Because… because because because because… because of the wonderful things I does…
And because this followed the other two old posts I just reposted, and I thought people might have been nervous about my mental health.
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By now you may well have found yourself to be full of vague misgivings concerning my mental health. I am not talking about your understandable concerns for my basic sanity… (at least not yet)…, I am more just wondering if you are starting to worry that I may have an unhealthy preoccupation with violence and warfare.
Believe me, I am no more obsessed with bloodshed than any other 13-year-old boy growing up in America today… (The fact that I am a 5o-something-year-old boy need not trouble us for the moment)…
I am not, by nature or inclination, a violent person…
Aw, look, there I am as a 13-year-old altar boy at our Episcopal church… (Don’t worry, the Episcopal Church is basically Church of England, like Catholic-lite, only without the touchy-feely priests!!!)
I hardly ever go to bars in bad parts of every town I visit, and get into fistfights anymore!!!
The thing is, I am fascinated by history. I read about it and study it and watch shows about it constantly. If I had done all this studying in college classrooms, I would have at least a PhD by now, but I didn’t, so there is no use crying over spilled blood… uh, I mean milk. In fact, I am working on a weird war facts book that will be huge, if I ever finish it…
I love history in general, but I find, intellectually, that military history is by far the most fascinating. There are moments of heroic, selfless sacrifice offset by treachery and the natural desire to stay alive even at the expense of others. War is a cauldron that boils down and condenses human behavior. In war, we see the best and the worst of humanity, often simultaneously.
War also seems to focus the human mind like nothing else. Nothing like fighting for national and personal survival to keep people on task. Many if not most of our greatest medical and technological advances have occurred during wars. At the very least, Doctors get a hell of a lot more practice and experience in a much shorter time.
I would even go so far as to say that most of the big changes to the human condition have been brought about by violence, either on a large-scale or a small, personal one. It could be a global conflict that changes the lives of most people on the planet, or one political assassination that sets a country or an empire on a new course. Revolution seldom happens without some accompanying violence. I am not advocating violence, merely pointing out that the world has been shaped and molded by it… Just something to think about…
America exists as it is because we fought a war to have it for our own and many others to keep it, and keep it safe. Oh, and we fought a big one right here at home to keep it whole. We are who we are because of what the people who came before us did…
Even if you have no interest in history, you are a product of it…
Pouring My Art Out 
History is a marvel, I wish I had more time to read. I feel obsessed by it a bit. Figure we have to know where we came from.
Were you not taught about the birds and the bees?
Hang on, I’ll ask my wife… she says no. Huh??????
A wife would know 😉
Always. The kids seem to know more than me too. Interesting…
Hmmm how did that happen?
Dummy dumb dumb Trent? I’m okay with that interpretation. The wine was bound to get me sooner or later. But I’m also strangely proud that my kids are already smarter than me… I thought I would have to wait a few years, but no, it already happened.
ahaha have another!
Awww a proud pappa!
You don’t know the half of it… three little scoundrels, ripping up the house, with papa bear pretending that he’s such a grouse. But pride lives on the ceiling overhead, now kids just please be quiet and go to bed.
ahaha! That rocks, save it for their wedding days! 😉
I do not want to think about their wedding days… oh gosh, now I’m stressed. Thanks Zoe!
you’re welcome, i’m here all day
So are the lima beans.
oh man, maybe i have to leave then.
ha
awww…
They are awesome.
I bet
287 comments on the ‘tips for new bloggers’ post… I need to be way less interesting
Holy crow! Well, that was a good post… Dude, I can see you doing a talk show or something. You would never not have something to say to keep things moving. Did you know Letterman is supposedly a huge introvert?
I did not know that… I should start a podcast…
There’s no way someone who thinks this quick on their feet wouldn’t be good at that… blogging may be slowing you down!
I have thought of that
I like the idea.
It requires skills I do not posess
Get help. The artist is the important part.
I need an assistant
how did he have kids in the first place though?
apparently he doesn’t know
I guess not
yeah… but not about that
I haven’t forgotten about your lima beans, by the way. I’m working it into a story. It will be delicious. And smellly. Very smelly.
Damn
I’m gonna boil them for a month.
noooooooo
eewww
Oh yeah… then I’m gonna smear them on some moldy cheese.
she is gonna be sorry she messed with you
Probably. Especially after I add the three-month-old kitty litter.
oh yeah
ha
ha
makes you wonder
uh……….
One would think
We can’t all be good at everything.,..
(He thinks the birds and the bees get together)
probably and make humming music
uh,,, yes
or i meant buzzing music
I am working on a weird war facts book culled from the hundreds of books I have read.
Tell us more. What, no post about that??? Come on, that sounds interesting!
It will take years to compile all the facts… I need an intern
Do it. Go to sleep.
I did
History is a fascinating thing. As you say, we are a product of it. I find it interesting to compare historical “facts” from more than one side. There is very often two (or more) completely different stories. Too often historical facts have been misconstrued by who is telling it. You really can get lost in trying to get to the grain of truth in every version. Like I said fascinating stuff.
A lot of history is really more myth than fact.