HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BABY!!!
One year ago today I became the luckiest man on the planet. I married the most amazing woman I have ever met. I remember 02July05 as being a hectic day. Up around 0500 because I couldn’t sleep. Getting the clubhouse set up for our wedding, making a lot of last minute preparations, picking things up, and finally, picking up belly from that expensive flight home, both of our families together, waiting for that special moment when two lives were joined as one.
Although this year has not been ideal, we have made the best of the situation. 11 of 365 days spent together, 11 amazing days. But only a prelude of what’s to come. I have a few more months in the Sand Box before we get to be together once again. There are so many things I want to do in my life, so much I want to experience, but how special can these moments be without someone to spend those times with?
I have not always been the easiest person to live with, this much I know. There was so much I had to learn, situations I didn’t know how to deal with, friends who deserved much better treatment along the way. Despite all of this, one person was always there to help me stay centered, to pick up the pieces when I let things fall apart. I’m so thankful she never gave up on me, that she chose to share her life, her dreams with me.
It’s likely we would have been planning our full scale wedding right about now, a more formal and traditional setting than our quick ceremony one year ago today, but you know, I wouldn’t change a thing. For all these experiences help to make us who we are as a couple, our times apart help us to understand just how much we love and need one another. I know one thing for sure, there will storms from time to time, but the key is to never give up, to weather the rough times, because they always do pass. I will never give up on us, I know we are meant to be. I love you baby.
Current Lyrical Ramblings
Highway run
Into the midnight sun
Wheels go round and round
You're on my mind
Restless hearts
Sleep alone tonight
Sendin' all my love
Along the wire
Faithfully – Journey
”CALLING ALL CARS CALLING ALL CARS!!!”
Where the hell has Lord of the Poo stryfe been lately??? I HAVE NOT SEEN HIM AROUND IN SOME TIME!
I worry that the stickyfat has consumed him, where is our superhero MRBRICK when we need him? More vowels will save our poopgod!!
Current Lyrical Ramblings
Come
And talk of all the things we did today
Here
And laugh about our funny little ways
While we have a few minutes to breathe
Then I know that it's time you must leave
Darling Be Home Soon - Loving Spoonful
Music To Dance By When Sand Is Infiltrating Your Crack
Back in the middle of August of 2005, our unit spent about a week back in Wayne at the armory getting equipment loaded, personnel issues settled, etc, before our trip to the mobilization site at Ft. Riley, Kansas. If you lived within 30 miles of Wayne, you were allowed to go home and be with your family. The rest of us, well, they put us up in a motel.
So what does this have to do with my journal, nearly a year later? Well, for that 4 or 5 days I was in that motel, I holed myself up every night using Audiograbber to rip all 220 or so of my CD’s from wave file into mp3 files. Pop in one cd, as it would rip into mp3’s I would type out the names of the songs onto the files inside the folder, over and over AND OVER AND yah, well, you get the picture.
I was getting so pissed off though, because about 4 or 5 cd’s in I realized that the fucking files were not staying in track order, they would go to alphabetical or some other goofed up order, much to my irritation. So I ended up adding 01 and 02 etc to every file just to keep them in order.
So it took me pretty much ALL of my free time every night to get that done, while everyone else would be out drinking and partying, because I really wanted to have my music here in the Sand Box. FINALLY I was done, and then the first time I opened up Windows Media Player to listen to a cd, WMP connected to the internet and started renaming my tracks on the cd, in this case some Japanese classical composer. Of course, a few **(@*#ING **@#** &G spewed forth, because this was a shitload of work I did to put that many cd’s together and WMP was dicking up my work and I didn’t know why.
Thankfully belly told me about a beautiful little program called Winamp, which I immediately downloaded and it worked fabulously, except… none of the names of the songs would come up, they would list as just no name tracks. Again, frustration, and despite searching all over to find out how I could name them correctly I was unable to remedy the situation.
Yes, well, turns out I completely wasted my time naming all of these files just in the folder, I discovered a couple days ago that I should have been highlighting the songs in the folder, going to Properties, then Summary, and I could have added in a whole bunch of information, such as artist, song name, year, track number, even lyrics, genre, and other information. Even Windows Media Player has the ability to do that, although it’s not as in depth as adding in the information in the file properties while in the folder. Oh, and the kicker? Yah, it would have named each file individually in the folder, I wouldn’t have had to do it myself OR add in that stupid “01 02 03” in front of the files, because the track order can be added in too!!!
How did I miss this, you might ask? I’m certain that most of you are shaking your head thinking I’m a complete idiot for not knowing this, but when you do open Properties and go to Summary for a file, if you click right next to the Artist or Album Title, etc, it won’t open up to let you change the text, oh but if you move the cursor over just a little bit to the right, you can. THAT LITTLE F’ING OVERSIGHT IS WHY I HAD ALL THIS TROUBLE!! But then, I look on the bright side, I would likely not be using Winamp, which I really prefer over Windows Media Player. Winamp isn’t all tied into every Windows application like WMP seems to be. One problem, every time pop up blocker beeps or some other application makes a beep or ding, it screws up the sound on Winamp, and I haven’t found out how to keep that from happening, just short of shutting off sound altogether on my other applications, which would be ridiculous.
So now that I know how to correctly name my mp3 files so that they are compatible with all of the different musical applications out there, I will be redoing a few thousand file names. And of course, I’m very anal about my music, so I’m adding in as much information as I can. This includes my time off yesterday, spent perusing the net looking for what year every one of my albums was released in. Particularly troublesome: classical composers. I have about half a dozen cd’s of Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart, etc, and unfortunately they are typically obscure titles that no one seems to have information about on the internet.
Now if I was at home, I would just look on the cd itself to see when it was released, but here I do not have that luxury. I’m thinking instead, I’ll just go back and put in the year the composer died. That would be better anyway, wouldn’t you agree?
Something I really don’t have a lot of in my music collection are obscure artists. Yah, I have a few, like Bass 305, an album consisting pretty much entirely of earth shattering low frequency tones to induce maximum performance from one’s subwoofers. Then there is my Days Of Thunder Soundtrack. Got that for Christmas one year from one of my sisters. Why the hell did I hold onto that??? Then there are 4 or 5 ‘freebie’ cd’s that I got when I bought different cd players over the years. Kept those too. Yah, that’s me, I’m anal about my music, I tend to keep it forever.
Something I have a LOT of is big hair guitar rock, and guitar rock in general. If it was in the 80’s and it had big hair, leather pants, screaming high vocals, and power ballads, there’s probably a 90% chance that I’ve got it. Is this sad??? Hell no it isn’t, if you can’t appreciate the bridge in Def Leppard’s ‘Armageddon It’ or you aren’t impressed by Slash’s 2 guitar solos in Guns N’ Roses ‘Estranged’, then you really don’t know what you are missing out on. If Quiet Riot’s “Cum On Feel The Noize” is just NOISE to you, or if “Epic” by Faith No More has you saying “WHAT IS IT?” for real, you really don’t understand or appreciate the music of that era, and well, you are dumb, yah I said it, DUMB!
There are NO concerts today that even come close to what the guitar bands of the late 80’s and early 90’s did, and I mean that, no one comes close. Loud, crazy, hot women everywhere, it was just one gigantic party where 50,000 people all had one thing on their mind, seeing one of their favorite bands up on stage tearing it up. Well, two things, I guess thoughts of the opposite sex were evident. The outfits, the hair, the pyrotechnics, the crazy behavior, today’s bands are preschool by comparison. Would I ever blame grunge alternative rock for the demise of the ‘Big Hair’ era? Nah, not really. It’s the progression of music.
Even alternative and grunge ended up fading away, more due to the blending of so many musical types that there was no clear alternative music anymore than any other reason. But I will always miss the rhythmic guitar of bands like Skid Row, Firehouse, and Van Halen. And while some of them are still making music, it’s not nearly as good or ‘fresh’ as it was back then. I consider myself lucky to have grown up in that era, music nowadays mostly f’ing stinks. At least now I can name my White Lion tracks correctly for all to enjoy!
Current Lyrical Ramblings
Full of sorrow, your eyes are too wide and too new
Though I know these feelings I get when you're near
Even I...I can't give you love without fear
You're too young, I don't know what's keeping me here
Wait For You - Bonham
The Anti Patriotic
It’s interesting how politicians have such short memories. Listening to the audacity of certain lawmakers on capital hill in Washington this past month has me puzzled. It is laughable to me that Democrats who voted for military action in Iraq are now pointing fingers at other people, trying to lay blame and using terms like ‘huge mistake’ and ‘unjust war’ to describe something they approved to begin with. You voted for it, based on the same information the White House had. Why would you say that shit now, it’s NOT true, and it only adds to the resolve of the foreign insurgents in Iraq and feeds the anti war movement stateside.
I guess I don’t really follow where this has suddenly become an ‘unjust war’, I mean, honestly, if this was an ‘unjust war’, if this were a ‘huge mistake’, then these lawmakers, thru their current views, want to give the country back to Saddam Hussein, apologize, and ‘cut and run’. “Oh, President Hussein, we are SO sorry that we attacked you, we respect the excellent job you’ve done here leading your country, here’s the key to the presidential palace, no hard feelings?” Yah, respond to that one, Murtha. This has been anything BUT a huge mistake. I really have to wonder about the media’s agenda in all of this also, with polls that talk about how “78% of Iraqi people do not like having the occupational forces here.” Well no shit???
In Iraq the media is doing the exact same thing they do in the United States, they ask questions on surveys that are aimed at getting a specific response to match what the network wants to hear, versus getting any real opinion. Of course they would rather we weren’t here. But where are the more common sense questions??? How about “Do you wish to have Saddam back in power again?” or “Do you feel you have a greater chance for a better future under the new government than you did under Saddam?” THOSE are the kinds of questions that answer that show results or lack thereof concerning this conflict.
I find the whole ‘cut and run’ idea to be cowardly and completely politically motivated. I really believe that democrats are trying to reignite the anti war rage of the 60’s, that they want to compare this to Vietnam in some hopeless attempt to stir up emotions in preparation for this year’s elections and as a prelude for the 2008 presidential elections. Well sorry, but this is NOT Vietnam, for a variety of reasons, from organization skills, backing, and content of oppositional forces, to the terrain being fought in, to the death tolls suffered by American forces. I find it to be disgusting and a slap in the face of those who lost their lives in Vietnam AND those who have given there lives here to make that comparison in a way as to suggest monumental failures, especially when we have an excellent opportunity here to succeed in Iraq.
“What?? Excellent opportunity to succeed? HOW can you say that?” Because I’m freaking here, that’s why. I see day in and day out the work being done here, I see the good things that are virtually ignored by the media, I talk to the Iraqi people about how they feel, that’s how. I have to wonder sometimes, if the media and political atmosphere had been this way during World War II, would we have had ANY heroes, would President Rooservelt be viewed as this horrible bully who attacked Germany unprovoked. I wish sometimes people would study history, and realize the importance of not only having a strong military, but in using it from time to time to fight tyranny. The way
For this to work in Iraq, you are probably talking about another year or so of current troop levels, then a gradual reduction over a period of up to 10 years, yes, that’s right, 10 years, to help maintain stability. This is normal. There are no quick fixes. We live in a society that wants everything quicker. Faster food, better service, speedier delivery… well some things just don’t work that way. The Iraqi conflict is a perfect example of that. Some of the problems here have existed for literally thousands of years. It’s going to take time. Even if Joe Public can’t understand that, politicians should be able to.
Sometimes politicians are in so deep that it just boggles the mind that it’s difficult to believe they can’t smell what they are shoveling. This is certainly a perfect example of that. As usual, Democrats have no problem finding fault with everything the White House and Congress are doing, without a valid course of action to repair what they see as problems.
Current Lyrical Ramblings
Don't you tell me to deny it
I've done wrong and I want to suffer for my sins
I've come to you 'cause I need guidance to be true
And I just don't know where I can begin
Criminal – Fiona Apple
Why Does The A.P. Publish 'News' By Racist Reporters Like Erin Texeira?
I wonder just how blind and racist people have to be to actually support a stereotypical and obviously egocentric 'reporter' like Erin Texeira.
I use the term 'reporter' loosely, because she is unfortunately NOT a journalist, but rather an opinionative writer who subjects her own theories and racist viewpoints into her literature. Time and time again her articles seem to find some way to lay blame for the ills of 'insert minority name here' on whites. In so many of her articles there is this feeling that you are supposed to be shaking your head with pursed teeth thinking to yourself "that is terrible, those damn white people!!"
Well sorry, I do NOT subscribe to that racist platform of garbage. I am not white, I don't know anyone who is white. Let me explain. Just in the way that we should NOT celebrate the ills of blacks, nor should we point out and denigrate whites in the same manner. If people like Texeira insist upon continually shedding light on 'problems' purportedly brought about by white people, while using her own stereotypical viewpoints to try to force the issue, then I say everyone should drop 'white' and go with what they truly are.
As for me, I'm German, Bohunk, Lithuanian and French, and therefore I do not wish to be called WHITE by the likes of racists like Texeira. When you celebrate victories based on skin color, you also make it acceptable to denigrate race on the basis of skin color. It's really that simple.
What do I mean, you ask? Let me put it this way. Where is it ever acceptable to run around screaming white power, saying that white people need more of this or more of that, yet it's just fine for someone to continually talk about, even in a round about way, how whites are causing so much trouble for other minorities. So those of western European heritage are stuck, continually forced to bear witness to the supposed racism they perpetrate on others, all the while unable to celebrate anything based on their own skin color.
Let me clarify something here, I think celebrating/denegrating anything based on skin color is incredibly ignorant, in fact, in this day and age, it's just downright stupid. I tire of the endless attempts by some in our society to do so. Interestingly enough, in the process of promoting your own race based on skin color, your ignorance ends up by default casting a racist shadow upon everyone else. Why can't people like Texeira realize this?
