Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Batten Down the Hatches! Or At Least Something Approximating Such A Thing!


I don't care how heavily-doctored that photo is... I love it.

As in "love"....

Man, for all the strengths the English Language exhibits, it is sorely lacking in properly expressing the various facets of the word "love"... other languages capture the shades so much better....

No! I will not launch into an uninteresting diatribe on the various facets of the word "love"! You've heard them all before, I'm sure. So let me just admit that I "love" that photo and move on...

So, I did it. I finally, after 43+ years, smoked my first cigarette...

That's me, in character... not me in "real life".... Gads, I hope I wouldn't be that ridiculous in real life...

My character in the Web Series is a smoker. I need(ed) to learn how to do it... All these months dreading it, and I finally just went for it. And you know what? It's no big deal. I smoked it, and it was no big deal. I didn't cough or wheeze or anything out of the ordinary... I even did my lines, in character... thought for some reason it would be difficult.... it wasn't. The good news, I won't need to smoke again until we film. The bad news? Man, what a stinky habit. One cigarette and I couldn't lose the smell. Gross. I showered, brushed my teeth, rinsed with mouth wash, and still I reeked like a wonderful combination of ash tray and butt. Lovely. How anyone can get hooked on this is beyond me....

So, yeah, that.



Next!

I know a guy named Dimitri.... I've known him since he was a wee lad, toddling around the church. He's a grown man now, and guess what he's done? He's been training for the past couple of years to enter the Navy SEALS... and he has just completed the infamous Hell Week portion of the SEALS training. Do you have ANY IDEA how difficult and impressive that is? of the 200 men that started the training, only 36 survived Hell Week, and Dimitri was one of them. I am so friggin proud of him, it isn't even funny. He isn't even my son, and my chest feels like it's going to burst. So amazing. He DID IT.

Of course, the full training program isn't over yet... but Hell Week... that's the part that makes or breaks a potential SEAL candidate. He nailed it. I'm so proud of him, it almost hurts.

If you'd like more info on it, read the book Lone Survivor, by Marcus Luttrell. The first part of that book covers the training, including Hell Week. Also, a series of Discovery Channel DVD's (which I own, wut wut!) called BUDS Class 234, which goes in depth into what SEALS trainees face... in fact, I had loaned those DVDs to Dimitri back in the day. Maybe that somehow helped, eh!

Bottom line, he's awesome. I envy him the camaraderie that he is experiencing, and will continue to experience if/when he makes it to full-blown SEAL. Something I'll likely never get to experience myself.

Nuff said.

And now, something else I find impressive... this guy does a quick tour of the British Isles, doing the accents of the region...



You might have seen that already. Either way, I wish I could do that.

It's been an interesting time for me, on many levels. Personal, financial, spiritual and marital. Kinda hard having them all Perfect Storm on me like they have. It drives me to simply cling to whatever I find nearest and hold on for dear life. Good thing I have good books to keep my mind occupied, eh? Ship of Magic, by Robin Hobbs is a behemoth (880 pages!), and is almost entirely character development... which I would have avoided had I known... but fortunately, she has done such a wonderful job, I'm thoroughly hooked. I'm about 75% through it right now, and am loving it. Expect a book review soon...

What a selfie!

My kids have been singing songs from the movie Frozen non-stop lately... it's driving me BATTY.

I guess nothing else needs to be said on that front...

In fact, I can't think of anything else to say on any front... so I'll be signing off for now.

If you still haunt this blog, I appreciate it. It's therapuetic for me to simply write and post stuff... but if someone actually reads it, it's even better... so thanks!

Adios for now,

Dave the Holding On For Dear Life

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just letting you know I stopped by….

PS: The funny part about habitually smoking (30+ years ago, that is), you don't know you stink.

PSS: 4/15 online wor.org sermon offered a bit of relief for those whose valley shadow's are very long.

BA

Anonymous said...

I haven't even seen "Frozen", nevermind learnt its songs, so I'm a safe bet in here. :D
And I do read your blog, although not as often because I suck, really.
Keep venting here though. I may end up starting mine up again too. Who knows! :)
havah

Anonymous said...

Love reading your blog. I haven't seen Frozen, my kids are signing it as well. I know the songs already. Crickey! Loved the lessons in accents. Stop smoking now too. It does make you stink! - Denise

Anonymous said...

*singing*

logankstewart said...

Do you want to build a snowman? Smoking cigars is a fun and manful thing to do on occasion, but the habit seems dreadful. I worked in tobacco fields until I went off to college. That tobacco smell is sweet and gets down into your soul, your skin. Your fingers are stained and sticky and no amount of washing will remove the gunk. Fun stuff. Hard work. Tiring.

Let it go! Let it go! My daughter sings the songs over and over and over and they're in my head over and over and over.

Good luck man. Praying for you.

David Wagner said...

My reply disappeared! I better write it again...

BA: Thanks for the tip re: 4/15 sermon, and thanks for popping by...

Havette: You're awesome, and you know it. If you do ever make good on your threat to start your blog up again, please let me know...

Denise: Man, I wish I was that good at accents... I can do a handful of accents passably - they're so much fun to do. They sound good in my head, anyway!

Logan: Cigars.... now there's a thought... hmm...

Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting...