Andrew Butters is a 40-something married father of two living in Cambridge, Ontario. He will tell you that his first published work was “Losing Vern”, a short story part of the Orange Karen: A Tribute to a Warrior anthology. In reality, it was a 500-word anecdote about the time he lit himself on fire. That story made it into the third installment of the Darwin Awards books.
Fire is not his only foe. He has received several severe concussions and a few “minor” ones, the last coming in the summer of 2011. It goes without saying that he is one hundred percent on board with head protection and brain health.
Not all his distinctions are as dubious as appearing in a Darwin Awards book. There was the time he participated in a trick on stage with Penn & Teller. He had a solid minute of screen time on the Super Dave Osborne Show. He scored a game-winning goal at Maple Leaf Gardens and even “sold” music to filmmaker Kevin Smith. He was also given a whole three seconds of non-speaking airtime in a TV commercial, and who could forget when he appeared as a fighting homeless man in a rap video.
His first novel, the true story about his daughter’s scoliosis surgery hit the shelves in January 2018 (four years to the day after the surgery). His first work of fiction, a psychological thriller, dropped in November 2018. The first three books in his series, The “No” Conspiracies (No Fixed Address, No Known Cure, No Good Deed), hit the shelves in 2021 and 2022.
He currently blogs (sometimes), is writing his next novel (always working on something, albeit slowly), is a huge fan of golf, hockey, science, equality, and the Oxford comma. It’s been said that he sometimes lets his love of attention override common sense. You can find evidence of this pretty much anywhere you can find him.
Why Potato Chip Math?
Andrew gets a lot of people asking, “Why did you name your blog Potato Chip Math?” which happens to be a perfectly legitimate question. So, seeing as most people have not been reading since the beginning he has provided a couple of options for your convenience:
- You can read the original post; or
- You can keep reading and get the Cole’s Notes version below.
To practice summing it the hell up for a change here’s what you need to know:
As the line in the Barenaked Ladies song One Week goes, “I’m all about value”. Andrew doesn’t like paying more than he needs to for things. At the same time, he will pay for pretty much anything if he finds value in it. Never was this highlighted more than when he was shopping one day and stumbled upon some discount potato chips. The chips provided him with an opportunity for great value as they were WAY cheaper than the brand he had come to love. So, were they of great value?
No, they were not.
In this, he learned a valuable lesson. As is often the case, you really do get what you pay for.
Territory Acknowledgement
In response to Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, it is important for Andrew to acknowledge that I currently live on the traditional territory of the Haudenosauneega (Iroquois) and Anishinabek (ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᒃ) peoples. Specifically, his home is situated on land promised to the Six Nations as part of The Simcoe Patent – Treaty 4 of 1793 and he will work toward building stronger relationships with the First Peoples of Canada and specifically those displaced by colonialism in the region that he now calls home.
P.S.
Reading this blog is free. All it costs you is a little bit of time and Andrew is genuine when he says that he hopes no one feels like he ripped them off. If you do happen to end up feeling ripped off then tough beans, there are NO REFUNDS.
P.P.S.
He has decided that every once and a while he will throw in a bit of satire on the site for a few laughs. Rest assured, he will tag the post with “Satire” or “#satire” so you don’t think he’s fallen off his rocker.
Bio photo by http://christinereidphotography.com/
Logo by https://www.fiverr.com/leslieantoine19