A Farm Kid in the Marines

I recently got this email and thought the story was amusing.


Dear Ma and Pa,

I am well. Hope you are. Tell Brother Walt and Brother Elmer the Marine Corps beats working for old man Minch by a mile. Tell them to join up quick before all of the places are filled.

I was restless at first because you get to stay in bed till nearly 6 a.m. But I am getting so I like to sleep late. Tell Walt and Elmer all you do before breakfast is smooth your cot, and shine some things. No hogs to slop, feed to pitch, mash to mix, wood to split, fire to lay. Practically nothing.

Men got to shave but it is not so bad, there's warm water. Breakfast is strong on trimmings like fruit juice, cereal, eggs, bacon, etc., but kind of weak on chops, potatoes, ham, steak, fried eggplant, pie and other regular food, but tell Walt and Elmer you can always sit by the two city boys that live on coffee. Their food, plus yours, holds you until noon when you get fed again. It's no wonder these city boys can't walk much.

We go on 'route marches,' which the platoon sergeant says are long walks to harden us. If he thinks so, it's not my place to tell him different. A 'route march' is about as far as to our mailbox at home. Then the city guys get sore feet and we all ride back in trucks.

The sergeant is like a school teacher. He nags a lot. The Captain is like the school board. Majors and colonels just ride around and frown. They don't bother you none.


This next will kill Walt and Elmer with laughing. I keep getting medals for shooting. I don't know why. The bulls-eye is near as big as a chipmunk head and don't move, and it ain't shooting at you like the Higgett boys at home. All you got to do is lie there all comfortable and hit it. You don't even load your own cartridges They come in boxes.

Then we have what they call hand-to-hand combat training. You get to wrestle with them city boys. I have to be real careful though, they break real easy. It ain't like fighting with that ole bull at home. I'm about the best they got in this except for that Tug Jordan from over in Silver Lake .. I only beat him once... He joined up the same time as me, but I'm only 5'6' and 130 pounds and he's 6'8' and near 300 pounds dry.

Be sure to tell Walt and Elmer to hurry and join before other fellers get onto this setup and come stampeding in.

Your loving daughter,
Sarah

Signs of the apocalypse

I don't like Robert Gibbs. To put it mildly, I think he's a tool. But I first saw this story on Yahoo this afternoon, then decided to follow it over to Townhall (since the embedded video at Yahoo originated from TH) to see what else they posted about it.

Here's the thing: I have to side with Gibbs on this more than I do the reporter. Judging from the comments at TH, I'm apparently the only Conservative who takes this stance. But while Gibbs' comparing the reporter to his child is completely out of line, it's not like he was dealing with a real peach of a lady. She's rude, she was asking questions that are fit more for TMZ than any relevant political organization, and she cops a serious attitude.

Here's a tidbit for you: I strongly considered going into journalism until I took my first reporting class. I decided against it when I saw how many people in that world are like this chick. So while I don't think Gates handled this just real well, I wouldn't blame him for blowing her off...or basically anything he did up until the son comparison or following it.

We the People

I apologize for slacking lately, but here's something I absolutely wanted to share. It's the new song from musical legend and comedic Ray Stevens.

I'd like to post the lyrics, but it really needs to be heard. However, one of my favorite parts is "to put it mildy, we're harboring feelings of extreme alienation, due to copious amounts of horse maneur that have been shoveled out of the White House and the capitol building, and we sense that we are being royally defecated upon, yeah we're getting the impression that you think we are not relevant to these proceedings and dismissing our input into the situation."

I hope you enjoy it. Also, I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. I'm taking next week off, so there's a reason behind the upcoming lack of posts. I'll spend my vacation deer hunting.

That's right, libs. I know guns are evil and meat is murder. So just consider me an a-hole with an appetite.

Happy Anniversary

As people commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, two names that seem to be getting little mention are those of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. I guess there's nothing like a time for rememberance where everybody remembers things incorrectly.

So since he's not getting his due attention elsewhere, I wanted to do my small part by paying tribute to Ronald Reagan. While we have a few people left who are defending freedom, I hope that sometime another leader comes along who shares Reagan's desire and ability to promote freedom.

This kid rocks!

Maybe you've seen this, but I got an e-mail with a story and pictures I thought was worth posting.

There is a huge rock near a gravel pit on Hwy.25 in rural Iowa . For generations, kids have painted slogans, names, and obscenities on this rock, changing its character many times. A few months back, the rock received its latest paint job, and since then it has been left completely undisturbed.

It's quite an impressive sight. Be sure to scroll down and check out the multiple photos.(all angles) of the rock.

I thought the flag was draped over the rock, but it's not. It's actually painted on the rock too.

The Artist, Ray "Bubba" Sorensen.

Awesome work, Ray.

The best version yet

Purposes

This post has been inspired by a frie...by someone I know. This person does an op ed column in a (very) small newspaper. She and her husband blog about...themselves. She's on Twitter. And basically, she likes to indirectly tell the world she's a genius. In reality, she's a colossal jewel of glittering ignorance, but I bet you could guess I was thinking that...

Quick aside: What's the deal with young married couples doing shared blogs about their lives? Who gives a S%*&? What is the thought process going on there? "Hey, we got married, let's tell everyone about what our lives are like now because we're the first people in the history of the planet who've gone through this!"

My blog doesn't exist because I think people care about what I think. Let me be honest: I'm not exactly inundated by people asking my opinions on current events. I also don't consider myself an expert on most of the things I write about---I simply try to stay informed and educated about issues and then use common sense to determine where I stand. I'm also pretty sure that the world doesn't need another blog. In fact, I read earlier this week or last week that someone predicted that the web will run out of available addresses soon. I'm pretty sure I'm not helping the situation by taking up this space.

The point of this blog isn't because I think I have a talent to share with the world. I don't. In any discernible area of talent you could think of, I'm average at best. Trust me, that's not me running myself down or being self-effacing. If I was really good at any one thing, I would be off doing it and would have less time for this.

So why am I here? I'm here for an outlet. It's kind of fun and even a little therapeutic to get things off my chest and rant a little on the things I'm thinking about or that affect me. And I like to make fun of things that are looney or diffuse irritating situations by making fun of them, and I need an avenue for that. So here I am.

Twitter's pretty much the same thing. I got on for work initially, then I started following people I'm actually interested in. Then I started throwing out comments about politics or sports or whatever else for basically the same reasons as I do my blog (and decided I needed to cut off anything work related from it, because those worlds don't mix). Twitter's a little different in that I have a number of people I know personally that follow me, but my take on it is they do so at their own risk. I try not to be too opinionated on Facebook where I'm connected with tons of people. If anyone latches on to me at Twitter, they're getting the less filtered version of me.

You'll notice that on here I don't talk much, if at all, about my personal life. It's not that it's super-great and I don't want to brag, and it's also not because it's a meaningless existence and there's nothing to write about. It's just not that interesting and there are a few things I want to keep private. With Twitter, it's a little more personal, but not much. I might mention weekend plans or when I'm looking forward to sleeping, but that's about it. I don't describe what I'm having for breakfast and I don't post pictures of me pouring milk on my Post Toasties. No one gives a crap. I'm sure you put your own socks on in the morning and are comfortable assuming I do the same thing, so I'll spare you the play-by-play.

I make observations and (lame) jokes for my own satisfaction. A (very) few have latched on and listened (read?), and I'm really thankful a few people agree or enjoy it. But really, this is for my own amusement or blowing off steam.

And yes, I realize I just made a huge post railing against narcissism and self importance. Either I'm a hypocrite or it's amusingly ironic.