Tuesday, September 30, 2008

(whistling...)

Oh! Hello there!
I hardly even saw you, and it`s been so long, I didn`t even recognize you...

Well... How`ve you been?

I've been doing well thanks... I've been up to quite a few things.
I got a new apartment for me and Amy. It's wonderful and I'll be sure to post pictures soon. I move tonight! I will finally have the room to put things on the walls! Newfoundland flag! Che flag!

I'm 4 weeks into University. It's not much different then college. A little more critical thinking, but beyond that... nothing much. My classes are going fine, I could read as a full time job.

I've rediscovered, speaking of school, my favourite college meal. Burritos.

I've also been writing a book. Have a glance below for an excerpt from 'Corporal, a reenactors story'
We carry ourselves, as a society, with almost no regard for what was lost through years of war, that has lead us to this point. We live such easy lives, compared to any soldier, in any combat situation. I think we often forget that. We use ‘freedom’ more as an excuse to get away with things, and separate ourselves then a moral by which to lead our lives. We take for granted the things that were won and often, if not always, forget the things that were lost.

I don’t mean to negate or in any way make unimportant the issues anyone should face daily. I think, however, that given consideration, most problems we have today are a result of, sometimes, a flaw in ourselves and not the fault of anyone else. This being said, most problems we face today are absolutely dwarfed by any issue a person might face in a combat situation. For this, we should be ultimately thankful to the people who paid with their lives, so we can have the problems we have today. They should not be a name on a cross, or an engraved memory in some wall somewhere, but a living historical figure in our day to day lives.

On the beaches of Normandy, a man would disembark from his landing craft, assuming his craft actually made it to shore and evaded the bombers and heavy artillery, to pit himself against a multitude of machine guns, each expending thousands of rounds of ammunition, from multiple angles, in fortified positions, mortars and entire batteries of artillery, hidden and trained snipers firing from cliffs overhead and any other military might protecting the shoreline. If he managed to make his way to the top of the beach, he would be asked to make his way up the Cliffside to take offensive positions against yet more artillery, machineguns and now, entire armoured divisions of German tanks. He would climb the hill willingly. His life will end before lunchtime.

Now, shift forward to present day. In most any high-end neighbourhood, there is a fifteen year old girl begging for the latest, greatest tricks and treats to be at her ‘sweet sixteen’ party. She pouts when her father negates her need for a stretch Hummer to arrive with a gaggle of her friends. She cries to her best friend about how inconsiderate her parents are, when they refuse to pay half a year’s salary to give her the best blue dress in the city. She screams words of hate at her younger brother for arriving to the party in a suit he wore last year, for New Years Eve. At the end of the night, still not satisfied, she throws a new cell phone, bought for her birthday, into the punch bowl.


====

Think about it.

No comments: