10 Seemed Like A Good Place to Stop

I struggle with this blog sometimes, especially when I have fallen weeks behind in updating it. 'Oh, no,' I think to myself. 'Yet another recap post that will cover weeks. Is this all I ever put on here?'

Fortunately for me, Stephen Fry seems to have the same problems with his blog. However, his blog is infinitely better than mine and he has much more interesting things to say (although I do wish he'd say a little less about how great Oscar Wilde is).
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So, here's the inevitable wrap up:

1. On the 7th, Claire and I took advantage of the nice weather and checked out the National Arboretum. It's a beautiful, sprawling park that, unlike most gardens, is car accessible. In fact, driving is something of a necessity given it's size. I know several of you are planning on visiting the area soon, so be sure to set aside time to visit this place. Don't let the fact that it's surrounded by a terrible neighborhood stop you!

Here's some pictures; please enjoy them!

National Arboretum

2. New assignment at Ft. Belvoir continues to take me places I never imagined I'd be. On the 11th I was attending a hearing on Soldier weight where the Army's Vice Chief of Staff and the Assistant Commandant of the US Marine Corps testified before the sub committee on defense spending. My journalist friends can roll their eyes at me, but it was still fun.

3. I have spent more time with a General than you have.

4. On the 12th I was at the Pentagon, which is kind of a frightening experience. It has very tight security, is frantic on the inside, and is the kind of place where the security detail has assault rifles. In a word: stressful. Add to that being late for the first of two meetings, and it made for an interesting day.

5. In a lot of ways I am still finding my feet at the fort. My first two weeks were especially difficult since I had two deadlines on top of getting used to the place, and figuring out how everything worked. Thankfully, everyone is patient and supportive.

6. Did you notice that 2009 has had two Friday the 13ths? I did. I think it's unusual.

On the most recent Friday the 13th, Keith, Claire, and I went to see Watchmen. When Auntie Barb sent me the trade paperback of the series for Christmas some years ago, my mind was blown. I had no idea that something so sprawling and wildly creative could be done with comics. As Crime and Punishment and Catch-22 changed my conception of literature, Watchmen changed how I viewed comics. Obviously, the movie could never live up to that, and in the end it's not that great. It's pretty, and has some fun moments, but I think Snyder was trying way to hard to get Alan Moore to like him by making a 100% faithful reproduction of the book, and the movie suffered for it.

I did, however, get to hang out with a cardboard cutout of Nicholas Cage that I found in the garbage behind the theatre.

From MarsEdit Images

7. My brother recently had a birthday. He's 14 by my count. My sister has a birthday coming up in May -- she'll be 12. They continue to amaze me.

8. My NCAA picks for this year are at 70%, and given that I usually have the worst picks in my family, I am more than pleased. I would have done much better if Arizona hadn't decided to win and shove Utah off the map.

Despite screwing up the whole Utah thing, I am proud of calling the exact measure of UM's basketball prowess: one game. Hail to this victor.

9. I've been having some trouble sleeping lately, which is unlike me. I am usually asleep within five minutes of getting into bed, and I will stay completely asleep until morning. On the rare occasions I do wake up in the night, I am back to sleep within moments. Lately, I've been waking up at odd times, been unable to get back to sleep after waking, and had some trouble getting to sleep at all. This is a new development I do not approve of.

10. I want to try and post every day next week, starting Monday.