Homeward bound

Oklahoma -- I had a great time in Oklahoma visiting Mom and Dad. I don't have a lot of time to write because I am going to eat Salmon with John, Katrina and Kaleb in DC. However, we went to Indian Lake (shown here), Elk Lake, and Ft Cobb Lake on the boat for a day. They were all great and it was a beautiful time back at home. There truly is no place like home.

Old memories

Newport, RI -- I thought I would put some new (old) pictures on the slide show. I am staying here in Newport, RI with my good buddy JR who was my roommate on my last ship. Anyway, he had a bunch of pictures from when we were there. Some of these are during a fantail cookout. Some are of when we went to the DMZ in South Korea. And some are of our celebration in Seoul, Korea on St. Patrick's Day. That was a blast! Anyway, enjoy some of my old memories.

Heroes

There were a lot of heroes during 9/11. Today makes 5 years since this earth-changing event. So, it begs the question: Where where you on 9/11?

What does being a hero mean? I looked up the definition just for kicks. Here is what dictionary.com says a hero is:

hero–noun, plural -roes; for 5 also -ros.
1. a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.
2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal: He was a local hero when he saved the drowning child.

I find it interesting that the first line refers to only a "man". Weren't there plenty of female heroes as well? When will the rights of all people reach a lowely dictionary definition.

Anyway, I remember...I was in Japan on my ship and we got underway two days later. We headed for Malacca Straights. I remember. Do you?

Why?

I wonder why I bought this book? It is called "WHY" by Charles Tilly. It was recommended by Malcom Gladwell on one of his New Yorker articles on his blog site. I thought I would order it and give it a try. I mean this book is about: what happens when people give reasons...and why.

The first couple of lines are: "Did you ever wonder why people give the reasons they do for what they have done, for what others have done to them, or more generally for what goes on in the world? Idid, and ended up writing this book."

Catchy huh? Well, as I began to read the first couple of pages, I found myself asking why did I buy this book? I guess it is going to take me a while to get used to this guy's writing style, but I think he is too confusing at times. On the first three pages I ran accross these words:

- incessant
- plaintive claim
- soliloquies
- pragmatism
- lineage
- whimsically
- stilted language
- avowal
- concomitant

What? Hizzle-me-shizzle here bro! Also in the first two pages, he quotes and refers to the following "famous dudes":

- John Dewey
- George Herbert Mead
- Kenneth Burke
- Aristotle
- C. Wright Mills

Slow down there C. Tilly! Take a chill pill! Here's a good idea...how about quoting C. Wright Mills on the second page! To make the preface even more confusing, see if you can honestly read this Mills quote and understand what the hell is going on:

"In much more stilted language than he used in his hard-hitting and widely read critiques of American life and government policy, Mills argued that:

"' The generic situation in which imputation and avowal of motives arise, involves, first, the social conduct of the (stated) programs of languaged creatures, i.e. programs and actions oriented with reference to the actions and talk of others; second, the avowal and imputation of motives is concomitant with the speech form known as the "question." Situations back of questions typically involve alternative or unexpected programs or actions of which phases analytically denote "crises." The question is distinguished in that it usually elicits another verbal action, not a motor response. The question is an element in conversation. (Mills 1963: 440)'"

Got that?! Ya right! If you can honestly read this above quote and understand it the first time around (or the second!), more power to you. I think I will at least give this clown a shot past his preface, but if all I have to look forward to is his elite-'hey I'm smart'-attitude...this book will become some trash can's move-in buddy!

Newsflash: Giant panda bear...bla, bla, bla...

I guess I am the only one that just cannot understand why Panda Bears always grab the headlines? BTW, save the dolphins, SURI!!!!!!!!!, and bla#% Katy Curic or something.