Well, so it begins...
I've been aware of the Kos for a few years...another voice in the screaming din we call the world wide web. If John the Baptist were here in this environment, he probably would have ran back screaming into the wilderness. The net can be a very unfriendly place (I can certainly vouch for that, considering my experiences within Yahoo and Newsvine, to name a couple). Still, I'm wading into the strange waters. I guess it takes a particular courage (or stupidity...or both) to voice your opinion, knowing there will be howling wolves ready to tear it to pieces. I like to think of myself as the strong buck with large antlers, charging at the head of the herd, ready to fend of the mob.
I'll be frank...I'm not a PURE progressive (the title of this entry should be self-explanatory), but aren't we all varying shades of purple? If we all claim to be one thing or another, we both label and limit ourselves. It's one reason I changed my party affiliation a few years ago (more on that later), and probably the reason I'll get my share of heat. In this divided new gilded age, the thinking is "...if you are not for us, you are against us". It is a far cry from our national motto, "E pluribus unum" (Out of many, one...to you non Latin speakers).
Hopefully I can bring a lot of eclectic experiences here to this forum. I've been to the political trenches (even running for a political office). I've been to the other trenches, serving an overseas tour in Iraq. In between, I've managed a pretty good life, headaches and all. And I also have some sheepskins on my wall (they make pretty good paperweights!).
I will admit I'll probably be grating and sour, especially if I believe in an issue particularly strongly. Hopefully however, if we interact, we will part as friends, despite our differences.
So that's the start of my story...hopefully I'll fill a few more pages. Read at your own risk! :D
All life starts with beginnings...I have a few.
My life began near the West Coast in the Golden State, in the same Naval hospital as my two siblings. For seven semi-idyllic years we lived there. Of course, most people equate California with sand, sun, sea and movie stars. I lived in the orchards and fields, playing with farm animals, and of course fighting with the siblings. Then our family moved to the Sooner State...another beginning, and a big shock (seeing and playing in snow for the first time is a thrilling experience...the 20th time, not so much).
There were other milestones...graduation, college, first job. Yet I kind of always was a bit of an outsider, even to my own family. Out of a heavily Democratic area, I became a Republican (my mom thought I lost my mind). I loved liver, walking into the woods of the farm by myself (without telling anyone, esp my worried parents) and reading classical literature and science fiction. And of course, history was happening all around. The Bicentennial, the Hostage Crisis, John Lennon's murder, the Challenger disaster...like being in the eye of the storm.
Things moved fast after I came to college. Suddenly I was exposed to foreigners from all corners of the globe...people I never would have met had I just stayed in the same part of the state as quite a few of my contemporaries. I've even met a few famous and influential people (even shaking their hands and making small talk). But I would have never seen the other events just around the corner...The OKC bombing, 9-11, and Katrina. And I had happened to join the Army National Guard within that maelstrom, and boy, was I in it!
It's one thing to witness history...and another to be part of it. I was there after Hurricane Katrina hit. Nothing you see on TV comes close to where you are on the ground (particularly the smell). Then there was my deployment as part of Iraqi Freedom. No matter how movies spin it...war is Hell. And yet, even there, we fell into a routine.
Of course, during and shortly after that, I certainly began changing. I was witnessing changes in my party I didn't like (particularly doing things they accused the "other side" of doing). After a crisis of conscience, I changed my party affiliation to "Independent" (kind of like changing your vote to "undecided"...whatever!). During that process, I also experienced unemployment and a new job. As David Bowie couldn't put it better, I was turning into the strange changes.
So now here I am, on the Kos...for better or worse. Hopefully I won't wear out my welcome, or become fat and boring (or at least boring, since it would be pretty hard for me to get fat in my case!). At least you'll get the truth from me, and as an added bonus, it will be witty and sharp, and be good for a good laugh or cry. So here, in the end of one year, and the beginning of another, I say...howdy all!