Some beach...somewhere

Title says it all!  School is becoming a chore and not something most of us are really enjoying much anymore.  I am still enjoying the material and the memories that exist in this building at the University but I'm spending a lot more time watching wakeboarding videos and boat shopping than I am thinking about school work (still getting it all done though).  This is not to say I dislike this whole experience, this is not true at all.  However, the relative lack of coherence in my thoughts on this post can lend validity to the fact that we all need nothing more than a nice beach somewhere, with a boat on the shore and a substantial amount of beer and rum back at the Cabin.
Cheers!  Almost there :)  

In a bit of a hole...

Sometimes these Saskatchewan roads drive me insane.  My truck is a two-wheel drive model and thus has very limited potential when it comes to sticky road related situations.  Anyway, I got stuck in a hole in the road today.  Actually, it was at the end of my drive way, which makes it sound even worse.  I consider myself a pretty capable person behind the wheel of a decent number of vehicles...but this was something else.  It was like Star Wars...in Return of the Jedi, when the Sarrlac (spelling?) pit swallows up people like M & Ms.  Those potholes swallowed up my front tires like they were nothing :(  Doesn't help that the front tires have no power and just sit there, while the two rear meats do all the work (which today was spinning a lot).  Maybe I need to buy that 2500 Diesel sooner than expected?

Hell was an ocean away...

I was reading a book on the Pacific War last night and came across a passage that I found interesting.  What I read may have been nothing new but it was a reminder to remember an aspect of war that doesn't typically make it into many of the "hollywood" style renditions.  Now, don't go thinking I don't appreciate hollywood now...because I most certainly do.  I have absolutely nothing against a good couple hours of kicking ass and possibly taking a few names (A.K.A the Expendables).  On the flip side of this coin is the the fact that war is so often fought with patience and the ability to keep your beans together (mentally).  In this book, it depicts the day after (remembrance of) Independence Day in which most of the men had a hell of a hangover.  Their boredom and the constant tension resulted in a bit of a riot when Ice cream was introduced into the mix.  A couple keeled over from heat stroke, while another had a good ol' time chasing a rat around camp in an effort to kill it.  Some were lucky enough to receive packages of both food and reading material to help with alleviation of that boredom and tension.  They were in hell, it just didn't seem like it some of the time. 

KABOOM!

Being a history major can be interesting as a dinner conversation starter.  When you tell someone this is your major they give you one of two responses: pride or pity.  Pride results from the other person sharing that same passionate interest (or at least appreciates why you're interested).  Unfortunately I more often received pity than a mutual pride in this topic of study.  This disinterest in all things history can sometimes disappoint me (but I think it's the result of history teachers than don't give a poop about whether their students actually care about the subject material).  Recently I picked up a book called KABOOM...which is ironically about the war in the middle east, Iraq in particular.  I have a particular interest in such events and so I picked this up as soon as I saw it.  Apparently the book is based on a blog written by Matt Gallenger, a U.S. soldier who served in Iraq.  His entries are about their lives in a war that he feels no one cares about.  He often expresses, along with his fellow soldiers, a distaste for those disaffected by the conflict.  His thoughts mirror mine...you dont have to agree or disagree with the conflict in the middle east...you just "...have to give a fuck" (Gallenger).

I would encourage you to pick up the book, but you can also check out the blog at the following address.  IT is a poignant and sometimes difficult read but above all it is something everyone should read in order to better get inside the head of a modern day solider in a contemporary conflict.

 http://kaboomwarjournalarchive.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2009-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2010-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=1