Friday, December 28, 2007

A Long December...

...and there's reason to believe
Maybe this year will be better than the last
I can't remember the last thing that you said as you were leaving
And these days go by so fast...
And it's one more day up in the canyons
And it's one more night in Hollywood
And if you think that I could be forgiven...
...well, I wish you would...


Since I posted the front page of my current Moleskine to my Flickr account, I thought I might as well go ahead and post it here. Oh, when my weblog and anablog collide!

I got into the habit of keeping something of a journal - the term 'anablog' came up in a conversation with some shipmates, for 'analog blog' - during this last deployment. I mentioned my love of the Moleskine way back in October; I filled the Pocket Ruled mentioned in that entry, started on a Pocket Squared, lost it shortly after arriving back in the World, started another Pocket Ruled (as seen here), and then found my Pocket Squared again. It wouldn't be so funny if I hadn't predicted it happening in my first entry for this notebook.

Oh life, how you do love irony.

I've been calling my anablogs 'Letters to Nobody' because, frankly, that's what they are - letter or conversational format ramblings on whatever's taken my fancy at the moment, interspersed between collected quotes, notes to myself, reminders, shopping/to-do lists... all the usual minutiae, I suppose.

So, last night was Jason's birthday, and I had graciously volunteered my place for the festivities - drinking and playing Twilight Imperium, we geeks being such a wild and crazy bunch of guys. I then promptly forgot about the whole matter until people appeared on my doorstep. Since they brought beer (and Mike brought Sailor Jerry's rum, a heavenly booze indeed), I let 'em in. There was quite a bit of drinking, not so much the Twilight, and somehow things degenerated into drunken cosplaying. Well, you can see the pictures on the Wanderer Chronicles, but I warn you, they're not a very pretty sight.

I suppose I should also confess that all the goofy coats, hats, and weapons wielded are mine.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

O Come, All Ye Faithful...

....joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, o come ye,
To Bethlehem...
Sing, choirs of angels -
Sing in exaltation,
Sing all ye citizens of Heaven above!

Twisted Sister version, of course.

Wishing you all a merry Christmas, and more to come. Still not a lot going on with me; I've finished Christmas shopping for my family (and a good thing, too), but still have a bit to do for friends. Fortunately, I'm not likely to see too many of them before New Year's - grants me a bit of time. ^_^ Looking forward to spending Christmas Day with the family, if I can ever get to sleep tonight - my sleep patterns are all sorts of FUBAR at this point, which is less than good.

Monday, December 17, 2007

When I awoke today...

...suddenly, nothing happened
But in my dreams I slew the dragon
And down this beaten path
And up this cobbled lane
I'm walking in my own footsteps once again...


The downside of being on leave, relaxing at home, is that there really isn't anything to blog about. The party went well, much booze was drank, much laughter was laughed, much conversation was conversed, and a good time was had by all. The Rifts game I'd been hoping to run for a while went much, much less well - problems with the system, difficulties between people, and a grumpy, grumpy me led to an early end and drinking. I've been staying up all night and sleeping all day - par for the course for me when I'm on leave, I've always been more of a night owl. I've pretty much finished all my Christmas shopping, with my brother being the only sticking point - I've been playing a lot of Red, Dead Revolver - I'm trying to restart Sorrowfell, although that's going to depend on whether or not my players bite.

I haven't left the area since I came home, although I'm starting to feel itchy feet - when the Supply gets back to the World, I'll probably wander up to New Jersey with Blue and pay it a visit, not least 'cause I left things behind that I'd like to get back, but also 'cause it'll be cool to see Wally again. I'd like to make a weekend of it and get into New York, but we'll have to see how things roll. Cat and I are talking about heading out to western Virginia or West Virginia to snowboard/ski/tube sometime in the early New Year; and I'd kinda like to pay Dani a visit out in the wilds of Indiana. It's my turn, after all.

So, that's about it for me. Nothing new, nothing wrong, just relaxing and taking life day by day. It's kinda nice.

Saturday, December 08, 2007

My life has been extraordinary....

Blessed and cursed and won
Time heals but I'm forever broken
By and by the way...

So, I'm home. The flight from Greece was uneventful, and far more comfortable than I'd imagined; the Delta transAtlantic was almost half empty (half full?), and Delta seats, while a little cramped in the shoulders for me, had plenty of leg room - something I almost never have, whether I'm flying, on a train, or even in a bus or car. So, it was a pleasant trip. My mom was out of town when my flight got in late that evening, but my brother and father met me at the airport; we dropped Blue off at his home, picked up my car from my parent's home, and then finally, I got to go home. Cat was waiting at my house, and we spent several hours talking and catching up on all the things that had happened while I was gone.

Wednesday was a lazy day, mostly spent recovering from jet lag, poking at the mess of a house I left behind when I deployed, and catching up with some friends; Thursday, my dad and I ran errands, picked up my mom from the airport, had lunch with my little sister, and then culminated the whole thing by buying one of my birthday presents, a very shiny new motorcycle jacket (pictures possibly forthcoming, but don't hold your breath). Friday the whole family got together to decorate the Christmas tree, indulge in some light bickering (hey, 'tis the season), and celebrate my mother's and my birthday - yes, they're the same day. My mom continues to refer to me as her best birthday present, which after 16 hours of labor and then 26 years of actually living with me really does say something about her generosity of spirit.

Which brings us to today; I slept in for the first time in forever, waking around noon with the nagging feeling that my house is a wreck, and yet I'm having virtually all of my local friends over this evening for a welcome home party. So, I've spent the last several hours desultorily straightening up the living room; the dining room is next, as well as vacuuming all the leaves out of the entrance hall; at least that should go quicker, as it's mainly a case of cleaning the books, mail, and other junk off the dining room table. After that, I should hit an ABC store - while my alcohol inventory is disgustingly broad (I have a liquor closet, since I didn't need the space for linen. Says something.), I am missing a few necessities - Jack Daniels, for instance, and Bailey's. I'll probably get some peppermint schnapps, as well, and another bottle of Panama Jack - the one goes wonderful with hot chocolate, the other with hot apple cider. Mmmm.

So I should probably stop procrastinating, and get on with it...

Monday, December 03, 2007

Addendum...

Also, Happy Birthday to me. I turned 21 in Souda Bay, now I’m turning 26… wonder if I’ll turn 31 here, as well? Going out tonight with a bunch of shippies, for a combination going-away and happy birthday party. Should be fun, although I can’t indulge too much, for fear of missing my flight in the morning.

The thundering waves are calling me home...

...home to you.
The pounding sea is calling me home, home to you...
The thundering waves are calling me home, home to you
The pounding sea is calling me home, home to you.

I'm coming home.

It's been a somewhat momentous couple of weeks since last I wrote; we've visited Dubai again and left, for the last time. We visited Djibouti again, and left, for the last time; and it was a much more pleasant stay than the first time, probably because I wasn't involved with cargo operations, and actually had a chance to see the place a little more. I put in a leave slip on our departure day, visited Camp Lemonier - the American Joint Task Force Anti-Terrorism Base - wandered around downtown Djibouti for a little while, and all in all had a rather enjoyable time. Of course, a few days later I came down horribly ill - despite having neither eaten nor drank (other than bottled alcoholic beverages) anything out in town. C'est la vie...

We transited the Suez Canal without incident while I was preoccupied transforming my insides into my outsides. The Mediterannean is delightfully cooler than the Gulf, or the Arabian Sea, or any of the other southern climes we've been lingering in since summer; it's strange, to walk outside and feel chilly, or to have to wear a sweatshirt in the open air rather than the frigid confines of berthing, but I like it. I've always been a creature of winter and autumn, rather than sun and summer.

And, of course, most importantly - I'm coming home. Tomorrow morning I leave the USNS Supply, possibly for good (who can tell? It's a small fleet, after all...), board a big silver freedom bird, and wing my way west, slowly going backwards in time as I go. Tomorrow night, I hope to be in the arms of my loved ones again. It's been almost six months since I've seen them; it's hard to say just how much I've missed them.

I'm coming home.