Still Figurin' Out Who I Think I Am

This one's about USCG day, beauty, and following.

30DBC PROMPT: "August 4 is US Coast Guard Day - to make things more international, write about your feelings about the navy or coast guard. Is the navy still important in this day and age? Why or why not?"

'Sup y'all? Believe it or not, I actually kinda knew before I saw this prompt that it was Coast Guard Day in the United States...a few people mentioned it on Facebook, so it had to be true, right? I think that's one of the rules governing truthiness online...if you see it in x-amount of places, it's legit. I wonder what kind of calendar I'd have to buy to know what day stuff like this occurs on...seeing as how we're in August though, maybe I should wait awhile to ponder such purchases.

I know what I'm about to say may rub some people the wrong way, and that's understandable. I'm not a hardcore fan of the military in any way, shape or form. I'm thankful for the service to our country, but for most people who get deployed, joining up was a choice (even if making that choice may have meant going against your personal feelings because you wanted to make another family member happy). Because I'm anti-war and all doesn't mean I don't feel bad when something goes catastrophically wrong...it's unfortunate and all that, but at the same time that's the chance anyone takes when they've decided to fight with another country so they can protect my freedom to disagree with certain aspects of our government.

Maybe it's because I don't know much history, and please, if I haven't been too interested in it by now, it's not likely I'll ever care. I just tend to associate branches of the armed forces with war, because that's when you hear the most about them in the news. War, and some kind of political upheaval. Why else would there be a need for these things? It all seems very "just in case" to me as it is, and that was before Haliburton made buttloads of money as a government-sponsored contractor of war.

But I guess it's all in what your interests and personal leaning are...if you were raised in a staunch military family, you have every reason to believe in the need for a Navy or a Coast Guard. Like I said, I only know what I know and I don't really want or need to know any more, to be honest. I'm not gonna run out and enlist because I think my country needs me or I have something to prove, and if we're foolish enough to get involved with the affairs of other countries around the world when we've got too many domestic concerns...well, I think you know where I'm goin' with that.

BCF PROMPT: "'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.' Write a story or poem about something you think is beautiful but no one else agrees with you. Write and have fun."

Again, this is solely a matter of personal opinion. I think there are a lot of sayings that reflect this statement..."One man's trash is another man's treasure", "You say to-may-to, I say to-mah-to", etc. Each of us has reasons for why we like certain things that others would find difficult to understand, but that also makes us unique. I shouldn't have to tell you how boring the world would be if we all were into the same few things on similar levels.

I could very easily point to the 30DBC prompt today as an example...there are people who enjoy the tactical aspect of war and live for the feeling they get defending the honor of our nation. Good for them, if it makes them happy. I won't try to steal that from you, but I'm not gonna claim understanding of those same feelings either. You may like armed combat as much as I like football, but you don't get sports and maybe you never will, and I can tell you why a running back scored because of the gorgeously-choreographed blocking scheme of the offensive line but I may as well be speaking in tongues if you have no desire to understand where I'm comin' from.

The same can be said for relationships. You might like girl X because she's blonde and bubbly, and maybe I think girl Y is more dateable because we connect on an intellectual level. Nothing wrong with that...but our buddy might come around and tell us we're both aiming outta our respective leagues because he knows we don't stand a chance with either girl. And that may not always be what we wanna hear, because who is anyone to tell us who we should or shouldn't be attracted to? In fact, I don't think we really get a say sometimes...there's gotta be something written into our genetic codes that predetermines before we even can comprehend such things the kind of people we'll gravitate toward.

To me, the only rebuttal I would have for anyone when they say "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" would be "Live and let live". Life's too short to be so worried about things that are out of our personal control.

MUSICAL BREAK!!

Here we go, Team Orangutan! I got the letter Y because of Future Mrs. Boo 's entry "BoM Day Two: Ends With Y" ...and I think if anyone knows where I'm goin' with this, it's gonna be Charlie ~ since we were just talking about this the other day. But instead of going with a song I posted in a comment to his Sunday entry, I'm going with "You Know How I Do" by Taking Back Sunday.

Ever hear a band that doesn't have much initial mainstream success at first, but you and your friends love them, and they feel like they're your own little secret? That's how it was for us whenever we'd try to play Tell All Your Friends  , their first disc. We'd be met mostly with indifference, because they weren't picked up by local radio stations and there was only minimal exposure on music television stations. Which was fine...we didn't want haters anyway. And of course by the time their second album came out, they'd blown up and had a song on a Spiderman soundtrack and all the sudden everyone loved them. We were like "screw you people! We were here first!"

This song is the first song of theirs I'd heard...incredible vocal interplay, driving guitar, and overall awesomeness.

"We won't stand for hazy eyes anymore."
Lyrics.  

THE DAILY BOX SCORE:

"Tell us about something you follow. (Interpret this anyway that grooves your noodle.)"

I won't even talk about Twitter, where I follow like 700+ people, have over 100 followers, and probably haven't posted a significant Tweet in at least a month. If I spend five minutes a day on it once or twice a week, that's enough for me.

I know during the "Invalid Item"  I follow Charlie ~ , which isn't a bad spot to be in. Apparently our team has been a little prolific so far, which could be prompting some changes already, and we're not even two full days into the contest yet. Team Orangutan, baby!

Sometimes I'll follow up a trip to the doctor's office or a work meeting with a trip to the grocery store for lunch and some shopping, and if I remember to bring a list of things I wanna pick up with me, I'll follow it (but it's the remembering of the list that usually gets, ummm...forgotten). I don't physically like to follow people 'cuz that's creepy, and I hate the idea that I've followed someone immediately after on a public toilet.

Always follow your dreams and your heart. Follow a sports team, a band, or an author...or a few of each, if that's your thing. And don't try following anyone up a ladder if they've had a gassy lunch...you don't wanna walk into the cloud unsuspectingly.

This makes me smile...it's the feel-good story of the day. The local Boys And Girls Club that I played ball at a lot growing up burned down awhile ago, but construction is expected to begin soon on a new state of the art facility  , right on top of the location destroyed by the fire. Glad to see this happening.

The other feel-good story, in case you missed it during last night's football game, is the halftime piece done on former Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly, chronicling his struggle with cancer and overcoming the loss of his young son. His charitable website has link to the clip on their home page  , and even if you're not a fan of sports in general you might find his story inspiring and uplifting.

And if you haven't played this game since its arrival into pop culture back in 1978  , you might be lying! I never knew it was based on an Atari handheld game...I never even knew Atari made handheld games.

Ok, well...I better get this entry finished up and posted before someone else beats me to the letter Y and I screw up our chain. Peace, I've had all I can handle, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!