A Handy Flowchart for my Forwarding Pals...
I promise I still love you all...
4 Comments
A Quiz...
So, a friend of mine from Calgary put this up on their Facebook, and I thought it was worth a try. Here's the deal. I have put my itunes on shuffle. I will write the first two lines of each of the first 25 songs, regardless of embarrassment level. I will check off each song as someone guesses correctly. Yes, it is considered cheating if you use a search engine. I may not know, but someone, somewhere will. Ready? GO!X) Drain tarnished blood form bones, Let those poisons dry up.
Until it Kills - Midtown
X) Here in your bedroom I can turn my head off, the less that I feel is the less that I'm on top.
Here In Your Bedroom - Goldfinger
X) I can't stand it, I know you planned it, I'm a set it straight, this Watergate.
Sabotage - The Beastie Boys
X) Gravity plays favorites, I know it 'cause I saw.
Gravity - The Dresden Dolls
5) We were just a plain old hillbilly band with a plain old country style, We never played the kind of songs that would drive anybody wild.
6) He was an artist and a writer and a poet and a friend, In a man's life, he will take a fall but how low he goes that just depends.
7) I'm gonna love you like no one's loved you, come rain or come shine.
Come Rain of Come Shine - Etta James/Frank Sinatra/Ray Charles (I'd have allowed either one)
X) Look at him working, wearing his hands to the bone just to prove where he came from.
Bellies are Full - Portugal. The Man
9) Piece by piece and bit by bit, I will break this down for you real slow.
10) Hey tired man I see you walk alone, The wrinkles on your face a map of all your pain.
11) Is everything a baited hook, and are there locks on our doors?
12) You got my pride hangin' outta my bed, You messin' with my life so I brought my lead
XX) Life life, live life like you're gonna die, because you're gonna.
You'll Have Time - William Shatner
14) Why can't we let our mouths devour each other? Why can't we turn those miles into inches, letters into breath, years into seconds?
15) This is the closest to this friend that I've been, I hope you find it on greener ground and bluer skies.
XX) Are you such a dreamer, to put the world to rights?
2+2=5 - Radiohead
XX) Do you remember a time when this city was a great place for architects and debutantes?
Black History Month - Death From Above 1979
18) Gib mir nur fünf Minuten, Gleich mir nicht okay.
19) Lately I'm alright, and lately I'm not scared.
XX) The record goes from blue to gold, So thank you for all your help.
Backstabber - The Dresden Dolls
21) Shut down, falling over once again, Dropped out, hand extended for a friend
XX) I took her out, it was a Friday night, I woke alone to get the feeling right.
What's My Age Again? - Blink 182
XX) Your boyfriend, he likes you but does he really try, Can he do what I do should you just say goodbye?
Your Girlfriends Hate Me - Reggie and the Full Effect
24) The lights go down outside, before our cars collide, And so we sillouette ourselves for these shades of fire.
25) Don't forget to kiss me, If you're really going to leave.
Good luck, and feel free to do the same thing on your blog.
Look What I Found...
While I was pretending to take notes during class but was really surfing the interwebs. For those of you who are wondering what to give to your favorite thePatrick for Christmas/Hanukkah/Festivus, head on over to cottonfactory.com to snag one of these fine specimens. 100% of all thePatricks who were interviewed for this post said they would gladly accept any of these.
Veteran's Day and My Last Political Rant for a While...
First, I feel I should start this potentially long, drawn out post with a thank you to Veterans worldwide. Particularly, thanks to those of you with whom I served. Nobody will ever be able to know what exactly we went through, because there is no way to accurately describe it. The tastes, the smells, the noises, the emotions. Everyone's experience was different, but we went through it together. Christy has found out that it's more difficult for me to talk about it with her than with someone who was there, because the experience is hard to explain.
Some past posts may have people thinking that I regret having signed up to serve. Far from the truth. I am proud to think that I was able to sign up as a 17 year old and fulfill that commitment to our country. People have asked if I ever thought of trying to get out of going to Iraq. That never crossed my mind. I signed up for eight years, and I spent the entire time doing what was asked of me. Call it brainwashing if you'd like. I signed up on August 10, 1999 and was honorably discharged on November 28, 2007. I signed the papers and did what I said I would. I am proud of my service. Were it not for my experiences in the Army, I would not be the person I am today, and I would not have the friends I have. Norte, Matticus, Schmadam (sorry, no link), Leslita, Sgt. Hotlips, Missy, Seckel, Daddy Hodge, Raisor, Mason, the list goes on and on.
Shortly after the Presidential elections, I alluded to the fact that I would not tell you who I voted for. This is America. I don't have to tell you who I voted for. However, my experiences in the Army were a huge deciding factor when it came to casting my ballot. Rather than trying to be eloquent and typing up a big explanation, I found a blog written by another veteran, Ernie Stewart. All credit goes to him, but, other than editing for language, I echo his feelings.
I voted for Obama, mostly based on his stance on Iraq. Yes, I live in Utah, so while it was a valiant thing to do, it was pointless (i.e. thanks electoral college, you're welcome McCain). My experiences in Iraq are the same exact experiences that troops are having now. I feel that good was done. We did what we had to do, but now is the time to call it a day. This can be done without disgracing what our Veterans have done.
So, go out and thank a Veteran. Heaven knows, we don't get enough thanks for the crap we had to put up with. And to the ROTC program at USU, there are better ways of doing that then through unannounced artillery fire during the middle of classes. The best way to honor and remember people who were around explosions is not to randomly shoot off cannons. Just a thought.
Shortly after the Presidential elections, I alluded to the fact that I would not tell you who I voted for. This is America. I don't have to tell you who I voted for. However, my experiences in the Army were a huge deciding factor when it came to casting my ballot. Rather than trying to be eloquent and typing up a big explanation, I found a blog written by another veteran, Ernie Stewart. All credit goes to him, but, other than editing for language, I echo his feelings.
I'm one of the few people who still believe that going in and removing Saddam by force was the right move. He and his lunatic sons, for that matter because they would have gladly carried on the madness when daddy was gone. We're talking about a guy who used chemical weapons against his own people, who thumbed his nose at UN weapons inspectors, who shot at jets patrolling the no-fly zone, and was an all around douche. Invading Iraq to force him from power was the right thing to do. It should have been done back in 1991, having failed that it should have been done by Clinton, and having failed that it should have been done by GWB. Which it was. Uday and Qusay departed their worldly vessels in July of 2003, and Saddam was captured five months later in December of the same year. When that happened, our 'To Do' list was all checked off. Saddam driven from power in December of 2003? Then American boots start facing homeward in January of 2004. By the time Saddam hung from the neck until dead in 2006, Iraq should have been a completely sovereign nation. Listen, when the Revolutionary War ended, the French didn't hang around and force us to establish a government that thought the way they do. They got back on their ships, waved, scoffed at the English, and got the heck out of Dodge. Let me ask you this: how is Iraq different today than it was in 2007? Or 2006? Or 2005? Our troops are on their third and fourth tours, patrolling the same streets, driving down the same roads, getting shot at by the same rooftops. The only difference is now they've all got great tans. I think the American presence in Iraq has done all it's going to do. I think any steps to Iraq takes towards the future will have to be fueled by the blood sweat and tears of the Iraqi people, not ours.
So, go out and thank a Veteran. Heaven knows, we don't get enough thanks for the crap we had to put up with. And to the ROTC program at USU, there are better ways of doing that then through unannounced artillery fire during the middle of classes. The best way to honor and remember people who were around explosions is not to randomly shoot off cannons. Just a thought.
Xtreme People Watching...
This could bring it to the next level. I am so doing this...
Vote!!!
For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past year, today is Election Day. So, I don't care who you're voting for, you need to go out and vote. Are you a left leaning liberal? Vote. Are you even more conservative than my main man Chris? Vote. If for no other reason than so that you will have the right to complain. If you're guy gets in, congratulations. You're a winner, too. If he doesn't, then you automatically get the right to complain about every boneheaded move made during their tenure in office. Did I go vote? You bet your boots I went and voted today. I was in Iraq trying to bring the right to vote to an entire nation. How would it look if I didn't vote? Who did I vote for? You see, that's one of the great parts of being American. I don't have to tell you. I may never tell you. I could have been saying I would vote for someone all along, and when I got in the booth been ticked off at the world, and written in Darth Vader. Doesn't matter. I don't have to tell you. I voted for my guy. You vote for your guy. If your guy and my guy happen to be the same guy, well big freakin' deal. Vote. Polls close around 7pm most places. Hopefully most of you already voted. But there's still time. Go vote. VOTE!
The Masses Have Spoken...
And they have overwhelmingly told me to knock it off and stop being dumb. Twenty people voted on my magic poll about Grad School and a vast majority told me to shut up, sit down, and finish what I'm doing now before I worry too much about the next phase of school.
I guess this is a problem I have. Christy was talking with me about it the other day, as we were watching Google Earth drive us from Logan, UT to Indiana. She commented that I always focus on the future, sometime losing sight of the present. I have done this for as long as I remember. Problem is, my plans for the future seem to change all the freaking time. Take my school plans, for example.
Pre-mission, I wanted to go into medicine. I even declared that as my major when I went to ISU. Then I went to Iraq, and kind of had enough of the whole medicine thing. I went to USU and declared myself a Political Science major, planning on Law School. Then I realized that I like History way more than Political Science, and changed my major again. For a while, I thought about still going to Law School. Then, it changed to teaching High School. Then it changed again and the new plan was getting a Masters and teaching at a community college somewhere, until I got my PhD. And now, the plan is Grad School in History/Library Science. Whatever. I'm sure it will change again, and I'll apply where I apply, if I apply, and post another poll, which is what you all wanted me to do anyway.
Whew! Focus on the task at hand! Silly Patrick...
Pre-mission, I wanted to go into medicine. I even declared that as my major when I went to ISU. Then I went to Iraq, and kind of had enough of the whole medicine thing. I went to USU and declared myself a Political Science major, planning on Law School. Then I realized that I like History way more than Political Science, and changed my major again. For a while, I thought about still going to Law School. Then, it changed to teaching High School. Then it changed again and the new plan was getting a Masters and teaching at a community college somewhere, until I got my PhD. And now, the plan is Grad School in History/Library Science. Whatever. I'm sure it will change again, and I'll apply where I apply, if I apply, and post another poll, which is what you all wanted me to do anyway.
Whew! Focus on the task at hand! Silly Patrick...