Let's Get This Party Started

  Wow, so this is it, I'm starting a blog. 

It sounds like work. 

So far it has not been.

Granted, in lieu of working on this, I should be doing actual work!

I don't know what I'm going to write about.  I hope somebody reads this. 

Let's just see where it takes me..... Hmmmmmmmm.....

I love my Dad very much and I miss him dearly.  I am at peace with his passing, but not a day goes by that I don't think about him.  He was a great father.

I am very proud that my Dad served in the US Navy.  I am more amazed that he spent the majority of his career underwater in submarines.  I cannot imagine getting into a boat and saying "okay, we're all in; soooooo, let's sink it!"  Pretty much most of his career was spent in combat mode protecting our nation from another nation that felt it needed to protect itself from us. 

The thing is, I like the politics of our nation better and I agree that we needed to protect ourselves. As much as it may suck from time to time, we have a certain right to speak our peace and say what we think.  That other country did not believe that and our many disagreements with them seemed to make the world very very COLD!  Granted, I'm almost certain that there was more to it than free speech.

Sure, freedom of speech gets sketchy and people tend to abuse the living daylights out of it, but that is what makes us able to progress without having to limit our thoughts.  I do wish that a lot of people would tone down their expressiveness A LOT and give each other a chance to embrace their own opinions in a less "in your face" manner, but that's just me.

So, I have beliefs. 

I am Catholic, but I would never force that upon anyone or tell them that their religion or lack thereof is wrong.  Sure there may be a few people I'll hold to it, but that's more of a relationship/ practicality thing.  Also, if your religion condones blowing up me, my stuff, my friends or people who don't need to be blown up, I'm not really a fan.

I believe in a strong national defense, but I do feel we need to balance that out with a healthy and secure infrastructure.  No, I don't have a solution to make that balance work. 

I do think you should be allowed to marry in a civil union no matter what sex you or your partner are, but I also believe your church of choice has the right to either accept you or not for your decisions.  Let's face it, if your church cannot accept you, it may be time to move on.  That does seem like quite a sensitive topic these days and I think it's become a pathetic distraction.  There's too much judgment being passed making aggressive use of a religion based on peace and love.

That's about as controversial as I get.  I think I am very accepting of the world around me.  I really do try to treat others as I would like them to treat me but I find I am often misunderstood. However, sometimes, I get angry and irrational too.

Anyway, Dad once got very upset with people on the news who were inadvertently blocking traffic somewhere downtown whilst advocating something very unoriginal that most likely never changed.  I'm sure they had long hair... almost certain.  In his frustration he commented on their ignorance and their desire to express such ignorance so blatantly.

As a mildly rebellious teen (I had long bangs) I asked him, "but didn't you serve all of those years defending their rights to do so?" 

Vanquished to my room, I had a lot of "me time" to think about what I had said.  I knew what I said was correct and in future discussions with my Dad, I think he eventually agreed as well. 

But what I had truly done wrong was to poke an angry bear.

I'm not much for poking bears these days. I just have stuff on my mind in no particular order.