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May. 29th, 2005
Once again, life has handed me some very intruiging cards.
There's a new member on Paradice Net (bringing us up to 41) who's got some awesome heavy metal videos. I'll probably go back to enjoy them later.
Next up, the highlight of this weekends RPing in Bewere of Ghulidalen will NOT be giving the party a bath. That is a foregone conclusion in my mind. ... And now in theirs too. Bwahahahaha!
Also, I've been invited to play at the 2006 Lake Atitlan International Music and Arts Festival. I'm not sure exactly how exactly I'm going to fly down to Guatemala and get up on stage. The good news is that I'll probably leave a note protecting my current day job or somesuch. Maybe I should just not care and go to play, and have fun. This all, assuming of course that I'm not off in Iraq.
Soo... 2006 is looking to be a busy year. Two or more CD releases with my work (hopefully), barring that I'm not in a movie (Freeborn), or in Iraq (deployed), and then to still set up a vendors table at Dragon Con and have fun in Central America for this festival. This is going to be something else, that year.
The chances that I'll be able to finish tPRS and GM regularily are getting smaller, if for good reasons.
There's a new member on Paradice Net (bringing us up to 41) who's got some awesome heavy metal videos. I'll probably go back to enjoy them later.
Next up, the highlight of this weekends RPing in Bewere of Ghulidalen will NOT be giving the party a bath. That is a foregone conclusion in my mind. ... And now in theirs too. Bwahahahaha!
Also, I've been invited to play at the 2006 Lake Atitlan International Music and Arts Festival. I'm not sure exactly how exactly I'm going to fly down to Guatemala and get up on stage. The good news is that I'll probably leave a note protecting my current day job or somesuch. Maybe I should just not care and go to play, and have fun. This all, assuming of course that I'm not off in Iraq.
Soo... 2006 is looking to be a busy year. Two or more CD releases with my work (hopefully), barring that I'm not in a movie (Freeborn), or in Iraq (deployed), and then to still set up a vendors table at Dragon Con and have fun in Central America for this festival. This is going to be something else, that year.
The chances that I'll be able to finish tPRS and GM regularily are getting smaller, if for good reasons.
In Memorium...
May. 29th, 2005 11:48 pmThree times in a year, I sit back, look left, look right, and take in all that I see in one panoramic view. Wherever I'm standing. This Memorial Day is no different, except some of the names have changed, and the number of places I need to visit, has increased. Again.
How many is it now? Five? Six? Friends of mine who've died since I moved to this wonderful post in Georgia. I rather liked being on a small post, if only because it was extremely rare for someone to pass away. I'd have to check the lists again, but as far as I know, no one has died in Iraq yet that I remember personally, and if someone did, I'd like to get word of it.
All the death I've witnessed here on Fort Gordon has been needless, though all of it has been accidental (vehicle accidents) save two. Captain Anderson and Specialist Lau.
Captain Anderson was my company commander for almost a whole week while he was still alive. His dimpled face smacked of Irish descent, and it was later learned that while he was a heck of a sport at the office, at home he had some problems. News of his death came without warning. It was an apparent homicide. When all was said and done, the story that was told was that his wife shot him in the chest, and he managed to get the gun from her, to shoot her in the head and dial 911. By the time the ambulance arrived, he was gone. I just hope that his family got some closure, and the next of kin getting whatever death benefits the Army was willing to give him.
Specialist Lau was a close friend of mine. I met her on the 18th or 19th of February, 2004. I was the new guy in the unit, and she was the expert when it came to climbing and erecting towers. I grieve more for her, perhaps because I knew her longer, and knew her better. That, and I had an interest in her, despite the fact that she had a boyfriend. I went off to the Basic Installer's Course and was two timezones away. While there, I learned what happened to her, several days after the fact.
She was part of a team, building the units old orange and white tower used for ceremonies (I think it goes six to eight stories high). The type of tower it is, is one that is outdated. Only two units in the Army even have the things anymore. This fact was true even at the time of the... event. The ceremony that the tower was erected for was over. It was time to take down the tower. They'd already taken off the first several levels (so now it was down to the 3rd or 4th level), and Specialist Lau headed up to the top, to begin taking apart the next level. Like any professional, she strapped herself on to the tower (a safety requirement. The tower tipped over and fell, right after she'd secured herself to the top of it. The following investigation was perhaps the hardest for most of the unit, as SGLI was going to see if they could not pay her. Yes, that's a harsh opinion, but these days, only about a quarter of soldier's accidental deaths are paid anything.
It might be that I've missed the funerals of both these service members. You know, the ones at which rolecall is done, and the service members name is called three times. It hits, just like it does in the movies, except without the panging background music. As I never, truly said goodbye to these two soldiers, I should probably say it now. It's taboo to bring it up to other members of the unit, as you close your feelings at the memorial ceremony. However, I'm not going to get any closer to their memorials than I am now. I may visit Lau's memorial, to see what sort of epitaph was placed at the site she died.
It is a small piece of earth that is special to me. It is also special to her surviving husband. It turns out that they'd been married a week. So, good by, Captain Anderson, I always liked your witty remarks or retorts. Call them what you will. You were a veteran leader of soldiers, and I think that you'd get a better lot in life. Specialist Lau, I really should have taken you out on the town or something. I'm used to waiting before asking someone on a date of sorts, and now really isn't the time, is it? My deepest sympathies go to you and yours.
Every time I hear taps played, I understand why it means something to other soldiers who have friends buried at some depth below. In this, the final time I bring you two up, know that I always see your faces when I hear that blood curdling song.
This is perhaps the third and final time that I'll post publicly about you two. I've long needed to learn to let go. However, you both have a place in my heart, forever.
Lest we forget.
How many is it now? Five? Six? Friends of mine who've died since I moved to this wonderful post in Georgia. I rather liked being on a small post, if only because it was extremely rare for someone to pass away. I'd have to check the lists again, but as far as I know, no one has died in Iraq yet that I remember personally, and if someone did, I'd like to get word of it.
All the death I've witnessed here on Fort Gordon has been needless, though all of it has been accidental (vehicle accidents) save two. Captain Anderson and Specialist Lau.
Captain Anderson was my company commander for almost a whole week while he was still alive. His dimpled face smacked of Irish descent, and it was later learned that while he was a heck of a sport at the office, at home he had some problems. News of his death came without warning. It was an apparent homicide. When all was said and done, the story that was told was that his wife shot him in the chest, and he managed to get the gun from her, to shoot her in the head and dial 911. By the time the ambulance arrived, he was gone. I just hope that his family got some closure, and the next of kin getting whatever death benefits the Army was willing to give him.
Specialist Lau was a close friend of mine. I met her on the 18th or 19th of February, 2004. I was the new guy in the unit, and she was the expert when it came to climbing and erecting towers. I grieve more for her, perhaps because I knew her longer, and knew her better. That, and I had an interest in her, despite the fact that she had a boyfriend. I went off to the Basic Installer's Course and was two timezones away. While there, I learned what happened to her, several days after the fact.
She was part of a team, building the units old orange and white tower used for ceremonies (I think it goes six to eight stories high). The type of tower it is, is one that is outdated. Only two units in the Army even have the things anymore. This fact was true even at the time of the... event. The ceremony that the tower was erected for was over. It was time to take down the tower. They'd already taken off the first several levels (so now it was down to the 3rd or 4th level), and Specialist Lau headed up to the top, to begin taking apart the next level. Like any professional, she strapped herself on to the tower (a safety requirement. The tower tipped over and fell, right after she'd secured herself to the top of it. The following investigation was perhaps the hardest for most of the unit, as SGLI was going to see if they could not pay her. Yes, that's a harsh opinion, but these days, only about a quarter of soldier's accidental deaths are paid anything.
It might be that I've missed the funerals of both these service members. You know, the ones at which rolecall is done, and the service members name is called three times. It hits, just like it does in the movies, except without the panging background music. As I never, truly said goodbye to these two soldiers, I should probably say it now. It's taboo to bring it up to other members of the unit, as you close your feelings at the memorial ceremony. However, I'm not going to get any closer to their memorials than I am now. I may visit Lau's memorial, to see what sort of epitaph was placed at the site she died.
It is a small piece of earth that is special to me. It is also special to her surviving husband. It turns out that they'd been married a week. So, good by, Captain Anderson, I always liked your witty remarks or retorts. Call them what you will. You were a veteran leader of soldiers, and I think that you'd get a better lot in life. Specialist Lau, I really should have taken you out on the town or something. I'm used to waiting before asking someone on a date of sorts, and now really isn't the time, is it? My deepest sympathies go to you and yours.
Every time I hear taps played, I understand why it means something to other soldiers who have friends buried at some depth below. In this, the final time I bring you two up, know that I always see your faces when I hear that blood curdling song.
This is perhaps the third and final time that I'll post publicly about you two. I've long needed to learn to let go. However, you both have a place in my heart, forever.
Lest we forget.
