Elections

I'm not particularly political, but I'm already sick of hearing about the election.  How much money these guys are going to raise for their campaigns makes me a little ill with the amount of debt we have.  Interesting message the politicians have been sending these last couple of months.  First there's the budget "crisis" (aka let's not pay our troops during a war) and now supposedly the president wants to raise a billon dollars for his 2012 campaign.... uhhhg....  I think I'm moving to New Zealand.

I refuse. Budget Rental Car.

I refuse to talk about Charlie Sheen.  I want to so bad, but I'm not going to give him anymore publicity.  Even on a blog with five followers.

I really am pissed at Budget Rental Cars.  I don't know why people can't have good customer service.  I left something in the car we rented and I called like four times as soon as I noticed and I got the run around the whole time.  Finally, last night (that's the day after we dropped the car off at noon), they FINALLY went and checked the car.  Really?  You went and physically checked 24 hours after I called the first time? I think we called a total of 8 times and only got somebody who wanted to help us one time.  They said they'd call back in 20 minutes three times and never did.  And now, the binder I left in the car is gone.

Back from DC

I got back yesterday from DC, near where I used to live, actually.  It was odd to see my old house with the trees way overgrown.  I guess not overgrown, but grown more than when I lived there.  


My man was donating stem cells; that was the reason we were there.  My boyfriend donated stem cells to a lady with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.  We don't really know who she was, not that it matters.  I'm sure he would have given them to anybody.  But what wasn't really clear was how crappy it was going to make him feel.  He was really hurting all week.  Can you believe it though?  His unit asked him if it was "mandatory" that he go and do this for somebody.  Ugh.  When he told me that, I wanted to kick his collective unit in the head.  Granted, his chaplain apparently got teary-eyed when he told him about it.  At least somebody understands the sacrifice he was making.  I'm sure that my man would have rather not felt like complete crap for a week, and then probably two weeks from now.  Lots of drugs and hormones. 


I also got to spend some time with my best friend from kindergarten.  That's right, from 1988.  We've literally known each other for 22 years.  Probably closer to 23.  Maybe it is 23... Eh.  When we were kids we wrote stories.  That's what they were called: "the stories."  And I think I lost one of them.  Oh Budget Rent a Car. You suck so bad.  Now, normally, I wouldn't blame them.  I left something in the car.  I'm the idiot.  However, they've been giving me the run around.  What the heck?  We called four times last night.  I mean, really, they should have been able to find it, it was on the back seat.  But it was my fault.  As punishment, my best friend informed me I'd have to rewrite it.  If only!  So, I will instead write on the new story I've been dreaming about.  I do someday want to be a writer.  I have had this one story in my mind a long time, maybe it will finally come to fruition.  


I think I'm going to read some more Rumi.  I've heard that Rumi makes you a better writer.  He, back in the 13th century, wrote some intense stuff down.  I have come across so many awesome quotes in his poetry, and I've only been reading it for a day or so.  I am so a fan.  This is one called "The Road Home":

An ant hurries along a threshing floor

with its wheat grain, moving between huge stacks
of wheat, not knowing the abundance
all around. It thinks one grain
is all there is to love.

So we choose a tiny seed to be devoted to.
This body, one path, or one teacher.
Look wider and farther.

The essence of every human being can see,
and what that essence-eye takes in,
the being becomes. Saturn. Solomon!

The ocean pours through a jar,
and you might say it swims inside
the fish! This mystery gives peace to
your longing and makes the road home home.

I love the last bit. I don't always interpret poetry right.  But Rumi isn't really around to ask what he meant for sure.  I know the world he lived in was not like it is today.  I mean, most people died early they had to walk everywhere or, I don't know, ride a camel maybe in this case.  

Camels are huge, by the way.

Feeling... nothing :)

I recently found out that my first real boyfriend knocked some girl, with twins no less!

I thought, back in the day, that I'd always have feelings for this guy. Weren't we all so naive when we were kids? I thought that he was the man for me up until about college timeframe. We were together in 8th grade, though kept in close contact up until mid-college. I think we went completely different ways at some point. That sounds kind of bad, but it's not really meant to be. I don't like to think that I'm better than him in some way, we're just different.

But when I read the note about the twins, I didn't feel anything, no jealousy, no regret. Just nothing. It's been like that for some time, with exes. I guess it's part of being satisfied with the relationship I'm in so much so that I don't even care about past loves. Good feeling really. Moving forward with him, leaving these others behind... yeah! :)

Reading reading reading....

I kind of wonder why I hadn't read this one yet. The movie was on and I figured I needed to get going on that... I know it's been sitting on my shelf for a while. Funny enough, a lot of the analysis of this book is wrong, according to most people who have read it.

Seeing the movie and having been in the Army, you ask yourself, who the hell had the WORST combat tactics ever. I would have never gotten that close to any of those bugs. Why would they not just firebomb the entire planet? It doesn't make sense. Kind of makes me mad. Oh well, it is just a movie. LOL

Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein




I figured it's about time.



View all my reviews

It's funny how that works.

I recently opened up the most recent copy of Harvard Business Review which I finally have a subscription to (don't have to steal dad's :) ), and funny enough, there's an blurb about exactly what I was talking about on the 12th.   I was even referring to CNN.com, but not by name.  I kind of was getting sick of reading... well, it's best served by an example.  I'm sure it won't take me long to find one....


Here's a comment from an article titled: 1 killed, 57 injured in Iraqi Kurdish protest
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) is the worst dictator I have ever seen in my life, we can say worse than Saddam regime.


Seriously?  A party can't be a dictator.  A person is a dictator.


Then you have another article about Wolves, here is a brilliant comment... I can't even figure out how this fit into any semblance of discussion.  I think they're talking about furries, people who dress in animal costumes to live out fantasies... whatever they may be.  I can't make this stuff up.


Good! About time that governor learned how bad those furries really are. A bunch of children stalkers in their dog and wolf costumes, how perverted can you be?! I say kill the wolves and the people who pretend to be them so they can touch children bits while they get hugs!


Why do people even comment on this? It's really pointless.


And then one about Knees bearing the weight of obesity:


Duh, Get in shape America!!!!Save billions in health care costs.
Exercize more, eat less, eat healthy.


If you're going to comment for all the world to see, can you at least pay heed to your spell check?  And please, write in complete sentences.  I really get annoyed at people's laziness.


And here is another brilliant comment from the same article:


You know this article is missing one important factor, and that is, that there are relatively few doctors in this country who will do surgery on the morbidly obese. Yes, they will give bariatric surgery to those between 300 and 350 pounds, but not more than that. So what these stupid doctors are saying is that they need their obese paitients to lose weight to have surgery to lose more weight. If they could lose weight they would not need the surgery to begin with! I see it every day in my job and I feel so bad for all of them. Doctors are jerks.


Because they're jerks? That's quite a broad claim to make about somewhere around 400,000 individuals. I don't doubt that some are stupid since there are in fact stupid people everywhere, in every profession.  I heart ad hominem.  Although I ask myself if this individual is in that 350+ pound category since she (her name is apparently lilgtogirl, so I'm assuming here...) says "If they could lose the weight..." like she might have experience dealing with these difficulties. It just seems too personal.


Anyway, the bottom line of Clay Shirky's blurb (Cleaning up Online Conversation) about what he wants to do in the next year is pretty much summed up by the quote in blue from his little article. "In the 1990s putting up a forum that allowed anyone to say anything seemed like a good idea. It wasn't."  This is very true.  So very true.  Not everybody needs to open their mouths.  The first amendment wasn't created so you could spout off your ignorance.  Or, at least, nobody cares to hear it and it makes you look like an idiot... so you might as well shut your pie hole. Just sayin'.  I hope that when I say stupid things people tell me I'm wrong.  Or at least give me a look like "you are dumb" so I know.  Just so I know.  Haha...

Some people shouldn't be trusted to have children

There are countless examples.  I wish more people would use birth control.

It's not the first time Obama has faced ire from the right when it comes to childhood nutrition. Sarah Palin told Ingraham last fall that "the first lady cannot trust parents to make decisions for their own children, for their own families in what we should eat."


Sometimes I think there should be a parenthood test, if you don't meet a certain standard, you shouldn't be able to reproduce.  These issues bring to mind one of my friends from middle school telling me about her time as a social worker in NYC.  One mother in one of the programs was smoking while pregnant.  Please.  Although, the government can't be the one to monitor these sorts of things and tell people what to do.  It should come from a culture change, stemming from education.   

Comments on News Articles, blogs etc.

One of the most abnoxious things to me are some of the off the wall comments on news websites.

The most likely to respond, similar to a survey, are those that are either really happy or really pissed off.  The actual information and comments is not really a good indication of how things are actually going or what people actually think.  Similarly, this goes for blogs as well.  Those that are the most pissed or most excited or happy or whatever are going to write about it.  If its just "blah" nobody is going to waste the time commenting on it, unless you're a history book person or just documenting events with no opinion whatsoever.  But then still, what gets reported on, even in a documented fashion, is still likely to be stuff that whatever news agency thinks people want to read about.  I don't see how a news agency's website is really the right place for people to get up on their soap boxes.  I think that's what blogs are usually for... right? Haha...

I also, since I'm headed to law school next year, have been reading a lot about reasons not to go.  There are a myriad of reasons listed, some evidence points to blogs of disgruntled graduates finding a job market lacking.  I do sometimes wonder what kind of expectation management they've been doing.  Contrary to, it seems, these recent graduates' opinion, they're glorified college graduates.  Most students to graduate law school are just that, college graduates with a little extra--a professional degree.  But these students, despite their LSAT scores and GPAs that made them promising law students, they don't really have a whole lot to offer the job market in general.  Sure, there are some exceptions, and there are some even differing exceptions where a student graduates from law school prepared to get a post-school job (though proving this to potential employers takes considerable effort on the part of that student I think).  I have learned a couple of things, having worked for a couple of years in a rather demanding job.  One is that college doesn't prepare you to work.  It gives you a tool box full of nifty tools, but doesn't really tell you even how to use them or teach you the creativity to use other tools en lieu of tools you might not yet have.  Creativity is something not taught in school, neither are people skills, the ability to communicate effectively with others.  I just had a conversation with my mother yesterday about a situation at her former job.  A guy that worked with her was so difficult to work with, that he kept getting moved from job to job.  Regardless of how smart the guy was, he was pretty much useless to everybody because of his, well mostly, lack of tact when dealing with people. There was always a general consensus with my friends in the Army: we'd prefer a Soldier that was easy to work with and that could effectively communicate over one that couldn't.  You can't teach people skills, but most other things you can work with.

This isn't to say that experience guarantees success.  I watched a guy that screamed "Joe" (a guy that looks like a Soldier and has the mannerisms of a Soldier... even the hair cut) when I was at the Law School fair in Atlanta and I cringed when I heard him talking.  The military does a couple of things... but teaching you to communicate with civilians is not one of them.  If you can't take a step back and remember who you are and what you're doing then you need to just stop and take a breather.

Will I still go to law school? Yes.  My main reason is I want the legal education that comes with it.  However, am I this disillusioned to realize that the job market might be hard on me when I get out? No, I'm not.  I'm hoping nepotism (you do what you can to get your foot in the door, that's just the way it is!) might get me a little, and if not I'll take what I can get.  I never had dreams of being a Law and Order type of attorney; I've always been more fascinated by some of the philosophy.  I hope that when I get out my successes as an Army Officer will add an extra polish onto what I have to offer.  I'll just make sure I follow my dad's three H's: Humbleness, sense of Humor and Hardworking.  I think that these really are the keys to success.

Odd Idea

Wouldn't it be interesting if the Vice President were elected by a vote of the people like the President?

As of now, of course, the VP, while not seemingly a power house, actually holds a lot of clout in some situations.  If the President kicks the bucket, that's right, he's the President.  The VP stands in for the President in many other instances too.  Currently, the VP is selected by the President and approved by the Congress (Amendment 12, Constitution/Bill of Rights).  Though really, why can't the people elect both?  In addition, the Vice President heads the Senate and is the tie breaker for any votes that can't be decided.

I guess my thing is I always thought the "running mate" is kind of stupid.  It detracts and distracts from who we're really installing as the head of state, the United States.  Certainly, Palin distracted from her running mate, and you can argue in a positive or negative way (my personal opinion is that the woman is a hot mess, but that's beside the point).

Superbowl

For one of THE American pastimes, the Superbowl is probably one of the most out of reach traditions (save for sitting in front of the TV) for the average American.  Going to the Superbowl I'd think would run likely around 3,000, more than a lot of things many people can't afford anyway...

And then we got there, and it was one of the most pretentious events I've ever been to.  "Look at me, I'm so great, I'm the Superbowl!" It was kind of depressing.  Not that I wasn't glad to be blessed with the opportunity to attend thanks to the stars aligning (and planets); how my boyfriend and I managed to swing it for less than $400 is amazing.  Every chance they got, a new star or "important" person was featured on the jumbo--I mean, ridiculously huge--tron.  Like, look who is here! We're so cool everybody wants to come see us in person!

Maybe that's because it costs so much.  You have to feel like it was worth it to pay all that money for a five hour event. "Look, you're here, it's been totally worth it to pay what you could buy an entire car with to come see a five-hour event."

I shouldn't complain, I know.  I was one of the lucky ones and I did have a great time.  I have been blessed with good friends, who have good friends, who have very good friends that could get us into this event.  But thinking about it, if we wanted to go, how would we afford to?  I guess it will be sitting on the couch most likely for the rest of my life. Not that I mind really, time with friends and family is most important, much more important than being around a bunch of famous people that I don't know after all. Maybe some of my friends will be famous someday?

Protesters paid...

After the Internet shut down and the social media machine was disabled temporarily, it's back to the down and dirty hired mobs for the Egyptians it looks like.  Just like old times.  There are so many accounts and many speculations about where Wednesday's pro-Mobarak demonstrators came from.  Some might have been genuine.  In a dictatorship that has been going on for 30 years, there are sure to have been some distingushished "haves" (vs. the "have nots") who would like to stay in a place of power.  But  many, I'm betting were paid and encouraged by the regime or its cronies.  Sigh.

Some of these pictures are pretty nice. Read the blog for an explanation of the last two pictures.

Egypt and others

I find this article hilarious. America's other embarrassing allies.

I've been saying for a long time that America is a country that goes with the lesser of evils, but then often doesn't consider future ramifications... Lately, we've been hearing all about Egypt, an American ally.  Well, unfortunately, in the last three decades, Egypt's government has not mirrored what you think an ally would look like.  

Time and time again, America supports dictators who are consistently oppressing their people.  Granted, on the outside and to most people on this side of the pond, this dictator is more of a constant itch to the proud Egyptian people.  Or so you would think, since it's hasn't been your President for oh what, over 30 YEARS?  Can you imagine ____(insert your favorite President here)___ being president for 30 years?  A lot changes in 30 years (certainly, I'm not even 30 years old).  So you have to think that the best leader wouldn't be the same guy 30 years ago as it is today.  To put it in perspective this is what Europe looked like in 1981 (if you can't tell the difference, I can't help you there):

Now, if we know anything about the great old USA, not many people agree here.  And, it's in the constitution that we can't be forced to think anything; we have the right to think or say pretty much anything we want.  Well, not the case in Egypt.  Supposedly, this Prez has been elected since 1981.  But many International sources will tell you that these elections were rigged.  Even in the article featured on this link, its estimated that 10-20% of the population even BOTHERED to go out and vote.  In America, the numbers are still lower than they should be, but if 1 of 10 people are voting, that doesn't really give an accurate picture of anything. At least a majority of citizens must come out to vote.  In 2005, the election showed that the second place finisher only got 7% of the vote!  No leader is that perfect.

America seems to do this time after time.  The whole reason why I was in Afghanistan last was because of our mistakes in the past... The lessor of the two evils, the mujahideen in Afghanistan against the Soviets sounded like a good idea.  The Soviets were atheists, which Americans don't relate well to, at least as forced lack of religion (because there are certainly Atheists in the United States).  But then, do we really want a radical group of anything at the helm?  I would argue it probably would have been better for Afghanistan to have been Soviet since there was no way the Soviets would last forever.  Once they started borrowing and going into debt... But that's for another discussion... Afghans needed choice, as Iran needed choice.  Which is why the radicals ended up taking over.  I remember in college talking to a professor who was there, who was one of the first woman to don the black hijab in support of the Islamic Revolution.  Of course, she now regrets this support.  Although, it's common knowledge that Americans supported the Shah of Iran, another dictator, who was very unpopular in Iran... Does anybody see a pattern forming?

Back to Egypt.

I sincerely hope that there are some positives in this development.  Certainly, I hope that more than 10% of the population is involved with the next election that Mubarak said he wouldn't run in.  If the population is in control of the government, if they can elect leaders and continue to elect people if the people they first elect are in need of replacement, I think the future looks bright.  I think the new "scary" group that could take control of Egypt is Islamic (the American people seem to think that any group of Muslims are extremists).  However, Egypt has long been a center for Arab politics in particular, as in the race/ethnic group, and not Islam, although it is an integral part of society.  I must say however, that Christian beliefs in this country are used in the same way they fear that Islam will become intertwined in politics.  I watched the brand new Alabama governor tell people in his first speech that anybody not Christian was his brother.  Islam can co-exist with politics, and Egypt is a unique country in that 10% of the population is Christian (about 9% Coptic, which similar to Islam has no images of people in their churches and so on because that would be idolatry...), and those people are not likely to go anywhere anytime soon.

Nobody knows how this will end up, but I hope that real elections take place.  Although I'm not naive, it's not going to be that easy.  Peaceful protests turning violent as we speak... It would be a shame to see it under military rule.

Egypt is a country that I wish I had been able to visit.  I was going to study at the American University of Cairo in college.  However, ROTC wouldn't cover me to go.  Needless to say, I wasn't your typical "ROTC-nazi" either and preferred to stay away from the ROTC building as much as possible.  I really didn't care.  I knew I was going to live the Army for at least four years, and I wanted to enjoy college.  Can you blame me?  Someday, I still hope to go to AUC, maybe for an LLM in International Comparative Law after law school....

Sorry for the rant.  I don't know how coherent it was, but there is a lot going on in my head lately.

Good Reads

I recently joined goodreads.com, which is a sort of social networking site based around books that you read.  I've always read a lot and this seems right up my alley.  I've already even seen some of my friends books that I want to read!

I guess if you look at my profile, you can see all the crazy paranormal romance books I read, or as my boyfriend calls them, "vampire porn."  Though not all the books are about vampires, but as we know about romance novels most of them have porn like descriptions of the main character's sexual encounters.  I haven't put all the books I've read up, that might take a while.  I might get around to it eventually.

What I like about them is that there's almost always a happy ending.  I'm a happy ending type of girl.  There are enough depressing things in the world without having to read about MORE depressing things.  Tom (the boyfriend), once mentioned to me that he was watching chick flicks when we were in Afghanistan, deployed.  He said that we were surrounded by a depressing situation (the country of Afghanistan) and that he certainly didn't want to be watching "Blackhawk Down" or something similar.  The possibility of us getting kidnapped by the bad guys and then drug in pieces throughout the street of some far away town is not too far away from reality.  Although the reality we did live over there was almost as bad as being in the action.... being stuck on a FOB (Forward Operating Base), as a Fobbit (cross between FOB and Hobbit, what you become when you live on a FOB for a long time).  Luckily, your feet don't grow hairy....

I realize that life doesn't always have happy endings and to pretend that it does is just deluding yourself. However, I have chosen to read many books about Afghanistan, particularly on the subject of the women living there.  When I was in Afghanistan helping these women, my heart strings were pulled on a daily basis.  In a land where everybody vies for power, most of these women wanted to make sure that their children had food and water.  Most were illiterate and didn't even understand the reasons for the war.  I remember some of the Soldiers telling me that they met Afghans that thought we were Russians.  They were just that isolated.

I miss those women a lot, and I think frequently of them.  Apparently, they still ask about me.  Maybe I did make a small impact, at least in some of their lives, if not just to show them that some American women are respectable people.

   

    

      Brandi's book montage

    

  

  

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

    

Brandi Shaddick's favorite books »

  

  

  

On a personal note...

I guess I'm conflicted. Or maybe not so much.  Moving on feels great.

I'm glad I love my boyfriend most-est.

I just got a reminder why I am with the guy I am.  Granted, he has had his own interesting issues... namely about a year after we got together he mixed up a gift I got him from a girl that used to be in his life.  Why would he do that? Blah, bad memory.  He has a terrible memory. I can forgive him for small things.

Anyway, the reason I write today is to remind myself that I am very thankful.  Thankful that some things didn't work out.

When you're in a situation, in this case I speak of a relationship, your confidence is often killed by somebody else's actions.  Now, a confident individual wouldn't be concerned by this.  But it does take an awfully confident individual to blow off matters of the heart.  When your heart is involved, it always seems like it's a bigger deal.  "I saw myself ending up with him" or "He's always who I imagined myself with" or even "We're soul mates." But then, think.  Think harder.  Would you really be unhappy?  Or would your soul mate and you not be able to communicate effectively so at least you know he cares about you?

I look back on the woman I was four or five years ago and I wonder... I was a very self-centered person. I hung out with my boyfriend in lieu of good friends.  I was so enthralled by some of my exes that I didn't feel confident enough to be away from them when I had the choice to be or not to be.

The time is now.  Tomorrow we could be gone.  I would not pursue a relationship that I'm not happy with in the present anymore, because that's what I want.  I need to live in the now and I'm well on the path to doing this on a normal basis.

___________________________________

I have an idea for a book... It would be called, "Letters to our Exes."  I would want to donate profit to either domestic violence charity or one that benefits women's mental health.  I might send out an email soon to see what my friends think.  I'd want to get a number of letters, maybe around 200 or so and then compile them into a book.  Each woman would write a letter to a particularly thorny ex, hopefully comical, but maybe sad about how their current lives were ruined and then how they got past it.  I know who I'd write about.

Do you?

People always get spun up on things that are far from the heart of the matter....

This CNN article is annoying. CNN reporting crap as it often does.


Most people on here want to pretend there are broader things at work here. The United States has all sorts of exports, including arms and riot gear and its accessories. If you're mad about that, talk to your Congressperson. 


As for these guys getting killed, if they hadn't been shot at close range with the canisters, I doubt that they'd get killed. Sure tear gas sucks, it's supposed to suck. It's supposed to deter. But I don't see you all getting your panties in a wad about Ford when some idiot in a Fiesta hits a pedestrian in a third world country. Cars, not intended to kill people, similarly, tear gas, not intended to kill people.

Why so critical grasshopper...? You don't have a leg to stand on.

Lately, I don't know why, but I've been very critical of others. Other people who are actually doing something, while me, who can't seem to find a job in Lawton, Okahoma, is sitting on my ass "playing house." I only say I'm playing house, because in the sprawling metropolis that is this great city, I've been challenged to even find a volunteer opportunity. Which reminds me, I need to make a phone call to see if I can at least volunteer at the hospital. I guess that majority of volunteers are little old retired bitties, but I can totally swing that.

Anyway, I digress.

I don't know what reasons have me to be so critical. I have a feeling it has something to do with being idle and at home and not sure what to do. A couple of friends of mine and the boyfriends are starting a business dealing with bars. Now, I'm mainly critical on

two points, they don't have the education (though have had the means to get it) nor have they even ever worked in a bar or restaurant to know the day to day operations. I never particularly had the desire to work at a bar, mainly because of my time working at Applebee's during college. The tables around the bar sucked to wait. I was a glorified cocktail waitress without the cute clothes (and therefore ability to sell my body, as well as an occasional drink). I can't believe my old Applebee's went to the Dickies... Sorry, Dickies, but your pants are the most incredibly UGLY pants in the history or pants... except for maybe these kind which I think are actually supposed to be in style now... *shudder* (mainly I don't like them because they seem to highlight everything that's gross about me, though we always want what we don't have I guess....)

Anyway, back on topic. Another aquatince of mine from high school recently launched a website to connect high school athletes and college coaches. I find this kind of ironic since he really got burned by the school he went to, had his dreams of being a college quarterback pulled out from under him like an old rug. He ended up staying on at this large division I school, and was second string and then maybe even third string as time went on. He didn't ever transfer since the NCAA (the devil to many) makes you sit out a year before starting at a new school. Kind of sad. College is supposed to be five years... oh wait, was that four? I think he may have played a hand full of games at best. Though, maybe he was humbled a bit, seemed like the first time he was actually passed up for anything. I remember meeting him when I first got to school there at my old high school. I'm not sure he ever even went to class. He got his school paid for and got into one of the best schools in Texas, so who would complain? I can't say that you can really hate anybody who surfs through life on that never ending wave. You might just be jealous that he got up and you didn't... or got there first. Oh well.

I am just in a holding pattern for the moment, and I recognize that. I know come next September I will be in full swing in law school, wishing really bad I was sitting on my ass at home looking for volunteer opportunities. And here I am, jumping into the sea of unknowns myself. Supposedly it's a terrible time to go to grad school, but if I waited, it would just be putting off the inevitable, since this is something I've wanted to do for a long time. Which I guess brings me to it. The point I mean. I'm not much different from the folks above. I'm going from debt-free to full of debt to pursue a dream that might not make me any richer than the one I left to pursue it. But is it all about money? No. It's not. It's about job satisfaction, and in that department, a change was required for my future sanity. My old unit is deploying... again. As in now when they've hardly been back a year. Is that really how I wanted to live my life? And nobody actually cared about you, it was always lip service about being professional and ethical and fair and "care about Soldiers" and all that jazz.

So, to all you people out there that are going for it, good luck. I will be here to help if you want or need it. I will be less critical, either outright or in my mind since you're out there doing it and I'm, well, for the time being, spinning my wheels. Maybe I should work on that Etsy website I started. A plug for Etsy. Really cute, must check out. All handmade and vintage items. I wanted to make soaps, and then the soap dishes for the soap out of stained glass. I always wanted to learn how to make vintage soap! My shop would be called Bee Bee's Bubbles, from my nickname by my friend Jock Quez (totally a nickname also). Funny enough, I set up some of the stuff a head of time, just wanted to get my hands on a copy of photoshop to make some images. Need to work on that. Need to stop slacking. LOL

Depressing state of the States

I recently tried to respond to an email about this debunked "terrorist dry run."

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/flight297.asp

My response:

Also, although it wasn't mentioned on this snopes article, and as soon as I read this, I realized why they were celebrating. In November, there is a rather big Muslim holiday where EVERYTHING shut down. It coincided somewhat with Thanksgiving for us while I was deployed to Afghanistan in 2009, when we all sort of did minimal operations and had some turkey... the Afghans (including the bad guys) were at home with their families for Eid (the war pretty much stopped for two weeks):

Eid-Al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice)

November 16, 2010

This Muslim holiday, celebrated during the time of the annual hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca, marks the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael, as commanded by God. The day is consecrated with an animal sacrifice (they butcher an animal like a goat to eat), of which one-third is shared with the poor while the other two-thirds is enjoyed with family and friends.

This holiday was the day before this flight (Flight Nov 17th, holiday Nov 16th). I think you all can connect the dots to where I'm going with this.... There may be another reason why these guys were traveling together and may have been happy to have just spent the holiday with family and friends, like us with Christmas.... I guess this is why the military sends us to cultural understanding classes...? It's often easier to just jump to conclusions because we're ignorant of the big picture.

God Bless America.

Jimmy's Response:

I do not know you, but as far as I am concerned, they can take the cultural UNDERSTANDING for them and shove it up their asses. They can celebrate their "So-called holiday back in their own home towns. What they did on the plane was bull$hit, and they should have been thrown in jail for terroristic threat for interferance with transportation.

Can I please move out of this country? Why the hell are people so excited to come to a country that houses the likes of these idiots? I know there are a ton of them out there too! UGH. And they call themselves Christians with all this hate!

My response to him:

Haha, ok, well that's one way to deal with it I suppose. Good luck with that.