06.10.02 >2143

I must've been pretty irritated when I wrote this in my private journal several months ago:

I don’t claim to be a certified intellectual, but why is it that some folks seem to be queasy about using their brains?
Now it just sounds amusing.


>1118

Can anybody recommend some good military fiction out there? Modern military fiction, that is. Your suggestions would be appreciated.



06.08.02 >2224


Sometimes it's nice to be unconventional. I mean really really unconventional. Make yourself as a South Park character! (link via Forty-two)


>2158

I wonder if J.R.R. Tolkien knew what he was getting himself into when he penned the whole Lord of the Rings series. I mean, seriously - he's got an incredibly huge fanbase out there, millions of copies of his books are out in print, and need I mention the trio of movies bein' cranked out and marketed and prepped for release as we speak?

I got the soundtrack to the first movie at least a month before it hit theatres. As it goes with listenin' to music, I quickly figured out which tracks I liked most (even though nowadays I love listening through the whole thang). I 'member telling Lee this after listening to track #13 (The Bridge of Khazad Dum) a dozen times or so: I'd gotten so attached to this track that I was soon rewinding 3:01 through 3:37 over and over because I couldn't get enough of it. Um, yeah, I got just a tad too obsessed with this krazy CD, but what can I say? Howard Shore's a genius. Peter Jackson knew what he was doin'. And Tolkien, you've ruined me!


>1350

What a weekend.

I finally got to see Ocean's Eleven last night - a great movie. Maybe a little too perfect, but I enjoyed it. BTW, is it true Brad Pitt only showers once a week? I wouldn't know, but more 'n one person mentioned that while we were watching the movie; Pitt was also a little annoying because throughout the film he was always eating something, and it wouldn't have been annoying if he weren't the only one eating the entire time.

Last night we also decorated floats. Yeah, floats. This weekend is Rodeo Weekend, and you can't start a Rodeo in Livermore without a parade. My church had two floats entered in the parade, and it was pretty fun walking down First Street this morning and passing out little American flags and candy, and riding on the float to and from the "parade grounds." Next time, though, I think I'd better put on more suntan lotion; and, I'll have to keep in mind that horses have no inclination to wait when it comes to taking a crap. (Not that I, uh, stepped in it, but trying to dodge the dung on the street when your mind's on something else entirely can be a little exasperating.)



06.06.02 >1716

As the "average" American consumer, which commercial do you think you'd respond to more? Say a new kind of junk food snack is about to come out - let's make it chips. You see two kinds of commercials on the TV that the marketers are using to sell this product: one involves a sexy model, let's say Tyra Banks, dreamily savoring the chips as if it was romantic food. (Ha!) The other commercial features a guy with something of a gut, munching on the chips in front of his TV set as he watches the Lakers get their butts kicked by the Nets. Which one of these commercials might convince you that the chips are good to buy? And if you said Tyra Banks, are you sure about that?

The Indepundit has arrived. (link via brown pau)



06.05.02 >1630

Ahhh, drama. Ain't life in high school a kick in the head? Now I remember why I'm so glad to be outta there: this past weekend my little sister Vic got dumped by her boyfriend (I forget if this is her second or third since the year started), who left her for one of her other so-called friends, whom Vic is no longer speaking to. Ferget daytime soap operas.

I love Vic a lot, but I really think she needs to dump these pathetic shrimpy people who plumb her emotions as if they were spare change. High school drama, man, it's a killer.


>0933

According to the very nice BlogHop tracker, five people said they hated my site. For all I know, one person could've pressed the little red unhappy face five times. I'm not sure whether to laugh or brush it off. Okay, how 'bout I do both?

This definitely doesn't compare to the human loss of 9/11, but it's interesting to note nonetheless.



06.03.02 >0932

There's a big diff between holding a title AND holding a title and being able to act upon the responsibilities that come with the title. This particular portion has been in my head for awhile now...

"At our level, there are four kinds of warrior," he told Kel. He raised a fist and held up one large finger. "Heroes, like Alanna the Lioness. Warriors who find dark places and fight in them alone. This is wonderful, but we live in the real world. There aren't many places without any hope or light."

He raised a second finger. "We have knights - plain, everyday knights, like your brothers. They patrol their borders and protect their tenants, or they go into troubled areas at the king's command and sort them out. They fight in battles, usually against other knights. A hero will work like an everyday knight for a time - it's expected. And most knights must be clever enough to manage alone."

Kel nodded.

"We have soldiers," Raoul continued, raising a third finger. "Those are warriors, including knights, who can manage so long as they're told what to do. These are more common, thank Mithros, and you'll find them in charge of companies in the army, under the eye of a general. Without people who can take orders, we'd be in real trouble.

"Commanders." He raised his little finger. "Good ones, people with a knack for it, like, say, the queen, or Buri, or young Dom, they're as rare as heroes. Commanders have an eye not just for what they do, but for what those around them do. Commanders size up people's strengths and weaknesses. They know where someone will shine and where they will collapse. Other warriors will obey a true commander because they can tell that the commander knows what he - or she - is doing."

p. 113-4,
Protector of the Small: Squire
Tamora Pierce

Being a commander of anything in the unlikeliest of circumstances that are beyond my comfort zone isn't one of my strengths. Yet it feels like that's about to change.



06.02.02 >2145

Y'know, it is reeeally amazing how fast everything you learned in church a few hours ago flies out the window when you lose yer temper...