So as I mentioned the other day, I have a pretty cool story to share.

I read Black Hawk Down for the first time when I was about fifteen years old. I found out a couple of years later that they were making a movie based on the book and flipped out. I remember going to the theater and seeing it and being quite satisfied, but as usual, the movie couldn’t compare to how amazing the book was. In fact, I don’t even know if it’s the book so much that is amazing as the story itself. I’ve probably read the book 3 or 4 times since then.

Anyways, so my mother is a principal of an elementary school, and they had the county Teacher of the Year banquet about a week ago. Well apparently the guest speaker was Sgt. Keni Thomas. Sgt. Thomas was an Army Ranger attached to the company who fought in Mogadishu that day in October. He was actually there during the battle in one of the chalks (I believe she told me he was in the first chalk to get to the first downed Blackhawk, which would be chalk 4 I think).

Anyways, she said his speech was really amazing. Another interesting thing about him is that he’s really into music. He is a country recording artist and has a band called Cornbread. Anyways, my mom was flipping out because she knows how big of a deal Black Hawk Down is to me and was upset that I wasn’t able to hear him speak (had she known he was the speaker she said she would have paid the $80.00 guest fee for me to go) but she was able to speak with him afterwards and brought me up during the conversation. He signed the pamphlet for the banquet for me “Jeff, Stay Motivated - Keni Thomas” which I will scan and put up later.

Anyways, that’s where I got the title from my last post, I guess it’s kind of a big deal to me. Sgt. Keni Thomas’ is actually portrayed in the movie and I’m reading the book for my 4th time now to see where he’s featured. If you own the book, check the last few pages where there’s pictures and credits and what not, you’ll see a picture of Sgt. Thomas on a helicopter.

So there’s my story. I have more updates. Rest assured, I will get them up soon.

Until next time,

“Just when you think it’s figured out, it all falls apart.” - Our Lady Peace : Angels/Losing/Sleep

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First off I want to wish everyone a very happy and propitious new year in these first days of 2007. Wow it feels weird just to type it! I know my updates have been pretty shoddy over the last month (I mean, I even missed friggen Christmas!) but in my defense, I stopped right around when finals were beginning and am starting back right before school begins.

My Christmas was excellent. I was able to spend some quality time with close friends (including Sgt. Joey Morrison of the U.S.M.C. who I haven’t seen in nearly two years since he was deployed) and family. My nephew, Brent, is absolutely astounding. I must reiterate that I was never a “baby” or “kid” person… they always seemed to make me extremely nervous, but the little guy never ceases to amaze me, and has actually been responsible for a newfound connection I am able to achieve with children… I can actually communicate with little kids now without feeling extremely nerveous, embarassed, or retarded. It may not seem like a big deal to most of you, but being able to connect and communicate with someone who is less than half my age is actually something I’ve never been able to do, and I’ve never really understood why, but a newfound joy in my life is being able to level with these “creatures” and actually communicate with them… you’d be suprised how much a little kid can teach you about life. Quite possibly the greatest moment of my family traveling over the holidays was teaching my cousin’s daughter Brooklyn (eight years old) exactly what a “New Years resolution” is all about. It really wasn’t that difficult! (Although in my case, Brooklyn is extremely intelligent for her age, I mean the girl has already learned the basics of Geometry… and I don’t mean the “this is a square, and this is a triangle” I mean she knows what an acute angle is, what a right triangle is, trapezoid, parallelogram, and all that crap I learned in freakin middle school.) The conversation went something like this:

Jeff: “So what is your New Years resolution, Brooklyn?”
Brooklyn: “What’s a New Years resolution?”
Jeff: “It’s when you make a goal that you want to achieve by this time a year from now. Like me, I want to start exercising more!”
Brooklyn: “Oh. (she pauses in thought) I’m going to stop biting my nails!”
Jeff: “That’s a really good one, Brooklyn.”
(Brooklyn runs off to tell her mommy about New Years resolutions and what she has determined to pursue in the forthcoming year)

This scenario may seem quite typical and boring to most of you, but I swear to you, I have never even been able to say so much as “Hello [insert kid’s name]!” … and I always found myself engaging in conversation as I would any other adult… Needless to say, being able to finally communicate with kids is one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. In a way, it resembles a landmark in my growing up.

So what are my New Years resolutions you ask?

1. Have the band playing paying gigs on a regular basis by the end of the year.
2. Run Zelda twice a week.
3. Do basic exercise at least 5 times a week.
4. Blog more.

So far I’m doing pretty good… I started my exercising and running Zelda about four weeks ago and have been sticking to it pretty solid since then. The band thing is more of a long term goal, but just this week we are meeting as a groupto discuss exactly when we’re going to finish up our rehearsal space and move in, how we are going to budget the purchasing of our new Mackie PA system, and trying out a few guys for keys. As for the blogging, well I guess this is my fresh start. I’ve got a really interesting story I’d like to post this week, so either do the RSS thing or check back in a few days for that.

Until next time,

“Is there a cure among us, from this processed sanity?
In this world of purchase, I’m going to buy back memories to awaken some old qualities.”
- Collective Soul : Run

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