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.

Hello from Sunny Newport

Hello all from Sunny Newport!! I think it is great here. Aside from missing family and friends, this is a good time. The area is absolutely beautiful. I would like to go see more of it after graduation.

To respond to Steve's "where were you," I was at home asleep. Mom called me on the phone to let me know what happened (9/11). Collin and I turned on the TV and stared at it in awe. I called my friend Emily to see if she was watching, and she was. Within 30 minutes, I received a phone call from Ampride (gas station at which I worked) requesting that I come in and help them. I stayed at the gas station until approximately 7:00 pm when we ran completely out of gas. People were afraid gas would be gone. It was a day that I numbly remember. People were afraid and shocked.

Tomorrow I will be shooting the 9mm. I am trying to qualify so that I can get a ribbon for it. I think that would be great. We'll see. Things here are getting somewhat more relaxed. We are getting more time to do our homework and online training. This is great. I can't wait to see you all (approximately 16 days).

Be safe and happy. I love you all,

Keri

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.

I Was Thinking

I was thinking the other day about black people in certain jobs. What made me think about it was that our channel 9 has a black man news caster in the evening now. Had I not seen him , by his voice I would have thought him white. I couldn't think of ever seeing one before and it seemed strange. Why do some talk jivy and where you can't understand them and others more distinct and intelligent.
They added a section to the Sat which the females score higher than the men. It is questions that need to be answered with an essay. Of course with most girls having the gift of gab and able to express things more openly ,it makes sense. It was commented that we use the frontal lobe.
I picked up Abraham today when I met Collin at Grandmas. I had him last year at the age of two at rodeo time and we went to the parade. It happens to be rodeo time again and I mentioned to him we could go to the parade. He proceeded to give us an earful of seeing the parade last year and the firetrucks ,horses, motorcycles, girls on cars etc. and everyone throwing candy and the kids running to get it. I was stunned that he would remember. We just looked at each other while his mouth moved a million miles an hour telling about it.
What I want to know is why do all the trees that just grow wild in the pasture, ditch, ecetera not need someone watering them to keep them alive during droughts. Whereas ones that we planted you have to continue to water and baby to keep alive. The ones in the ditch and pasture just thrive. ( of course the goats didn't eat those. noooo they had to eat mine.)
And yes, that wonderful skunk aroma woke me up the other night. I had almost forgotten the scent it had been awhile since I had smelled it. And why do they go back to the same places to dig under the house. All the holes had been covered up and there are other places just as available. The goats have given the place a break for now so I guess it was forthcoming. I guess it was a battle between the cats and skunks. No, I have no cats but Abraham and I looked out the window to see one on the car and one on the table on the patio. So be it.
On the other hand we have had some rain and my flowers look good and the bushes and trees may survive the goat attacks, they have just been set back a couple of years. And why is it you can water and water and a good soaking of rain comes along and everything turns green and looks wonderful.
And why is it that I try my damndest to lose weight and it is so hard . And i don't want to here how it takes longer when you get older. How you aren't eating the right things, you aren't excercising enough. Just give me a break .I am tired of it being so hard. Yes, everyone needs a good challenge. But why is it so hard for me to loose. Just 20 more measley pounds. Give me a break. I just want to put on some clothes and feel like I look good.
I saw on the news where Ernesto was supposed to dump rain on Washington DC. They were preparing with sandbags etc since it flooded so bad before when I was in DC. Also Hurricane John has downsized a little before it hits. Okay , so two hurricane names in the same family. What are the chances of one being named Kaleb?
Football is beginning and the big Elks won the first game last night to Woodward. Ou and OSU play at home tomorrow. And Owens actually got in the Dallas pre-season game last night. Tiger is hot and some ballteams are not! And the basket ball team lost to who?
I see where the Chancellor of Germany knocked Condoleesa Rice out of first place in Forbes for most influencial woman.
Have a good weekend