The city,
emptiness hidden in a quilt of rusted light,
Frees a single tear;
Into the darkness she whispers,
I am nothing.
I am alone.

( C: 1 )

18 June 2004

I am back from my jaunt to Michigan. Total drive time: 9 hours. Total waking hours in Michigan, spent with friends: 6. A useless trip, though I discovered that gas is $1.69 in North-Central Indiana. A travesty, since I’d just purchased gas in Michigan at $1.84 and had spent an hour congratulating myself in this manner: “Gee Whiz! You are one savvy consumer!” and “My, my, not belonging to the lower class, who foolishly squander their money, pleases me greatly.” and “Ah! These sweetened cashews are nearly heavenly!”

Anyway...

At this juncture in a typical “I’ve returned” post, I often write: “Posting will now continue on a more or less regular basis.”

A typical return post, this is not. I will explicate, and provide a rundown of personal upcoming events.

1_ Tonight, I spend time with a military friend who is briefly in town. Little time to post.

2_ Tomorrow at 10AM, I travel off to that that foreign land known as “Minnesota” -- a friend marrying. No time to post.

3_a Sunday, I drive back from Minnesota. No time to post.

3_b Soon after my return, I spend some time with my Father (It is Father’s day; not doing so would prove me a savage). No time to post.

3_c I drive to Chicago, and pick up a rental car.

3_d Afterwards, I drive to Green Bay in that rental car. No time to post.

3_e Soon after arriving in Green Bay, I leave with two friends for an 11 day road trip out to California (in that rental car). No time to post.

For these reasons, posting will continue to be sporadic. But I’ll see what I can do, since I know y’all gotta have your fix. I don’t like the idea of just leaving the blog be for 11 days, so I’ll post-date some writing which will appear while I’m gone.

When I return, I expect a flurry of posts, since we (my companions and I) anticipate 108 hours of driving. I’ll use the time to write. I’m considering writing a series of short stories which flesh out and explore a variety of abstract emotions in a tangible manner, so perhaps I’ll spend time working on that. In any case, I’ll have plenty to post.

That is all.

( C: 1 )

16 June 2004

I post, if only to say, “I’ve returned from my trip” and add, moments later, “only to go off on another one.”

Posting will continue to be sparce. I’ll see what I can do about typing something up -- tomorrow.

( C: 1 )

15 June 2004

Check out the new cloaking technology -- stinkin’ cool.

( C: 0 )

13 June 2004

I’ll be out of town the next several days. Posting will, in all likelihood, be light.

( C: 0 )

12 June 2004

I’m on the verge of adding another category and calling it, “Poland Blogging”. I have interest in Poland’s history and culture because it is my heritage and that heritage and what it represents informs who I am. Being 100% of any nationality will, perhaps, do that for you -- or being a second generation American citizen.

Also, I’ve reached a point in my life where I wish to discover the past, and I grow tired of all the Polish jokes which I -- unfortunately -- have played a role propagating. Why? Because the history of Poland is far more noble than I’ve been lead to believe, and far more significant on the world stage.

For example. we hear a considerable amount about the French Revolution, and their attempts to establish democracy and a constitution -- but did you know that it was Poland who established the world’s second constitution, only after the United States?

Or, that it was Poland who turned back the armies of Islam in the middle ages, when their allies had abandoned them? (Oddly enough, that ally was France)

Poland’s history isn’t all glory -- but it is great, nonetheless.

( C: 1 )

11 June 2004

“Think where man’s glory most begins and ends and say--my glory was that I had such friends.”

-Yeats

( C: 0 )

09 June 2004

Happiness is... Discovering that you’ve been cited in a research paper.

Well, -- now that I reflect a moment -- happiness isn’t the proper word. I feel googled.

Addendum

Unhappiness relates directly to reading through your writing and thinking, “Good Golly! Was I ever such a poor writer?!”

( C: 2 )

07 June 2004

I started this story a bit back -- it’s incomplete, and I have no intention of finishing it, since the last time I read it to anyone, I received nothing but a few blank stares... so it probably sucks. Well, that’s the way of things!
Read on...

( C: 0 )

Again, a post that varies from the typical.

You should read translated interview of the last surviving military leader of the Warsaw uprising, which occured in World War II. The interview is powerful for several reasons - one, for the stark difference between the moral and ethical beliefs of the interviewer and interviewee (specifically in relation to their views on WW2 and Iraq) and, two, for the wisdom of an old man’s words.

Those who say that you don’t have to fight for freedom, don’t understand what fascism is. I do.

There are reasons I am proud of my Polish heritage.

Na Zdrowie, Marek.

( C: 7 )

I don’t normally post things of this ilk, but this has to be the funniest picture I’ve ever seen. It’s the Chancellor of German (left) hugging the President of France (right).

(Thank you, Allah)

( C: 2 )

06 June 2004

We’ve done our part. And as I walk off into the city streets, a final word to the men and women of the Reagan revolution, the men and women across America who for 8 years did the work that brought America back. My friends: We did it. We weren’t just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger, we made the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad at all.

And so, goodbye, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.
-- Reagan’s Farewell speech

As you well know, Ronald Reagan died yesterday.

I’m relatively young - I remember the smallest fragment of the Cold War, enough to remember the fear. I was nine when Reagan left office.

And, yet, the news of his death causes me to mourn deeply. Hearing his voice causes my eyes to mist, my throat to tighten. It hurts to think of his death.

I was a child, and as I child, I remember him - his voice, his wrinkled face, his strength. To that child, he was much the same as grandpa -- old and wise, a protector and a leader. I knew that someone in the wide world hated us, hated enough to kill us all. But I looked at President Reagan and saw someone who would save us. I knew nothing of politics, had no idea the difference between Republican and Democrat, and I didn’t know who Jimmy Carter was.

Neither did I know how far the office of the President had fallen over the last decade, nor what an ‘economy’ was nor how America had lost its heart and its pride -- its belief in itself.

But with my childlike eyes, I looked at Ronald Reagan and trusted. I knew he cared and would keep us safe. I knew, as only a child could know, that he would keep me safe. I loved him and felt that, somehow, he loved me.

Today, I mourn for the man who would be my grandpa, and the symbol he was to me -- the symbol of America as a great nation, a symbol of protection, a symbol for America as it should be.

Am I sugar coating his Presidency? It’s true: I don’t remember much about those years and Iran-Contra, or his conflicts with the Unions. But as an adult, I look back on my memories and realize:

Somehow - I remember enough.

Rest in Peace, Ronald Reagan. Thanks for what you meant to a child.

(as I find related content, I’ll be adding it below)
Read on...

( C: 1 )

05 June 2004

May the land be fertile beneath your feet.
May your days be gentle as the sun-kissed dew.
May your hand be outstretched to all you meet.
And may all men say “Brother” when they speak of you.

( C: 2 )