I have never really attemped haikus before. I mean, I knew how to do them, but something never really clicked. However, I started thinking of some old work and wanted to see it in haiku format among other things. Funny, I was vaguely inspired by an old 'Calvin and Hobbes' strip where Calvin offers a haiku to a sleeping Hobbes... quite funny, if you are a fan of the classic comic. In any event...
'Fontevraud Abbey'
Crumbling ruins...
Whisper in silent repose
Duchess and King.
Ok, so one old piece... the following is new.
'Golden Bay'
Such quiet calm...
Comfort upon a distant shore
Warm... your caress.
C.
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
18 February 2009
31 July 2007
In at the Death
Such a cheery title I know...
Well, while recovering from a little self-induced stomach issues (eating something I thought might cause some problems, typical), I was able to at least pick up the latest of my favorite author's books today: no, not JK Rowling for all you Lord of the Pre-Teen fans out there :) The author in question would be Harry Turtledove, and the book is the last of his Great War saga, called Settling Accounts: In at the Death. For those of you who do not know this author, Mr. Turtledove is one of the leading writers of counterfactual or alternate history. Most call it alternate history since counterfactuals tend to be non-fiction fiction, while alternate history is considered science fiction. The main difference is that he does not have to site his sources (though he could being a professor of Byzantine History at UCLA). Anyway, so far have been thrilled to read this final book in an 11 book saga spanning a world where the Confederates won the War of Northern Aggression in 1862 and went their own way causing a chain of events that leads to the CSA fighting the USA in the Great War, and in these last books a Second Great War (since the war is unnamed in the book, but for all practical purposes WWII).
While it is not my intent to actually review the book,(especially since I am not finished) I do recommend anything that Mr. Turtledove has written, especially his American History stuff. Indeed, one of his stand-alone books, Guns of the South is one of my favorite books of all time. All this being said, what actually got me to post about was the whole idea of alternate timelines, something I have written a little about and think of constantly. While it is nice to think that our hopes and dreams may not have been forlorn, that those we have lost might live on in another, parallel world, as many of those worlds might be a ruin of hell or the beauty of paradise itself. All it has taken is a misstep, a bullet gone awry or the wrong (or right) words said at the wrong time, and a world could have diverged with ease, creating?
Therein lies the question, this philosopher's search. I have wondered of their validity (and as a branch of history alternate histories are most valid) and of the possible dangers... of fragmenting worlds and souls. I suspect, due to the nature of quantum mechanics and my own philosophy I will have no answers in that accord. The best I can do is enjoy alternate worlds, perhaps write some counterfactuals myself in the hope of understanding the past through different futures.
C.
Well, while recovering from a little self-induced stomach issues (eating something I thought might cause some problems, typical), I was able to at least pick up the latest of my favorite author's books today: no, not JK Rowling for all you Lord of the Pre-Teen fans out there :) The author in question would be Harry Turtledove, and the book is the last of his Great War saga, called Settling Accounts: In at the Death. For those of you who do not know this author, Mr. Turtledove is one of the leading writers of counterfactual or alternate history. Most call it alternate history since counterfactuals tend to be non-fiction fiction, while alternate history is considered science fiction. The main difference is that he does not have to site his sources (though he could being a professor of Byzantine History at UCLA). Anyway, so far have been thrilled to read this final book in an 11 book saga spanning a world where the Confederates won the War of Northern Aggression in 1862 and went their own way causing a chain of events that leads to the CSA fighting the USA in the Great War, and in these last books a Second Great War (since the war is unnamed in the book, but for all practical purposes WWII).
While it is not my intent to actually review the book,(especially since I am not finished) I do recommend anything that Mr. Turtledove has written, especially his American History stuff. Indeed, one of his stand-alone books, Guns of the South is one of my favorite books of all time. All this being said, what actually got me to post about was the whole idea of alternate timelines, something I have written a little about and think of constantly. While it is nice to think that our hopes and dreams may not have been forlorn, that those we have lost might live on in another, parallel world, as many of those worlds might be a ruin of hell or the beauty of paradise itself. All it has taken is a misstep, a bullet gone awry or the wrong (or right) words said at the wrong time, and a world could have diverged with ease, creating?
Therein lies the question, this philosopher's search. I have wondered of their validity (and as a branch of history alternate histories are most valid) and of the possible dangers... of fragmenting worlds and souls. I suspect, due to the nature of quantum mechanics and my own philosophy I will have no answers in that accord. The best I can do is enjoy alternate worlds, perhaps write some counterfactuals myself in the hope of understanding the past through different futures.
C.
27 March 2007
Books That Changed This Life
First off, I would like to thank M for inadvertently inspiring this post for while commenting on her most recent post I thought a little bit about books that inspired me/changed me for the better (worse could be for another time, I suppose, but I really can't think of too many books that have done that... depressed, sucked, needed to be used for toilet paper, yes, but not made me a worse person). So, I thought I would talk about a few books that have helped inspire the person I am, sort of made me think about some of the deeper things, and allowed me to really see. Of course, much of this change comes from within, but certain writings can show us the door that needs to be opened. Whether we open it or not is up to us.
1) Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter by Thomas Cahill: I did not read this until fall of 2005 (I think it came out in 2004 anyway), but since then, this excellent book, especially the first two chapters, have stayed with me. Cahill proposes that the Greeks showed us how to Fight, Feel, Think, and Party, and that is why they matter... for some, the bit on partying alone might make them matter. However, the chapters 'How to Fight' and 'How to Feel' deal with the Iliad and The Odyssey respectively (and shows the order, unlike many American high schools, in which they should be read), and the idea of such emotions in Western literature. From a philosophical point of view, the books are the thread of Homer's life, first as a young man reaching into the world and doing what young men do. The words and images of The Iliad are that of a young man, and you get a sense of hopefulness that is borne of youth throughout the poem/book, even as you know that most of the participants are doomed but a few.
Some of those few are chronicled in The Odyssey and I need not explain the tale for it is one of those books that we all know (or should know). The interesting thing about The Odyssey is the fact it seems more primitive (hence it being taught first) or not even written/composed by Homer. What Cahill proposes, and what seems to be the real sense after reading the book/poem again, is that The Odyssey is the work of an older man, one who has seen much, and one who simply longs for his rest, one who longs for home. The wanderer that is Odysseus, after so much travail, earns his rest and the horrors of war, the rage of Achilles is finally stilled in the land and woman he loved so much. In many ways, this is the essence of life, the journey that we all undertake and so many times falter, but we are always seeking, longing, and that emotion, that hope, was borne amid the waters of a wine-dark sea.
2) Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke: Fiction can do as much to alter the perceptions of the soul as non-fiction (especially if one feels holy books fiction more than non-fiction, but that is something we all must decide individually), and Arthur C. Clarke has been one of those authors that has continually made me question the ideas of time and memory, and the beauty of Childhood's End was that it was written 20 years before I was born. Clarke proposes the idea of racial memory for the past and the future and that things in our past that we fear are not necessarily borne of the evils of the past, but the tide of the future. The book also preys upon the fears of nuclear holocaust and ufos in general at the time, but it remains a classic for the questions it forces the reader to ask of itself and humanity in general.
3) Robots and Empire and Foundation and Earth by Isaac Asimov: I must discuss these books together for they are linked in plot and theme, and one is the direct inheritor of the other, finally linking Asimov's Robot novels with the Foundation series. As literature, it is masterful, as philosophy and ethics, the novels are examples of what we can be if we truly put our minds to it (in some cases literally). While these books were written in the 80's, they are borne of the mindset of the 50's and the novels from that time. In that, both books are classic science fiction, though a little updated. Still, they keep the feel of those fantastic stories of a generation past.
Asimov was the first science fiction author I read, and I think I read the first Foundation books initially, then I was swept up in the later books as they came out when I was a teenager. Asimov opened a door that already existed thanks to movies and tv shows like Star Wars and Star Trek, but it helped me realize a love affair with science fiction writing that has hardly abated even in the face of my love for non-fiction and history.
4) Timeline by Michael Crichton: I must mention this book for I would never have read the book that comes after this had I not read this book first. Timeline was a brilliantly executed piece of fiction (even if the movie was a poor imitation of the novel) that pushed the bounds of the ideas of 'time travel' but those of the common notions of the Middle Ages. At the time, I enjoyed Medieval History, but nothing like the hold it has over me now. Something about the clarity of discussion in the novel about Medieval society and the Hundred Years War clicked, and when I turned to his bibliography, it was clear he had done his research. Many of the books he recommended I have since used in papers and found them to be amazing books in their own right, and Crichton led me to another author that I might not have read otherwise, the eminent Medieval historian, Norman F. Cantor.
5) In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made by Norman F. Cantor: Dr. Cantor has been writing about the Middle Ages longer than I have been alive and has written several books I highly recommend for the casual historian and for those who study intellectual history (meaning the history of a history). His book Inventing the Middle Ages is a seminal work on Medieval intellectual history, though I recommend it only if you are serious about history. It is a tough read. As for as In the Wake of the Plague, this was a book that really cemented my love for the time period, not so much because it is a plague history, but because it treats the plague as the many things it was: a history altering event as much as it was a pandemic as it was a cultural shift. The plague caused many events that seemed little at the time but would shape the world as we knew it. One example is the migration of the European Jewry to Poland and Eastern Europe, which would have enormous ramifications to say the least in the 19th and 20th centuries. It altered the economy from one of predominantly agriculture to a wage and town economy thanks to the population shifts, and it created a reactionary thinking toward the Church, leading to works such as The Decamaron and the insight necessary for the Renaissance. Alas, it did not alter war as it only created a small hiccup in the Hundred Years War, but the plague had a subtle hand in creating the modern world, for good or ill. For me, this has always been important, this shift in understanding, for without such death and suffering the world we know might never have been.
Well, this has run longer than I thought, and five books should do, though I could list a couple of others, but it is not necessary. As I mentioned before, the books have helped illuminate the passageways. How I proceeded has always been up to me.
C.
1) Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter by Thomas Cahill: I did not read this until fall of 2005 (I think it came out in 2004 anyway), but since then, this excellent book, especially the first two chapters, have stayed with me. Cahill proposes that the Greeks showed us how to Fight, Feel, Think, and Party, and that is why they matter... for some, the bit on partying alone might make them matter. However, the chapters 'How to Fight' and 'How to Feel' deal with the Iliad and The Odyssey respectively (and shows the order, unlike many American high schools, in which they should be read), and the idea of such emotions in Western literature. From a philosophical point of view, the books are the thread of Homer's life, first as a young man reaching into the world and doing what young men do. The words and images of The Iliad are that of a young man, and you get a sense of hopefulness that is borne of youth throughout the poem/book, even as you know that most of the participants are doomed but a few.
Some of those few are chronicled in The Odyssey and I need not explain the tale for it is one of those books that we all know (or should know). The interesting thing about The Odyssey is the fact it seems more primitive (hence it being taught first) or not even written/composed by Homer. What Cahill proposes, and what seems to be the real sense after reading the book/poem again, is that The Odyssey is the work of an older man, one who has seen much, and one who simply longs for his rest, one who longs for home. The wanderer that is Odysseus, after so much travail, earns his rest and the horrors of war, the rage of Achilles is finally stilled in the land and woman he loved so much. In many ways, this is the essence of life, the journey that we all undertake and so many times falter, but we are always seeking, longing, and that emotion, that hope, was borne amid the waters of a wine-dark sea.
2) Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke: Fiction can do as much to alter the perceptions of the soul as non-fiction (especially if one feels holy books fiction more than non-fiction, but that is something we all must decide individually), and Arthur C. Clarke has been one of those authors that has continually made me question the ideas of time and memory, and the beauty of Childhood's End was that it was written 20 years before I was born. Clarke proposes the idea of racial memory for the past and the future and that things in our past that we fear are not necessarily borne of the evils of the past, but the tide of the future. The book also preys upon the fears of nuclear holocaust and ufos in general at the time, but it remains a classic for the questions it forces the reader to ask of itself and humanity in general.
3) Robots and Empire and Foundation and Earth by Isaac Asimov: I must discuss these books together for they are linked in plot and theme, and one is the direct inheritor of the other, finally linking Asimov's Robot novels with the Foundation series. As literature, it is masterful, as philosophy and ethics, the novels are examples of what we can be if we truly put our minds to it (in some cases literally). While these books were written in the 80's, they are borne of the mindset of the 50's and the novels from that time. In that, both books are classic science fiction, though a little updated. Still, they keep the feel of those fantastic stories of a generation past.
Asimov was the first science fiction author I read, and I think I read the first Foundation books initially, then I was swept up in the later books as they came out when I was a teenager. Asimov opened a door that already existed thanks to movies and tv shows like Star Wars and Star Trek, but it helped me realize a love affair with science fiction writing that has hardly abated even in the face of my love for non-fiction and history.
4) Timeline by Michael Crichton: I must mention this book for I would never have read the book that comes after this had I not read this book first. Timeline was a brilliantly executed piece of fiction (even if the movie was a poor imitation of the novel) that pushed the bounds of the ideas of 'time travel' but those of the common notions of the Middle Ages. At the time, I enjoyed Medieval History, but nothing like the hold it has over me now. Something about the clarity of discussion in the novel about Medieval society and the Hundred Years War clicked, and when I turned to his bibliography, it was clear he had done his research. Many of the books he recommended I have since used in papers and found them to be amazing books in their own right, and Crichton led me to another author that I might not have read otherwise, the eminent Medieval historian, Norman F. Cantor.
5) In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made by Norman F. Cantor: Dr. Cantor has been writing about the Middle Ages longer than I have been alive and has written several books I highly recommend for the casual historian and for those who study intellectual history (meaning the history of a history). His book Inventing the Middle Ages is a seminal work on Medieval intellectual history, though I recommend it only if you are serious about history. It is a tough read. As for as In the Wake of the Plague, this was a book that really cemented my love for the time period, not so much because it is a plague history, but because it treats the plague as the many things it was: a history altering event as much as it was a pandemic as it was a cultural shift. The plague caused many events that seemed little at the time but would shape the world as we knew it. One example is the migration of the European Jewry to Poland and Eastern Europe, which would have enormous ramifications to say the least in the 19th and 20th centuries. It altered the economy from one of predominantly agriculture to a wage and town economy thanks to the population shifts, and it created a reactionary thinking toward the Church, leading to works such as The Decamaron and the insight necessary for the Renaissance. Alas, it did not alter war as it only created a small hiccup in the Hundred Years War, but the plague had a subtle hand in creating the modern world, for good or ill. For me, this has always been important, this shift in understanding, for without such death and suffering the world we know might never have been.
Well, this has run longer than I thought, and five books should do, though I could list a couple of others, but it is not necessary. As I mentioned before, the books have helped illuminate the passageways. How I proceeded has always been up to me.
C.
10 March 2007
Edits
This is sort of a cop-out post, almost to take up space I suppose. What I was meaning to write needs to wait for reasons that will be explained in said post. I am sorry if I have not made my regular blog visits the past couple of days. Those, and the next few will be a little hectic, and it has nothing to do with conventions (for once). Simply a family issue that is taking place, and I will let everyone know as it becomes appropriate.
In the meantime, I looked back briefly at an older piece after writing the poem in the previous post and wondered about some edits. In the end, I changed the verse structure by turning parts of it into refrains, and I think, when reading, it gives the reader the pause they should get were I to speak it (as it should be, but alas, impossible in this medium, unless I podcast all my poetry... mmm, that would be fun :)
Anyway, I offer the link below for those that had read this piece and those that might still be interested... this is my cop-out, just an edit of an old poem... at least it's one I like:
Ilios
C.
In the meantime, I looked back briefly at an older piece after writing the poem in the previous post and wondered about some edits. In the end, I changed the verse structure by turning parts of it into refrains, and I think, when reading, it gives the reader the pause they should get were I to speak it (as it should be, but alas, impossible in this medium, unless I podcast all my poetry... mmm, that would be fun :)
Anyway, I offer the link below for those that had read this piece and those that might still be interested... this is my cop-out, just an edit of an old poem... at least it's one I like:
Ilios
C.
08 March 2007
Poetry Thursday: Stains
This is written in response to Poetry Thursday: the prompt is red. This is the first time I have officially responded to the prompts, so here goes.
'Stains'
I see them... I see it...
Such a small, unassuming space...
to unleash a thousand kinds of hell.
So many places, why this?
when so many others might do.
So many deaths in a callous instant...
for nothing more than a... word.
I shout to them... I yell...
Such a shattered, terrible milieu...
as the madness consumes it all.
So many lost, for what?
when so many others should do.
So many histories fragmented in fury...
for nothing save we asked them to.
I reach...
Such a quiet, calm sound...
to end the horrors of the day.
So many forgotten, and now?
when no one else could do.
So much I needed to say...
for the stains shall never fade.
C.
'Stains'
I see them... I see it...
Such a small, unassuming space...
to unleash a thousand kinds of hell.
So many places, why this?
when so many others might do.
So many deaths in a callous instant...
for nothing more than a... word.
I shout to them... I yell...
Such a shattered, terrible milieu...
as the madness consumes it all.
So many lost, for what?
when so many others should do.
So many histories fragmented in fury...
for nothing save we asked them to.
I reach...
Such a quiet, calm sound...
to end the horrors of the day.
So many forgotten, and now?
when no one else could do.
So much I needed to say...
for the stains shall never fade.
C.
06 March 2007
Places I've Never Been
For those with a side interest in the normal goings on in my life... I have been gaming a little more lately and had a great game the other night, one of those epic sessions where the dice fall (for the players) in ways that they aren't meant to and the GM(that's me) groans, but everyone still has a great time. I have also been gaming with some people I had not seen in awhile, so that has been awesome too. A nice, refreshing change before my schedule gets really out of whack with conventions in the next couple of weeks.
This post is certainly not a philosophical wonderment of places I long for metaphysically, but a general entry about places I would like to see before the Apocalypse or we are all chasing each other across the landscape in Mad-max style vehicles or running around taking each other out with swords and bows. Seriously, for all my travels, a few places do hold a certain allure to me, and I would like to say, 'I've been there.'. Not much deeper than that :)
1) Fontevraud Abbey, Chinon, France: Not surprising, I suspect, considering my love for medieval history. I have written about this place before in my entry: Fontevraud Abbey. Really, almost all of the medieval sites in France I would love to visit, especially in Normandy, Poitou, Gascogne and the Aquitaine. Naturally, I would need to visit many sites in England as well, to get the full effect, but the final resting place of Richard I and Eleanor of Aquitaine tops my list.
2) Flanders Fields, Ypres, Belgium: I have wanted to visit Belgium for its medieval sites as well, considering its connection to England and France during the Hundred Years War, but at Ypres, several major battles of the Great War were fought, and one of the most famous poems in military history was written about the cost of the battles and the War. Of course, I would like to see other sites from one of the most terrible wars in history, but I would like to begin here.
3) South Africa: Going from the specific to the general, I simply have always wanted to visit the place, more or less Cape Town and the coast, eastward to Durban, but most of the rest of the country would do as well. I am not sure I want to go in 2010, since they are hosting the World Cup then, but perhaps before or after :)
4) Aix-la-Chappelle/Aachen, Westphalia, Germany: Not quite the place it was back in the days of Charlemagne, but, since it was nearly destroyed a couple of times, one can forgive. Again, the historian in me wants to see the ancient capital of the Frankish Empire, now the westermost city in Germany.
5) Japan: Again, not to specific here. I suppose Tokyo is a given, but because of anime, and to some extent history :) I would like to visit quite a few places in Japan, some for historical reasons, others not, but a general roaming about the country would be nice.
6) South Island, New Zealand: I never got to see the South Island, so I thought the next time I go to New Zealand I would make sure and go further south. I also mean to finally get to Wellington as well.
7) Alaska, Hawaii, Kentucky and Maine: No real reason, other than the fact I have been to or driven through every other state in the Union... might as well get to them before we add another state :)
8) Ilios, Asia Minor (modern Turkey): No time traveling (though that might be cool), but I would like to see the sites of the excavations of Troy and its surrounds, (as well as other sites in the Aegean) and perhaps have a chance to look back the millenia and see those fabled shores from a new perspective... one can dream.
9) Carthage, Tunisia: As long as we are on ancient historical sites, Carthage is another place I would like to see, or at least the ruins of said place. Also, a great deal of Operation Torch was fought in Tunis, and I would not mind seeing some of those sites as well.
10) Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia, Argentina: I figure if I go to Argentina, I might as well see the ends of the Earth while I am at it, and see the storm-tossed Strait of Magellan, and one of the more isolated regions on Earth.
Well, that's a few of the places I would like to see sometime... maybe I will get to a few of them. Hope you get to where you are going as well. We all deserve it, I think.
C.
This post is certainly not a philosophical wonderment of places I long for metaphysically, but a general entry about places I would like to see before the Apocalypse or we are all chasing each other across the landscape in Mad-max style vehicles or running around taking each other out with swords and bows. Seriously, for all my travels, a few places do hold a certain allure to me, and I would like to say, 'I've been there.'. Not much deeper than that :)
1) Fontevraud Abbey, Chinon, France: Not surprising, I suspect, considering my love for medieval history. I have written about this place before in my entry: Fontevraud Abbey. Really, almost all of the medieval sites in France I would love to visit, especially in Normandy, Poitou, Gascogne and the Aquitaine. Naturally, I would need to visit many sites in England as well, to get the full effect, but the final resting place of Richard I and Eleanor of Aquitaine tops my list.
2) Flanders Fields, Ypres, Belgium: I have wanted to visit Belgium for its medieval sites as well, considering its connection to England and France during the Hundred Years War, but at Ypres, several major battles of the Great War were fought, and one of the most famous poems in military history was written about the cost of the battles and the War. Of course, I would like to see other sites from one of the most terrible wars in history, but I would like to begin here.
3) South Africa: Going from the specific to the general, I simply have always wanted to visit the place, more or less Cape Town and the coast, eastward to Durban, but most of the rest of the country would do as well. I am not sure I want to go in 2010, since they are hosting the World Cup then, but perhaps before or after :)
4) Aix-la-Chappelle/Aachen, Westphalia, Germany: Not quite the place it was back in the days of Charlemagne, but, since it was nearly destroyed a couple of times, one can forgive. Again, the historian in me wants to see the ancient capital of the Frankish Empire, now the westermost city in Germany.
5) Japan: Again, not to specific here. I suppose Tokyo is a given, but because of anime, and to some extent history :) I would like to visit quite a few places in Japan, some for historical reasons, others not, but a general roaming about the country would be nice.
6) South Island, New Zealand: I never got to see the South Island, so I thought the next time I go to New Zealand I would make sure and go further south. I also mean to finally get to Wellington as well.
7) Alaska, Hawaii, Kentucky and Maine: No real reason, other than the fact I have been to or driven through every other state in the Union... might as well get to them before we add another state :)
8) Ilios, Asia Minor (modern Turkey): No time traveling (though that might be cool), but I would like to see the sites of the excavations of Troy and its surrounds, (as well as other sites in the Aegean) and perhaps have a chance to look back the millenia and see those fabled shores from a new perspective... one can dream.
9) Carthage, Tunisia: As long as we are on ancient historical sites, Carthage is another place I would like to see, or at least the ruins of said place. Also, a great deal of Operation Torch was fought in Tunis, and I would not mind seeing some of those sites as well.
10) Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia, Argentina: I figure if I go to Argentina, I might as well see the ends of the Earth while I am at it, and see the storm-tossed Strait of Magellan, and one of the more isolated regions on Earth.
Well, that's a few of the places I would like to see sometime... maybe I will get to a few of them. Hope you get to where you are going as well. We all deserve it, I think.
C.
08 February 2007
Midnight Confessions
Ok, this is a late 'Tell it To me Tuesday' from over at Janet's. I should be doing a Thursday 13 or something, but I have a list thing in mind for tomorrow and it's more than 13... She did pose an intriguing question. 'If you could listen to a deathbed confession to a person or persons, who would it be and why?'. I should be able to give this a shot considering my background :)
1) St. Paul- if only to get more insight about the whys of his form of Christianity and what he would think about the fact that the messianic apocalypse he was embracing never happened.
2) Josef Stalin- The mind of madmen are curious things, and he certainly had a lot to answer for and to confess one should think. Plus, I would also like to inform him of the failure of Communism, just to give him an extra kick in the pants on the way to the next life :)
3) Erwin Rommel- I would like to hear his real thoughts on the idiots he had to serve with, including Goering and Hitler.
4) George S. Patton- Patton always said interesting and controversial things. I am sure a deathbed confession would be no less interesting. (I do note with irony that, so far, none of these figures had a deathbed so to speak: Patton died in an auto accident; Rommel, suicide; Paul, martyrdom, probably; Stalin: embolism or stroke, something pretty quick I know)
5) Robert E. Lee- He did have a deathbed and actually I was in a staged reading of a play about his last days and last words... (Strike the Tent!) It would just be intriguing to hear what the most beloved general in American history would have to say at the end, besides what was actually said.
6) Eleanor of Aquitaine- The most fascinating woman in medieval history (at least to me), mother of a dynasty and more or less the reason behind the Hundred Years War, not that she would care about that. Her court was one of the most forward thinking in Europe and the tradition of the chansons de geste began with her troubadours. What a woman :)
Honorable Mentions: Virtually any medieval pope; Edward I and III; Richard I; Saladin; Elizabeth I; Tom Landry; Anne Boleyn; Edgar Allan Poe; Walt Whitman; Sir Isaac Newton; Thomas Jefferson.
C.
1) St. Paul- if only to get more insight about the whys of his form of Christianity and what he would think about the fact that the messianic apocalypse he was embracing never happened.
2) Josef Stalin- The mind of madmen are curious things, and he certainly had a lot to answer for and to confess one should think. Plus, I would also like to inform him of the failure of Communism, just to give him an extra kick in the pants on the way to the next life :)
3) Erwin Rommel- I would like to hear his real thoughts on the idiots he had to serve with, including Goering and Hitler.
4) George S. Patton- Patton always said interesting and controversial things. I am sure a deathbed confession would be no less interesting. (I do note with irony that, so far, none of these figures had a deathbed so to speak: Patton died in an auto accident; Rommel, suicide; Paul, martyrdom, probably; Stalin: embolism or stroke, something pretty quick I know)
5) Robert E. Lee- He did have a deathbed and actually I was in a staged reading of a play about his last days and last words... (Strike the Tent!) It would just be intriguing to hear what the most beloved general in American history would have to say at the end, besides what was actually said.
6) Eleanor of Aquitaine- The most fascinating woman in medieval history (at least to me), mother of a dynasty and more or less the reason behind the Hundred Years War, not that she would care about that. Her court was one of the most forward thinking in Europe and the tradition of the chansons de geste began with her troubadours. What a woman :)
Honorable Mentions: Virtually any medieval pope; Edward I and III; Richard I; Saladin; Elizabeth I; Tom Landry; Anne Boleyn; Edgar Allan Poe; Walt Whitman; Sir Isaac Newton; Thomas Jefferson.
C.
06 February 2007
Nerdiness Survey/Interview
Perhaps inspired by the anime conventions starting up again, or just nerdiness in general, I have decided to dig out an old nerd survey I created awhile back. It is certainly a less intimidating read than the prior post, and you can all see what a total nerd I really am :) Read on and I leave posterity to you, my fellow nerds and geeks.
btw, for fairness' sake, I shall complete the survey as well... and while it seems like a lot of questions, most of the answers are pretty easy, and of course, subjective, but that is the fun of this :)
1.First Name?
2.Age you would prefer to be?
3.Immortality?
4.What is your quest?
5.Nerd or Geek?
6.Single, Pre-Owned, or Attached?
7.History or Geography?
8.Favorite Sport?
9.Favorite Pro Sports Team?
10.Do you understand the infield fly rule?
11.Do you understand Cricket?(the default answer should be 'no', even if you are from the UK or former British colonial holding)
12.Fusion or Fission?
13.Do you own a lightsaber (real or otherwise)?
14.What is your favorite color?
15.What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
16.Star Trek, Babylon 5, or Battlestar Galactica?
17.Phaser or Blaster?
18.Superman or Batman?
19.Spiderman or Wolverine?
20. Harry Potter or JRR Tolkien (or alternatively, CS Lewis)?
21.Robert Frost or Edgar Allen Poe?
22.Weather aside, do you feel more day baseball games should be played?
23.Who fought each other in the Hundred Years War?
24.How many digital media devices do you own? (ie, ipods, computers, cellphones, video game systems)
25.360, PS3, or the worst name for a video game system ever(Wii)?
26.What is the longest amount of time you waited in line for a movie?
27. And finally, if you had a teleportation device that would send you into any of the alternate universe described above, where would you go?
C.
btw, for fairness' sake, I shall complete the survey as well... and while it seems like a lot of questions, most of the answers are pretty easy, and of course, subjective, but that is the fun of this :)
1.First Name?
2.Age you would prefer to be?
3.Immortality?
4.What is your quest?
5.Nerd or Geek?
6.Single, Pre-Owned, or Attached?
7.History or Geography?
8.Favorite Sport?
9.Favorite Pro Sports Team?
10.Do you understand the infield fly rule?
11.Do you understand Cricket?(the default answer should be 'no', even if you are from the UK or former British colonial holding)
12.Fusion or Fission?
13.Do you own a lightsaber (real or otherwise)?
14.What is your favorite color?
15.What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
16.Star Trek, Babylon 5, or Battlestar Galactica?
17.Phaser or Blaster?
18.Superman or Batman?
19.Spiderman or Wolverine?
20. Harry Potter or JRR Tolkien (or alternatively, CS Lewis)?
21.Robert Frost or Edgar Allen Poe?
22.Weather aside, do you feel more day baseball games should be played?
23.Who fought each other in the Hundred Years War?
24.How many digital media devices do you own? (ie, ipods, computers, cellphones, video game systems)
25.360, PS3, or the worst name for a video game system ever(Wii)?
26.What is the longest amount of time you waited in line for a movie?
27. And finally, if you had a teleportation device that would send you into any of the alternate universe described above, where would you go?
C.
20 January 2007
Ilios
Something strange happened today... while reading an article on the archaeology of the Trojan War, I was inspired to write something I had mulling about in my head for some time. Thank the Muse...
To the reader: Ilios is the 8th century BCE form of what we know as the city-state of Troy (hence the name of the book called 'The Iliad').
'Ilios'
Where rests the glory of this fabled shore?
In the remnants of the tormented dead?
Perhaps those that have seen the end,
Cast from the heights of blood-stained walls.
Innocence...
Lost beneath the waves of a wine-dark sea.
What price secured this fabled shore?
How many fell to spear and bow?
Amid the cries of the forgotten and forlorn,
The stench of battle permeates the air.
Victory...
Made whole within the flames of heroic pyres.
Who weeps now for this fabled shore?
This realm of black-hearted gods and men?
They stand beyond the veil of time
In the form of Hades' breathless dead.
Ilios...
Her glory tempered by the memory of a wine-dark sea.
C.
To the reader: Ilios is the 8th century BCE form of what we know as the city-state of Troy (hence the name of the book called 'The Iliad').
'Ilios'
Where rests the glory of this fabled shore?
In the remnants of the tormented dead?
Perhaps those that have seen the end,
Cast from the heights of blood-stained walls.
Innocence...
Lost beneath the waves of a wine-dark sea.
What price secured this fabled shore?
How many fell to spear and bow?
Amid the cries of the forgotten and forlorn,
The stench of battle permeates the air.
Victory...
Made whole within the flames of heroic pyres.
Who weeps now for this fabled shore?
This realm of black-hearted gods and men?
They stand beyond the veil of time
In the form of Hades' breathless dead.
Ilios...
Her glory tempered by the memory of a wine-dark sea.
C.
28 December 2006
Who Said This?
What follows is a little quote quiz, but I have made it a bit easier this time. I am going to give out the answers, they just need to be matched to the quote. They are deliberately deceptive and a couple are out of character for the person they match, and a couple are in fact, buried in the blog if you so desire to search that way. For whatever reason, these struck me as odd, humorous, or perplexing, and sometimes ironic and poignant.
The Answers:
A. Napoleon Bonaparte
B. Leon Trotsky
C. Robert E. Lee
D. Dave Barry
E. George S. Patton
F. Abraham Lincoln
The Quotes:
1) 'If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there is a man on base.'
2) 'Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to shake off the existing government and form a new one that suits them better.'
3) 'You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.'
4) 'To write history one must be more than a man; for the keeper of this great justiciary must be free of all preoccupation of interest... and of vanity.'
5) 'Whiskey - I like it, I always did, and that is the reason I never use it.'
6) 'It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived. '
A couple of these are probably obvious, but this is certainly more a fun than serious exercise :)
C.
The Answers:
A. Napoleon Bonaparte
B. Leon Trotsky
C. Robert E. Lee
D. Dave Barry
E. George S. Patton
F. Abraham Lincoln
The Quotes:
1) 'If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there is a man on base.'
2) 'Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to shake off the existing government and form a new one that suits them better.'
3) 'You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.'
4) 'To write history one must be more than a man; for the keeper of this great justiciary must be free of all preoccupation of interest... and of vanity.'
5) 'Whiskey - I like it, I always did, and that is the reason I never use it.'
6) 'It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived. '
A couple of these are probably obvious, but this is certainly more a fun than serious exercise :)
C.
13 December 2006
Auschwitz
I thought I would be completely depressing tonight/this morning. Actually, what prompted me to post this instead of tomorrow's entry (my take on travel advice) was the somewhat infuriating conference going on in Iran concerning 'alternative' views to the Holocaust. The conference included a keynote speech by the nuclear weapon seeking president of Iran Ahmadinejad in which he simply bashed Israel. Another fine guest of the conference was one of the South's favorite sons, David Duke. Anyway, Germany responded by hosting their own conference in Berlin that laid out as much evidence as possible to confirm the Holocaust (and Germany would know I should think).
Therefore, I thought I would post something I wrote concerning my own visit to the infamous work/death camp, Auschwitz. Birkenau, the larger death camp was destroyed by the Allies (though you can climb one of the towers and get a panoramic view of where Birkenau would have been) as the war ended, so all that remains is Auschwitz. I visited Auschwitz in the summer of 1991 as a part of my tour through Eastern Europe and I would never be the same.
A person sometimes does not know when they lost the innocence of youth, but after my visit, I knew. Sure, I had heard of the camps, even had read about them at the Holocaust museum in Dallas, but the full weight did not strike me until I stood upon the grounds of Auschwitz. Frankly, the experience was so overwhelming that I did not quite understand until later, and I have had difficulty talking, much less writing about being there. Finally, about 2 years ago, I was able to put into words my visit.
'Auschwitz'
I remember...
Their deaths a statistic
Butchered out of fear.
They were made less than animals,
Judged for being born
In this ghastly, terrible place.
I hear...
Their cries of confusion
Wondering what they had done.
Herded into those rooms,
Slaughtered with cold calculation
In this frightful, horrible place.
I see...
Families torn from one another
Selected for a cruel end;
Crushed without regret.
They were mere numbers
In this maddening, nightmarish place.
I wept...
For what seemed days
Their souls calling to me;
Yearning for vindication,
Haunting me for all time.
I wept in this terrible place.
I remember...
Auschwitz.
C.
Therefore, I thought I would post something I wrote concerning my own visit to the infamous work/death camp, Auschwitz. Birkenau, the larger death camp was destroyed by the Allies (though you can climb one of the towers and get a panoramic view of where Birkenau would have been) as the war ended, so all that remains is Auschwitz. I visited Auschwitz in the summer of 1991 as a part of my tour through Eastern Europe and I would never be the same.
A person sometimes does not know when they lost the innocence of youth, but after my visit, I knew. Sure, I had heard of the camps, even had read about them at the Holocaust museum in Dallas, but the full weight did not strike me until I stood upon the grounds of Auschwitz. Frankly, the experience was so overwhelming that I did not quite understand until later, and I have had difficulty talking, much less writing about being there. Finally, about 2 years ago, I was able to put into words my visit.
'Auschwitz'
I remember...
Their deaths a statistic
Butchered out of fear.
They were made less than animals,
Judged for being born
In this ghastly, terrible place.
I hear...
Their cries of confusion
Wondering what they had done.
Herded into those rooms,
Slaughtered with cold calculation
In this frightful, horrible place.
I see...
Families torn from one another
Selected for a cruel end;
Crushed without regret.
They were mere numbers
In this maddening, nightmarish place.
I wept...
For what seemed days
Their souls calling to me;
Yearning for vindication,
Haunting me for all time.
I wept in this terrible place.
I remember...
Auschwitz.
C.
11 December 2006
A Little Irony
I find irony to be interesting, at least from a historical and political perspective. On the other hand, I have not cared for it much in my personal life, as irony tends to not be so great when it happens to you. When it happens to others, does it then become poetic justice? I suspect if it is someone you do not like, or that person does not matter to you, but I bet it is irony to them. Anyway, that is not really the point. I was thinking of irony in general and how it has applied to history, and if anything is filled with irony it is one of my great loves: history and her bastard step-child, politics (or is it the other way around. Did history create politics or vice versa?).
I have been reading (and have almost finished) a book on the Cold War and was struck with the fact that the author is right: most of the current generation of college students were toddlers or grammar school students when the Cold War ended. I actually began college as the Cold War ended. In fact, the first courses I took were while on a trip to Eastern Europe and the USSR as the walls came tumbling down upon them, so to speak. I missed the Berlin Wall, but got to stand in Red Square while Russia was still the Soviet Union. And St. Petersburg was still Leningrad, but just barely (I wonder how many remember St. Petersburg was once Leningrad that was once Petrograd that was once St. Petersburg... and you thought Constantinople, er... Istanbul had a crazy history... funny, both cities have been celebrated in song about the same time.. wild). Ok, that was a parenthetical out of control. I suppose that is my current mind set. I need to write, so I simply do, and let it go. In the end, it is always better that way. Back to the point on the book, aside from the little ironies... and that is how the perception of our world has changed in a scant sixty years or so. Think about it, especially if you do have a little background in history. The time scale is amazing, really. To affect change in so small a time (and in our generation as well with computers and the Internet) is remarkable. This type of accellerative history began, to me, in the late 1800's with the Industrial age, especially in the US after the War Between the States. Since then, it has seemed that the world has been on one collision course after another, and one only thinks what the next one might be. Can the world continue at this almost exponential pace? In some ways I hope so, only because of my fascination with science fiction, but the historian in me remains dubious, especially since I feel myself being left behind at times. Sure, I am reasonably computer literate, but I have only a few clues about iPods and other assorted i-things, and I certainly have no ability to speak 'Net, finding that I can type longhand a whole lot faster than it takes for me to think of the possibly shorthand (with few exceptions). And texting... just talk to me, email me, or leave a comment. I do not mind hands free phones, as they remind me of comlinks/communicators, though it is weird when I hear someone talking at me, then I realize they have a wireless headset. So I suppose I look a little to the future while rejecting it some. I suppose that is always the case.
I guess the irony in all this is that I feel at times the world has raced by and the faster it moves past me, the further I want to dig into history to recant this rampant acceleration. I had always hoped I could adjust. In some ways, sure, though in others, I want to dig into a book, cut myself off from the world on a quiet beach and ruminate and reminisce of simpler time that were not as simple as we might imagine.
As I have mentioned before, I suppose I am at odds with this decade and using the tools of this decade to comment about it. Yeah, I know... ironic.
C.
I have been reading (and have almost finished) a book on the Cold War and was struck with the fact that the author is right: most of the current generation of college students were toddlers or grammar school students when the Cold War ended. I actually began college as the Cold War ended. In fact, the first courses I took were while on a trip to Eastern Europe and the USSR as the walls came tumbling down upon them, so to speak. I missed the Berlin Wall, but got to stand in Red Square while Russia was still the Soviet Union. And St. Petersburg was still Leningrad, but just barely (I wonder how many remember St. Petersburg was once Leningrad that was once Petrograd that was once St. Petersburg... and you thought Constantinople, er... Istanbul had a crazy history... funny, both cities have been celebrated in song about the same time.. wild). Ok, that was a parenthetical out of control. I suppose that is my current mind set. I need to write, so I simply do, and let it go. In the end, it is always better that way. Back to the point on the book, aside from the little ironies... and that is how the perception of our world has changed in a scant sixty years or so. Think about it, especially if you do have a little background in history. The time scale is amazing, really. To affect change in so small a time (and in our generation as well with computers and the Internet) is remarkable. This type of accellerative history began, to me, in the late 1800's with the Industrial age, especially in the US after the War Between the States. Since then, it has seemed that the world has been on one collision course after another, and one only thinks what the next one might be. Can the world continue at this almost exponential pace? In some ways I hope so, only because of my fascination with science fiction, but the historian in me remains dubious, especially since I feel myself being left behind at times. Sure, I am reasonably computer literate, but I have only a few clues about iPods and other assorted i-things, and I certainly have no ability to speak 'Net, finding that I can type longhand a whole lot faster than it takes for me to think of the possibly shorthand (with few exceptions). And texting... just talk to me, email me, or leave a comment. I do not mind hands free phones, as they remind me of comlinks/communicators, though it is weird when I hear someone talking at me, then I realize they have a wireless headset. So I suppose I look a little to the future while rejecting it some. I suppose that is always the case.
I guess the irony in all this is that I feel at times the world has raced by and the faster it moves past me, the further I want to dig into history to recant this rampant acceleration. I had always hoped I could adjust. In some ways, sure, though in others, I want to dig into a book, cut myself off from the world on a quiet beach and ruminate and reminisce of simpler time that were not as simple as we might imagine.
As I have mentioned before, I suppose I am at odds with this decade and using the tools of this decade to comment about it. Yeah, I know... ironic.
C.
07 December 2006
Fontevraud Abbey
This post follows the last one on John of Gaunt slightly, in that he was one of the last of the Plantagenet dynasty, one of the most successful and most problematic of English dynasties. It gave England such great kings as Henry II, Edward I and III, and such fools as Richard II and Edward II, plus a couple of misunderstood ones, including Richard I, the Lion-Hearted and his brother John. This dynasty also gave England (though she would hardly like to have been associated with England) the duchess of Aquitaine, Eleanor, and her lands that would be fought over until 1453, three hundred years after her lands became a part of England. Most of the early Plantagenets could not speak English (though it was in a rather primitive vernacular at the time) and really did not want much to do with the land they ruled, except to tax it (Richard I's favorite pastime besides killing) and give birth to constitutional history (Magna Carta and only then at the point of a sword). As such, they are buried at Fontevraud Abbey, near Chinon, in France. Still, these names and their history have a majesty to them that I always found alluring, so after reading a biography of Richard I, I was inspired to jot this little piece down after seeing a picture of the abbey, perhaps wanting to know what it might have been like to witness the majesty in person...
'Whispers at Fontevraud Abbey'
I hear the whispers of their lives,
emerging from these forgotten walls.
Crumbling ruins barely maintained,
Nearly a millennium gone.
Faces and forms carved in simple granite,
A quiet reminder of Bordeaux and Chinon,
that conquering family entombed within.
Tales of troubadours and crusaders
dance from their solemn repose,
Tempered by fire and sword.
They spring from the darkness,
twisted by romance and the passage of time.
Lioness and Lion, Duchess and King,
Eleanor and Richard
Still whisper at Fontevraud Abbey.
C.
'Whispers at Fontevraud Abbey'
I hear the whispers of their lives,
emerging from these forgotten walls.
Crumbling ruins barely maintained,
Nearly a millennium gone.
Faces and forms carved in simple granite,
A quiet reminder of Bordeaux and Chinon,
that conquering family entombed within.
Tales of troubadours and crusaders
dance from their solemn repose,
Tempered by fire and sword.
They spring from the darkness,
twisted by romance and the passage of time.
Lioness and Lion, Duchess and King,
Eleanor and Richard
Still whisper at Fontevraud Abbey.
C.
The Last Knight
I have just finished reading another excellent book, The Last Knight, by one of my favorite authors, Norman F. Cantor, professor emeritus at NYU and formerly of Princeton. He has also written one of the definitive intellectual histories of the Middle Ages, a book called Inventing the Middle Ages, and a fabulous book on plague history: In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made. Needless to say, when I saw this newer book by Dr. Cantor I had to read it, and once I got started I was rarely able to put it down. Thankfully, Cantor's books are all easy reads, as he approaches most of his books with a layman's perspective, never sounding off-putting. Of all the authors I have read on the Middle Ages, he is certainly the most approachable. His latest effort is quite approachable but does ask the reader to have a little background in Medieval History and the Hundred Years War. Still, it is not so much as he does explain the background details rather well.
The book itself concerns John of Gaunt(Ghent), founder of the Lancastrian dynasty (his son was Henry IV), and uncle to the last Plantagenet king, Richard II (deposed by Gaunt's son, Henry IV). Gaunt was one of the last great magnates of the Middle Ages, as after his death, the power begins to rest in nations and the middle classes, though only slightly so until the 1500's and really nations do not become 'nations' until the Treaty of Westphalia which ends the Thirty Years War in 1648. Still, as Gaunt passes, the seeds of the modern world, for good or ill, have been sown. One other interesting note about Gaunt, his grandson through his daughter Phillipa would help usher in the age of discovery in Portugal. Henrique never made it to the throne of Portugal, but would garner much more fame through his more well-known sobriquet as Prince Henry the Navigator who started Portugal, and the rest of Western Europe down the path of Discovery (that the Chinese had already laid out for them).
C.
The book itself concerns John of Gaunt(Ghent), founder of the Lancastrian dynasty (his son was Henry IV), and uncle to the last Plantagenet king, Richard II (deposed by Gaunt's son, Henry IV). Gaunt was one of the last great magnates of the Middle Ages, as after his death, the power begins to rest in nations and the middle classes, though only slightly so until the 1500's and really nations do not become 'nations' until the Treaty of Westphalia which ends the Thirty Years War in 1648. Still, as Gaunt passes, the seeds of the modern world, for good or ill, have been sown. One other interesting note about Gaunt, his grandson through his daughter Phillipa would help usher in the age of discovery in Portugal. Henrique never made it to the throne of Portugal, but would garner much more fame through his more well-known sobriquet as Prince Henry the Navigator who started Portugal, and the rest of Western Europe down the path of Discovery (that the Chinese had already laid out for them).
C.
15 November 2006
The Shade of Trees
I could call this a re-write, but I lost the original and all of it has been altered except for the title. It was necessary for me to re-write this even though I did like the original a great deal, but the meaning has changed, and in a lot of ways I liked this more. It is not exactly a new composition, but I had forgotten I had written it about a month ago, so reading it again is quite refreshing since I might have lost it to a little absentmindedness. And yes, both versions were oddly inspired by Gen. Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson's dying words... 'Let us cross over the river and rest underneath the shade of trees.'.
'The Shade of Trees'
Wait for me...
Help me shield this distant heart,
Lest we forget
The words and wonder which
Brought us to such a moment
Beneath the enduring calm of
The shade of trees.
Let me reach to you...
Calm the burden of our souls;
Allow me to forgive
The troubles and trials that
Have plagued my mind,
And let us earn such
A welcome respite.
Wait for me...
And I will wait for you
Beyond the river's edge,
Amid the warm embrace of
Time.
C.
'The Shade of Trees'
Wait for me...
Help me shield this distant heart,
Lest we forget
The words and wonder which
Brought us to such a moment
Beneath the enduring calm of
The shade of trees.
Let me reach to you...
Calm the burden of our souls;
Allow me to forgive
The troubles and trials that
Have plagued my mind,
And let us earn such
A welcome respite.
Wait for me...
And I will wait for you
Beyond the river's edge,
Amid the warm embrace of
Time.
C.
06 November 2006
Therein All The Honor Lies
The following is one of my longer poems, and I would technically consider it an attempt at an 'epic' poem, since it sort of follows a story (unlike my other rather long poem 'Commentaries on the Burden of War' which is certainly not epic by any stretch). I wrote the first version of this (long since edited) in 1992, which was really the first part of the poem. I finally re-wrote the first portion and tied it to two similar poems (again re-writing a little for some unity of theme) in 2003. So, this is one of my most edited pieces, mostly due to making it consistent and turning it into something that follows a story. And as far as inspiration, I was actually inspired by some accounts of the Mexican-American War, though the opening quote from the Civil War fits just as well.
'Therein All The Honor Lies'
"Soldiering has one great trap. To be a good soldier you must love the army. To be a good commander you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love. We do not fear our own death, you and I. But there comes a time... we are never quite prepared for so many to die. Oh, we do expect the occasional empty chair, a salute to fallen comrades. But this war goes on and on, and the men die, and the price gets ever higher. We are prepared to lose some of us, but we are never prepared to lose all of us." --- Robert E. Lee to General Longstreet, Gettysburg
I.
They charged through the smoke and dust
No glory... simply because it was ordered so.
It was not for the conquest of new lands.
They fought because I said go.
They raced up the ramparts through the hail
Of lead wavering only in the arms of death.
No decisive battle nor desperate last stand
Not even freeing our fellow man.
They stormed the defenses of the wretched fort,
Dirt blasted by falling shells.
Slaughter prevailed on both sides of the line.
Not how I thought it would be.
They fell above the battlements of the old fort
Muskets sending them into the arms of death
Not as I planned... not for glory
Not even for the conquest of new lands.
Dead... Dead because I said go.
II.
Blood stained the walls of the shattered fort
Life once vibrant gone forevermore.
Their hopes and dreams lost to time
for what?
A dusty outpost in the deep of dark
A name not heard until today
Remembered because it was ordered so.
Voices cried from the depths of the fort
Begging for mothers and cursing God above.
Their agony and heartache a cross to bear
for what?
Blind ambition and a manifest dream
A swelling of pride until this moment
Battered into fragments by empty desire.
I wept atop the lonely ramparts
Wondering how this horror could be
The cause should have carried the day
and yet,
The deep of dark overwhelmed my spirit;
Victory brushed into the charnel pits
Where gods and generals must glare
To face their men another day.
III.
They saluted within the rebuilt fort
A battered flag raised high
Objectives met and spirits soared
No want for glory, not even
Freeing their fellow man.
They answered when called
For the hubris of a few and the
Dignity of a nation.
They paraded beneath the quiet walls
Toward a field stripped bare
Smells still overwhelming
They neither wavered nor cared
Fallen heroes are remembered
Friend and foe given their due
While the living bear witness
To what was and what must not be.
I stood in the darkness
Watching them march into the fort's embrace
Filled with a solemn determination,
New defenders hoping to make a difference
For the glory of a nation; perhaps the
Conquest of new lands.
Maybe even freeing their fellow man.
It will not be as they imagine.
So many dead...
The next time I say go.
C.
'Therein All The Honor Lies'
"Soldiering has one great trap. To be a good soldier you must love the army. To be a good commander you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love. We do not fear our own death, you and I. But there comes a time... we are never quite prepared for so many to die. Oh, we do expect the occasional empty chair, a salute to fallen comrades. But this war goes on and on, and the men die, and the price gets ever higher. We are prepared to lose some of us, but we are never prepared to lose all of us." --- Robert E. Lee to General Longstreet, Gettysburg
I.
They charged through the smoke and dust
No glory... simply because it was ordered so.
It was not for the conquest of new lands.
They fought because I said go.
They raced up the ramparts through the hail
Of lead wavering only in the arms of death.
No decisive battle nor desperate last stand
Not even freeing our fellow man.
They stormed the defenses of the wretched fort,
Dirt blasted by falling shells.
Slaughter prevailed on both sides of the line.
Not how I thought it would be.
They fell above the battlements of the old fort
Muskets sending them into the arms of death
Not as I planned... not for glory
Not even for the conquest of new lands.
Dead... Dead because I said go.
II.
Blood stained the walls of the shattered fort
Life once vibrant gone forevermore.
Their hopes and dreams lost to time
for what?
A dusty outpost in the deep of dark
A name not heard until today
Remembered because it was ordered so.
Voices cried from the depths of the fort
Begging for mothers and cursing God above.
Their agony and heartache a cross to bear
for what?
Blind ambition and a manifest dream
A swelling of pride until this moment
Battered into fragments by empty desire.
I wept atop the lonely ramparts
Wondering how this horror could be
The cause should have carried the day
and yet,
The deep of dark overwhelmed my spirit;
Victory brushed into the charnel pits
Where gods and generals must glare
To face their men another day.
III.
They saluted within the rebuilt fort
A battered flag raised high
Objectives met and spirits soared
No want for glory, not even
Freeing their fellow man.
They answered when called
For the hubris of a few and the
Dignity of a nation.
They paraded beneath the quiet walls
Toward a field stripped bare
Smells still overwhelming
They neither wavered nor cared
Fallen heroes are remembered
Friend and foe given their due
While the living bear witness
To what was and what must not be.
I stood in the darkness
Watching them march into the fort's embrace
Filled with a solemn determination,
New defenders hoping to make a difference
For the glory of a nation; perhaps the
Conquest of new lands.
Maybe even freeing their fellow man.
It will not be as they imagine.
So many dead...
The next time I say go.
C.
04 November 2006
War Prayers
Just a note on reading: The refrain in the following piece is based on the hymnal version of 'The Lord's Prayer'. If you know the tune, then that is how I recommend you read the refrains.
'War Prayers'
Our Father...
Dust choked, mud soaked roads
We march to our end.
Sounds of thunder loom in the distance,
We know what fire awaits.
Up the rise, toward the lines
We form to make our stand.
Who art in Heaven
Grape shot, musket, cannonade
We hold fast in the terrible storm.
Screams of agony all around,
We will remember victory's price.
Drawing swords, fixing bayonets
We are ready for our end.
Hallowed be thy name.
Raging, charging, ever closer
We await the great melee
Dying in droves yet no one runs,
We fire into the unyielding host.
Reloading through the chaotic din,
We see them strike into our hearts.
Thy kingdom come...
Slashing, tearing maddening horror
We crumble beneath their fury.
Comrades fall as a driving rain,
We give them a ferocious riposte.
Overwhelming numbers, within the lines
We fight until the end.
Thy will be done...
Dust choked, blood soaked roads
We march to our end.
Sounds of thunder fade...
We hear the prayers for the dead.
Amen.
C.
'War Prayers'
Our Father...
Dust choked, mud soaked roads
We march to our end.
Sounds of thunder loom in the distance,
We know what fire awaits.
Up the rise, toward the lines
We form to make our stand.
Who art in Heaven
Grape shot, musket, cannonade
We hold fast in the terrible storm.
Screams of agony all around,
We will remember victory's price.
Drawing swords, fixing bayonets
We are ready for our end.
Hallowed be thy name.
Raging, charging, ever closer
We await the great melee
Dying in droves yet no one runs,
We fire into the unyielding host.
Reloading through the chaotic din,
We see them strike into our hearts.
Thy kingdom come...
Slashing, tearing maddening horror
We crumble beneath their fury.
Comrades fall as a driving rain,
We give them a ferocious riposte.
Overwhelming numbers, within the lines
We fight until the end.
Thy will be done...
Dust choked, blood soaked roads
We march to our end.
Sounds of thunder fade...
We hear the prayers for the dead.
Amen.
C.
30 October 2006
Commentaries On The Burden Of War
This is technically a war poem, but more a comment on war poetry. I meant for it to start out a little light but realized the subject matter would not let me. Still, I think it is one of my more unusual writings as it is also a reference work to others. Not that it is a contest, but I do challenge you to see how many writers I reference and whom, (not including myself, for I do) in slight homage to 'A Fable For Critics' by James Russell Lowell. Some of the writers I reference should be easy, others not so obvious.
'Commentaries on the Burden of War'
"You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you." -- Leon Trotsky
War is kind.
Weep not maiden, war is kind
Impined the war correspondent
Despondent for his lack of mettle
But emboldened to admit
He knew the horror of battle,
Watching from afar so he
Could comfort the living on
How war is so kind.
Honor and glory beckons.
The cause is just, therefore
Duty whispers 'lo' to the soldier
So he can volunteer
For daring deeds in
The arms of death.
He turns his back on wisdom
And gives one gallant gush,
All the while whispering 'I can'.
Riding into a valley of hell
Against those most terrifying odds.
They faced their foe undaunted,
But do they wonder
Should they falter and run... no!
The day will be theirs
For war is kind, so kind
That poets will laud them
Whilst they die in droves.
I wonder if the poets knew
What sort of burden was created,
This image the soldiers
Had to face
Generation after generation gone.
Inspired by words of those
Who never faced death's rendezvous.
He loved his duty and honor
To fight in one more just war
In order to be a noble man
So he could face his love,
Show her how much he cared.
Still, she took comfort
That he loved her so very much,
And yet, in the end...
He loved his honor more.
Dank trenches in Flanders fields,
Many await a gruesome end
Yet espousing the virtues of wars past.
Pressed against the walls, waiting to
Charge into that deadly space,
Resolving to stop the other
For they know their duty;
Even if the world abandons reason,
They stand firm and simply die.
An outpost in the deep of dark
Laden with the blood of the fallen
Is forgotten except for a few.
Those who scratched and clawed
At the face of death,
Watching their comrades fall
In a brief terrible moment.
Not for glory, nor for new lands
Only because someone said 'go'.
I dream of those honored dead
And hope they forgive us our
Need to comment and posture
On the soldier's burden.
One that we have not faced;
One we should never want to.
I dream of remembrance...
From bloodied creeks and streams at
Sharpsburg and Bull Run,
To sieges at Calais and Hue,
I long for an absolution
In the Teutonburg forest,
At the fall of Vera Cruz,
The terror of Gallipoli,
And the madness of Verdun.
It will never come...
War is kind.
If she will not weep,
Perhaps I shall.
For it will not end.
The ruin we have created
Cannot end.
C.
'Commentaries on the Burden of War'
"You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you." -- Leon Trotsky
War is kind.
Weep not maiden, war is kind
Impined the war correspondent
Despondent for his lack of mettle
But emboldened to admit
He knew the horror of battle,
Watching from afar so he
Could comfort the living on
How war is so kind.
Honor and glory beckons.
The cause is just, therefore
Duty whispers 'lo' to the soldier
So he can volunteer
For daring deeds in
The arms of death.
He turns his back on wisdom
And gives one gallant gush,
All the while whispering 'I can'.
Riding into a valley of hell
Against those most terrifying odds.
They faced their foe undaunted,
But do they wonder
Should they falter and run... no!
The day will be theirs
For war is kind, so kind
That poets will laud them
Whilst they die in droves.
I wonder if the poets knew
What sort of burden was created,
This image the soldiers
Had to face
Generation after generation gone.
Inspired by words of those
Who never faced death's rendezvous.
He loved his duty and honor
To fight in one more just war
In order to be a noble man
So he could face his love,
Show her how much he cared.
Still, she took comfort
That he loved her so very much,
And yet, in the end...
He loved his honor more.
Dank trenches in Flanders fields,
Many await a gruesome end
Yet espousing the virtues of wars past.
Pressed against the walls, waiting to
Charge into that deadly space,
Resolving to stop the other
For they know their duty;
Even if the world abandons reason,
They stand firm and simply die.
An outpost in the deep of dark
Laden with the blood of the fallen
Is forgotten except for a few.
Those who scratched and clawed
At the face of death,
Watching their comrades fall
In a brief terrible moment.
Not for glory, nor for new lands
Only because someone said 'go'.
I dream of those honored dead
And hope they forgive us our
Need to comment and posture
On the soldier's burden.
One that we have not faced;
One we should never want to.
I dream of remembrance...
From bloodied creeks and streams at
Sharpsburg and Bull Run,
To sieges at Calais and Hue,
I long for an absolution
In the Teutonburg forest,
At the fall of Vera Cruz,
The terror of Gallipoli,
And the madness of Verdun.
It will never come...
War is kind.
If she will not weep,
Perhaps I shall.
For it will not end.
The ruin we have created
Cannot end.
C.
18 October 2006
The 100
Sorry, no room for another 4300 :) (little joke for those who have seen The 4400)
As seems commonplace on blogs and other mediums, (I did something similar in my old journal) I have decided to give my many fans (crickets chirping in the distance) a number of things about me that are completely unremarkable but possibly interesting for those that find such things interesting. I have to admit I am a fan of such lists, so I give you such a list. Since 100 or so seems to be the appropriate number, (I suppose I could have waited to my 100th post, but I decided to get this out of the way) here are 100 things you should or should not know about me.
1. I'm left-handed (for the most part)
2. I have horrible handwriting, even when printing. You don't want to see my cursive (I haven't written in cursive in I don't know how long)
3. The first football game I remember is Super Bowl X (Dallas-Pittsburgh, 1976)
4. Reportedly, my third and fourth words were 'Go Cowboys!'.
5. The first movie I remember seeing was 'Star Wars', though I think my parents took me to see both 'The Muppet Movie' and 'Rocky' before that.
6. The first movie that gave me nightmares was 'Alien' (I was 6).
7. My favorite movie of all time is 'The Empire Strikes Back.'
8. My favorite book of all time is 'The Stand' by Stephen King, followed closely by 'The Guns of the South' by Harry Turtledove.
9. My favorite non-fiction book is 'In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World it Made' by Norman F. Cantor
10. Though I love medieval history, I am really unfocused, studying plague history, religious history (both of which do crossover into medieval, true), and military history.
11. I have a minor in Space Science and were I not math-illiterate, I would have gone into the sciences.
12. I love maps (which translated into a Geography minor).
13. I enjoy politics, but never had the stomach to get into it, aside from a term in the Student Senate in college.
14. I have been behind the Iron Curtain, but just barely, mere months before it all collapsed.
15. The best museum I have ever been to is the Hermitage in what was then Leningrad (I've never been to Paris, so I can't say the Louvre, regardless of reputation).
16. I have never been to Western Europe (unless you count 2 days in Finland to wind up my trip to Eastern Europe).
17. I have traveled to and/or through every state in the contiguous USA except Kentucky and Maine.
18. Though there was a great deal of anti-American sentiment the second time I was there, a part of my heart will always belong in Australia.
19. My ideal retirement spot is a stretch of coastline in South-West Australia.
20. I have spent almost three consecutive days on a train. (the India-Pacific between Sydney and Perth)
21. I have had my car searched for drugs at a Canadian border crossing (they thought I was smuggling pot from Mexico because of my Texas plates).
22. I have difficulty with the smell of tobacco (maybe a mild allergy perhaps).
23. I've lived in my car.
24. I waited tables for almost 2 years.
25. I have a fondness for theater, having acted, directed, produced and pretty much did everything at one point except costume design.
26. Before I sold anime stuff, I helped my family sell sports cards.
27. I was married for about 5 years once.
28. I've now been divorced for about 5 years.
29. I prefer the term 'certified pre-owned'. Sounds more official.
30. I taught myself to read at age 3 (thank you Sesame Street)
31. I didn't write my first short story or poem until I was 17.
32. I won an award (the National Association of Children's Bookwriters or something like that) for my first short story... which looking back, wasn't all that good.
33. I am my worst critic, as most writers are.
34. I don't like to use the word 'believe' or 'belief'. To me it is the first step to fanaticism. I would rather use the word 'think' or 'thought'.
35. I grew up Independent Baptist (hence my views on 'belief').
36. My favorite television show is still 'Babylon 5'.
37. Growing up, my favorite show was 'Star Trek', old and TNG.
38. I love roleplaying games and used to game constantly.
39. My favorite song of all time is 'Piano Man' by Billy Joel.
40. My second favorite song is 'Blue Eyes' by Elton John.
41. I have seen them both in concert separately and together.
42. I wish I could have seen Johnny Cash in concert.
43. My favorite concert is easily Billy Joel/Elton John (at Texas Stadium, April 1995).
44. My favorite musical/play is 'Phantom of the Opera'.
45. I love quotations.
46. I grew up a giant comic fan, and still read them now and then.
47. My favorite comic story is 'Batman: The Dark Knight Returns' by Frank Miller.
48. I still prefer Superman over Batman, but only slightly.
49. My favorite roleplaying game is 'Star Wars' (shocking, I know)
50. I have been roleplaying (though mostly game mastering) for almost 20 years now. 2007 will mark my 20th year.
51. My favorite non-Star Wars/Lord of the Rings movie is 'Almost Famous' (I prefer the Director's cut called 'Untitled'.
52. My favorite album (what not a favorite MP3 playlist?... what is this word, album?) is 'American IV: The Man Comes Around' by Johnny Cash.
53. I am both a cat and dog person.
54. I have owned more cats and dogs than I can count.
55. Cats, even strays, like to hang around me.
56. I am considered depressed, but not bi-polar.
57. I have a large number of siblings, and the oldest.
58. I lead a very parenthetical life (really, it's true).
59. I used to fence, preferring foil and sabre over epee.
60. If I had a philosophy, I think it would be deistic multi-dimensional reincarnationist. It worked from the Minbari (from 'Babylon 5'), though deism is more 18th century Enlightenment than late 20th century science fiction.
61. I understand the difference between the Jesus of history and the Jesus of faith.
62. While I feel we soften words too much and argue about semantics, I am still far too diplomatic for my own good.
63. That being said, I have found it hard to be diplomatic when it counted most.
64. If I could drop everything and go 'Out There' (out there being space and beyond), I would.
65. While I prefer the Jedi Code, the Sith dress better (and I prefer darker colors myself).
66. I wear sandals whenever I can, meaning I've worn socks twice in the past 2 calendar years (which you can do in Texas, even in winter).
67. The last time I wore tennis shoes regularly was on my last trip to Australia. Unless you are on a beach, it is really, really hard to hike in sandals.
68. I hate wearing blue jeans... shorts and slacks (usually khakis) for me.
69. Even though I love Australia and grew up in the D/FW area, I despise the heat.
70. I much prefer the cold, even if it means I might have to put on socks.
71. My eyes sometimes change color, but they are mostly blue (usually a light blue, but sometimes dark, sometimes a dark green, occasionally gray).
72. I lettered in varsity basketball in high school.
73. I have had three excruciating surgeries, two of them neurosurgeries.
74. The first neurosurgery saved my life. The second replaced the right half of my forehead with plastic (this happened over 20 years ago, when I was 10).
75. Because of said surgeries, I have failed three military physicals, the only thing that ever kept me from serving my country (though it was a near thing the last time).
76. It also kept me from playing football.
77. 'The Imperial March' is one of the great instrumental themes of all time.
78. I have had season tickets twice to the Cowboys and three times to the Rangers, all in years they stunk.
79. And I gave up my seats the day Nolan Ryan pitched his last no-hitter so my brother could go to the game.
80. No matter how many times I hear it, the words, 'No Luke, I am your father', still sends chills up my spine.
81. I prefer the Bob Seger version of 'Turn the Page' over Metallica's version.
82. I agree with Dilbert in that when something like the Holodeck is available, civilization as we know it will end (if it doesn't before then).
83. Perhaps the best poem I've ever written is my least favorite to read... a piece I wrote on the 5th anniversary of my eldest brother's death.
84. I still have trouble talking to my Mom and my sisters about it, mostly for their sake.
85. I always wanted to be on 'Jeopardy'.
86. Though I love writing, I am not a very disciplined writer. Perhaps that is why I write so much poetry.
87. I have serious trouble rhyming.
88. While I love music, I cannot sing, except as part of a choral group.
89. My favorite comic strip was the always funny 'Bloom County'.
90. It's the one with Opus the Penguin.
91. While I enjoy the history of languages, I cannot, for the life of me, learn them. I am better at reading them, and even that is marginal.
92. I prefer a nice cabernet over white, perhaps a bottle of rose instead, but only at Italian restaurants :)
93. I love westerns and war movies, and most any historical movie. I tend to see them regardless of reviews.
94. My favorite westerns are 'Dances With Wolves' and 'The Outlaw Josey Wales'.
95. My favorite war films are 'Glory' and 'We Were Soldiers', though the first half of 'Full Metal Jacket' is phenomenal.
96. Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov were two of my big influences growing up, though my dad tried to steer me to Jack Vance.
97. Most days, I would rather have a nice conversation.
98. My mom always told me I could always 'catch more flies with honey than vinegar'.
99. Even if it annoys them, I always hold the door open for women (assuming I get to it in time). Simply the way I was raised.
100. I can't be anything more than I am at this moment, even if I do look to the future too much.
Well, this should cover it. Anything else I will probably get to eventually, or just ask. I might even give an answer that makes sense. :)
C.
As seems commonplace on blogs and other mediums, (I did something similar in my old journal) I have decided to give my many fans (crickets chirping in the distance) a number of things about me that are completely unremarkable but possibly interesting for those that find such things interesting. I have to admit I am a fan of such lists, so I give you such a list. Since 100 or so seems to be the appropriate number, (I suppose I could have waited to my 100th post, but I decided to get this out of the way) here are 100 things you should or should not know about me.
1. I'm left-handed (for the most part)
2. I have horrible handwriting, even when printing. You don't want to see my cursive (I haven't written in cursive in I don't know how long)
3. The first football game I remember is Super Bowl X (Dallas-Pittsburgh, 1976)
4. Reportedly, my third and fourth words were 'Go Cowboys!'.
5. The first movie I remember seeing was 'Star Wars', though I think my parents took me to see both 'The Muppet Movie' and 'Rocky' before that.
6. The first movie that gave me nightmares was 'Alien' (I was 6).
7. My favorite movie of all time is 'The Empire Strikes Back.'
8. My favorite book of all time is 'The Stand' by Stephen King, followed closely by 'The Guns of the South' by Harry Turtledove.
9. My favorite non-fiction book is 'In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World it Made' by Norman F. Cantor
10. Though I love medieval history, I am really unfocused, studying plague history, religious history (both of which do crossover into medieval, true), and military history.
11. I have a minor in Space Science and were I not math-illiterate, I would have gone into the sciences.
12. I love maps (which translated into a Geography minor).
13. I enjoy politics, but never had the stomach to get into it, aside from a term in the Student Senate in college.
14. I have been behind the Iron Curtain, but just barely, mere months before it all collapsed.
15. The best museum I have ever been to is the Hermitage in what was then Leningrad (I've never been to Paris, so I can't say the Louvre, regardless of reputation).
16. I have never been to Western Europe (unless you count 2 days in Finland to wind up my trip to Eastern Europe).
17. I have traveled to and/or through every state in the contiguous USA except Kentucky and Maine.
18. Though there was a great deal of anti-American sentiment the second time I was there, a part of my heart will always belong in Australia.
19. My ideal retirement spot is a stretch of coastline in South-West Australia.
20. I have spent almost three consecutive days on a train. (the India-Pacific between Sydney and Perth)
21. I have had my car searched for drugs at a Canadian border crossing (they thought I was smuggling pot from Mexico because of my Texas plates).
22. I have difficulty with the smell of tobacco (maybe a mild allergy perhaps).
23. I've lived in my car.
24. I waited tables for almost 2 years.
25. I have a fondness for theater, having acted, directed, produced and pretty much did everything at one point except costume design.
26. Before I sold anime stuff, I helped my family sell sports cards.
27. I was married for about 5 years once.
28. I've now been divorced for about 5 years.
29. I prefer the term 'certified pre-owned'. Sounds more official.
30. I taught myself to read at age 3 (thank you Sesame Street)
31. I didn't write my first short story or poem until I was 17.
32. I won an award (the National Association of Children's Bookwriters or something like that) for my first short story... which looking back, wasn't all that good.
33. I am my worst critic, as most writers are.
34. I don't like to use the word 'believe' or 'belief'. To me it is the first step to fanaticism. I would rather use the word 'think' or 'thought'.
35. I grew up Independent Baptist (hence my views on 'belief').
36. My favorite television show is still 'Babylon 5'.
37. Growing up, my favorite show was 'Star Trek', old and TNG.
38. I love roleplaying games and used to game constantly.
39. My favorite song of all time is 'Piano Man' by Billy Joel.
40. My second favorite song is 'Blue Eyes' by Elton John.
41. I have seen them both in concert separately and together.
42. I wish I could have seen Johnny Cash in concert.
43. My favorite concert is easily Billy Joel/Elton John (at Texas Stadium, April 1995).
44. My favorite musical/play is 'Phantom of the Opera'.
45. I love quotations.
46. I grew up a giant comic fan, and still read them now and then.
47. My favorite comic story is 'Batman: The Dark Knight Returns' by Frank Miller.
48. I still prefer Superman over Batman, but only slightly.
49. My favorite roleplaying game is 'Star Wars' (shocking, I know)
50. I have been roleplaying (though mostly game mastering) for almost 20 years now. 2007 will mark my 20th year.
51. My favorite non-Star Wars/Lord of the Rings movie is 'Almost Famous' (I prefer the Director's cut called 'Untitled'.
52. My favorite album (what not a favorite MP3 playlist?... what is this word, album?) is 'American IV: The Man Comes Around' by Johnny Cash.
53. I am both a cat and dog person.
54. I have owned more cats and dogs than I can count.
55. Cats, even strays, like to hang around me.
56. I am considered depressed, but not bi-polar.
57. I have a large number of siblings, and the oldest.
58. I lead a very parenthetical life (really, it's true).
59. I used to fence, preferring foil and sabre over epee.
60. If I had a philosophy, I think it would be deistic multi-dimensional reincarnationist. It worked from the Minbari (from 'Babylon 5'), though deism is more 18th century Enlightenment than late 20th century science fiction.
61. I understand the difference between the Jesus of history and the Jesus of faith.
62. While I feel we soften words too much and argue about semantics, I am still far too diplomatic for my own good.
63. That being said, I have found it hard to be diplomatic when it counted most.
64. If I could drop everything and go 'Out There' (out there being space and beyond), I would.
65. While I prefer the Jedi Code, the Sith dress better (and I prefer darker colors myself).
66. I wear sandals whenever I can, meaning I've worn socks twice in the past 2 calendar years (which you can do in Texas, even in winter).
67. The last time I wore tennis shoes regularly was on my last trip to Australia. Unless you are on a beach, it is really, really hard to hike in sandals.
68. I hate wearing blue jeans... shorts and slacks (usually khakis) for me.
69. Even though I love Australia and grew up in the D/FW area, I despise the heat.
70. I much prefer the cold, even if it means I might have to put on socks.
71. My eyes sometimes change color, but they are mostly blue (usually a light blue, but sometimes dark, sometimes a dark green, occasionally gray).
72. I lettered in varsity basketball in high school.
73. I have had three excruciating surgeries, two of them neurosurgeries.
74. The first neurosurgery saved my life. The second replaced the right half of my forehead with plastic (this happened over 20 years ago, when I was 10).
75. Because of said surgeries, I have failed three military physicals, the only thing that ever kept me from serving my country (though it was a near thing the last time).
76. It also kept me from playing football.
77. 'The Imperial March' is one of the great instrumental themes of all time.
78. I have had season tickets twice to the Cowboys and three times to the Rangers, all in years they stunk.
79. And I gave up my seats the day Nolan Ryan pitched his last no-hitter so my brother could go to the game.
80. No matter how many times I hear it, the words, 'No Luke, I am your father', still sends chills up my spine.
81. I prefer the Bob Seger version of 'Turn the Page' over Metallica's version.
82. I agree with Dilbert in that when something like the Holodeck is available, civilization as we know it will end (if it doesn't before then).
83. Perhaps the best poem I've ever written is my least favorite to read... a piece I wrote on the 5th anniversary of my eldest brother's death.
84. I still have trouble talking to my Mom and my sisters about it, mostly for their sake.
85. I always wanted to be on 'Jeopardy'.
86. Though I love writing, I am not a very disciplined writer. Perhaps that is why I write so much poetry.
87. I have serious trouble rhyming.
88. While I love music, I cannot sing, except as part of a choral group.
89. My favorite comic strip was the always funny 'Bloom County'.
90. It's the one with Opus the Penguin.
91. While I enjoy the history of languages, I cannot, for the life of me, learn them. I am better at reading them, and even that is marginal.
92. I prefer a nice cabernet over white, perhaps a bottle of rose instead, but only at Italian restaurants :)
93. I love westerns and war movies, and most any historical movie. I tend to see them regardless of reviews.
94. My favorite westerns are 'Dances With Wolves' and 'The Outlaw Josey Wales'.
95. My favorite war films are 'Glory' and 'We Were Soldiers', though the first half of 'Full Metal Jacket' is phenomenal.
96. Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov were two of my big influences growing up, though my dad tried to steer me to Jack Vance.
97. Most days, I would rather have a nice conversation.
98. My mom always told me I could always 'catch more flies with honey than vinegar'.
99. Even if it annoys them, I always hold the door open for women (assuming I get to it in time). Simply the way I was raised.
100. I can't be anything more than I am at this moment, even if I do look to the future too much.
Well, this should cover it. Anything else I will probably get to eventually, or just ask. I might even give an answer that makes sense. :)
C.
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