The Bodhisattva

I hate these things, they are viral traffic tools and if we are all being completely honest nobody that does these things even bother reading another blog they don’t already read because of it. That said, it gives me a great opportunity to post something prompted to me; as naturally I’m a blogger, and we specialize in reaction not creation.

First, the random rules

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on the blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

I’m a part of Generation X - my teachers told me so (specifically) - not the cool Chris Bachalo title, but we are unruly, which is to say we don’t follow rules yet we do often claim a right to rule. But I’m a Aquarius, and the balance must be recognized, so I’m going to ignore half of those rules.

1. I have an odd fascination with cereal, if I had to do it over I wouldn’t be in the process of building a reading-culture Empire and I’d just review cereal. Cereal makes milk good, and for that it deserves further study and yes, worship. I used to have a friend that would go the next town over (hour drive) to get his specific brand of cereal - he was a pioneer.

Think about it I could send review samples for super cheap!

2. You, yes you. It was all with the best of intentions, sometimes you just get caught up you know? It’s all love and it’s all good now if you are wondering.

I’ve become terribly nostalgic, I have always been a bit of the soft romantic (but devious in my past mind you - no doubt about that) though probably a post-modern romantic and what you will find is that the more adjectives or descriptors you have to add to that base the more you lose. The base is good enough.

Don’t be too smart to be happy is something I wish somebody I admired told me a long time ago.

3. It took me about 25 years to grow the hell up. Don’t get me wrong, we are talking Thrawn level smarts over here from birth, but it took me 25 years to realize not to say stuff like what I just said in this very sentence.

4. A couple weeks ago I was going through the Stars and Stripes newspaper, which is a paper for the Armed Forces and I got to the middle part which was literally like high school yearbook style pictures for like 4-6 pages and I was looking at it and I thought it might have been promotions or a death count for a year, and as I started reading the little bio info - 90% of these guys were from one unit. I grew up in a Military community, and I just want you to picture the people you hang out with, their wives, their kids, their husbands, the people you see everyday at the PX, the gym, on the road, eat dinner with, whatever - and like 40 of them lose somebody in this war.  I was incredibly moved, and I said High School yearbook above, and that’s about how young they are.

I have a profound respect for anybody in a U.S. Military Uniform and those from other countries in support - during times here our elected leaders may not be something we can be prideful about, it is these people (a lot of them are kids) who do and always have best represented us.  Never be ashamed about what made our country great and any other countries that question that don’t want to talk about their track record of ever doing anything but talk. Most of them have this right and exist because we were nice enough to give them their country back after they couldn’t defend it themselves.

Most of these guys should be in school, playing X-Box, blogging, spending time with their families but they chose to serve, and it should humble the rest of us, it does me. I’m not sure how many in the Military read SF/F books, or BookSpotCentral, or this blog, but if you do - my deepest admiration and thanks to you and your family.

Next time fellas we may just let Putin keep them.

5. It is my honor to  currently be working on something very cool for the 38th Novacon.

6. I will not pass this along and tag others as I fear the people I tag will ignore it and expose my lack of proficiency in battle meditation.

Well, You can see why I don’t post more often. Cereal, X-books, nationalism, Conventions, Star Wars, pride, war and guilt - if there was still a writer’s strike I’d have an excuse.