary characters, including Elizabeth Bennet’s sisters Mary, Kitty, and even Lydia (as much as she can be de-emphasized, given her role during the final third of the story), and narrows the focus primarily the relationship between Lizzy and Darcy. Mrs. Bennet is still herself, but the added visual aspects helps to accentuates her personality. I would never recommend this comic adaptation as a substitute for Austen’s novel. No way. But Art Spiegelman did say that comics “are a gateway drug to literacy,” and I would suggest that Butler and Peters have created a gateway text, especially for teenagers or busy people who want to revisit Longbourne with new eyes, to the world of Jane Austen’s characters.
ISU's student Journal of Creative Works 