Happy New Year!

Dear Friends and Readers,

May you have a wonderful evening, no matter how you choose to spend it. And may the coming year bring you all that your heart desires, as well as those good things you didn't even know you wanted! You are loved and appreciated.

Happy New Year!

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The Newness of the Year

I noticed bloggers doing retrospectives for New Year's Eve, so I went back and looked at my posts for the year. Turns out this year was really front-loaded with almost all the interesting stuff happening before the end of July, which I covered on my blog Birthday post.

Yeah, there have been great moments, but this also has been a rough year in a lot of ways. I can't quite bring myself to say good riddance to it, though. They say hardship brings growth, and I've had just enough hardship to grow, I suppose--on both personal and professional fronts. I often wonder what my life would be like if I were still teaching... I don't think I'd be the more mature and confident person I am, and I don't think I'd be dreaming what I'm dreaming now on the career front. The problem is putting that confidence and dreaming to work...

But there are actually huge bright spots. The MilBlog Conference still stands as the highlight of my year both personally and professionally. It would take a dozen posts and more personal revelations than I care to make in order to explain, but things that had been developing since I encountered the blogosphere just crystalized at that conference, and I came home a different person with a different view of the possibilities.

And while all my motivation to keep developing Valour-IT was to help the wounded, it's growth into a stable and respected program has helped me too; it opened to me new aspects of myself. I laugh when I think of it because in some ways I'm still not sure how it all happened, how I got swept up in this amazing project and ended up in a leadership position.

It's all actually kind of frustrating. I've been feeling for about a month now that I'm on the cusp of something, something involving both the personal and the professional development I've undergone behind the scenes finally breaking through. So many potentials are lining up that if just one of them would become reality, everything could change. But individually they are 50/50 at best and nothing has happened yet, so I don't let myself hope too much.

I guess my mood and situation are quite appropriate to New Year's Eve: it's all new and unknown and full of potential. Here comes Baby New Year! Let's see what he brings...

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Delicious

Today's Day by Day is just too good to miss (click to enlarge)...

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Whoah!!

It's been rather serious around here lately, and this caught my eye...

From Yahoo News: Sheridan Adams,9, from Thornton, Colo., catches some air while sledding at the Thornton Recreation Center, during a snowstorm, Friday, Dec. 29, 2006. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

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Bringing Doc Home: Arlington

This is a follow-up on an earlier article by Jim Sheeler and my post Bringing Doc Home.

What "Doc" left behind...

"While we were in the Humvee, I could feel myself slipping away, wanting to go to sleep, and Doc started yelling at me," Edwards said. "I was ready to enter whatever afterlife there is, and he kept yelling at me, telling me it was going to be OK."

[Doc]Anderson later would tell his friends and parents that it was the most terrifying day of his life - that he constantly second-guessed himself, wondering if he had done everything he could have and should have. He told his closest friends that he had lost the sergeant's pulse three times on the way to the clinic but that each time he had managed to bring him back.

The Sergeant...

"I lost my legs not for this country, but for the country of Iraq, so their children will be able to run around, just like mine," he said as he watched his daughters, ages 3 and 5, playing on the hospital grounds. "If time was turned back, I'd do it all over again."

What Doc meant to "his Marines..."

Now, Edwards said, he plans to send his Purple Heart to the Anderson family.

"It's the only way I can say thank you," he said. "I can't put it into words, what a corpsman means to his Marines."

I've said it many times, but it's true: people like this live on in those they've left behind. Their examples, their actions, their character... all live on in those who knew them and were changed by the knowing.

It's a "tissue alert," but read it all. These--the families, the wounded, the fallen and the fighters--are our military today.

Update: The hometown response, and pictures from the first article and from Arlington.

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Another Name from the Past

SGT Bryan Anderson, early Valour-IT Laptop recipient.

It was the last day of Valour-IT's first Veterans Day (2005) fundraiser, when I was still stunned by its success and thrilled Valour-IT was now a viable project. Amid that emotion, arrived an email requesting a laptop for Bryan, then just two weeks into his recovery. I shared it anonymously here: "If I have to think enough to comment on it, I will end up on the floor in a puddle of tears, and I don't have time to cry today," I wrote. The email read:

...He has a long road ahead of him. His mother said that they are doing everything for him and it is getting very frustrating for him. He wants to talk to his friends but he just is not ready to do it yet. With this laptop he will be able to communicate with family and friends and will be able to do it without the help of anyone. This is going to be the first step in showing him that he will be able to do things on his own.

When I told her about project Valour-IT, she almost cried. She couldn't stop thanking us for this wonderful gift and opportunity that you are giving to B. She says that B is a fighter and that he will be getting prosthetic legs. She also said that he will be water skiing again in the future. She is so upbeat and positive over all of this.

Thank you so much for this project. This project Valour-IT is an amazing project...

Less than four months later, in February 2006, Bryan was walking. The same correspondent shared:

B came in town for a benefit dinner to help raise funds for his family. He walked into the room with his prosthetic legs, he was smiling and overwhelmed at the support he and his family received. No one was aware that B was going to be there. I do not think there was a dry eye in the room. He still has therapy but his spirit is strong. He has an amazing support group of family and friends.

The laptop was the first step to the road to recovery. It proved that he was going to be able to do all the things that he did before.

I was once again overwhelmed.

And today, out of the blue, I found him on the cover of Esquire. As my correspondent predicted, he did do all the things he'd done before... and so much more:

I've been wakeboarding, water-skiing, jet-skiing, tubing, rock climbing, snow skiing, playing catch with my brother. I try to do the same things. I'm not going to let it stop me. We did a 110-mile bike ride from Gettysburg to Washington, D. C. Sixty miles the first day, fifty miles the second day. Hand cycle, three wheels. I ended up ripping the glove, breaking the hand, breaking the whole socket. I might do it a little differently, but I'm still going to do it...

He knows who he is:

This doesn't define me. It may be how I look on the outside, but it's not who I am. I guess you could remember me easily as being a triple amputee, but it's not who I am, has nothing to do with who I am. I've always been the same person...

His spirit is indomitable:

You have two options once this happens: Roll over and die or move on. I chose to move on. I'm still me. I'm just 75 percent off. Get a deal on Bryan Andersons this week. You know who actually told me that the first time? My mom. We were in Vegas, talking about T-shirts we should make, and she said "75 percent off." She said, "You should get a shirt showing off your personality."

I keep thinking back to that line: "The laptop was the first step to the road to recovery." I'm stunned, I'm touched, I'm humbled, I'm... I don't have words for what I am feeling. I don't think the right ones exist in the English language...

Just... wow.

[h/t Cop the Truth]

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"Sergeant X" Replies

Two weeks ago Sergeant X's request for a Valour-IT laptop brought him once again across my path. I wrote to him, doubting he'd remember me, but telling him how Valour-IT had started and that I was glad to be able to help him again. He replied today [SSG B handled Any Soldier packages from me for SGT X's unit after X was wounded]:

Hello and Merry Christmas.

Of course I remember you, how could I forget? I really am extremely happy to hear from you. It really is a small world.

Thank you again for what you are doing for all of the wounded. It does so much for us to know how much you guys really care and pay attention to what we have endured. Although, I will still tell you my injuries are not major and will tell anyone that, simply because I am still very capable of doing my job. I have all of my arms and legs and eyes for that matter, and the heart to continue on. The Doctors think I've done my part and since I want to stay in must change jobs... They have won, so far... lol!

Sorry to ramble on. It is really good to hear from you and I have been telling everyone the story of how we met and how we have come across one another again...and they are amazed. [SSG B] was like, "No way. That's God's work, no doubt!!" And I can't agree more. God works in mysterious and beautiful ways, doesn't he?

Well, you take care, and hopefully this email finds you in good spirit. I wish you and your family all the peace and happiness out there b/c you are truly wonderful. God Bless you, [FbL], and thank you for all you have done for me and continue to do for the Warriors of OUR GREAT NATION!!!

What a beautiful email! I was already having a great day, for a number of small reasons, but that just topped it off.

But note in particular his attitude, as highlighted in the bolded section. Chuck himself will tell you that there are certainly dark times during a warrior's recovery, but that "can do" positive attitude is very, very prevalent among the wounded. Obviously, SGT X has it in spades. The enthusiasm of that email sounds very similar to his communications before he was wounded, and I'm just thrilled that regardless of what he has endured in between, his spirit has obviously survived.

I still haven't stopped smiling...

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Me, Myself and I

Update: Questions have been raised about the legitimacy of this photo. Powerline answers them.

I was wondering if we would get anything more than the official photos and reports from Senator Kerry's recent visit to Iraq. He had the benefit of a couple compulsory events with an unlucky unit out in the field, but in the Green Zone in Baghdad he had to make do with what companions his charm could muster. ...

And according at least one report, lunch breakfast wasn't the only time he spent with Me, Myself and I. He may think he's supporting the troops, but it seems the vast majority of them disagree with that characterization...

Update: Deployed milblogger Ben of Mesopotamia has another picture that makes it clear Kerry was dining completely alone, as well as many more details of the trip.

[H/T Powerline]

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Christmas in Wartime

Army Wife Toddler Mom has a lovely essay on that post-Christmas letdown. One part in particular jumped out at me:

However, we sit here unsure of DH's current status. Will he be here? Will he be in Iraq [again]? We have no idea.

So through the entire Holiday, the uncertainty of the situation loomed. Me taking a photo of everything imaginable. Trying to savor every moment, every smile, and giggle. Presents opened...

It is what we have learned to do as military families during war time, and we are not the first, nor the last, and it is what it is.

And I was once again reminded... it's not just the deployed soldier who serves.

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Operation Santa: Walter Reed and Bethesda

Milbloggers helped raise the funds, and Andi shared the preparations with us...


Now we get the After Action Report.

Carrie (who came up with the idea) discussed it with a BBC blogger/podcaster, and Andi herself was on Constitutional Public Radio.

[Fast-forward about two minutes into the BBC podcast for Carrie's interview. An archive link for Andi should be up soon].

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Three Kings and Valour-IT

A Christmas (Epiphany) story of a different sort...

Chuck Ziegenfuss, the guy whose wounds started us down the path of Valour-IT, was back prowling the halls of Walter Reed a week ago in preparation for yet another surgery. Each time he goes back, he literally searches the wards for people who need Valour-IT.

This time he found three amazing men in Ward 57 who have given him permission to share their stories. Here's one:

Bruce...was pretty excited about the Valour-IT laptops, and really excited about this post and picture, because as he put it: “I hope the enemy does read your blog. They’ll see me and it’ll be a great big “Up yours! You missed, you failed, I’m still here!”

Wounded, bedridden, and still trying to take the fight to the enemy.

Bruce shared his address, and Chuck asks that we send him Christmas presents and other supportive things, even though it's already December 26. As Chuck says, "The suck that goes along with being in the hospital on Christmas lasts longer than the 25th of December. Be sure to show this to everyone who says 'I want to help but don't know how...'" Here's the address:

SPC Bruce Dunlap
Ward 57
Walter Reed Amy Medical Center
6900 Georgia Ave. NW
Washington DC 20307

But don't stop there. Chuck also has the stories of a generous medic named Stephen , and a courageous lieutenant being tended by his brother. Go read the rest of Chuck's post about the Three Kings, then help these spirited men down the long road to recovery.

And yes, the laptops will be delivered by January 6, the Feast of Epiphany. Or as it is known in many countries... "Three Kings Day." Now, don't forget to go read Chuck's entire post.

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How to Have a Merry Christmas

A deployed army chaplain wrote this Christmas Season:

I believe I am about to get the best Christmas present of my whole life. Here it is! I will never again be able to take Christmas for granted. I will never again be able to have even a small bit of “bah humbug.” I will never again be able to ignore the greatness of this event. After this Christmas every Christmas that is to follow will be a treasure.

I'm not deployed, but my Christmas has been significantly curtailed. I usually take great joy in finding the "right" present for everyone on my list. Yeah, it's somewhat stressful as I search for the "perfect" present on sale to fit my always meager budget or a gift I can make myself at small expense, but I usually succeed. And the joy comes when I'm sitting down and carefully wrapping the present, thinking about how the recipient is going to enjoy it or (if I splurged) be so surprised. In fact, my favorite part of Christmas (next to actually giving the present) is wrapping it.

But this year, no present wrapping, no careful selection of gifts, only a sense that I am not quite part of the holiday. I'm not facing the stress, frustration and fear of a deployment, but as the chaplain who will now value Christmas more, next Christmas I will feel very grateful to once again have even that meager budget to go Christmas shopping for my family and friends.

Here are others who have thoughts about Christmas when it's less than ideal...

Christmas Duty: Spending the Holidays in a War Zone
Christmas in Iraq: Major Bourland's Memories
Lessons in Gratitude: Major Bell's Memories
Christmas as an Airline Pilot: Major Bell Isn't Quite Home This Year

And for our sheepdogs around the world, who are making the best of things, too:

Yet time again Dogs surely prove,
When comes a wolfine danger,
The Sheepdogs will most swiftly move
To guard the lambs, the manger.

So here’s to Sheepdogs everywhere
At this Christmas time of year;
Just know the flock is with you there,
And we wish you Christmas cheer.

We wish we could advance the clock,
Cause truth is, Dogs, we miss you,
To the day that you’ll rejoin the flock,
When we’ll sheepishly then kiss you.

-Russ Vaughn

Merry Christmas one and all!

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Merry Christmas!

Dear Friends,

May you have a Merry Christmas, Happy Channukah, et cetera. Whatever your tradition and whatever your faith, may this be a time of joy and peace for you and your loved ones.

And to those of you serving our country far from home, or who have loved ones in harm's way: thank you for your courage and devotion. May this day bring you smiles, laughter, a respite from worry and fear, and the surety that you are loved and remembered. The greatest gift I could receive this Christmas is the one you bestow through your service, both here at home and around the world. Thank you--not just this Season, but every day of the year.

Affectionately,

FbL

P.S. If you're sitting in front of your computer 'cause you've had just a little too much "togetherness," here's something to keep you occupied. :)

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Christmas Spirit at the USO

I can't vouch for the whole country, but the Spirit of Christmas and love for our troops is alive and well in my corner. How do I know?

As you're probably aware, shutting down the Denver Airport for 2.5 days had a cascading effect, wreaking havoc on the entire transportation system. Locally, it left about 150 Sailors and Marines stranded at the airport USO on Friday night, along with thousands of fellow travelers.

In typical fashion, the stranded servicemembers instantly devoured every scrap of food in sight. But word went out on the 11 o'clock TV news that night that 150 Sailors and Marines were stranded at the USO and food had run out. The phones didn't stop ringing until 1 a.m. At least two people had a total of 80 pizzas delivered (they eventually lost count on the pizzas), a retired Sailor dropped off 80 hamburgers, another patriot left 50 sandwiches. People walked in the next morning with bags of chips and cases of soda and water. And it kept on coming...

I arrived to fill in for someone later that morning (Saturday). Marines were napping all over the floors and couches, and moving about the room meant navigating a maze of sea bags, along with the legs of those who had staked out a patch of floor. Pizza boxes were still stacked in the kitchen, and the overflowing trashcans outside the building testified to the feast.

But people were still calling and offering help, and so I ended up in the kitchen most of the day, serving food and coordinating the incoming donations. A homemade smoked turkey was delivered, and a young family offered up the gourmet glazed ham they had ordered by mail for their Christmas Dinner. Grandmotherly types came by with pot pies fresh from the oven and tins full of cookies and brownies. A local deli donated 40 delicious sandwiches and a gourmet pizza parlour said they'd deliver the next time people got stranded.

The servicemembers going through the food like a swarm of locusts were amazed and appreciative. I overheard a young Marine fresh from SOI talking on a cell phone to his family. He ended the call and turned to me, "My mom is gonna be so mad at me." Surveying the spread in front of him, he explained, "She's been spending the day cooking because she thinks I'm starving. But I'm gonna already be stuffed before I even get home!"

We told callers we were okay now and suggested either monetary donations or bringing food at a later date. But some didn't call: they simply arrived with bags of fruit, boxes of instant oatmeal, breakfast bars, crackers, hot chocolate, pudding cups... it was endless. Both fridges and every cupboard in the kitchen were literally packed, and we started stashing things in a side room.

Some of the most touching things were reasons people gave. Many had stories of what the USO had meant to them during their service, or they had children who were either in training or now serving. Others said things like, "They do so much for us, how can we not help at a time like this?" Wives called and said their husbands had always talked about the USO and so they knew "how important what you do is for those boys."

I stayed on for my regular afternoon shift. At 5:10 the news station rebroadcast the story from the night before, leaving the community with the belief that we still had 150 starving Marines and Sailors at the airport (actually we had about 80 excessively-well-fed servicemembers still stranded!). The phone didn't stop ringing for 40 minutes. I sat at the desk and my partner stood next to the kitchen phone. My mouth was tired from talking; everytime we hung up a line, it immediately rang again. This time they wanted to donate money, but others insisted on bringing food.

What a day! Unlike the usual slower pace, there hadn't been a moment to sit down. At 8 p.m. things finally wound down and I staggered out the door to my car, bleary-eyed, feet screaming, clumsy from exhaustion. Riding home I realized I'd been so busy for the last twelve hours that all I'd eaten was a snack here and there. I hadn't even had breakfast that morning, but I'd been too busy to notice I was hungry! I soon fell into bed, sick with exhaustion (I now know what that means!). I slept for 10 hours: joyous, wonderful, luxurious, restorative sleep.

But you know the funny thing? I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. As I said with a wink to those who repeatedly thanked us, "We can't all be Marines/Sailors, so we gotta do our part." It's a privilege to see how much "support for the troops" is out there, a privilege to be needed, and a privilege to have the capacity to do something for those to whom we owe so much. I guess one of the bright sides of unemployment is that I have that capacity for now...

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The Christmas Meme

I saw this one making the rouds. Yup, I got tagged. It could be worse.

List 3 things that you would love to get for Christmas and three 3 things you definitely do not want to get for Christmas. Then list and tag 5 friends, leaving a comment on their blogs that says “You’ve been Christmas tagged!”

I don't have very good answers for this meme, but blame it on Princess Crabby. When she says to do something, we do it.

Three Things I Want for Christmas

1) A job. Yup, as a gift. 'Cause working my butt off for it doesn't seem to be effective. Well, either that or a Sugar Daddy. I mean, a girl's gotta eat (Juuuuust kidding, Mom!).

2) Windsor Pilates DVD. It's too cold for cycling (Yeah, 60 is too cold. I'm a wimp).

3) Unlimited free airline miles so that I can go visit all the wonderful people who read and even bestow comments on this blog.

Three Things I Don't Want for Christmas

1) Chocolate. I've already eaten way too much

2) A Playstation 3

3) Another troll

*******************I'm going to break the rules and tag just one: Kris, in honor of her new blog.

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Yum!

I just couldn't resist...

You Are a Gingerbread House

A little spicy and a little sweet, anyone would like to be lost in the woods with you.

What Holiday Food Are You?

*wicked grin*

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Christmas and the USO

Headed off to the USO again, today (was there yesterday, too).

It's an interesting place these days. It's rather busy due to typical Holiday travel. Yesterday ranged from new graduates of SOI brought in by the busload to meet their flights home for Christmas, to a man visiting his son in the psych ward of the hospital, to a buffed-out sailor headed to Iraq after volunteering to be an Individual Augmentee.

Here, the impending charges on some of the "Haditha Marines" and the names of those who were recently KIA are in the air, for those are "local" stories. So many Marines pass through that I can't remember all their faces, but each time I see a picture of a local fallen Marine I wonder if he was one of those I welcomed at the desk beginning or ending pre-deployment leave not so long ago...

But usually overpowering the twinges of melancholy are the joy and exuberance of the Boot Camp and SOI graduates, such as those who arrived via buses yesterday and swooped through like a cloud of locusts. I was manning the kitchen when they arrived, and I literally couldn't stock things fast enough to keep up with the hordes! Fortunately, we had donations of hot egg & cheese croissants, homemade cookies, and eggnog to augment the usual pastries and muffins. But as crazy-busy as they make us, their energy, enthusiasm and shouts of gratitude upon seeing the spread are always heart-warming. In many ways they're like playful puppies: anxious to get to the food and ever so grateful that you've put it out for them.

And how can puppies ever make you anything but happy? ;)

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Spread the Cheer

Argghhh! and Blackfive have the inside scoop on a military family that could use some Christmas Cheer:

Life's been tough for a Marine Corps family lately, including the loss of a dear family member. Every year for the past three years they have lost a loved one between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This family has been an active support group for Marines for years - inviting troops into their home, participating in Operation Santa and other troop support projects, etc. Many of you who regularly read military blogs and discussion forums are familiar with this family.

We want to protect their privacy, but it's not right that such good people who have given so much to our country should not be feeling the joy and love of the Christmas season. So let's show this family the Christmas spirit! Please send them a Christmas card.

Mail your cards or notes to:

SBS
970 W Valley Parkway #223
Escondido, CA 92025

It only takes a moment to grab a Christmas card and write, "Thinking of you and grateful for your service," then drop it in the mail. Please take the time to lift the spirits of a great American family. And bloggers, let's get the word out on this!

More at Castle Argghhh!.

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Interesting...

It's just a silly online quiz, but it struck a chord with me and led to a whole lot of navel-gazing that may or may not be worthwhile:

Your Dominant Thinking Style: Visioning

You are very insightful and tend to make decisions based on your insights. You focus on how things should be - even if you haven't worked out the details. An idealist, thinking of the future helps you guide your path. You tend to give others long-term direction and momentum.

What's Your Thinking Style?

I can make some things happen through sheer dint of effort, regardless of ability, resources or situation. I once had a dear friend tell me that she'd never seen someone be as successful as I was in a certain area with as little background and raw ability as I had (which is nicer than it sounds, as I was existing in rather rarified air at the time and was meeting all standards).

But despite that kind of tenacity, there are things on which I've exerted far less effort that have been far more successful. And looking back, these successes are in the areas of visioning and inspiration/leadership. That's what I've finally come to accept (albeit still grudingly) about Valour-IT. I didn't do the hard work (the distribution system, etc), but I took up the idea, fleshed out the detailed vision for implementation and pitched it to the bigshots, then drew together the people (suppliers, designers, fundraisers, contacts) who made it happen. I relied heavily on the knowledge, advice and work of others to get there, but I knew without a doubt where I wanted it to go.

[Caveat: this is why I repeatedly resist the idea that I'm responsible for what Valour-IT has accomplished. I just held out the vision and trumpeted the mechanism for the vision to succeed. Everyone else worked their butts off to make it happen; I prefer the title "Nag in Chief."]

I was a great music teacher of little children because I had a vision of what they could do and I could intuitively get them there. My students did amazing things, and I never had an evaluator who found me at or below average in overall pedagogy. But at the same time, things like complicated schedules, records for every special needs student in the school, minutiae of the law and the codes of learning objectives, all the mundanity that is being a teacher and working in that environment... that was much more of a challenge. I was moderately capable of that part of it through fear-driven effort, but it was like a fish trying to spend half its time breathing air.

And I realize now that maybe that wasn't the right place for me, since public school teachers are (sadly) often rated more by their bookkeeping skills than their inspirational teaching. All those strengths that are listed at the top of this post are not appreciated (and perhaps mostly not even appropriate) in a new-ish teacher. But sadly, neither do they lend themselves to entry-level office jobs.

It's funny... I've always had big dreams and visions of how I thought things should be, of what I wanted to do. But now I see that somewhere along the way I let myself be convinced they were unreasonable or that I was incapable of implementing them. As a child I was always the one who bounced around with energy, trying to draw others into my wild activities. If not that, I wanted to be involved in what everyone else was doing and I had a reputation for being "bossy" in such circumstances. Looking back, I suspect "bossy" is just the descriptor of a child with a vision of how things should be trying out her nascent leadership skills, hehe!

Seriously, I'll never forget later in life receiving the strong and clear message over the course of years that I was not to stand out. But how does a person of crazy dreams do anything but stand out? Standing out is how you get other people to join your dream and make it happen! Standing out is what leaders do! (No, I'm not talking self-aggrandizement, just the fact that leadership literally reqires being present and known, among many more-important qualities).

And I'll also never forget how I started to change on a personal level after Valour-IT got off the ground, and what began to crystalize in my self-image after the 2005 Veterans Day fundraiser. By the time the DC trip (December 2005) was over, I felt like an entirely different person. I didn't know it then, but through Valour-IT I was living out the kind of "job" that truly fit my skills. I had a great relationship with my principal last year, and she said that whenever I talked about Valour-IT, I would "light up." She said, "All the joy and energy and faith in yourself and your dreams comes shining through when we talk about it. But when we talk about you growing as a teacher, none of that is there."

Maybe that's because even then I knew what I've only been able to articulate today: I am at my best in a job that is all about the dream, making things happen: seeing how things should be and communicating that vision to others. I think people have tried to tell me that before, but I didn't understand it.

I don't know, maybe I'll all wet here. Maybe I've got an over-inflated sense of self. I'm mostly just thinking aloud here, but since so much of what I've laid out in this post involves what many of you have said to and about me, I think I'd appreciate your input. Am I on to something here, or do I need a smack to put me back in my place?

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A Moment of Navy Zen

This picture was taken at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego last Sunday, just before the Chargers trounced the Broncos, clinching their divison title with three games still left. Go, Chargers!!


P.S. If anybody has insight into how this amazing photograph might have been captured, please share.

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