Monday, September 18, 2006

Well Done; Be Thou At Peace

The event that everyone in my class has dreaded, but knew would eventually come, came to pass last Tuesday evening.   We lost our first classmate, 2LT Emily Perez, the night of 12 September 2006, to an improvised explosive device (IED) in Iraq.  She was a member of 204th SB, 2BCT, 4ID (M). 

I heard the news from another classmate of mine, Abby, while in the DFAC for lunch on Friday.  The news of Emily’s death came as a surprise, especially because she is the first one of us to go.  Last year I was told about the supposed death of a ’04 grad, but from everything I’ve gathered it was a false rumor.  I didn’t want to repeat the news of her death to any of my classmates until I heard something more official, so when I got back to my desk I started looking up the reports from that day.  At first I couldn’t find the report and gave up my search thinking that it was a bad rumor, but later that day after receiving word from another of my classmates about her death, I started looking again.  This time I found the report and the news finally sunk in.  The rest of the night I was in a slight state of shock. 

            I didn’t know Emily very well while we were at West Point, but it would be hard to not have a few memories of her when there were only 191 other females who entered West Point in my class, and even fewer who graduated.  We may have been paired together plebe year in Combatives, but I am not certain.  Most of my memories of her are from Firstie year when she was the Brigade CSM.  Though we were not close, she will be missed. Her family, friends, and unit are in my prayers. 

           

           

 

More Pictures From Iraq

Required "Sitting In Saddam's Big Chair" photo. (Seem's like almost everybody has one of these).


Trying to demonstrate that concrete on concrete slides....but it was on asphalt.

Pictures From Iraq

Standing in front of a palace in Baghdad.
Enjoying the afternoon 110+ heat.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Why I Did Poorly in Enlish Classes

I really do not feel like writing at the moment.  I know I wrote that but a moment ago, but when I wrote that first sentence a question popped into my mind.  Do I over-use and miss-use the word “really”?  And if so, is it common problem found in the American use of the English language?  To figure out the answer, or at least hopefully figure out the answer, I am going to use the one of the great technological assets of the 21st century…Google.  

My search on Google, titled “define: really,” lead me to the highly reputable (sarcasm) source of Google definitions: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&defl=en&q=define:really&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title

It was at this site that I learned my usage of the word “really,” while not grammatically incorrect, is to be avoided since I used it as a vague intensifier. I now feel more educated; however, I am also beginning to question my grammar and usage of a long list of words in this entry. 

I have opened a can of worms on myself.  To being with, I have written in passive voice, as shown in this very sentence. 

Is my usage of the word “very” in the previous sentence yet another attempt by myself to use a vague intensifier?  What about my comma usage?  Should that be “use” or “usage”?  Should the quotations go before or after the question mark? 

Oh dear, this is getting out of control.  Time to change subjects. 

Yes, the previous sentence is not a sentence at all, but a sentence fragment.  Poor grammar, I know.

So much for changing subjects.  

That was another sentence fragment.

I promise, this time I will change subjects. 

On a side note, I almost used the word “really” in the above sentence, but edited out before I wrote the sentence.

Does that constitute a new subject?  I hope so, but it most likely does not.

 

_______________Official Change Of Subject Line________________

 

Throughout the day I often find myself running into situations where I am on one topic and it leads to a new question and/or train of thought, and before I know it I have completely digressed from my original subject of interest of study.  My total digression most often occurs when I am sitting at the computer because I have the ability to immediately gratify my desire for insight into whatever subject or topic arises by researching it on the internet.  If I do not happen to have a computer easily accessible when a questions arises, then I more often than not have my interest peaked for a moment but completely forget about whatever it was before I am able to research the question or topic.  This week I started writing down key words in a little notebook I carry around so that I can go back at a later time to find the more information on the topic. 

            A few of the reminder notes I jotted down were “Dorcas,” “Plass other writings,” “butterfly metamorphosis,” and “Zoroastrians.”

 Dorcas arose from an email one of my friends sent me where she began the email, “Hey Dorko.”  Her greeting reminded me of a similar name that one of my sisters calls me; that being Dorkiss.  I then remembered that in the Bible there is a woman named Dorcas, which led to me wondering what the name Dorcas means.  It turns out that Dorcas is Greek for gazelle. 

I would go into the significance of all of the other words and how they ended up being jotted down in my notebook, but that discussion would take far too long and be quite boring.  My head is beginning to hurt from thinking to much and too hard about something that, in the grand scheme of things, is of no importance whatsoever, and so I am going to step outside for a breath of fresh air. 

 

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Violin, S'mores, and OPSEC

(04/05SEP) I will not be able to post this entry for another day or so, but I figure I may as well continue to write and then post it later.  I do not really feel like writing at the moment, but I am telling myself that by writing when I don’t want to write I am actually exercising my mind more because I have to think harder to come up with something to write.  My logic is most likely completely wrong, but at least I feel better.

            Yesterday morning the chaplain came over to my desk and asked if I had any pictures that I wanted to include in a slide-show that will play in the background while I play violin at the upcoming concert.  Though I do remember agreeing to perform in another concert and knew at the time that the concert would be in September, September was always so far in the future that I pushed the thought of it to the back-burner of my mind and only occasionally allowed it to resurface for a brief moment before I once again banished it to the “Task for sometime in the future but not soon enough to care about” list.  The chaplain’s request caught me completely off guard and I suddenly had to dive into the far reaches of my mind to quickly brush the dust off the event.  I have spent the past day trying to think up a piece to play, but I can not think of anything.  Perhaps I will resort to the same measures I used last time and enlist the help of my friend Rob.  I wish I could email him right away and ask if he has any ideas and/or if we could meet up to brainstorm together, but the commo blackout is preventing me from reaching him.    

            The s’more making party was a success on Sunday evening.  Seven people ended up coming, which turned out to be the perfect number because there were exactly enough seats for everyone.  There are still some marshmallows and plenty of chocolate and graham crackers left over, so there will most likely be a second s’more gathering.

            Yesterday CPT P pointed out that I do not talk a lot about my family on my blog.  I know first hand how easily information about a person and their family members can be found on the internet without any cost, having produced an OPSEC example for the commanders just a few weeks ago. I can only guess how much more information can be obtained through payment and so my lack of talking a lot about my family and mentioning last names of people is my feeble attempt to protect their privacy.  Of course, my attempt is most likely futile because if someone really wanted to know then they could still put the different pieces together and figure everything out.  

            My writing 1000 words a day seems to have developed into writing 1000 words every-other day due to time constraints.  I sit down and write when I have a spare moment, but then a task arises that I have to attend to and so I do not get around to writing again until the following day. 

            This morning I got up for a run and when I stepped outside I was pleasantly surprised to find that for a split-second I was actually almost cold.  The weather was perfect for running, although my run yesterday morning was better than today’s run.  On Sunday I ate lunch with one of the people on the praise team and we got on the topic of running.  I mentioned how I am not very fond of running and have never been extremely good at it.  He suggested the same thing that my Dad has been telling me for years, which is that I should try running for a few minutes and then take a walk break and continue this process throughout the course of my run.  Walking and running utilize different muscle groups and so I will be able to run further and for a longer time before tiring.  Although I do sprint intervals occasionally, I have not made a habit of going on runs where I take walk-breaks.  Yesterday morning I tried the technique for the first time and found that I enjoyed my run more and actually ran faster when I was running, though I only had time for a 50 min run.  At one point when I was passing a group of runners one of them called out to me that I was running at a fairly fast speed, whereupon I had to turn my head back and admit that I was only running for two minutes intervals and then walking for a minute.  It still felt good passing people. 

 

 

Saturday, September 02, 2006

More Pointless Ramblings

Currently I am sitting at my desk trying to stay awake.  Last night I was the staff duty officer and my attempt to condense my inspections of the battalion area and my inspection of two soldiers going out on a mission miserably failed.  Due to the failure of my plan to do the two inspections in quick succession (there was quite a long time gap while I waited for the soldiers) I’ve been awake since 3:30am after having gone to bed last night around 11:45pm. I shouldn’t complain though because I was able to get four hours of sleep, which should be sufficient for one day, although I wouldn’t recommend making it a habit. 

            Usually I treat myself to a caramel frappacino from Cinnabon the morning after I have staff duty, but last night my friend Derrick made me guacamole and I proceeded to eat a good portion of it at dinner and even more around 4am.  Since my caloric and fat intake must already be off the charts for the day I opted to forgo the frappaciono and instead picked up some sugar free Rip-It energy drinks from the DFAC. 

            Happy September and Happy Labor Day Weekend. I am trying to think back to what I did last year for Labor Day weekend, but I can not seem to remember.  I know that I was in Fort Huachuca, AZ going through OBC, but can not come up with the specifics about the weekend.  The year before last, when I was a Firstie, Anne and I went camping in upstate New York over Labor Day.  I really miss Anne, camping, and upstate New York. This year Labor Day weekend is pretty similar to every other weekend during the past 9 months, but in order to try and make it a little different I’ve organized a s’more making get together with some friends for Sunday evening.  Not only will it be a way to celebrate Labor Day, but also a celebration of being a month closer to going home.  I already had the marshmallows, and yesterday I went to the PX and bought some chocolate bars, graham crackers, and a grill.  Today or tomorrow I’ll have to go back and pick up some charcoal.  Having an actual bonfire is not feasible since it is of course a fire hazard.  Plus, there is not nearly enough wood here to build one anyway. 

            It is much 8pm now and I am still at work, but that is because I noticed that the Michigan vs. Vanderbilt game is on TV.  I didn’t think I’d be able to see a Michigan game at all this year, but now I can say that I was able to see them score at least one touch-down this season.  I’ll rack it up to another thing I didn’t think I would do in Iraq.  My list of those things is becoming quite long (play violin, bake, knit, learn sign language, etc…). 

            Yesterday I didn’t accomplish writing 1000 words, but today I think I just may with the help of a loop hole.  I was tasked to write a short paper on the BN history and so I am counting what I wrote for that as part of my 1000 words, though it will not be posted anywhere.