Short and to the point today - just two items:
1) My wife has been working on an armed forces quilt that will hang with some of her other quilts in the Colorado Governor's Mansion this spring and early summer. Like my writing is for me, her quilting is a way to cope. She was so excited to share a year's work with the kids and I when she finally finished it tonight.
Then she cried for hours. I think she thought that finishing this quilt would make the demons go away. It didn't.
The demons never go away.
2) U.S. Army Sergent Keith Matthew Maupin's parents have their son back. Almost four years after his convoy was attacked and he was taken prisoner by Islamic Terrorists the Army has recovered and identified his remains.
God bless them for giving their son when our nation called. I know the war is an unpleasant topic for most of you but he went to Iraq because America asked him to. It is a debt that none of us can repay. I feel humbled in my little day to day issues when I look at their pain and sacrifice.
our lives may not be the same since my little blond girl came back but she came home and for that I am forever grateful.
Two other soldiers are still missing in Iraq.
Over 2400 remain unaccounted for in Vietnam
over 75,000 from WWII.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Fed Bailout of Individual Mortgages?
Today is a good day to talk politics.
The Iraqi government is in a full fledged battle with Al Sadr's boys in Basra. Hillary can't get her story straight - It was like totally awful with like bullets flying everywhere and the Bosnian Muslims attacking in hordes. OMG!!!
... and my good buddy Barack keeps singing me sunshine songs while birdies fly around his (and Cinderella's) heads. WTF?
Today CNN had a story focused on the fact that there is more traction in Washington to bail individual homeowners out of the mortgage mess.
Again - WTF!!!
Lets be honest folks - did you really think your fifty-five grand a year salary could pay for that five hundred thousand dollar house? Because of you folks, the itty bitty little house next to the one I rent costs four hundred thousand dollars. All these folks drove the market up and up and up on wishes, prayers, pixies and fairy dust. Those of us who were responsible, didn't get that reverse ammortization, interest only, resetable mortgage because we had the brains of my twelve year old.
In his defense - he stopped picking his nose at seven so we're pretty sure the elevator goes all the way to the top floor. What about the rest of you?
I used my head and didn't drop into the hype and now when home prices are resetting into more intelligent levels where I might be able to afford a decent one, the government is going to bail everyone out. That will just cause the average home price to hold steady at an untennable level while banks won't even give mortgages to people with good credit.
What ever happened to personal responsibility?
The Iraqi government is in a full fledged battle with Al Sadr's boys in Basra. Hillary can't get her story straight - It was like totally awful with like bullets flying everywhere and the Bosnian Muslims attacking in hordes. OMG!!!
... and my good buddy Barack keeps singing me sunshine songs while birdies fly around his (and Cinderella's) heads. WTF?
Today CNN had a story focused on the fact that there is more traction in Washington to bail individual homeowners out of the mortgage mess.
Again - WTF!!!
Lets be honest folks - did you really think your fifty-five grand a year salary could pay for that five hundred thousand dollar house? Because of you folks, the itty bitty little house next to the one I rent costs four hundred thousand dollars. All these folks drove the market up and up and up on wishes, prayers, pixies and fairy dust. Those of us who were responsible, didn't get that reverse ammortization, interest only, resetable mortgage because we had the brains of my twelve year old.
In his defense - he stopped picking his nose at seven so we're pretty sure the elevator goes all the way to the top floor. What about the rest of you?
I used my head and didn't drop into the hype and now when home prices are resetting into more intelligent levels where I might be able to afford a decent one, the government is going to bail everyone out. That will just cause the average home price to hold steady at an untennable level while banks won't even give mortgages to people with good credit.
What ever happened to personal responsibility?
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Gettin Published
I was commiserating with a friend (English teach/writer turned lawyer because somebody has to feed the dogs and kids) today about how hard it is to get published these days when he reminded me that Ive been published a buttload.
Buttload BTW is my word for the day and means; lots, oodles, more than average in a a quirky sort of way i.e. I like you buttloads.
He's right, I've been uber fortunate to get my stuff into some major U.S. papers and magazines with global reach so I should really stop bitchin and get back to writing. For those of you who fantasize daily, like I do (when I'm done with Scarlett Johansson and Jello) about being an author, you realize that it's not about what you've already done but what's coming next.
I tend to work on a screenplay or two and a couple of novels all at the same time. If I do it that way, whenever one of my characters isn't behaving the way I'd like them too, I just move on to the next one or the next project. Its a huge perk of being a writer - if you don't behave, I won't invent you. I'll let you shrivel up and die and disappear into the great nothing and no one will ever know you even existed.
Its harsh but its good for the soul to have power over something sometimes. I'm married and have kids so I have power over nothing. For me, power over my character isn't so much a nicety as a need and let me tell you; I have needs - did I mention Scarlett Johansson and Jello?
Anyyyyway - Its not being published that drives me, although the car does need a new alternator and my middle son has a hollow leg, oh yeah and the border collie needed surgery last week.
I write because I want people to feel, if only for a moment, the way I feel, the way my characters feel when they live their lives. Getting cash on the side would be cool but to me its more about sharing the emotion and the day to day that make up the here and now. One day, one or more of my novels will sell and the vet can cut up the dog without fear of that look in my eye - you know the one measuring the balance between surgery and the final shot.
Of course to get there, I should probably go find an agent.
Buttload BTW is my word for the day and means; lots, oodles, more than average in a a quirky sort of way i.e. I like you buttloads.
He's right, I've been uber fortunate to get my stuff into some major U.S. papers and magazines with global reach so I should really stop bitchin and get back to writing. For those of you who fantasize daily, like I do (when I'm done with Scarlett Johansson and Jello) about being an author, you realize that it's not about what you've already done but what's coming next.
I tend to work on a screenplay or two and a couple of novels all at the same time. If I do it that way, whenever one of my characters isn't behaving the way I'd like them too, I just move on to the next one or the next project. Its a huge perk of being a writer - if you don't behave, I won't invent you. I'll let you shrivel up and die and disappear into the great nothing and no one will ever know you even existed.
Its harsh but its good for the soul to have power over something sometimes. I'm married and have kids so I have power over nothing. For me, power over my character isn't so much a nicety as a need and let me tell you; I have needs - did I mention Scarlett Johansson and Jello?
Anyyyyway - Its not being published that drives me, although the car does need a new alternator and my middle son has a hollow leg, oh yeah and the border collie needed surgery last week.
I write because I want people to feel, if only for a moment, the way I feel, the way my characters feel when they live their lives. Getting cash on the side would be cool but to me its more about sharing the emotion and the day to day that make up the here and now. One day, one or more of my novels will sell and the vet can cut up the dog without fear of that look in my eye - you know the one measuring the balance between surgery and the final shot.
Of course to get there, I should probably go find an agent.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Cliente Nueve
Here we are almost five years from the invasion of Iraq and I have nothing to say about the matter. OK, thats not exactly correct, I sold that to a newspaper this morning so I can't share it here.
I do however have lots to say about Client Number Nine. Yes you guessed it, I have to wade in. Afterall, its become apparent that it isn't just Governor Spitzer's poll numbers that have been dropping. I wonder if Bill Clinton could call and give him a couple of pointers?
Little things like:
1. Dude - next time use an intern
2. I know where you can get a good price on Havannas
3. Hilliary would have killed me if I'd sent for take out.
I know I shouldn't be making fun of a man who got caught following the wrong advisor but isn't that something we all learned back in college. It is also amazingly funny to me that he is America's premiere crime fighter.
There are one or two sobering thoughts that go into this:
1. The money he spent on a piece of a$$ for two hours could pay off my wife's debt to the Army for overpayment of combat pay when she was medevac'd out.
2. Do you know how many homeless vets he could have fed instead of feeding something else to someone else?
** The most sobering though of all: While new York Governor Elliot Spitzer was cheating on his wife and the people of New York in a D.C. hotel, a U.S Army Staff Sergent was killed at Camp Beuhring Kuwait.
Of the people by the people and for the people
yeah - got it.
I do however have lots to say about Client Number Nine. Yes you guessed it, I have to wade in. Afterall, its become apparent that it isn't just Governor Spitzer's poll numbers that have been dropping. I wonder if Bill Clinton could call and give him a couple of pointers?
Little things like:
1. Dude - next time use an intern
2. I know where you can get a good price on Havannas
3. Hilliary would have killed me if I'd sent for take out.
I know I shouldn't be making fun of a man who got caught following the wrong advisor but isn't that something we all learned back in college. It is also amazingly funny to me that he is America's premiere crime fighter.
There are one or two sobering thoughts that go into this:
1. The money he spent on a piece of a$$ for two hours could pay off my wife's debt to the Army for overpayment of combat pay when she was medevac'd out.
2. Do you know how many homeless vets he could have fed instead of feeding something else to someone else?
** The most sobering though of all: While new York Governor Elliot Spitzer was cheating on his wife and the people of New York in a D.C. hotel, a U.S Army Staff Sergent was killed at Camp Beuhring Kuwait.
Of the people by the people and for the people
yeah - got it.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Politics and Anger
As the title implies, I intended for this little spooge session to be all about the elections.
Oops
I just can't seem to bring myself to get engaged in the political process. Hillary promises whatever the current audience seems to want to hear, Obama promises nothing really (Although he sounds wonderful when he does it) and John McCain promises (although not in so many words) that my children will join the fate of their parents and fight in Iraq, Afghanistan or some other third world place that doesn't like Americans.
Its hard to get excited about the process when its just that - a process to see which set of empty promises we will follow into the next phase of the WOT (war on terror). Fortunately, the rest of America is focused on the really important issues like Brittany's visitation rights and why Wal~Mart is bad.
Its a wonder the Vagina Monologues every made it big.
I have however channeled my rage and I'm coming along nicely with my writing. I just finished another screenplay and am madly working on a novel about breast cancer. My mother in-law is a survivor and her sister is in treatment now so it has been a good place to focus the anger. A friend told me I was "Whack" for writing love stories but I did remind him that everybody dies in the end so its in perfect keeping with everything else in our lives right now.
BTW - What the F*&$ does whack mean?
I am also finding that my anger is harder to find these days. I read the Iraqi bloggers and find myself crushed by their misery and uplifted by how they manage to go on. I think the difference is the economy of scale. I have lost the girl I once knew but am slowly finding the one I have now. She is still beautiful, alive, and little bits of her poke out when I least expect it. They have lost friends and families, neighborhoods and cities, they live in fear every day yet they find time to laugh at the silly things their mothers say when the power comes on.
I wonder if they hate me because I am Amis or if they are as curious about me as I am about them. Strangely, the only friend from Iraq that my wife thinks about every day is the Iraqi surgeon who kept her sane when the madness swirled around her. You would think that I would be concerned when she calls his name in her sleep but I'm not. He was a light in the darkness and I am thankful for a man who kept a light shining in the darkest of places. I would write his name and say thank you or try to find him but I dare not. Life is a delicate thing and I would hate to be the butterfly.
Today's ramble is done and I feel better for it. As it goes, I am writing uncontrollably lately so perhaps more will soon follow.
Oops
I just can't seem to bring myself to get engaged in the political process. Hillary promises whatever the current audience seems to want to hear, Obama promises nothing really (Although he sounds wonderful when he does it) and John McCain promises (although not in so many words) that my children will join the fate of their parents and fight in Iraq, Afghanistan or some other third world place that doesn't like Americans.
Its hard to get excited about the process when its just that - a process to see which set of empty promises we will follow into the next phase of the WOT (war on terror). Fortunately, the rest of America is focused on the really important issues like Brittany's visitation rights and why Wal~Mart is bad.
Its a wonder the Vagina Monologues every made it big.
I have however channeled my rage and I'm coming along nicely with my writing. I just finished another screenplay and am madly working on a novel about breast cancer. My mother in-law is a survivor and her sister is in treatment now so it has been a good place to focus the anger. A friend told me I was "Whack" for writing love stories but I did remind him that everybody dies in the end so its in perfect keeping with everything else in our lives right now.
BTW - What the F*&$ does whack mean?
I am also finding that my anger is harder to find these days. I read the Iraqi bloggers and find myself crushed by their misery and uplifted by how they manage to go on. I think the difference is the economy of scale. I have lost the girl I once knew but am slowly finding the one I have now. She is still beautiful, alive, and little bits of her poke out when I least expect it. They have lost friends and families, neighborhoods and cities, they live in fear every day yet they find time to laugh at the silly things their mothers say when the power comes on.
I wonder if they hate me because I am Amis or if they are as curious about me as I am about them. Strangely, the only friend from Iraq that my wife thinks about every day is the Iraqi surgeon who kept her sane when the madness swirled around her. You would think that I would be concerned when she calls his name in her sleep but I'm not. He was a light in the darkness and I am thankful for a man who kept a light shining in the darkest of places. I would write his name and say thank you or try to find him but I dare not. Life is a delicate thing and I would hate to be the butterfly.
Today's ramble is done and I feel better for it. As it goes, I am writing uncontrollably lately so perhaps more will soon follow.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
The Army wants the money
Its 0300 and as per normal, I'm up again
writing.
I just saw the CNN story about a wounded warrior who received a letter from the Army demanding repayment of his bonus because he had the wherewith all to go and get himself wounded in Iraq before his enlistment was up.
Cheeky bastard eh?
Sadly, he isn't alone.
I know this because my wife is one of those that the Army has gone after for cash. They didn't turn off her combat pay when she was medevac'd out of Iraq. I went to the SRC and was told it was fixed. I guess I should have gone on line and checked her LES's but I was pretty damn busy keeping track of seventeen different meds, a buttload of appointments, the Med Board process, three kids and a job I ended up having to give up because I couldn't keep up with the load and take care of her.
FUCK!!!
Sorry, it slips out sometimes.
When she was medically retired, I moved out to a job in Denver before her and the kids. A week before the move and the Army said we had too much stuff and would have to pay more cash to get us moved. Apparently we were over weight when we came in but they chose to overlook that.
They need bodies for Iraq.
The sad part is that when I called the Army, they told me to get a U-Haul and move them myself. I guess they don't really understand how broke you get when all of this happens. I guess they misunderstood when I said I was at a new job in Colorado, three thousand miles away from Fort Bragg.
Now they send letters monthly and call just as much and I've got to be honest. The bill is over fourteen grand given interest and fines. How the hell am I going to pay that? They damn near killed her. Her life and the lives of our children are negatively altered forever and now they want cash? I know the budget is tight but this is the wrong way to fill the gaps folks.
Thank you for your service. Gosh we're awfully sorry you got so fucked up. Will that be cash or check?
Food for thought folks. PLEASE DON"T LET THIS STORY DIE - there are thousands more out there going through the same thing.
writing.
I just saw the CNN story about a wounded warrior who received a letter from the Army demanding repayment of his bonus because he had the wherewith all to go and get himself wounded in Iraq before his enlistment was up.
Cheeky bastard eh?
Sadly, he isn't alone.
I know this because my wife is one of those that the Army has gone after for cash. They didn't turn off her combat pay when she was medevac'd out of Iraq. I went to the SRC and was told it was fixed. I guess I should have gone on line and checked her LES's but I was pretty damn busy keeping track of seventeen different meds, a buttload of appointments, the Med Board process, three kids and a job I ended up having to give up because I couldn't keep up with the load and take care of her.
FUCK!!!
Sorry, it slips out sometimes.
When she was medically retired, I moved out to a job in Denver before her and the kids. A week before the move and the Army said we had too much stuff and would have to pay more cash to get us moved. Apparently we were over weight when we came in but they chose to overlook that.
They need bodies for Iraq.
The sad part is that when I called the Army, they told me to get a U-Haul and move them myself. I guess they don't really understand how broke you get when all of this happens. I guess they misunderstood when I said I was at a new job in Colorado, three thousand miles away from Fort Bragg.
Now they send letters monthly and call just as much and I've got to be honest. The bill is over fourteen grand given interest and fines. How the hell am I going to pay that? They damn near killed her. Her life and the lives of our children are negatively altered forever and now they want cash? I know the budget is tight but this is the wrong way to fill the gaps folks.
Thank you for your service. Gosh we're awfully sorry you got so fucked up. Will that be cash or check?
Food for thought folks. PLEASE DON"T LET THIS STORY DIE - there are thousands more out there going through the same thing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
