Ceasefire: simplicity

On the television show M*A*S*H, in the final episode, the doctors of the four-oh-double-seven are operating away on wounded soldiers, listening to a war report on the radio. The calm-steady voice of the reporter is broken by gun fire, which abruptly stops. The reports says something to the effect of, "There it is. The ceasefire."

This sensation fairly accurately describes how I felt today. You see, I took my last undergraduate final exam today. I graduate in less than a week. But for the last couple of semesters I've basically wandered the campus, talking to myself, and being the typical Jaded Senior.

And as I walked out of the room where I had taken the final, a smile broke across my face. The gun fire, or in my case, the pseudo-schizophrenic ramblings of a troubled English major mind, came to a halt. For once the air was calm.

I was done. I don't have to take another class as an undergraduate.
I think Happy Dog says it best. Good night, and may God bless.

Sports Strikes Back

The NFL Draft starts at 3pm Saturday. I love this day. It's like Christmas for me. Draft Day, on my calendar, is usually as open as possible. Except tomorrow. The draft starts at 3pm, my final exam starts at 3:30pm.

So, in honor of the best day of the non-football season, I bring you the Right Wing 2008 NFL mock draft Top Ten picks.

1. Miami Dolphins: Jake Long OT Michigan
Synopsis: Good deal for Miami, if Long is the proper fit. He already has a five-year, $57-million deal in place. Good deal for Long.

2. St. Louis Rams: Chris Long DE Virginia
Synopsis: This pick is tough for St. Louis. There’s trade talk swirling here. New Orleans wants to move up for Glenn Dorsey, as does Cincinnati. I think, though, that neither team meets the Rams asking price for the No. 2 slot.

3. Atlanta Falcons: Glenn Dorsey DT LSU
Synopsis: Atlanta has so many holes that it’s hard to know where to start. QB Matt Ryan is also a target here, should the Rams either take Dorsey or trade away No. 2 to New Orleans.

4. Oakland Raiders: Darren McFadden RB Arkansas
Synopsis: Oakland needs a strong runner who isn’t afraid to run north-south, instead of east-west. McFadden has some character issues, but that doesn’t bother Oakland at all.

5. Kansas City Chiefs: Vernon Gholston DE Ohio State
Synopsis: The Chiefs just traded away DE Jared Allen, and they need a presence player again. Gholston fits that mold for them.

6. New York Jets: Brandon Albert OG Virginia
Synopsis: Solid pick, probably the best thing the JETS can do.

7. New England Patriots: Sedrick Ellis LB USC
Synopsis: New England continues to grow in talent, adding a very good linebacker from USC.

8. Baltimore Ravens: Matt Ryan QB Boston College
Synopsis: The Atlanta Falcons could take Ryan earlier, but I don’t think they will. Baltimore wants a franchise quarterback to replace McNair, and Ryan fits the bill.

9. Cincinnati Bengals: Derrick Harvey DE Florida
Synopsis: Fast SEC-style defensive end. Cincinnati seems to like the SEC when it comes to defensive players.

10: New Orleans Saints: Leodis McKelvin CB Troy
Synopsis: New Orleans, unable to trade up for Dorsey, will grab the closest thing to a shut down corner this draft has to offer.


Other Ramblings:

-Rumor is Atlanta will package two of its three second round picks and move back up into the later first round to grab either Brian Brohm or Joe Flacco, either of which could provide them the franchise QB name they need.

-The Falcons are dealing from a position of power in this draft, holding eleven total picks, 4 of which are in the first 48 selections. No other teams has so much clout so close to the top. If the new regime in the Falcon front office plays this draft right, the foundation could finally be built for a winning team.

-Dallas put their team reputation on the line, parting with a fourth-round pick for Adam “Pacman” Jones, the troubled CB. It’ll be interesting to see what Tennessee does with the pick.

-This draft could see more draft day trades than recent years, mostly because there are no consensus top picks, but everyone has fairly even strength boards, so teams will jockey for the players that best fit their needs.


- Where certain players will go:
This section will name a player, what pick selection range he will fall into, and the likeliest teams to get him, in order of likelihood.
Rashard Mendenhall, RB Illinois…17-24…Philadelphia, Houston, KC
Tashard Choice, RB Georgia Tech…75-84…Detroit, Arizona, Washington
Brian Brohm, QB Louisville…28-35…Atlanta, Baltimore, New York Jets
Marcus Howard, DE Georgia…97-103…Atlanta, Miami, St. Louis
Colt Brennan, QB Hawai’i…160-180…Oakland, Chicago, Detroit
Chad Henne, QB Michigan…58-68…Jacksonville, St. Louis, Atlanta
Joe Flacco, QB Delaware…36-43…Atlanta, Carolina, Buffalo

Duhhhhh: Senior Moments

so, another late night, another blog post.
I just have to share this with you. I read it today, and it is apparently a real story from somewhere around Jacksonville, Florida.

An elderly lady was walking out of a grocery store when she realized that four men were stealing her car. She dropped her bags, pulled her handgun out of her purse, and shouted, "Get away from the car!"

The men panicked and ran way. The lady gathered her bags, shaken, and sat in the car, trying desperately to get the key in the ignition. After a few minutes of ineffective key-to-iginition interface, the lady lookeda round and saw a 12-pack of beer and a frisbee in the back seat, none of which belonged to her.

She exited the car and found her own vehicle a few spaces down. She shamedly got in and drove to the local police station and admitted her mistake. The officer on duty pointed down the counter, where stood four men complaining about a crazy old lady who had tried to carjack them.

The situation was smoothed over and no charges were filed. The moral to the story: if you're going to have a senior moment, make it memorable.

Independence

"Posterity, you will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in heaven that ever I took half the pains to preserve it." - John Adams

If there is one thing above another that I can point to as the driving force in my sudden change of mind regarding Grad school, it is the previous quote. The John Adams miniseries on HBO made me realize hos much History we have, and can teach, but we don't because it is not convenient for whatever agenda the medium in which it is taught holds.

I'm finding myself more and more each day desiring to teach History. It's not my major, but that's okay; it is my minor, and I'm fairly well versed in a wide swath of History. Also, I can teach Lit and Writing if necessary. I can tell you without hesitation that this blog does not represent the pinnacle of my writing ability.

I've written semi-historical posts before. I simply find history fascinating. They say, and again, who is they?, that if we fail to learn the lessons of history then we are doomed to repeat them.

I fear that the United States, as a nation, is headed for such a failure, if we haven't reached it already. Many scholars have been attributed the following quote, but who said it is far less important than the truth behind it:
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess of the public treasury. From that time on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the results that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's great civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence:from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependency; from dependency back again to bondage."

The United States is already over 230 years old, and it seems that each year the only candidates who gain election are those who offer more and more money from the public treasury. Let's break down the quote just a bit.

from bondage to spiritual faith: the original colonies, bound to Great Britain, rallied around their desire for religious freedom.

from spiritual faith to great courage: those Colonies, with their spirituality intact, began to rise up, rallying around the militias and the Continental Congress

from courage to liberty: That support of the militias, and the unfettered outrage of the Colonists over unfair taxation, led to irrevocable separation from the power of the Crown

from liberty to abundance: at first, the States were not exactly prosperous. They slowly gained their financial freedom, gaining true self-sufficiency over time.

from abundance to selfishness: The self-sufficiency grew to greed, as is common among man as they gain wealth. The same goes for power, and for that I point to Washington D.C. as an example. Politicians, and those with extreme wealth, will do all they can to both hold on to their status of wealth and power, and to accumulate more.

from selfishness to complacency: The greed of those with power led to a state in which the US thought it was free from intrigue or attack. This step has essentially happened twice, once on December 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor, and later on September 11, 2001, when Al Qaida launched the worst terrorsit attack in history. Both of these incidents are considered wake-up calls for Americans.

from complacency to apathy: Even though we've been "woken up" to the events of the world around us, we seem to quickly fall into an apathetic state. Already, even though we know that radical terrorist groups exist, the belief that ignoring the problem, or simply appeasing the problem, will make it go away. The lesson of Hitler has already been lost, in just 70 short years.

from apathy to dependency: As the nations waxes apathetic, we grow dependent on government to sustain us. The more liberal aspects of the Democratic party would create and mostly socialist state in the country, causing total dependency on government. The Republican party fares no better on the government dependency test. The original founders saw a nation with a strong central government made up by strong state governments. Currently, the state governments are growing weaker and weaker and the people are becoming more and more beholden to the federal system.

from dependency back again to bondage: I can't say where the bondage would come from. I don't know if the people would be bound to the federal government, or if a rival nation could gain enough global strength to overcome our great nation. I do know this: the quote is so far ringing true, and this last step is seemingly inevitable.

I guess you're thinking that this is depressing news, eh? It doesn't have to be. We simply have to recall the lessons of history. We must know why Rome, Greece, Babylon, and Macedonia didn't survive as nations? We have to recognize that appeasing an enemy only emboldens them, it does not make them stop.

We also have to recall the lessons of our Founding Fathers. Unfair taxation led to revolution. The next revolution in this country will probably not be as bloody, but the lessons are there to be learned, and I think my calling might be in teaching them.

The John Adams quote at the beginning of this article hit me very hard. This nation has lost sight of what was done to give us freedom. Hopefully we have not lost so much that Adams has already repented...

The Are You Smarter Than the Surreal American Deal World

The precipice is upon us, or rather, we are upon it.
I know what you're thinking. Jeez, Blake's making a big deal out of this graduation thing, isn't he? Yeah, I am. I'm about to be like the thousands who have come before me, but I'm different, as is everyone, in that unique "we're all snowflakes" sense of grandeur. But, the picture speaks volumes.

I've gone farther than anyone else in my family. And now, I'm at that precipice that Robert and so many others have already crossed. It's been an almost Indiana Jones-like journey. I've had to steal idols from the booby-trapped desks of professors (not really). I've had to pass mutliple tests to prove my academic worth (really). And now I've made it to here. I've got to admit, this little rickety rope-bridge spanning the gap from college to the "real world" doesn't look too secure. I'm wondering if it's there to help you cross, or to hang yourself with.

I've changed over the last two semesters. I've changed a lot. Just since Valentine's Day I've lost nearly thirty pounds. I've gained loads of confidence in myself thanks to three very lovely women and a very large man with a goatee (no, Colin, you're not very large, I just used very to describe them, felt I should use it on you as well). These people have been instrumental in my change.

I've cruised this semester, taking only one class, the only class I need to graduate. I can feel it, now. It's just another date on the calendar, one that, for millions of people will go by without much fanfare, but for me, it's huge.

I've fought for years to get here. I've basically crossed mountains and rivers to find my way to a small stage in a not-very-big gymnasium on a Friday night in May. Two of the four people mentioned above will cross that stage with me. They're not English majors, but I've forgiven them for that. Then comes the summer...

Summer 2008 should be full of surprises. That whole new job hunt thing begins in earnest. And Robert's gonna say "I told you so.." but I am truly starting to consider grad school as a possible future. Although, I'm not sure exactly what I'd do. If I were to go after a teaching job, it would not be in my major, but rather my minor: History.

I still want to get into sports PR work, or even eventually have my own radio talk show. Who knows, I may even try out for Jeopardy?

I know one thing for certain: I'm not going to work at Hallmark or at a Pet Hospital. Robert, you know there's humor there... I'm also not going to work at Best Buy. I'm not saying I'm better than these jobs, but I think at college diploma says rather well that I am, in fact, better than these jobs. There's nothing wrong with working them, but they are not my career ambition.

Career ambition is really not something I've ever had, until these last few weeks. I think I want to make the Right Wing into a radio show, covering sports and politics. The mixture would work, as that is all talk radio is, essentially.



So change is coming, it can't be avoided. We all go through it. Robert survived, so did Grubbs, or at least we think he did. Now, I face the trial. Robert, you're prediction may come true. Grad school could be in the future, but right now, that's all it can be, the future. Change is coming.

Change is coming.

Strumsticks: New Bands in my Life

As most of you will have realized by my last post, I play guitar. I've always talked about playing guitar, and I've actually had a friend who thought I was one of those guys who always talked about guitar, and actually owned one, but never played.

Well, now I've picked up a new instrument: the strumstick. It's a member of the guitar family, though far smaller and has only three strings. The sound is distinctly folk, almost country, but in the right hands the strumstick might as well be an angelic harp.

That's not to say that mine are the right hands, they're far from, but I can rip a fierce "Scotland the Brave" on it.

So, the strumstick is new to me, but it feels right.

So, new bands in my life...
Sparky's Flaw: These guys opened for O.A.R. the other night at the concert at the college. Really awesome stuff, and the guys were pretty cool, too. Check 'em out on YouTube. The songs "All That I Am" and the new song are particularly good.

Something Corporate: True, mainstream pop rock, but just let the piano kick in and you'll understand why...

White Stripes: I don't listen to a lot of FM radio, and apparently this group's been kicking around for a while. But I happened upon the video for "You Don't Know What Love Is" the other day and fell completely and totally enamored.

Okay, short post, but you'll get more later...

Graduation: The Rift of Rock Awesomeness

Graduation looms. Two weeks from today, actually.
I've been in this game a long time. Now, the end draws near, and I'm not sure if I want to welcome it or run and hide from it.

So, I'm sitting here looking at the calendar (not literally) and wondering where all the time went. It seems like just yesterday that I was walking across the stage and being handed my High School Diploma. Now that's ancient history.

So Wednesday I had nothing to do in class. I didn't take any books, just my guitar. Now, I'd like to think that most college students are at least somewhat educated, so it came as a bit of a surprise when I heard this question mutliple times:
"Hey, is that yours?"
"Nope. Took it from a guy."

But really, I found a nice quiet place on campus, lightly wooded, bit of a hill, and I just sat on the grass and began playing. The only thing I can figure is that the exact location I chose was a Rift of Rock Awesomeness.

I came to this conclusion because everything I played got better and better. I could do no wrong. I could hit no wrong note. I've never played so well. I walked around all day playing, and it was a beautiful day for guitar. The sun was shining brightly, the birds were sing annoyingly. The breeze was blowing just right.

Rock Awesomeness was achieved.

So, Graduation. Two weeks. Fear and excitement. Dread and utter joy.
I'm going to miss the people I've been with for the last few years. I really will. These last few semesters have been the best I've ever had. I have the best friends a guy could possibly ask for. And now things are going to change. I'm staying here, and watching the world go around me.

Meanwhile, Colin and Lauren are going to Grad School, ostensibly. Heck, Michele is leaving the country (albeit for only six weeks, but still). Angela will be far away, most likely. There really is no possible way for me to express the love I have for these people. They've been there for me when no one else seemed to be... and I can only hope I was able to be there for them.

Now it seems like the calendar is turning it's pages faster than ever. If this were a ship, I'd be fighting some serious waves at the moment. I'm torn between wanting this ride to end and wanting another run at it. Robert over at Skewed says I'll be in grad school within five years. Who knows? At one time I could say with a fair amount of certainty that I wouldn't ever go, but now I can't.

But I realized a need a cause. I've not really stood for anything in my 26 years. I mean, I've got my politics, and my religion, and my own desires, but as far as a cause, I'm fairly causeless.
So that seems to me my next task. I'll find a "real" job, I'll get an apartment, a new car, all the typical stuff that, but I'll look deep within myself, and find that thing that I need to stand for.

I'll gain my purpose, in essence.

And since it fell unto my lot,
that I should rise and you should not,
I'll gently rise and softly call,
Good Night and Joy be to You All.

Really....?

The Greatest Generation

For those of you who have no memory of either history or taking history classes while in school... or if you never saw the movie Saving Private Ryan... I'd like to take a moment and discuss with you the Greatest Generation.

World War II was fought, from an American perspective, from 1941 to 1945, although the Europeans mostly consider the start date to rest in 1939 and the Asian Theater began operations as early as 1935. Millions died. Millions were wounded. What is essentially the single most devastating pre-9/11 terrorist attack is what drew the United States into the war, as 2,700-plus Americans were killed at Pearl Harbor.

As the soldiers of the United States rose to meet the call to arms, the nation rallied behind them. While the Big Red One was marching through Kasserine Pass, men and women from all across the nation were descending on Mobile and other port cities to help build ships for the war effort.

I've said before that if the United States armed forces had carried embedded reporters as they do now, the Normandy invasion would likely never have happened, especially after everything fell apart so horribly on Omaha Beach. As it stands, D-Day can be considered the turning point of the global conflict.

So, back to the Greatest Generation. This title has been applied to those who lived through the second World War, those who fought, died, survived, worked, farmed, those who kept this nation afloat during great calamity.

I understand the meaning behind it, and I really don't have a problem with it per se. The principle of the matter, though, is as follows: We've been told for the last few years that, since the World War II generation is the greatest generation, that we can never match up with them. Essentially, entire generations since then have been told "you'll never be as good."

I can't support that sentiment. Sure, the World War II generation deserves loads of respect. They were still battling out of depression. Then, war came. So, yeah, they did great things.

But to label them as the "greatest generation" is akin to insulting every generation before and since. Thank you, soldiers in the "war on terror," but you'll never bee what these people were. Thanks, founding fathers, for having the bravery to stand up to Britain, putting your lives on the line and declaring us free, but it still doesn't amount to what the World War II generation did. Nice try, though.

The Reagan babies, no chance. You tried a trickle down economy, not even close to defying a global evil. You don't even get an A for effort.

What I'm trying to say is this: let's hold off calling any generation the greatest. It tells every other generation that, no matter how hard they try, they'll never be good enough.

From the Mouth of Babes...

I go to a small Baptist church. Occasionally we plan a church-wide lunch or dinner after the service. Last Sunday was one of those days. We had a huge lunch planned. Some friends of mine showed up with their two kids, the youngest of which is a scant two months old.

Now first understand this: I’m usually pretty good with babies. I’ve actually already been told that I’ll make a good father, but I don’t want to think about that right now, and while I thank those who say that… well, let’s hold off on the father talk, okay?

Anyway, I’m standing around when they walk in and shortly thereafter I find myself holding two-month old Ethan. It’s at this point that a series of fun events began to unfold around me.

First, two of the younger adults I go to church with walk in with a friend of theirs, a nice looking young woman, probably no more than 25 or 26 years of age, who is holding one of those baby carrier things. She sees me holding Ethan and, I can only guess that this is what goes through her mind, thinks: hey, someone like me, I should talk to them. I need to say this as a caveat to the rest of this story: I get nervous when single women talk to me, not because I don’t know how to act, but rather there is someone I care about and I think we may have something with each other and I sure as heck don’t want to screw it up.

So, she walks up and looks first at Ethan, then at me, as if trying to determine familiar relation, and then says, “He’s adorable. How old is he?”

I stammer out the reply, “He’s two or three months…” To which she gives me a look of semi-abject terror and says, “You don’t know how old your own child is?”

I chuckled and responded, “Oh, he’s not mine.” She smiled, seemingly ashamed of having leapt to the conclusion, but I didn't mind. Marcus, the guy I go to church with who had invited her, stepped up and said, "Well, you do look natural with him."
The only reply I had for that was: "Yeah, but there needs to be a girlfriend and a wedding, and probably a few years of a well-paying job before kids come along."

We laughed off the incident and went about our day. Well, moments later Ethan begins to cry. I’m not talking about your everyday run-of-the-mill baby crying either; this was full-on sobbing. This was the crying where every other cry doesn't even make a sound. He began to work his mouth in a way that suggested he was hungry.

Now, being a man, I am not equipped to provide this child with the needed sustenance. I even said that to his father, who said in return, “Okay, give him to me.” To which I said, “I’m pretty sure you can’t help him, either.”

He replied, “No, but I know who can.”

And that, kids, is my baby story for the world...