I’m tired of being heckled in line at the grocery store because I’m wearing my Air Force shirt. I’m tired of people judging me because I tell them I’m in the military. I’m tired of having to defend what I do to my “friends”. I’m tired of feeling like an outcast because I signed up to do something that most Americans (98%) never either get the opportunity to do or fail out of once they decide to do it. I’m tired of being boycotted by my fellow countrymen simply for the reason that they don’t know what they believe in, they just know that what I do is not what they believe in. I’m tired of people who can’t defend their beliefs, either with words or actions. I’m tired of people who buy into the idea that the travesty we’re involved with in Iraq and Afghanistan is somehow the worst thing that’s ever happened to America. I’m tired of feeling like I somehow “sold out” simply because I signed on the dotted line. I’m tired of dealing with companies that sell themselves by having “veteran” or “G.I.” in their title.

I’m tired.

I’m tired because I feel like I have a better understanding than most of what really happens in Iraq and Afghanistan every day. People die. Iraqi people. Afghan people. American people. Canadian people. British people. That’s the reality of it. There’s no such thing as an atrocity of war. War itself is an atrocity.

I’m tired of defending myself among the very people I signed up to defend. My hippie friends in Oregon. My liberal friends in Texas. (Yes, they exist.) I’m tired of justifying myself among the very people that have taken the same oath I have taken to defend this country from all enemies, foreign and domestic.

I’m tired living on poverty wages while the independent contractor who does the same job as me makes $86,000 a year. I’m tired of people thinking I make a lot of money. I’m tired of being treated like an outcast simply because I tell people that actual no-kidding good is being accomplished overseas as a direct result of our presence. Schools are being built. Poppy crops are being eradicated. Democratic process is being established.

I’m tired of people’s worn-out, thread-bare retorts to this war. People that have no business talking about it. People that don’t deploy to Iraq. People that don’t wander the poppy fields of Afghanistan. People that, thanks to the liberal media, think that tens of thousands of American military members have been killed since 9/11.

Most of all, I’m tired of the people that believe that I can’t justify the fact that I’m in the military along with believing that God has a better ideal for this broken world. I’m tired of those people most of all.

I’m tired.

Vs.

So I’m in a bit of a quandary. With Steve Jobs’ recent announcement of the iPhone @ Macworld, my previously “done-deal” decision to buy an iPod has been put on the skids. Do I indulge in what might be the coolest piece of technology to come around in the better part of a decade knowing that I probably won’t be able to actually put to use half of it’s capabilities as well as intended, or do I go for the sure thing, knowing that Apple has had 4 generations to perfect the musical miracle known as the iPod and that I will indeed use it everyday exactly as it’s been created to be used? Bottom line: I am precisely the target market for the iPod…I’m somewhat lacking in that department with the iPhone. I just want it really bad ’cause it’s so cool. Factors to consider, both pros and cons:

I already have a Cingular contract

iPhone may have glitches at initial release

I actually have more than 8GB of music, the max available memory on an iPhone

iPods still have that cool factor

iPhones are gonna be that much cooler

iPods don’t make phone calls, load the world wide web, and definitely don’t have a 3.5″ screen

$349.99 is a lot of money for the 80GB iPod video (I’m poor)

$499.99 & $599.99 is a lot more money for the 4GB and 8GB iPhone, respectively (did I mention I’m poor?)

When the iPhone is released, chances are good that the iPod will see a price drop shortly thereafter

C’mon…it’s an iPod…how freakin cool would that be, if not slightly late in the game (first iPod in 2001?)

Dude, iPhone

Such a tough decision. What do ya’ll think?

What do you get when you hand pick musicians from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Incubus, No Doubt, Cibo Matto, Beck, Buckcherry, Garbage, Soul Coughing, Sean Lennon, then add several drummers who represent the likes of Dr. Dre and Alanis Morrissette and tell them to make a record? You get Action Figure Party, and it rocks. Big time. It rocks my socks off and you too will be sockless once you pick up this pristine example of jazz-fusion-funk-rock-hippityhop.

You can either buy it new, or buy it used for as little as a penny plus S&H like I did. That’s right, for a whopping grand total of two bucks and change, I am the proud new owner of a like-new Action Figure Party disc. It rocks. Buy it soon. Go without your daily latte tomorrow and buy it. Don’t get that value meal super-sized and buy it. Walk to work for a couple days and buy it. Donate plasma and buy it. Just find a way to buy it.

“Every year about this time I get a dozen or so, shall we say, “emotionally packed,” messages from people wanting to take me to task for referring to Christmas as “Xmas.” This year is no different. Already I’ve received more than my share of angry messages given the few times I have actually made this reference in print.
Even though my first reaction is to be irritated, I try to respond to each in a calm and collected manner. However, this year I have decided in the interest of time (I don’t have a lot extra), to make one collective response in advance, right here. Then I will post this in a visible spot and simply refer angry writers to it.
To quibble about the abbreviation “Xmas” is to me silly if not ridiculous. It’s a short cut, a quick way to type or write a long word. I abbreviate all the time and if my mind is really racing I even abbreviate abbreviations. It’s not unusual for my mind to race faster than my fingers can keep up.
I often use the @ symbol in place of the word “at.” In fact I’ve been known to reach for the ampersand (&) in favor of a three-stroke word, “and.” I often use my initials “mh” to close a quick email to a friend.
(I wish there was such an abbreviation for “stewardesses,” which is not easy to type. Perhaps that’s because it is the longest word in the English language that is typed with the left hand only.)
As for “Xmas,” go ahead and call me naïve, but I do not believe there is some heretical message or commie plot involved trying to, as some of you insist, take the “Christ” out of Christmas.
It is interesting to note that the symbol “X” is the first Greek character in Christ’s name. And “X” was the secret sign of a person’s devotion to Christ in times when people were persecuted for being Christians.
The word “Christ” and its compounds, including “Christmas,” have been abbreviated for at least the past 1,000 years—long before the modern “Xmas” was commonly used. Possibly this is why Xmas is accepted over Cmas or Qmas.
The term “Christmas” is not a scriptural one. It is unlikely that our Savior was born on December 25th, the traditional date for celebrating Saturnalia, the advent of Saturn or Tammuz in ancient Babylonian mythological lore.
I think that the Almighty is above fussing about a silly abbreviation, especially a legitimate one. He inhabits our praise and our worship … no matter what time of year or the way we spell a word.
So, to one and all I say Merry Xmas. Happy Xew Xear, too!”

Note: Only click the following link if you have copious amounts of time and brainpower to spare and you need a new vice. Seriously.

weffriddles

Nellie and I go in for our ultrasound (finally) on Friday. It’s been a nightmare trying to get this worked out through our insurance. We finally just pulled the “We’re concerned about extra fluid in the placenta” card, so they couldn’t deny it any longer.

I’ll be in San Antonio Oct 02-06 doing some academic training, so expect more of the glorious nothing that you’ve come to know and love from me. I do have a quirky ability to deliver it with a tenacity matched by few. Consider yourselves lucky to even know someone who can do nothing better than almost anybody.

All said, things are well. We’re getting pretty sick of looking for a home church, so last week we just said ‘screw it’ and listened to our good friend Bob and his communities’ podcast. It was great stuff. Listen to it here.

New Window 026

Originally uploaded by jguthner.

Finally something pretty. Go Tucson!