Andy Nichols

So, you’re leaving Fast Forward to stay at home with your 10-month-old daughter, Laila — are you prepared for that?

There’s going to be a training period before my wife goes back to work. She’ll kind of school me on the daily routine.

Do you know how to change diapers?

Oh yeah. I can do all that.

Are you scared?

A little bit, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out as I go along.

Are you any good at housework?

I’m good at it when I do it but I’ll have to definitely do a lot more than I do now. Our house can sometimes look like my desk. I’ll have to clean up my act a bit.

What do you plan to do when Laila is napping during the day?

To be honest, I might sleep too.

You have quite a Slurpee fetish. How many a week do you drink?

Right now, I’d say one every two weeks, which is quite significant because when I was an intern here in 2005 I would have two 800-something ml per day. So, I’ve cut back.

You obviously like your sugar buzz, what’s your favourite candy?

Dutch licorice. I eat that stuff until I get sick.

And will you be sharing that with the baby?

I don’t think so. Not for a while, anyway.

When she grows up, what lesson would you like most instilled in her?

I think the most important thing is that she’s most comfortable being herself and that she isn’t running around trying to be somebody else.

With the journalism profession waning, do you regret your choice of going to J-school?

Not really because I love journalism and even though there are fewer jobs, I’m optimistic that I can still get into one. And I just enjoy writing.

What do you want to do when you grow up?

I like the stuff I did for Fast Forward, like long-form journalism, features and profiles. I also want to do documentary radio, which I’ve never done before. I actually just bought a radio-quality recorder.

You play lots of board games. What’s your favourite?

Right now, it’s Carcassonne. It’s a game where you lay down tiles and you have to control cities and roads and fields.

I understand that you plan to move to Edmonton in the spring. Why would you do that?

To be closer to family. That’s the plan.

I noticed that your multiple tattoos on your arm doesn’t quite fill your entire arm. Why not?

It’s too expensive. The last tattoo was done in the summer of 2008 and realistically, spending money on tattoos right now doesn’t really fly.

What’s the most awkward interview you’ve ever done?

I had to interview a bar owner once who was very jumpy, very suspicious and paranoid. Lining up the interview took forever and when we finally met for the interview he decided I couldn’t interview him. We had this extended conversation with him telling me why I couldn’t interview him for the record.

Did you finally interview him?

No, he gave me a prepared statement.

What’s your favourite story you wrote at Fast Forward?

Hmmm. One is the Plan It story, when we did a cover story on the whole Plan It blueprint and I talked to every city council member except for one. I was able to squeeze out of them which way they were leaning on the plan and how they would vote.

You grew a baby beard when your wife was pregnant — what’s that about?

I don’t know where the idea came from but soon after she was pregnant I decided not to cut my hair or beard until the baby was born. And then I found out afterwards that this is a whole trend. I don’t know if it’s some kind of primal instinct or what. Anyway, my wife wasn’t thrilled with it, so she was glad when it was done.

If you could be anyone, who would that be?

That’s a hard question. I would say myself.

You really like baseball. How did you get into that?

When I was a kid, I played baseball and when I was 12, the Blue Jays won the World Series and I was into that. But then I didn’t follow it for about a decade. Last year I went to a Blue Jays’ game for the first time and got into it again from there.

You ride your bicycle a lot. Have you ever done a marathon?

I have not. For me, it’s all getting where I have to go and that’s it.

Have you ever been hit by a vehicle?

No, but I did have a head-on collision with another cyclist, which was my fault. I barrelled into him around a corner. I still think I will get hit one day. It’s bound to happen sooner or later.

How old were you when you delivered the Edmonton Sun?

It would have been around 12 or 13.

Did you know then that you wanted to be a journalist?

No. I just was making money.

It took a lot of patience and persistence on your part to wait for the mayor to return your calls. How long did that take?

It’s kind of always a struggle. I finally got an interview with him when I did a story about campaign financing two years ago and it took a lot of repeated phone calls and pleading. At one point I was even thinking of going to his house and accosting him. I don’t know how well that would have gone over. I’ve never been there, but if I ever need to, I know where he lives.