2009 Schedule

2008 was a busy year for me, and 2009 is shaping up to be just as wild.
Here is the schedule of events I am already confirmed to be attending this coming year:
February 8-10, Shaba Day San Antonio, Texas
March 15, TICO Warbird Airshow
March 28, MacDill AirFest featuring the U.S. Thunderbirds
April 5, Honda Indy Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
April 6-7, Dresden Knights in Chicago
April 21, EAA Sun 'n' Fun Fly in
May 17-19 (tenative) Museum of the United States Air Force, Wizard, Mayhem, Ohio
June 22-28 BWHS 15 year Bellevue, Nebraska

The second half of my year is yet to be determined, but I am hoping to include a trip to Germany in October and Vegas in November amongst the events.

The turning point

Some people say if they could go back in time and change something in their past, they wouldn't. I can't say that. I think the reason most people say that is because either they have limited imaginations on how things might change if something in their past were changed (Admittedly, I have an OVER-active imagination), or it may be that they truly have no idea where the "hinge pin" of their life was. Or, in VERY very few cases, they may have perfect lives.
Again, none of those three are the case for me.
I would change a few things in my past, but ONE thing would alter everything since in numerous and potentially massive ways.
I would never have dropped out of the University of Kansas.
From the day I quit being a Jayhawk, everything has spiralled downhill.
I had an amazingly realistic dream the other night, you know the kind, one of those so real that when you wake up, you think you're in the wrong life.
I was doing the kind of work I had always wanted to, I had the life, and the wife, I have longed for, and was living in a place I truly adored.
I can tell you what the house looked like, my kids' names, when we got each of the dogs, exactly WHERE each of the knick-knacks on the walls and curios came from.
I had memories of everything that had happened to THAT me from my freshman year at Kansas onward.
VERY few things that have happened since 1995 had happened.
Scott hadn't died.
Mom hadn't gotten cancer.
I hadn't gone to jail.
I'd never published the book.

The most important things were still there. My friends were all there, as they are here today. Of course, MOST of them I have known since High School. I still became friends with Donnelly and Mike Scott, since they were friends of Ben and Karna in college in the alterverse still.

The worst part was seeing the man I was had I followed that path. I know what I did, every step, to get there.
But it's fourteen years later and some of those opportunities have gone by.
Things are easier to do when you don't know your limits at eighteen as opposed to thirty three.
Guess that means I just have to find another way to get back there. If I start today, I can have that life by the time I'm forty-seve.....wow.
I wonder if there's a shortcut.
Because, like happens once in a while, I don't think this was just a dream.
I think it was a wakeup call.
Sure, I can't reverse some things, but, maybe, just maybe, I can attain the others.

Wow

Seems I've been neglecting my blogging lately.
Well, that's really not such a surprise, I suppose, for those who know me, lol.
Beside, the holiday season usually is a little rough for me, what with the majority of those I care about being elsewhere.
So, I've mainly been writing, and, obviously, not blogs, either, lmao.
Almost every day I've had off from work has been spent working on the next novel, or, more correctly, the next three. I probably typed from 8am till 7pm on Monday and Tuesday, and have about 100 new pages to show for it, mostly in the "first" book of the series.
Anyway, I'm about to head off to work.
Love and miss you all

lmao

just a post-script to the last blog.
I typed about Lincoln, Barack just mentioned him in his speech about 20 min later!!



how's that for a freaky coincidence?

Confusion

A wise, tall, bearded man once said about our great country "that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth"
Strange, how those words never resonated so much to me as they do tonight.
Do I bring this up because I am tall and bearded? No.
The reason?
Confusion.
As of right now, the popular vote is still being calculated, there are five states where the votes aren't in, and Obama has 51% and McCain 48% of the POPULAR vote so far......but that doesn't matter.
It seems our next President has always been elected FOR us, by the Electoral College...which, by the way, was the most lopsided I have seen in the four elections I have voted in.
How is this "for, of, or BY" the people when the people are quite obviously much more closely divided on the issue than people who, lets face it, aren't looking out for anyone but themselves.
Now, does that mean I am annoyed about Obama being elected?
Not at all. From the numbers he probably would have been by popular vote anyway, IF THE DAMN VOTE COUNTED.
That's the part that is annoying and confusing me.
I wonder what Abraham Lincoln, the man who uttered the words I opened this blog with at Gettysburg, would think of the Executive and Legislative arms of his beloved country if he were alive to see them today.
I have a feeling he would be incensed and disappointed.
Or maybe that's just another tall, bearded, and nowhere near as wise a man's thinking....

Update from the road...

Hey all, it's day IV of my vacation, and I am winding down my New York City leg. I've been spending a lot of time with my buddy Bre and some of her friends, when I'm not wandering around the city shooting like a madman. (Note to the FBI or ATF, I mean shooting as in photography, not rifles....which if I HAD been, I am sure I would have been on the news by now.) I've already taken 36 rolls of film from areas across the five boroughs, and have been thoroughly enjoying myself.
Right now I am finishing off re-packing o head up to the Grandparents' in Vermont, where I'll be up until the 11th.
Hope all are well and miss and love all of you....except Bre, who is standing behind me. Hard to miss you in the same room ;)
Will post some of my favorite shots once back in Florida and have had them developed.

PSA

"For your safety, please report any suspicious activities or behaviour...."
It's freaking 6am and I am awake and sitting in an airport passenger lounge. How is that NOT suspicious activity for me? I mean, hello, six a.m.? I think I've had a whole two hours of sleep, and, despite the Venti White Mocha and 24oz Amp I've slugged, or maybe because of, I am not feeling all that well. One can hope it will all go away before I land in NYC. Anyways, the flight is about to board.
Check you on the flipside

Seven

Seven. In many cultures, Seven is a number of power, a magical number, a number representing luck.
For our culture, today, Seven is a number representing pain, sorrow, loss, and anger.
Seven years ago today, well, if I have to tell you what happened, you've obviously been living in a cave.
At the time, everyone said that this would change everything.
Seven years later, really, not much has changed. Yes, for a while there everyone flew flags and were patriotic because it was the "it" thing to do. Americans are followers in a very big way.
Now, find a patriot. My close friends and I have always been extremely patriotic, it's how we were raised. Maybe it's why most of us ended up in the military in some form or another.
But, not that long ago, as many of you may recall, I was verbally attacked for being patriotic. By a person purporting to be in the military, no less.
Oh, yes, things have changed SO much.
But that's not going to stop the nation from remembering September 11th....at least, once a year. Because it's the faddish thing to do.
Bastards.
I'm sure many people out there will be remembering the day and the attacks because of the right reasons, but all too many more will be doing so because, let's face it, they are sheep. If you want to TRULY remember the attacks of Sept 11, all FOUR of them, remember them not just on the anniversary of the attacks. I, for one, will be making the visit to ground zero while I am visiting my friend in NYC.
Because it's who I am. And you know I never follow fads, intentionally.

Again with the disappointment

Disappointment.
That's really about the size of how I feel about movies these days.
It's more about the money than the story these days, and, lately, directors and producers are ruining what used to be well loved movie franchises by offering a steaming heap of crap as new 2hr installments in their series.
None of the new offerings have any of the feel or the fun of the old ones, and everything seems forced.
Need some examples? Look around. We have Rambo IV, wittily titled "Rambo", where, instead of furthering any of the story put down in the first three movies, I think the point was to see how much wooden acting and over-exposed bloodshed we could take.
And then, my favorite two film franchises of all time decided to get into the act as well.
Lucas and Spielberg reunited with Harrison Ford to create the craptacular waste of time known as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls, wherein I think the writers watched an X-Files marathon before writing. Whereas the first three films dealt with the location and recovery of mystical religious artifacts, ostensibly to be displayed in a museum and used for the presumed betterment of all peoples, this installment deals with aliens and their past and present manipulations of the human race and influences on it's history. AND they had wooden acting, horrid dialogue, and some terrible CGI work. Terrible because CGI has no place in an Indiana Jones movie, and Indy's survival of impossible situations in this one leaves me flabbergasted and pissed off. Seriously, surviving a nuclear bomb by locking yourself in a refrigerator? This ISN'T the Mummy series, after all. The only part DID enjoy was the nods to two of the other Indy films scattered throughout the movie. Lastly, and perhaps the largest disappointment of all, is George Lucas' monster flophouse destruction of the Star Wars series. The original trilogy was amazing. The Prequels I was able to force myself to stomach, but this latest embarrassment, The Clone Wars, is horrid. It starts out with a re-worked version of the classic theme made famous by John Williams, but this one sounds like the Meco version.....except worse. The entire plot is iffy, the dialogue is slanted toward those viewers under 10, the graphics on the mechanicals are amazing, I'll grant you, but the CHARACTERS look terrible. The music through this "movie" doesn't match anything else in the series, and then, the actors trying to voice the main characters try to hard, and end up sounding like Monty Python's Flying Circus attempting "Evita".
I want me money and those hours of my life back, but, more realistically, or maybe not, I want Hollywood to give us more originality. The art is dying, long live the dollar, is all they seem to say these days.

Thought of the week

When you are at the mercy of pain and pleasure, your life is not you own. In order to succeed, nay, to survive, you need to control, to master, the emotions in your life.

I own my pain, I know it, it's something I have known and become comfortable with for years.

When do I finally get to feel pleasure...because, ya know...I think I need to learn how to master that.....but might I be a slow learner. ;)

(Above: An example of pain, probably the second worse loss in my life after Scott)

El Typey Typey

Holy Laptops Batman!

As if I weren't nocturnal enough to begin with, my new schedule will soon have me hanging from the ceiling like a freaking bat.

But.....I have gotten up to page 137 edited in The Phoenix from the Ashes, the second ETF novel. And, with the new materials I have written and YET to edit (You know, spellchecking, tense consistency, character story lines, and overall flow and making sense), the story is up to 548 pages in Microsoft Word, which, from my prior experience of publishing The Metamorphosis, will end up being around 800 standard mass market paperback pages.

And the stand-alone story about the making of Top Gun II (Fictional, of course) is at about 25 pages right now. Hmm.

So, one could say this new schedule is already showing dividends.

I have to tell you though, it's not all roses. I mentioned how I am working on getting my ass (and the rest of me) back in shape the last time I posted. Yeah. It hurts. A lot. But I'm going to stick to it, because, although I may be suffering now, I'm going to be A-OK by the time I start making my trips.

And THAT thought kicks ass.

Off to my nap!

Love to the two or three of you who actually read these!
P.S. Napkins, the Party is On.

And, As I leave you, I am humming Monty Python's classic ode to deviancy and recreation, "Sit on my Face." We all know you know it, too, so sing along in honor of my having just picked up the Monty Python Instant CD Collection!

Also, hit up my Facebook for some amusing photos from my cell phone.

That is all!

0230hrs

I Think el Rockhead has the right idea.

Via con Dios Jose ;)

Updates Early August

Hello, Hola, Previet, Was ist los? That should cover the opening for everyone, lol.
Just wanted to let you al know a few things have been changing around here. Most of you know I have been doing a lot of job searching, had a bunch of nibbles, some online and phone interviews, but no face-to-faces and no solid job offers yet. I also left the Sales department with GEICO as I could not stomach some of the practices that went on there, and could not continue to respect myself AND do that job. So, starting this week I am now in the Internet division for GEICO. My new hours will be 1330-0000hrs Wed-Sat, which means I am off Sun-Tues now. This can be seen as both good and bad, but I'm preferring to see it in th light that I now have more consecutive time to work on writing and on myself.
About that last, some of you know I have been working with a 22yr old to get them ready to enter the Marines basic training later in August. Hell, some of you I worked out with for similar reasons before :). That being said, I'm now a bit older, and...doughy than I had been before, and that has been brought to my attention in no uncertain way while I was coaching this future Marine into shape. Ergo, I've committed myself to getting back into "trim" as they say, and bringing myself back to the 4.5% body fat i was at while in ROTC myself. I know just how rough it is going to be, and my body is letting me know it does not appreciate the extra effort, but I've committed myself to get back there by the time I turn 33. Realistic? Maybe not. But you all know me...I'm like a damn bulldog once I sink my teeth into something. So, in addition to the biking, I'm back at the batting cages (Bre knows how I roll there, lol...oh, and we WILL be putting on a display when we meet up again, JCB), hitting the streets running, and working more weights for tone. I know what a few of you are thinking...But Bri, you're not fat! True...not yet..but the spare tire was expanding and I was about to have to increase pant size again...and..I could just FEEL out of shape. Many of you are athletes or former athletes...so you know what I mean. You also know how rough it is for a person that was once in great shape to get it back. It is worse than if you had never been in shape before. That covers that.

As for trips, I'm going to be in New England the first few days, 11 to be precise, of October, and plan to spend some of it in NYC, that portion is still awaiting confirmation. I might be driving that trip, so Shawn, you might want to keep your ears open ;)
One trip I WON'T be driving to is Ohio in late August. I plan to fly for that one. It's looking like 23-26 August on that one. I still need to hammer out details with Chris, Perry and possibly Sharon on that.
Also, I still want to hit San Antonio this year, but we will see on that one.
Anyways, that's my update for now.
Hope all is well, and hope to hear from you.
I Love and Miss all of you.

Oh, SNAP!

Yes, I know it's a '90s saying, but I can't quite remember some of the sayings from 1982. And why would I want to?

Here's an idea......:

TRON. Yes, we all remember the groundbreaking, and now classic, cyber-story of CLU and TRON trying to overthrow the MCP. It was a groundbreaking film then, and is STILL a great piece of work. I remember the Tron of my youth, really, for four things. Lightcycles, deadly discs, A cast helmed by Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner, and a soundtrack by Wendy Carlos and Journey.

If you have absolutely NO Idea what I'm talking about, shame on you. There's an excellent dual disc 20th Anniversary DVD edition out there, and I suggest you educate yourself, rapidly.

Why? Well, one, you can't call yourself a geek if you've never seen TRON, or a film fanatic.

Two...TRON, or, as it was announced at the SDCC TR2N, is back. And it includes many of my favorite things about the original. The discs and Cycles are back, and so, apparently, is Jeff Bridges.

Above are a couple of shots pulled from a bootleg trailer of Tr2n from the SDCC. We can see that both Flynn (or maybe Clu?) and the Lightcycles have changes, and, in the trailer (Which i attempted to post below), so have the discs. Shawn will be happy to learn that I have NO intention to revive my "Tron Deadly Discs" backyard game we used to do with frisbees back in the early eighties. Mind you, this was LONG before someone decided to put out video game with a similar name. Shawn, Kristina, Micah, Troy (Whose nickname became Tron thereafter) and a few other kids from the old USAFA neighbourhood and I used to try and pelt each other with frisbees to knock one another out of the game, in what ended up being a cross between tag and the later sports of frisbee golf and Calvinball.

No idea if Wendy Carlos or Journey are returning for the soundtrack duties this time around, as the teaser was debuted with some of the Batman Begins score as theme music, and I didn't see hide nor hair of Bruce Boxleitner (Who played Tron in the original) in the trailer, but who knows, he could be looking for a pick-me-up since Babylon 5 ended.

Either way, I'm excited, and can't wait till 2010.

And, no, I'm not planning on putting on a light up jump suit for the premier.....probably. But I DID go and get my zip-cord powered Lightcycle out of a box and have it on my desk at work.

So THERE!!

“Who Says You Can’t Go Home?”

Hmm.
Besides Bon Jovi and Jen Nettles? Me.
I’ve tried.
Then again, part of the problem is I have never felt comfortable enough in any one place to call it “Home”. Though my family and I have lived many places.
In no particular order, they include: San Antonio, Texas. Chicago, Illinois. Omaha and Bellevue, Nebraska. Winnenden, Badem-Wurtemburg, Duetchland. Lawrence, Kansas. Hopatcong, New Jersey. Rapid City, South Dakota. Brandon, Florida. Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Colorado Springs, Colorado.
In fact, one could say I’ve led a nomadic lifestyle. But can you truly ever go “Home” again.
I don’t think you can. Just recently, I went back to Nebraska for one of my best friends’ wedding.
The whole time I was in Omaha and in Bellevue, the places I lived the LONGEST in my life (1980-1983 first time, 1992-1994 second, 1995-2002 third), were no longer comfortable t me. I didn’t feel like I fit anymore.
Is that because I’ve been living in Florida the past six years?
Not at all. I kind of despise it here.
Then why?
People. The things that make me miss a place are never the PLACE at all. It’s the people I knew there. I could never really stand Omaha the first time I lived there, and it was only the friends I made the second and third times that made it possible to be there at all.
Most of those people aren’t there anymore.
And oh dear god you can tell.
The place just feels different, but most of all, whenever I go there, I feel loss.
Loss of good friends, of my health, of my ability to love, and to trust, my future in a very real way, a little bit of my sanity.
I lost who I WAS there.
Now I’m just left with who I am.
Make your own judgement about who that is.
And let me know, ‘cause I’m a little lost.

Photoblog: Personal fave shots of 2008 thus far

I've literally taken thousands of shots already this year, but here are a few of my favorites, in no particular order. I think I'm getting a little better at this whole Aviation Photography thing, now if only Air & Space would offer me a job, lol. Of course, that could just be my ego talking. I personally took all these, or had someone take it on my behalf for the ones I am in, with my camera, a Minolta Maxxum 50.
If you want to know where any of these were taken, just ask. WHEN is always in the lower left corner of each shot.
Now I'll shut up and let the images talk....

A Moment of Silence

A Moment of Silence, Please, so we can all take a few moments to remember that it's not just "another day off work". Many of you on here are active or former military, or military Brats, so we all know all to well what Memorial Day is truly about. It's about remembering those who fell to protect those things we hold dear. Which is why I changed my profile picture on both Myspace and Facebook. What I have up NOW is the symbol of the Idea that all those men and women, who we should be thinking about this weekend, died to protect. Yes, I may bitch a lot about the things that are wrong with this country...but believe me, I know how good it truly is, having lived in others.So I ask you, my loved ones, my friends, to take a momen of silence, somewhere this weekent, and honor those that have fallen for your freedoms.Ben, I know you're heading over to see Scott. Though I just saw him a couple weeks ago, say hello for me, ok?
I took the first and second pics, thanks to Christine for finding the third one, which I promptly stole ;)

quick hit for the day

Has anyone else noticed how much Hillary Clinton looks like Robin Williams in drag???

Because I'm annoyed...

You know, nothing ruins an event like Rednecks can. Uncouth, uncultured, unintelligent, and, a lot of the time, unwashed, these people can take something I truly enjoy and make me not want to go.
So, for all of you who are fans of my aviation photography, you can thank the Redneck Population of Lakeland (about 95% of that "city") for my NOT going to Sun N Fun this year and for your not getting to see any shots of the USAF Thunderbirds in action.

As many of you know, I work right next to Lakelend Linder Regional Airport, where they host Sun N Fun every year.

It runs for just about a week, and I had originally planned to go on friday, but I was not feeling well, so I decided, since I had to work yesterday, that i would go today instead.

That was BEFORE I went to get lunch at work yesterday. The Thunderbirds were flying. Anytime one of the planes was in sight, the idiot rednecks STOPPED DRIVING in the middle of the road I was on (A state highway if you were curious) to look.

Ok, maybe I'm a little used to it, having grown up on Air Force bases most of my life, but come the fuck on, people. You are DRIVING. You do not STOP to watch the pretty jets. That's called getting killed.

Then, back at work, about 300 of the lowlifes had made our parking lot into the set of Hee-Haw, without the humour.

And then proceeded to argue with ME when I tried to get through their stupid asses to park.

At my JOB.

I didn't swing on anyone, but it was a near thing.

And, to top it all off, one of them kept telling the others that he was "Glad the Blue Angels could come and bring their F-22s."

Lemme show ya something real quick.

United States Air Force Thunderbirds F-16A Fighting Falcon

US Navy Blue Angels F/A-18C Hornet

USAF F-22A Raptor (Not IN the Navy arsenal and not ON any demo teams)

How can you POSSIBLY mistake the TOP aircraft for the bottom one?

Hmm?

Um. Yeah. Like I said, Ignorance.

So, maybe not everyone knows what aircraft you are looking at. I'm cool with that. Really, I am. What I am NOT cool with is when these SAME people try to convince everyone else that they are experts in the area.

And then, guess what...they are invariably the morons that the local news is going to interview about "what they thought about the airshow".

It's always them or the whiney bitches (male or female, i don't discriminate about bitches) that tell people that the aircraft are making them sick and the noise is terrible. Ok. Two things. ONE: The jets and propjobs at Sun N Fun do not put enough pollutants in the air in that one week to affect you. Period. Two. The airport has been there doing this airshow for 34 years. You moved in 4 years ago. Fuckoff (really, are you Russian?)((Old Robin Williams joke, people)), you know it happens every year.

So, Thank you to the Lakeland Redneck Society for turning me off on going to an airshow.

Fucking idiots.

I hate this damn state.

Trying to find a job so I can move back into the New England area or Denver.

That is all.