So, I brought it on myself. I asked people to give me a topic to write about and when I wasn't satisfied with the answers of 'ah, post whatever you want to post about', I was put up to the task.
The topic? The pros and cons of Narcolepsy.
Now, I don't have Narcolepsy, though granted I have suffered through similar symptoms in the past. Actually, if anything I suffer at times of Insomnia. Being such, I didn't think I was one to post anything on the Pros and Cons, and then I got to thinking, you know, I could think long and hard enough about it, I could probably come up with a few.
So, from yours truly, a non-sufferer of Narcolepsy, I give you the Pros and Cons of this medical condition.
PROS
o you don't have to worry about that pesky Insomnia problem late at night.
o you have a valid excuse for falling asleep in a boring class
o forced to watch "An Inconvenient Truth"? Problem solved!
o easy to play pranks on your friends by 'faking' an episode
o great way to dodge the draft
o ready made excuse for afternoon power naps
o you can tell horror stories to kids about how you got your scars ala Joker in Batman(more interesting then 'I hit my head on a coffee table')
o your friends won't be asking you to be a designated driver
o make money shelling your sob story to pro Obamacare ads
o make a fashion statement with medical alert tags
o great conversation starter (hey, global transient amnesia is!)
o claim disability and get a free check from the government
CONS
o people might freak out that you were slipped a rufie at the club
o driving is considered hazardous
o the bruises you are suffering really are from 'falling down the stairs'
o sky diving not recommended, unless perhaps you go tandem
o some jobs are probably not available to you, so employment limitations
o you might get mistaken for being drunk
o probably best that you don't do any extreme sports
o health insurance is probably expensive due to 'pre existing condition'
o your date percieves that your bored with them when you fall asleep during what they think is an exciting story
o partner gets upset when you fall asleep during sex
o there is no cure for narcolepsy
If you have some to add, leave a note in the comments. And if you really have Narcolepsy, HAHA!!! (er, I mean, that's horrible. Honest. Give me some true pros and cons)
PS - No, in case you didn't know, I am NOT a PC person
PPS - Is this a funny post? Er, it sounded funnier in my head? Thanks T-man
A blog about a girl who speaks her mind and talks about whatever she wants. So its a blog about everything, and absolutely nothing, all at the same time. . .
11.30.2009
11.28.2009
How many freakin' stories can one person write???
I finished Nanowrimo last night. You can see the thing in the sidebar now telling me that I had many days of absolute crap followed by a few days where I just wrote until my fingers were a mess. Actually, this is the best representation of how my writing went this month.
Meanwhile, my story remains incomplete. Wow, you know, one of these days, I would like to plan something out that is relatively short, like 100,000 words or something, and actually finish the damn thing. Furthermore, I would like the story to be readable. In fact, I have been reading some of those 'how to' books, like how to write a novel, and one of them that was actually very interesting and I would highly recommend is Novelist's Boot Camp. You can probably see why I liked it already.
Sometimes, when I write, I like to write merely for writing's sake. I almost always write for myself (unless I'm blogging or writing with others, which I haven't done in years). And what I really found helpful in actually writing for a purpose, like giving my characters a reason for existing, and why their story would be of any interest, is doing something of a foundation builder. And have I got a few!
It starts off with Genre (which I generally nix), Macro Setting, Character, Opposition. I'll save you the time, all of my stories are either Alternate Reality or Fantasy. Or sometimes Alternate Reality IN Fantasy. I guess being that writing is a bit of an escape for me, and often I think, 'gosh, the world really isn't half bad!' after reading some of the crap I put my characters through. But that's how I develop 'em, right?
Last Year's Nano, which I haven't finished and last checked is at 94,031 words (though I've got this sucker planned out where it should come in around 500,000), is as follows.
In a society based heavily on eugenics and the right to progress one's family line, a seemingly ideal product of the society's intent is mistakenly routed in the direction of the non-breeders and finds himself living as the lowest of the low, and eventually finding himself as the voice of the oppressed.
And one might wonder why I find books like 1984 so fascinating? Actually, though the background of the world isn't perfect, I've kind of taken the worst from different sides of society and created this alternate reality where my main character, Alex, basically goes through hell and is treated like an animal through most of his existence.
Why do I do this? I don't know. But what's important is this story does have an ending planned out, and I think if I can ever get there, I'll go back through, do a quick clean up, hold my breath and throw it on the internets for the whole world to see.
But not before.
This year's Nano was written in the same world (IE - alternate timeline) as last year's. I just followed a character that is related to a character that knows a character that knows Alex. Did you get that? that's probably part of my problem as to why I can't finish anything. I'll start following one guy, write background stories in my head of another guy that he meets, and feel like I have to flesh that out a bit so I get to writing and 265,000 words later I've got a story that takes place parallel to the regular storyline and kind of weaves in and out, except it follows four different characters. And that's not even the Nano.
This year's Nano goes as follows.
A young boy is forced to grow up a little to fast through various trials and obstacles as he tries to protect his family from his cruel and malicious step father.
Um, forgot the macro setting. I guess the setting is HIS LIFE, as it follows him from about 6 years old to about 38 years old. I stopped at about 13. It is entirely NOT readable. I made the step father as evil as I could think of and there is an ending where the villain gets his just reward, so there is a happy feeling inside of "Booyah, got what you deserved Bastard!", but what the main character (Rob)has to go through a lot of strife to get there.
What gets me are there are people like this out int he world who would be like this guy if they could get away with it. Unfortunately, in this reality, people are not treated very good unless they are what I dub 'master class'.
But I'm gettin away from myself. See, I tend to get sidetracked, which is why I haven't been able to finish all of my stories and tend to come back to them after a leave of absence. I have one from 2001 that I never finished. NONE of them are finished.
I find though, that my best stories are the ones where I tend to go for humor by getting the main character(s) out of their comfort zone, and usually way out of their comfort zone. The above story(ies) are nto funny, but I have one that sounds hilarious just by by reading the builder.
A spoiled, pampered celebrity socialite and a highly trained elite special ops soldier from two very different worlds somehow find themselves in each other's body, and are forced to live each other's lives until they figure out how to return to their original selves
Hijinx insues. And a lot of raised eyebrows. Actually, I'm surprised by how readable this story actually is. Unfortunately, some guy in the special forces or a ranger would read it and tear it a part while telling me 'that is NOT how we do things.' But seriously, how would you do things if Paris Hilton was controlling your body? (and no, she's fictional, but has the same mentality to begin with).
I hate a poorly done gender bending character swap story which has been done a lot, so I wrote one myself. And no, you can't read it. (It's not finished!)
One I was doing hot on that was based purely on a homework assignment where I built a character from ground up is called "Satyr", has some moments of extreme discomfort (I think I would have to rewrite parts of it to make it work) and yet, probably has the most chance of being something I would consider publishing. Because, well, it amuses me.
A popular jock finds himself 'awakened' to his true self as that of a mythithical beast known as a satyr and is forced to befriend the outcast coven of witches at his school who awakened him to reverse the spell.
For some reason, I like to write jocks. Mostly cocky and arrogant and full of themselves male characters. And then I throw a monkey wrench at them and see how they handle it. The Satyr is like this. Being a mythical beast who forgets how to do certain things gets in the way of his social life.
Of course, I think this story is hilarious, though weird in some parts, and one of these days I would like to post this story somewhere where people can read it and laugh at it with me. Though with my luck, half of the audience would read it, tells me it sucks and stare at me as if everything now makes sense and they finally get why I am so weird. But that will never happen. Why?
Because it isn't finished. And I would only post something on the internets that is finished. Until then, you can ask me, 'so Kami, why are you telling us about your stories when you won't let us read them?'
And I will respond 'because, writing takes up a good deal of my personal time, which is usually reserved for my social life, which explains why I have one, and now you can heed the warnings of why you shouldn't get into writing. It is addictive and it will eat your life.'
Yes, writing is usually a solo activity and not something done with a group of people. And this is the synopsis of Four of my stories. At last count I had about 25 of them. The shortest? Well, I didn't get to far in Nano '2004. I made it to 1,373 words and got bored with it. But the plan is still there to tell the story.
The longest? I'm guessing 555,000 words. Although, to be fair, that particular story is probably five seperate stories combined into one.
And you can't read it.
One of these days, I'm going to write a 'short' story, 'short' being the key word there, actually FINISH it, and publish it.
Maybe next year's Nano it will happen? Yeah, 50,000 words is a short story in my terms.
1984
Have I commented on this before?
This summer I read the novel 1984 for the first time.
Some recent discoveries made me revisit it again, this time via Netflix (I tried to pick up the DVD but it is hard to find for any decent price!), as I watched the movie version. What can I say, this is a very faithful adaptation of the book. But mostly it got me thinking of current events.
Granted, 1984 marks the extreme in government manipulation, but with how the press is supposed to be free, and in an essence a check on the government, how the media is giving a pass on events that are happening right now. I don't know the full details to the global warming emails, showing that a lot of the data pertaining to global warming shows that it has been misrepresented to make it look worse then it is. Is this not manipulation of the facts by the government and otehr agencies in an effort to control the people? Cap and Trade comes to mind, the bill that's stalled in congress as of present.
Not to say that Republicans are exempt, the Patriot Act is a bit orwellian as well come to think of it, and I can see why some people are so opposed to it. Every government program may have good intentions behind it, but that program in time will become corrupt. Look at the Department of Homeland Security. It started as a very conservative idea, to secure our country against foreign threats, but now that Janet Napolitano is head of it, she's painted a broad stroke of possible terrorist suspects that falls under conservative ideals, and as far as I know, since that report we have had one guy shoot an abortionist? Meanwhile, we have extremists attacking our troops both on the inside and out.
Fortunately, i don't think things will ever be depicted as they are shown in 1984, at least, not in the US, we're to independant for that. But you can see in levels of the government that people in power are trying to get control over the people, and they start by taking away their freedoms and providing them with what they need. One of the reasons why I'm opposed to government providing me much of anything. There are only a certain things a government should do, but that's another blog post.
Back to 1984 itself, watching it I discovered a few things that it mentions from the book that I missed the first time I read it. If you haven't read it in a while, I would highly recommend checking this book out.
And remember, we've always been at war with Eastasia.
This summer I read the novel 1984 for the first time.
Some recent discoveries made me revisit it again, this time via Netflix (I tried to pick up the DVD but it is hard to find for any decent price!), as I watched the movie version. What can I say, this is a very faithful adaptation of the book. But mostly it got me thinking of current events.
Granted, 1984 marks the extreme in government manipulation, but with how the press is supposed to be free, and in an essence a check on the government, how the media is giving a pass on events that are happening right now. I don't know the full details to the global warming emails, showing that a lot of the data pertaining to global warming shows that it has been misrepresented to make it look worse then it is. Is this not manipulation of the facts by the government and otehr agencies in an effort to control the people? Cap and Trade comes to mind, the bill that's stalled in congress as of present.
Not to say that Republicans are exempt, the Patriot Act is a bit orwellian as well come to think of it, and I can see why some people are so opposed to it. Every government program may have good intentions behind it, but that program in time will become corrupt. Look at the Department of Homeland Security. It started as a very conservative idea, to secure our country against foreign threats, but now that Janet Napolitano is head of it, she's painted a broad stroke of possible terrorist suspects that falls under conservative ideals, and as far as I know, since that report we have had one guy shoot an abortionist? Meanwhile, we have extremists attacking our troops both on the inside and out.
Fortunately, i don't think things will ever be depicted as they are shown in 1984, at least, not in the US, we're to independant for that. But you can see in levels of the government that people in power are trying to get control over the people, and they start by taking away their freedoms and providing them with what they need. One of the reasons why I'm opposed to government providing me much of anything. There are only a certain things a government should do, but that's another blog post.
Back to 1984 itself, watching it I discovered a few things that it mentions from the book that I missed the first time I read it. If you haven't read it in a while, I would highly recommend checking this book out.
And remember, we've always been at war with Eastasia.
11.27.2009
Things are Good, but Life is Uneventful
Black friday. Hmm. . .
I was debating on going shopping today for some deals, there are some things I was thinking of getting, but fortunately, I was able to talk myself right out of it, and got caught playing Zynga games on Facebook instead. Those things are evil, and time wasters of the Nth degree. But overall today was really relaxed and ho hum.
Tomorrow I'm cleaning. My place is a disaster. And then I might go shopping for some food, since I have nothing to eat right now.
complete randomness. Yes. This is my life right now.
So, here is the question. Yes, I am pretty up to date on current events, so answer this. If you come here and want to read about my thoughts and opinions on anything going on right now, leave a comment below. Unfortunately, certain things going on in my personal life I have to be mum on, mostly in regards to work. Over the next twelve hours, if I have one comment or three, or Six, who knows, I'll write about the topic I find most interesting, unless two or more people request my thoughts on the same topic, in which case I will write about the topic the most people have requested.
And no, I will not write about military life and being a drill sergeant.
Danke
I was debating on going shopping today for some deals, there are some things I was thinking of getting, but fortunately, I was able to talk myself right out of it, and got caught playing Zynga games on Facebook instead. Those things are evil, and time wasters of the Nth degree. But overall today was really relaxed and ho hum.
Tomorrow I'm cleaning. My place is a disaster. And then I might go shopping for some food, since I have nothing to eat right now.
complete randomness. Yes. This is my life right now.
So, here is the question. Yes, I am pretty up to date on current events, so answer this. If you come here and want to read about my thoughts and opinions on anything going on right now, leave a comment below. Unfortunately, certain things going on in my personal life I have to be mum on, mostly in regards to work. Over the next twelve hours, if I have one comment or three, or Six, who knows, I'll write about the topic I find most interesting, unless two or more people request my thoughts on the same topic, in which case I will write about the topic the most people have requested.
And no, I will not write about military life and being a drill sergeant.
Danke
11.25.2009
Giving Thanks
Thanksgiving is the time to be grateful and give thanks for everything you have.
You know, I think right now in my life I am perhaps the most content and satisfied I have ever been. Not to say that everything is perfect and gumdrops and lollypops, but things could be a whole lot worse then they are. I have a job where I make good money (though I need to have a back up plan in three months, but I'll be stable in the transition phase) and I have realize a lot about life and come to a lot of conclusions where I am not as angsty as I was before. I had some serious emotional roller coasters through my early twenties of just trying to figure things out. I'm still getting there, but I can look at life and things make a hell of a lot more sense now then they did five years ago.
I am very grateful for my family for being there for me through thick and thin, though I guess I have made it fairly easy for the most part, but I know some things I do does make my mom's hair turn grey.
I'm also still trying to figure me out. It's one of those trials, you think you know yourself, but how well do you really know yourself? When I had my bouts of depression in my late teens/early twenties of just figuring things out, I'll be honest, i didn't really like myself as a person. But then I didn't get me, and it transcended a lot of things, beyond politics and more to do with Identity, but as I've grown older and gotten more comfortable with myself, I've discovered that the person I am now is a person I can be happy being.
sure, I still got the crappy skin and pasty white complexion that refused to tan, I shed hair at a rate that i'm shocked I'm not bald yet and I say things completely off the wall that makes a lot of people turn and go 'huh?', but I think overall I've become comfortable being me, and I think it's important to be comfortable with who you are.
I don't stress out like I used too, sure Politics still causes me to get a little frustrated with how the world works, but there is still a lot to be thankful for. You just gotta keep your head above water and put things in perspective.
Just never tell me no matter how bad things get, they can always get worse. But for now, things are good.
Ramblings Off/
You know, I think right now in my life I am perhaps the most content and satisfied I have ever been. Not to say that everything is perfect and gumdrops and lollypops, but things could be a whole lot worse then they are. I have a job where I make good money (though I need to have a back up plan in three months, but I'll be stable in the transition phase) and I have realize a lot about life and come to a lot of conclusions where I am not as angsty as I was before. I had some serious emotional roller coasters through my early twenties of just trying to figure things out. I'm still getting there, but I can look at life and things make a hell of a lot more sense now then they did five years ago.
I am very grateful for my family for being there for me through thick and thin, though I guess I have made it fairly easy for the most part, but I know some things I do does make my mom's hair turn grey.
I'm also still trying to figure me out. It's one of those trials, you think you know yourself, but how well do you really know yourself? When I had my bouts of depression in my late teens/early twenties of just figuring things out, I'll be honest, i didn't really like myself as a person. But then I didn't get me, and it transcended a lot of things, beyond politics and more to do with Identity, but as I've grown older and gotten more comfortable with myself, I've discovered that the person I am now is a person I can be happy being.
sure, I still got the crappy skin and pasty white complexion that refused to tan, I shed hair at a rate that i'm shocked I'm not bald yet and I say things completely off the wall that makes a lot of people turn and go 'huh?', but I think overall I've become comfortable being me, and I think it's important to be comfortable with who you are.
I don't stress out like I used too, sure Politics still causes me to get a little frustrated with how the world works, but there is still a lot to be thankful for. You just gotta keep your head above water and put things in perspective.
Just never tell me no matter how bad things get, they can always get worse. But for now, things are good.
Ramblings Off/
11.16.2009
Hocking Hills
I went out to the Hocking Hills yesterday, which is a four hour drive and somewhat of a spur of the moment thing for me.
Mostly, I went because I wanted to go on the Zipline Tour. I had never heard of Hocking Hills really before this, but overall I'm glad I went, because Hocking Hills overall is a pretty cool place to visit.
Um, I don't know why I look somewhat psychotic in this picture, but I was having a good time!
The canopy tours has 10 ziplines and like five skybridges that has you zipping around in the trees about 30-80 feet high. The adrenaline is rushing and its a LOT of fun!
On a sky bridge, testing the restraints. Should have tested them a little farther.
The people there were awesome and they are really laid back, telling us the only rule was to have them hook us up and that we were to have a good time. That was easy, overall the trip took about two and a half hours from start to finish.
Yes, I look a little crazed from the adrenaline, but its only because I always make this crazed face when I'm goofing around
Riding on a zipline is a lot of fun. I want to do more research on other zipline tours but I was told this is one of the best ones in the Continental US. The longest zipline is about 600 feet long, riding up to 35 mph on the line. I don't think I ever got that fast thought.
Ok, fine, actually I am crazy. . . tour guides were awesome guys though!
This is the zipline tour from the line itself. You don't get the same affect as the actual tour from the video but it is a bit of a rush!
I have noticed it takes a lot for me to get a thrill anymore, I've gotten used to heights so I didn't really feel scared the entire time I was out there. Felt totally safe and just had a blast! If you are ever in the Hocking Hills, really recommend checking this place out.
And of course, there is more in the Hocking Hills then Zipline Tours.
This is a rockbridge that is a natural formation, the picture doesn't do it justice but you have to walk about a mile or so to get to it. There are a lot of cool natural formations like this in the Hocking Hills.
This is Old Man's Cave, which is in the middle of this huge gorge that is cut through the area, you wouldn't know it was there until you practically walked up on it, and there wasn't people all over the place.
Old Man's Cave has a couple of waterfalls, this is the upper falls, though I'm guessing it's a little more spectacular when you catch it in season. And I am advertising the fact that I went Zip Lining, yes.
Not every picture has to have me in it
Cedar Falls is down the road a couple miles, I hear this is another cool waterfall when you get it in season, but as you can see, this time of year it's a bit of a trickle.
The trails to the falls are just really cool, this area is awesome for hiking in. This is coming up the gorge out of Cedar Falls. I wanted to see more, but alas, it gets dark in November. There is plenty to see here that you can spend a couple days exploring. I only had one, and I had to be back in time to get some sleep, seeing as I worked today. And this was a four hour drive.
The last place I got to visit was Ash Cave. Playing with the lighting, I took some pictures with the low light setting, taking advantage of the affects. It was a beautiful day to explore the hills considering it is the middle of November.
There are a couple of other places that I didn't get around too, Cantwell Cliffs, the Rock House and Conkles Hollow were the ones I wanted to see that I didn't get too. Rock climbing, ATV rentals, Horse back riding, apparently this is a pretty big tourist destination.
Never knew this was here. As I've toured it, I have come to discover I really like the State of Ohio. Probably one of my top ten favorite states.
great, now I'll have to do a list.
Mostly, I went because I wanted to go on the Zipline Tour. I had never heard of Hocking Hills really before this, but overall I'm glad I went, because Hocking Hills overall is a pretty cool place to visit.
The canopy tours has 10 ziplines and like five skybridges that has you zipping around in the trees about 30-80 feet high. The adrenaline is rushing and its a LOT of fun!
The people there were awesome and they are really laid back, telling us the only rule was to have them hook us up and that we were to have a good time. That was easy, overall the trip took about two and a half hours from start to finish.
Riding on a zipline is a lot of fun. I want to do more research on other zipline tours but I was told this is one of the best ones in the Continental US. The longest zipline is about 600 feet long, riding up to 35 mph on the line. I don't think I ever got that fast thought.
This is the zipline tour from the line itself. You don't get the same affect as the actual tour from the video but it is a bit of a rush!
I have noticed it takes a lot for me to get a thrill anymore, I've gotten used to heights so I didn't really feel scared the entire time I was out there. Felt totally safe and just had a blast! If you are ever in the Hocking Hills, really recommend checking this place out.
And of course, there is more in the Hocking Hills then Zipline Tours.
This is a rockbridge that is a natural formation, the picture doesn't do it justice but you have to walk about a mile or so to get to it. There are a lot of cool natural formations like this in the Hocking Hills.
This is Old Man's Cave, which is in the middle of this huge gorge that is cut through the area, you wouldn't know it was there until you practically walked up on it, and there wasn't people all over the place.
Old Man's Cave has a couple of waterfalls, this is the upper falls, though I'm guessing it's a little more spectacular when you catch it in season. And I am advertising the fact that I went Zip Lining, yes.
Cedar Falls is down the road a couple miles, I hear this is another cool waterfall when you get it in season, but as you can see, this time of year it's a bit of a trickle.
The trails to the falls are just really cool, this area is awesome for hiking in. This is coming up the gorge out of Cedar Falls. I wanted to see more, but alas, it gets dark in November. There is plenty to see here that you can spend a couple days exploring. I only had one, and I had to be back in time to get some sleep, seeing as I worked today. And this was a four hour drive.
The last place I got to visit was Ash Cave. Playing with the lighting, I took some pictures with the low light setting, taking advantage of the affects. It was a beautiful day to explore the hills considering it is the middle of November.
There are a couple of other places that I didn't get around too, Cantwell Cliffs, the Rock House and Conkles Hollow were the ones I wanted to see that I didn't get too. Rock climbing, ATV rentals, Horse back riding, apparently this is a pretty big tourist destination.
Never knew this was here. As I've toured it, I have come to discover I really like the State of Ohio. Probably one of my top ten favorite states.
great, now I'll have to do a list.
11.15.2009
GAARRRR!!!!
So I come home from an awesome day all pumped and ready to blog about it and then. . .
my computer acts stupid and won't recognize either of my cameras so I can't download pictures.
Furthermore, a thumbdrive I bought for the pictures of what I did today doesn't include all the pictures like I was told it would. Considering that I went ahead and paid as much as I did for it THINKING I was getting all the pictures, I am frustrated. Hopefully the place noted my frustration in my irritated and strongly worded letter detailing my irritation. I'll probably call them tomorrow too, only as long as they send me the couple pictures I want.
I intend to blog tomorrow about my day, because my day was awesome. But I want to update with pictures.
And then I'll be ready to finally write about my Vacation across half the country.
EDIT - Figured out the issue with the Computer/Camera not talking. So here's a preview.
my computer acts stupid and won't recognize either of my cameras so I can't download pictures.
Furthermore, a thumbdrive I bought for the pictures of what I did today doesn't include all the pictures like I was told it would. Considering that I went ahead and paid as much as I did for it THINKING I was getting all the pictures, I am frustrated. Hopefully the place noted my frustration in my irritated and strongly worded letter detailing my irritation. I'll probably call them tomorrow too, only as long as they send me the couple pictures I want.
I intend to blog tomorrow about my day, because my day was awesome. But I want to update with pictures.
And then I'll be ready to finally write about my Vacation across half the country.
EDIT - Figured out the issue with the Computer/Camera not talking. So here's a preview.
11.13.2009
Re: Fort Hood Shootings
So now I've been following up on Fort Hood and what happened there and am in a little more understanding of what happened and this is what I'm going to say.
The Army, being the Army, needs to pull its head out of its ass and call this what it is. When Fort Hood, the location where this happened, is wrenching as to 'why' this happened when it is blatantly obvious that this is indeed, a lesson to what we call, sensitivity training.
People say that this guy was harrassed for being a muslim and that's why he snapped. Well, no shit he was harrassed, if indeed he was harrassed, because this guy advocated for Jihad to his peers and gave a power point presentation at walter reed talking about beheadings and why this was perfectly acceptable.
There are muslims in the army, I've worked with them, and they are by and large decent people who don't get harrassed because you know why? They aren't talking about how Jihad is ok and questioning the war on terror being a war against Islam. They are serving and as long as they serve and soldier up and not go talking jihad, people will respect them for who they are, soldiers who happen to also be muslims. Most soldiers don't see this as a war against islam. It's a war against terror, unfortunately, the perpetrators tend to be Muslim. When Terrorists stop killing Americans in the name of Islam, maybe we can start seperating the two a little easier.
This is a terrorist action. End of story, this guy needs to fry. Let's stop talking about how it's the army's fault this guy snapped because if this causes everyone to have to sit in on a briefing army wide about how we need to be sensitive to other people's feelings I'm going to snap. We're the Army! You know what we do for a living? We kill people and we protect this great nation from our enemies by killing them. Listen up all you kids out there that are thinking about joining the army so you can get your education paid for or because the economy stinks and you need a job, if you join the army you are going to learn how to fire a weapon with the intention of killing somebody with it. You are paid to learn how to kill people. If you are easily offended, you don't need to be joining the army. It is not for you.
If you disagree with the war on terror (oops, my bad, the overseas contigency operation) then you don't need to be joining the army. If you are a muslim who sympathizes with Osama Bin Laden and decide to join the army and get harrassed for calling your coworkers infedels, then don't start complaining because people don't like you. You don't belong.
Why in the hell is the military a gun free zone? You know what would have stopped this idiot from opening up fire on a bunch of unarmed people? People who could meet fire with fire, which ended up being a couple civilian police officers. Why are civilian police officers (God Bless 'em) coming in to put a stop to a crazed lunatic opening fire on soldiers anyway? These are SOLDIERS!!! You know what the definition of a soldier is? Somebody who knows how to use a gun! If anybody has the right to carry weapons, a uniformed soldier does. Because Gun Free Zone is just an open meat market to anybody who wants to go slaughter people. Take a gun into a gun free zone and open up. Now, if you want to open up fire in a place where everyone is armed, see how many shots you are able to release before somebody takes you out. It sure in hell won't be one hundred.
So, in conclusion, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan needs to be put down. He's a traitor to his country and last I heard, punishment for Treason is death. Just throw him under an electric chair and let him meet his just reward. Stop making excuses for this bastard and why this happened.
Furthermore, just because the military is short on Psychiatrists doesn't mean we have to keep them all in because that is the problem here. This guy should have been kicked out a long time ago. He should have never made Major but this is a problem with the medical corp unfortunately. We are under strength and when you are under strength, you hang onto the crap because they 'supposedly' can do the job. And now you wonder why Socialized Medicine is so great? Why was this idiot even a psychiatrist? That is where the army failed people, by allowing this guy to stay in instead of getting rid of him in the name of 'diversity'.
End of Rant
The Army, being the Army, needs to pull its head out of its ass and call this what it is. When Fort Hood, the location where this happened, is wrenching as to 'why' this happened when it is blatantly obvious that this is indeed, a lesson to what we call, sensitivity training.
People say that this guy was harrassed for being a muslim and that's why he snapped. Well, no shit he was harrassed, if indeed he was harrassed, because this guy advocated for Jihad to his peers and gave a power point presentation at walter reed talking about beheadings and why this was perfectly acceptable.
There are muslims in the army, I've worked with them, and they are by and large decent people who don't get harrassed because you know why? They aren't talking about how Jihad is ok and questioning the war on terror being a war against Islam. They are serving and as long as they serve and soldier up and not go talking jihad, people will respect them for who they are, soldiers who happen to also be muslims. Most soldiers don't see this as a war against islam. It's a war against terror, unfortunately, the perpetrators tend to be Muslim. When Terrorists stop killing Americans in the name of Islam, maybe we can start seperating the two a little easier.
This is a terrorist action. End of story, this guy needs to fry. Let's stop talking about how it's the army's fault this guy snapped because if this causes everyone to have to sit in on a briefing army wide about how we need to be sensitive to other people's feelings I'm going to snap. We're the Army! You know what we do for a living? We kill people and we protect this great nation from our enemies by killing them. Listen up all you kids out there that are thinking about joining the army so you can get your education paid for or because the economy stinks and you need a job, if you join the army you are going to learn how to fire a weapon with the intention of killing somebody with it. You are paid to learn how to kill people. If you are easily offended, you don't need to be joining the army. It is not for you.
If you disagree with the war on terror (oops, my bad, the overseas contigency operation) then you don't need to be joining the army. If you are a muslim who sympathizes with Osama Bin Laden and decide to join the army and get harrassed for calling your coworkers infedels, then don't start complaining because people don't like you. You don't belong.
Why in the hell is the military a gun free zone? You know what would have stopped this idiot from opening up fire on a bunch of unarmed people? People who could meet fire with fire, which ended up being a couple civilian police officers. Why are civilian police officers (God Bless 'em) coming in to put a stop to a crazed lunatic opening fire on soldiers anyway? These are SOLDIERS!!! You know what the definition of a soldier is? Somebody who knows how to use a gun! If anybody has the right to carry weapons, a uniformed soldier does. Because Gun Free Zone is just an open meat market to anybody who wants to go slaughter people. Take a gun into a gun free zone and open up. Now, if you want to open up fire in a place where everyone is armed, see how many shots you are able to release before somebody takes you out. It sure in hell won't be one hundred.
So, in conclusion, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan needs to be put down. He's a traitor to his country and last I heard, punishment for Treason is death. Just throw him under an electric chair and let him meet his just reward. Stop making excuses for this bastard and why this happened.
Furthermore, just because the military is short on Psychiatrists doesn't mean we have to keep them all in because that is the problem here. This guy should have been kicked out a long time ago. He should have never made Major but this is a problem with the medical corp unfortunately. We are under strength and when you are under strength, you hang onto the crap because they 'supposedly' can do the job. And now you wonder why Socialized Medicine is so great? Why was this idiot even a psychiatrist? That is where the army failed people, by allowing this guy to stay in instead of getting rid of him in the name of 'diversity'.
End of Rant
11.10.2009
Ultra Realistic Military Video Game
Ultra-Realistic Modern Warfare Game Features Awaiting Orders, Repairing Trucks
All my battle buddies are hyping up Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 2 (yes, this is what we do when we don't have soldiers to train). Most of them have been to Iraq and are commenting on how intense it is.
But boy I love the Onion.
11.07.2009
Fort Hood Shooting
Asking for my opinion on the Ft Hood shootings.
To be honest, I don't know a whole lot about the circumstances, but then, I don't think anybody can really understand why this guy decided to commit this horrendous act, especially considering that he was a Psychiatrist. People are asking why this man who apparently snapped could be allowed to stay in after it turns out that there was a record of this guy not being exactly stable.
So, why in the hell was he in the army still despite this?
Having some experience in the Medical Field, I can tell you for one thing that the military is hurting in some specialized fields such as psychiatry and psychology, and despite his less then glowing evaluations while stationed at Walter Reed he still made Major. Me, I'm not surprised by that one bit. But that's neither here nor there.
Was his religion a motivation for his acts? I would think it played a big part and we need to confront this issue of radical islam instead of being PC about it and tiptoeing around in case we offend somebody. Those that are muslim but not in agreement with the concept of Jihad against the United States and some guy opening fire in a crowd screaming "Allahu Akbar" should be condemning this act for what it is, an act on terror in the name of an ideaology.
People are trying to fit the pieces together, I've been kind of holed up from the world for the last few days trying to recoop from twenty six days on the road sleeping in hostels, friend's couches, hotel rooms and the back of my pick up (hey, whatever's cheap, right) I've been kind of mum on subjects like this. and I don't know all the facts. Do i think it's a heinous crime? indeed I do, and there is a reason why it was taken out at a military base, there are a lot of factors at play here, and a lot of innocent lives were lost.
To be honest, I don't know enough to really give an honest assessment of what happened without giving some knee jerk reaction. I'm actually more willing to give my opinion on this incident, which happened in September, because I worked with the guy involved, who was one of my battle buddies on the trail last year (yes, my disgruntled supply sergeant days). But I don't know all the facts there either and I don't feel its my place to rush to judgment.
It's easy to get passionate about something when you only have part of the story. But i don't believe PTSD was the issue, and his religion and political beliefs were definitely a factor. I'll leave it at that.
UPDATE - I think I'll default to THIS POST on Right Wing News. He's done more research on the topic then I have, and I'm in agreement with what he says.
To be honest, I don't know a whole lot about the circumstances, but then, I don't think anybody can really understand why this guy decided to commit this horrendous act, especially considering that he was a Psychiatrist. People are asking why this man who apparently snapped could be allowed to stay in after it turns out that there was a record of this guy not being exactly stable.
So, why in the hell was he in the army still despite this?
Having some experience in the Medical Field, I can tell you for one thing that the military is hurting in some specialized fields such as psychiatry and psychology, and despite his less then glowing evaluations while stationed at Walter Reed he still made Major. Me, I'm not surprised by that one bit. But that's neither here nor there.
Was his religion a motivation for his acts? I would think it played a big part and we need to confront this issue of radical islam instead of being PC about it and tiptoeing around in case we offend somebody. Those that are muslim but not in agreement with the concept of Jihad against the United States and some guy opening fire in a crowd screaming "Allahu Akbar" should be condemning this act for what it is, an act on terror in the name of an ideaology.
People are trying to fit the pieces together, I've been kind of holed up from the world for the last few days trying to recoop from twenty six days on the road sleeping in hostels, friend's couches, hotel rooms and the back of my pick up (hey, whatever's cheap, right) I've been kind of mum on subjects like this. and I don't know all the facts. Do i think it's a heinous crime? indeed I do, and there is a reason why it was taken out at a military base, there are a lot of factors at play here, and a lot of innocent lives were lost.
To be honest, I don't know enough to really give an honest assessment of what happened without giving some knee jerk reaction. I'm actually more willing to give my opinion on this incident, which happened in September, because I worked with the guy involved, who was one of my battle buddies on the trail last year (yes, my disgruntled supply sergeant days). But I don't know all the facts there either and I don't feel its my place to rush to judgment.
It's easy to get passionate about something when you only have part of the story. But i don't believe PTSD was the issue, and his religion and political beliefs were definitely a factor. I'll leave it at that.
UPDATE - I think I'll default to THIS POST on Right Wing News. He's done more research on the topic then I have, and I'm in agreement with what he says.
Barack Obama's Accomplishments
Ok, I meant to post this on the fourth, or rather, maybe I should post it on January 20th after a little more research, because then it will really have been a year, but regardless, I tried to be open about an Obama presidency, which seemed more and more certain last year the closer we got to the election, and I wanted him to have a successful presidency, successful being that he didn't bring our nation into a chaos and bankruptcy for pushing a radical socialist agenda. In short, I was hoping he would govern as a moderate.
well, I could go on and on about why so far I think Obama's presidency has been an abject failure, but alas, with how McCain was running his presidential campaign, I can see why people wanted to vote for HopeNChange, but alas, we can't be negative all the time.
So I am going to highlight Obama's accomplishments in office that I approve of, things that I'm in agreement with.
o Obama Swats Fly - I'll give credit where credit is due. I'm actually impressed by the president's smooth fly swatting reflex here.
o Obama calls Kanye West a Jack Ass - Full agreement there.
o Obama gets his daughters a puppy - Ahh, isn't Bo cute?
Um, why did it take six months to do this?
o Signing of on the use of lethal force to off some pirates - And the snipers did one heck of a job too.
o sending 17,000 troops to afghanistan in February - We really need to finish the job there, and this initial surge was a good move. However, I can't be in agreement with Obama on the Afghanistan issue now. He says he won't make a decision that will put the lives of soldiers on the line, but, well, NOT doing anything is also costing our soldiers their lives. Make a decision, Obama, you're the one in charge now.
And, er, um, ok I admit, I'm a bit stumped. To be honest, being what I am, a fiscal conservative, when it comes to fiscal policies, I feel that everything Obama has inacted in his term as President has been a disaster. Did you hear about the 10.2% unemployment rate, when we were promised it wouldn't raise above 8.5% if we hurried and passed that stimulus bill back in February?
there are plenty of things he has done that I'm ho-hum about, meaning I could care less one way or another, or I just don't know enough about the issue to really have a firm opinion on it. But that said, in trying to be positive, what has Obama done in office that is actually a good thing? Anybody? Anybody? Bueller?
well, I could go on and on about why so far I think Obama's presidency has been an abject failure, but alas, with how McCain was running his presidential campaign, I can see why people wanted to vote for HopeNChange, but alas, we can't be negative all the time.
So I am going to highlight Obama's accomplishments in office that I approve of, things that I'm in agreement with.
o Obama Swats Fly - I'll give credit where credit is due. I'm actually impressed by the president's smooth fly swatting reflex here.
o Obama calls Kanye West a Jack Ass - Full agreement there.
o Obama gets his daughters a puppy - Ahh, isn't Bo cute?
Um, why did it take six months to do this?
o Signing of on the use of lethal force to off some pirates - And the snipers did one heck of a job too.
o sending 17,000 troops to afghanistan in February - We really need to finish the job there, and this initial surge was a good move. However, I can't be in agreement with Obama on the Afghanistan issue now. He says he won't make a decision that will put the lives of soldiers on the line, but, well, NOT doing anything is also costing our soldiers their lives. Make a decision, Obama, you're the one in charge now.
And, er, um, ok I admit, I'm a bit stumped. To be honest, being what I am, a fiscal conservative, when it comes to fiscal policies, I feel that everything Obama has inacted in his term as President has been a disaster. Did you hear about the 10.2% unemployment rate, when we were promised it wouldn't raise above 8.5% if we hurried and passed that stimulus bill back in February?
there are plenty of things he has done that I'm ho-hum about, meaning I could care less one way or another, or I just don't know enough about the issue to really have a firm opinion on it. But that said, in trying to be positive, what has Obama done in office that is actually a good thing? Anybody? Anybody? Bueller?
NaNoWriMo is here again
So there are about a dozen and one topics I want to blog about, pictures I need to post, my facebook I need to update, and I need to clean my house (and my truck) from my trip.
Instead, I got caught up in the NaNoWriMo craze. Yep, November is National Novel Writer's Month and I am participating, though I got to a late start. I'm tracking pretty well so far, this time the story takes place in the same world my Nano from last year took place (alternate Earth timeline) and would probably cause most people to cringe uncomfortably if they were to read it. Yep, definitely my kind of story.
funny, I was hoping to make last year's novel readable but I still haven't finished it, I don't know what my deal is, I'll write about a character and introduce a new character and flesh them out and think 'hmm, they are more interesting to me then my previous character' and then I'll explore them for a bit. Not your typical model for a successful story, because I break every rule in the 'how to write a novel' rulebook.
I guess maybe that's why I write for me.
Now i can prepare to have absolutely no time to myself as I slave over 50,000 words this month. which actually shouldn't be to difficult for me to do come to think of it?
Instead, I got caught up in the NaNoWriMo craze. Yep, November is National Novel Writer's Month and I am participating, though I got to a late start. I'm tracking pretty well so far, this time the story takes place in the same world my Nano from last year took place (alternate Earth timeline) and would probably cause most people to cringe uncomfortably if they were to read it. Yep, definitely my kind of story.
funny, I was hoping to make last year's novel readable but I still haven't finished it, I don't know what my deal is, I'll write about a character and introduce a new character and flesh them out and think 'hmm, they are more interesting to me then my previous character' and then I'll explore them for a bit. Not your typical model for a successful story, because I break every rule in the 'how to write a novel' rulebook.
I guess maybe that's why I write for me.
Now i can prepare to have absolutely no time to myself as I slave over 50,000 words this month. which actually shouldn't be to difficult for me to do come to think of it?
11.04.2009
Back from Trip
So I made it back home, er, well, my home away from home at least. I left on the tenth and got back on the third, I still have until Saturday, but I think I'll just set in my house and relax for a few days and call this trip off a little early. Trying to blog it obviously came out as me posting two pointless and slightly incoherent blogs about my trip and then I just gave up because they weren't even that interesting for me to read.
But anyway, all in all, I've upped my total states visited number to 41.
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Fortunately, four seperate trips should knock out the remaining states. I'm thinking of getting Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota in one fail swoop on my way home and if I get selected for a certain job next year (yes, military related, hence my vagueness) I'll likely knock out the remaining southern states too. That just leaves Alaska and Hawaii, which will be my toughest states to get.
I'm thinking of doing a roadtrip to Alaska possibly next summer if the job doesn't go through, but that's a big maybe. I can catch Hawaii (and probably Alaska too) on a military hop, it's just a question of getting the motivation and time to go.
Well, my bank account is significantly lighter now, but I'll blog more about my trip in full later. In the meantime, well, I have learned that 30 days is to long to take a vacation, two weeks (and depending on where you go, three weeks works too) is just about right. I didn't think I would ever say this, but it feels good to be back in Knox.
But anyway, all in all, I've upped my total states visited number to 41.
This application is created by interactive maps.
You can also have your visited states map on your site.
If you see this message, you need to upgrade your flash player.
| Make your visited states map | Flex charts |
Fortunately, four seperate trips should knock out the remaining states. I'm thinking of getting Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota in one fail swoop on my way home and if I get selected for a certain job next year (yes, military related, hence my vagueness) I'll likely knock out the remaining southern states too. That just leaves Alaska and Hawaii, which will be my toughest states to get.
I'm thinking of doing a roadtrip to Alaska possibly next summer if the job doesn't go through, but that's a big maybe. I can catch Hawaii (and probably Alaska too) on a military hop, it's just a question of getting the motivation and time to go.
Well, my bank account is significantly lighter now, but I'll blog more about my trip in full later. In the meantime, well, I have learned that 30 days is to long to take a vacation, two weeks (and depending on where you go, three weeks works too) is just about right. I didn't think I would ever say this, but it feels good to be back in Knox.
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