Parks and Recreation Supplemental Post: Andy Dwyer

Via Odyssey

I don't think I've met a single person who does not like Andy Dwyer. Seriously. Go poll your friends, Leslie-style. I'll wait. Well, I won't, because I already wrote this, but this post will be here when you get back.

Welcome back! If you went anywhere, I suppose.

For the longest time, I didn't think I had anything in common with the guy, even though he (and Chris Pratt) remained one of my favorite things in the universe. But then I started dating Sax Player.

For those of you who don't know, I am thirty-three years old - soon to be thirty-four, because that's apparently how time works - and I am currently dating a twenty-four-year-old. Now, this isn't why I feel more connected to Andy than I have previously, although that's what somebody (lazy) might think. I mean, yeah, he's the April to my Andy, in terms of age range, but that's not why I bring it up. It took dating this guy to realize how much like Andy I am.

Inspired by Parks and Rec, a girl at work and I started trying to figure out everyone's spirit dogs. She wanted to be a chihuahua because that's her favorite dog, but I convinced her that she was actually a corgi: she's very mothering and herd-y, short, and very perky and not nearly neurotic enough to be a chihuahua. Sax Player was definitely a St. Bernard, one of the pharmacists was an afghan hound, another coworker was a basset hound, and honestly I can't remember what everyone else's was because Sax Player sent me this picture via text:

I wasn't sure how to take this because a) golden retrievers and/or yellow labs are so basic and b) they're excited about everything and just goofy creatures, so what in the hell was he actually saying here?

Then I was like, "Ohhhhhhhh."

While my life is very reflective of Ann's in terms of romance and self-determination, I'm also totally Andy. Like ... seriously. I am easily excited about the smallest things; it's been pointed out to me on multiple occasions that I perk up, point to my bank, and happily announce, "That's my bank!" Every. Time. I feel like I could just do an Andy gif party of every time I'm like, "Hey, it's me," and my job would be done, but this is a supplemental post and I'm trying to keep the gif parties to a minimum.

Who am I kidding?

Via Popkey

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Via Notey

I have a similarly innocent approach to life that has me wondering when I'll ever become a for real adult, although personal experience has made me a little less of a Pollyanna.

But one of the most relatable things about Andy is his sort of "what am I gonna do" struggle. He is similar to April except he has a lot more failure on his end: he doesn't make a lot of money at the shoeshine stand, and he wasn't accepted into the police academy. He did end up finding success doing what he loved - working with kids - but he just kind of fell into it. I'm still waiting for that to come, but I'm hopeful that it will. I'll just continue to work at what I love - writing and painting - and understand that it may just be something I enjoy doing, not something I make a living with. I'm not quite there on being okay with that, but maybe someday I will be.

FAVORITE ANDY DWYER MOMENT

PARKS AND REC CHALLENGE