Times Not Forgotten

Sitting here listening to the Shins some how reminds me of my 2008 summer with untold potential and good friends. The keenest memory still lingering in my mind took place at a good friend Curtis Bartley's house well to be specific his parent's house. We were all back in town for the summer and by all back in town I am referring to the migration between college and high school town that tends to occur every summer and winter break. I was working at the time for Office Max and had some work on the side with my part time company C&D Technical. I had a busy week working countless hours during the day at Office Max developing graphics design projects and spent my early mornings and evenings running around doing work for various jobs with my newly founded company. In the evenings I would put miles on my bicycle pretending someday I would put Lance Armstrong's records to shame. At this juncture however in my memory I was sitting in my friends back yard with a fire going and we were drinking wine coolers and beer. Present was Curtis of course and my friends, Kris, Saje, Keith, and I believe Tyler. Our conversations ranged from Technical, seeing as most of us worked or studied in related fields, to Political as they often do when a good group of friends stay up late drinking in the summer. Some of my friends at the time were curious Marxists while I remained at the time an exploratory Libertarian. We would argue objectively back and forth about various pros and cons to either side of the argument always arriving at impasses mostly due to our lack of knowledge on either doctrine. Don't get me wrong we were as informed as we could be for the ages of 21, but even then the extent of our knowledge on political philosophy was no where near that of the authors writing the books we preached. All in all in the midst of this busy summer in the midst of all the hectic day to day activities I always remembered the joy of stopping from time to time to enjoy a cold drink with my friends and bullshit until anything and everything had been debated and brought to somewhat blurry conclusions. I just remembered how when I drove home I thought to myself I hope we can continue this tradition next summer... February of the next year I joined the Marine Corps.

I guess what I am trying to get at is despite where my life may take me and how out of contact I may seem, I will always remember the various relationships I had with friends throughout and I remember the times we had together. You are not forgotten.

The feeling after the party is over.

Almost always in life most people live for the high, the big moment when all the peaces of the puzzle fit together when everything is just right! It is why we watch movies, for that ending seen when Luke and the ewoks defeat the empire or Frodo delivers the ring to Mount Doom! Same reason so many people watch criminal investigation or cop shows because they want to watch the development up until the bad guy gets caught. We live for graduations, marriages, birthdays, sports championships, we live for all the big and grand successes in life.

Although I do say that success is one of my favorite things to enjoy in life its not the only thing. Growing up have always found solace when the party was over, after all the celebrating had come to an end. When I was little I loved having birthday parties and the like but I always found that after the party I truly felt the happiest. The same experience seemed to grip me in college, although the parties and the games were all lots of fun I always felt happiest laying there on the couch in the family room observing the stoic and quiet nature of the house, knowing that hours earlier it was roaring with activity. I find the same in nature, on hikes or camping trips that it is at the end during the time of reflection that the most pure happiness seems to overwhelm. I know because it is freed of all excitement, hype and outside influence it is the moment when you look back and realize what you experienced was real, valid and added more to the richness of your life. You can ask almost anyone, most people always remember things better than they were, yes college was hard and or confusing for most people but most will also say it was the best time of their life. How often do you hear the phrase, "man those were the days!"

I began pondering this subject thinking so far on my military career and experience. It seems as though a lot of people I know constantly complain or whine about being in the Marine Corps and dealing with a lot of the bull shit they put you through. While I was thinking about whether or not it really did suck I decided to look back and decide how I viewed my past experiences so far. The Marine Corps has been in my life a great experience full of a lot of memories with friends I may never see again but I know they enriched my life and hopefully me theirs. I am looking forward now knowing that this organization is not all bad as some claim it to be, wondering how I can improve both my experience and that of others. This doesn't mean that I have suddenly become all eurah, semper-fi motarded I just think that all this negativity and anti-motivation isn't creating an environment or memories that better anyones life. Yes the Marine Corps isn't entirely fair, yes sometimes it sucks or doesn't make sense but the reality is complaining about it like a bitch doesn't help anyone. Not saying that I haven't done my fair share of complaining under my breath, but its time to move forward and embrace life and the corps for what it is.

I am sure that when this current party is over I will look back on all that I had done and feel no regret but only sentimental thoughts about the times I had with my friends and Co-Workers.

Sand Castles

Sometimes I feel as though I have nothing to write. I feel as though I am out of practice with writing itself and expressing my thoughts in text requires more energy than I want to muster. However difficult it may sometimes be I still need to write something to remember I am still exist that I have some level of consciousness. It is reassurance that I am able to still create new thought in some organized fashion. My job working as a Satellite Communications Tech requires that I setup, configure and troubleshoot other people's creations. Although I feel like there is some creation and original thought in creating ways to work around issues. All in all I still need to vent creativity in a more extended format.

I recently have been feeling a little more awakened and directed in my life. Since I have been deployed I have had a lot more time of my own to manage and with that new projects to pursue. I have quite a few ambitions which range from continuing my pursuits in server administration to economics. I want to create something big in this life but in order to to that it is going to take a lot of little steps and accomplishments build.

Today was a big day for me and yet I actually didn't do that much at all. I woke up ate breakfast, went downstairs to my gym for about 30 minutes followed up with a shower. Following my shower I got online and was able to talk to my Girlfriend, it seems like no matter what is going on in the rest of my life my day is invariably influenced by her. Needless to say the rest of the day didn't matter I was happy and content with where my life was at and headed. I did get to play with our pet monkey a little bit more today however, he is really cool and he is terrified of our dogs. I had been walking around the back and one of our dogs was following me and as I walked past the monkey's house he jumped on my shoulder and started yelling at the dog peaking out from behind my shoulder.

I also recently finished The Left the Right and The State it wasn't much of a book more like a collection of articles (which it was) that had collective thought but became very repetitive. It also lacked a full perspective, seeing that it was written over the course of decades. The message over all was more of the typical Libertarian/Rothbardian rhetoric. Focusing on monetary policies, renunciation of public programs and restrictions on personal liberties. I recommend it for individuals who want an intermediate perspective into Libertarian policy. I thought Ron Paul's book Revolution: A Manifesto or Ludwig Von Mises' Economic Policy are better introductions to the theories if you are not already familiar. Next on my list of books to read is Murray Rothbard's Case for the 100% Gold Dollar and John Locke's Two Treatise of Government.

Being deployed is an awesome opportunity and I have been enjoying every minute of it. Don't get me wrong though I can't wait for the day to be back in the United States and be with family and friends. I think I am going to leave this paragraph unfinished much like my life.