by jetblack | Dec 8, 2007 | WordPress Posts
Today’s Holidailies prompt is: “Your best experience getting rid of something.”
Okay, is it just me, or are the prompts this year just not getting it done? I don’t even know where to begin to answer this prompt, because when I get rid of stuff, it’s usually not an experience to be remembered. I guess, if I had to chose anything, it would be recycling. Because I remember those times pretty distinctly due to the fact that I got paid immediately after dropping all those cans of bottles off.
In other news, I started reading the Alan Lewrie series from the beginning (again). I find reading this series to be inspiring in writing my own brand of naval adventures. I’ve blogged about this series before, but if you have not yet read it and you like books like Horatio Hornblower, then you will love Alan Lewrie. I think the character of Lewrie is everything that Hornblower isn’t, and yet he still manages to get himself out of situations with his honor (barely) intact. I’m on the third book of the series, The King’s Commission.
—————-
Now playing on iTunes: Nobuo Uematsu – Coin Song
by jetblack | Apr 28, 2002 | LJ Archive
So, after finishing The King’s Commission, I went straight to the Barnes and Noble website and ordered me up the rest of the damned series. This would be The King’s Privateer, the Gun Ketch, The HMS Cockarel, and The King’s Commander. Oh, and I ordered The French Admiral for my buddy Robert. He is the one who got me reading Dewey Lambdin, so if you’re sick of reading of how much I love this series, blame him.
Fact is, Robert’s sort of introduced me to a whole slew of cool literary shit. First, he let me borrow the first five books of The Brotherhood of War series by W. E. B. Griffin. I read through The Lieutenants, The Captains, and The Majors. I didn’t get a chance to read The Colonels, but later I just bought that huge tri-book edition they put out in hardcover. I’d have to say that the sophomore edition of that series is my favorite, The Captains. Let’s see, then Robert got me reading Griffin’s other series, The Corps. The first two books, Semper Fi and Call to Arms were amazing. They were both page turners, and I ran out to go buy the third and fourth books. Then I did something stupid. I bought the sixth book and they were out of the fifth book, so I’m sitting at home with no fifth installment. Blah. It was then that he introduced The King’s Coat, and I was hooked right then.
Uh, anyway… let’s curb another paragraph about how cool this series is. I seem to be drawn to books about war, the men and women in uniform. I guess that’s why History is my other major and why I’m choosing to specialize in military history. No wait, not just military history, naval military history. With an emphasis on World War II navies. Oh boy. My mother said I couldn’t get more specific if I were to place another emphasis on American riveting techniques used on World War II battleships.
But, here I am, at work and I’ve already finished my book. Also, in the middle of a sixteen hour shift, because the guy before me was up all night and all day working on racking servers. Meanwhile, the alarms are going off around me and they’re all false. Nothing pisses me off more than false alarms. If we have a stupid monitoring system, it should fucking work. I can deal with a false alarm every now and again, but not every five minutes. It kind of devalues the whole system. Catch a clue, you stupid bastards, and stop wasting my time! ARGH.
Okay, I think my fatigue is setting in for the night. I have just a half hour left to my shift and I hope the guy coming on isn’t too terribly late…
by jetblack | Apr 23, 2002 | LJ Archive
Ah, what a wonderful thing sleep can be sometimes. For the most part, I sometimes tend to think upon it as a hinderance in the middle of a really good day. When you’re involved or wish to be involved in something fun, and fatigue sets in, I always get angry at my lack of stamina. While this whole moving experience isn’t exactly what I would call fun, it’s not so much about the task as it is the people who help you complete it. I’m fortunately in my current job to have a wonderful group of co-workers, who’re just as keen in maintaining levity as I am.
I got home last night and climbed into bed, and I put one of my DVDs in the player and put it on repeat. The DVD is Horatio Hornblower: The Examination for Lieutenant (Known simply as ‘The Fire Ships’ in the US). In truth, I’ve actually had this on repeat over the past week, while I sleep. I like having the TV on while I sleep, because it just gives me a little comfort. Some nights, I just need peace and quiet, but others, I’ll leave something playing or music going. Anyway, I could let all of the Hornblower movies run all day and all night and I wouldn’t grow tired of them in the slightest. I’ve read the books up Lord Hornblower, and now, thanks to a really good friend of mine, I am now reading into the Alan Lewrie series by Dewey Lambdin.
Where Hornblower is about a rather unassuming young man growing up in a fish-out-of-water story, funding himself to be more courageous than he thought and earning the respect of those around him, Lewrie is like the antithesis. Lewrie is a rascal, a cad… but he’s got a great sense of humor. Where Hornblower would be gallant, Lewrie is more likely to turn tail and run. In this, Lewrie just has more depth and characterization. Hornblower is a predictable bore next to Lewrie… but I would still read both books a thousand times over. If you’ve got the chance to buy or read these books, I highly recommend you do so.
