Saturday, May 30, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
Jarhead
"We are afraid, but that doesn't mean we don't want to fight."
Memorial Day is a time to remember the fallen, those who have died for "our cause." But there is a value to listening to those who lived, those who were there.
Earlier this year I read Jarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles
, by Anthony Swofford, easily one of the best books I have read about war, and the nature of the combatants. Swofford's book came out in 2003, and I remember the rash of generally positive reviews. It was inevitable that a movie would be made based on Swofford's book. That came out in 2005, directed by Sam Mendes, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard.
Swofford's book is a high-testosterone retelling of the First Gulf War, under President George H.W. Bush. It was a short war (August 1990 to February 1991). Swofford was a sniper, but he never saw any "action." The book is a profane reminisce of his time "in the desert". He recalls the boredom of a war steeped in technology. He recalls, most eloquently, of he and his fellow soldiers' anxiousness to fight and to kill. He recalls the unending heat and the unending sand.
Swofford describes his transformation into a Marine. He became a jarhead, a grunt, and the change in his psyche was thrilling to read. Swofford is the embodiment of a tough guy, but with military training and weapons. He represents American might. And at the same time he openly acknowledges what a bad decision it was for him to join the Marines. Sexual frustration abounds. The food is miserable. Being "in shape" becomes a job. Drill Instructors direct violence and profanity towards him. "You must forget who you were before the Marine Corps. You must also forget the person you might be in the future..."
War is sometimes depicted as large arrows moving upward on the map of some country. War is made abstract, a simple "conflict." War becomes part of the narrative of the country, but Swofford says this holds "no sway for the warrior."
War is ultimately waged between combatants, between warriors. Sometimes combatants die, but sometimes they live beyond the war. "The warrior celebrates the fact of having survived," he writes. Survivors of war, like Anthony Swofford, sometimes give us a chance to hear from the combatants of war. We should be listening.
Memorial Day is a time to remember the fallen, those who have died for "our cause." But there is a value to listening to those who lived, those who were there.
Earlier this year I read Jarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles
, by Anthony Swofford, easily one of the best books I have read about war, and the nature of the combatants. Swofford's book came out in 2003, and I remember the rash of generally positive reviews. It was inevitable that a movie would be made based on Swofford's book. That came out in 2005, directed by Sam Mendes, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard.Swofford's book is a high-testosterone retelling of the First Gulf War, under President George H.W. Bush. It was a short war (August 1990 to February 1991). Swofford was a sniper, but he never saw any "action." The book is a profane reminisce of his time "in the desert". He recalls the boredom of a war steeped in technology. He recalls, most eloquently, of he and his fellow soldiers' anxiousness to fight and to kill. He recalls the unending heat and the unending sand.
Swofford describes his transformation into a Marine. He became a jarhead, a grunt, and the change in his psyche was thrilling to read. Swofford is the embodiment of a tough guy, but with military training and weapons. He represents American might. And at the same time he openly acknowledges what a bad decision it was for him to join the Marines. Sexual frustration abounds. The food is miserable. Being "in shape" becomes a job. Drill Instructors direct violence and profanity towards him. "You must forget who you were before the Marine Corps. You must also forget the person you might be in the future..."
War is sometimes depicted as large arrows moving upward on the map of some country. War is made abstract, a simple "conflict." War becomes part of the narrative of the country, but Swofford says this holds "no sway for the warrior."
War is ultimately waged between combatants, between warriors. Sometimes combatants die, but sometimes they live beyond the war. "The warrior celebrates the fact of having survived," he writes. Survivors of war, like Anthony Swofford, sometimes give us a chance to hear from the combatants of war. We should be listening.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Rooted
A house on our street is up for sale. The sign went up over the weekend. Since I live at the end of a dead-end street, we saw the tell-tale stream of strange cars. "Open house," my wife announced. In a few clicks, we found the listing, whistled at the price, and went on with our day, watching the cars go back and forth.
My family has lived in this house since March of 1997. Yep: Twelve years. My wife and I are rooted here in town. Our daughter was born in 2001 and now attends the nearby public school. We were just there for a school concert, and we saw lots of familiar faces, all rooted like us.
There are times when I badly wish we could just pull up our roots, and make a stake someplace else. Boredom is the cause. Sometimes I think it's just a desire to see if could lay down roots some place else. I like to think that I could do it. Of course, uprooting a whole family just because "I'm bored" is the height of selfishness.
I went out for take out during the open house. I saw the cars parked in front of the house for sale. There were a lot of visitors. Someone will be moving in over the next month or so (or sooner, who knows). I wonder if they were bored where they originally lived. I wonder if they were rooted like I feel I am.
My family has lived in this house since March of 1997. Yep: Twelve years. My wife and I are rooted here in town. Our daughter was born in 2001 and now attends the nearby public school. We were just there for a school concert, and we saw lots of familiar faces, all rooted like us.
There are times when I badly wish we could just pull up our roots, and make a stake someplace else. Boredom is the cause. Sometimes I think it's just a desire to see if could lay down roots some place else. I like to think that I could do it. Of course, uprooting a whole family just because "I'm bored" is the height of selfishness.
I went out for take out during the open house. I saw the cars parked in front of the house for sale. There were a lot of visitors. Someone will be moving in over the next month or so (or sooner, who knows). I wonder if they were bored where they originally lived. I wonder if they were rooted like I feel I am.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Happy Birthday
Forty-one today.
I just now noticed that 41 (years) times 365 (days in a year) = 14,965 (days). This means that in less than a month I could be at my 15,000th day. For some reason this feels momentous. 15,000 days! That's huge!
I vaguely remember this concept of counting your age in days, and after rummaging around in my brain, I found a link: "Metric Birthday" (Kelvin Hartnall). According to this link, my 15K "birthday" will be May 1, this year. I wonder if I can get my wife to make me another cake?
I just now noticed that 41 (years) times 365 (days in a year) = 14,965 (days). This means that in less than a month I could be at my 15,000th day. For some reason this feels momentous. 15,000 days! That's huge!
I vaguely remember this concept of counting your age in days, and after rummaging around in my brain, I found a link: "Metric Birthday" (Kelvin Hartnall). According to this link, my 15K "birthday" will be May 1, this year. I wonder if I can get my wife to make me another cake?
Sunday, March 22, 2009
A Decline in Weight
I have lost almost thirty pounds over the last year. When I turned 40 in 2008, I made it a point to start visiting the doctor regularly (prior to this appointment it had been over five years since I saw a doctor). He ordered a blood test, and the cholesterol numbers that came back were high. With a glib note on the test results, he said "cut out dairy and meat fats."
My wife looked at the results, winced, then showed me exactly how much half and half cream I use in my coffee. Let me tell you: it's more than two tablespoons. "From now on, no cream in your coffee," she said. So...this was how it was going to be.
Since that change, I've made other adjustments, all of which I've accepted grudgingly. I've eliminated butter and toast for breakfast, favoring yogurt or cereal (and just a cup of cereal at that). I've stopped eating peanut butter. Every now and then, I'll enjoy a salad for lunch.
Just these few changes caused my pants to feel loose in a few months. We made other changes, including dropping out or greatly reducing certain take-out choices (good bye lovely Chinese food; good bye tasty sandwiches from Panera; good bye McDonald's; good bye Dunkin' Donut breakfast sandwiches). Over this period, I've become a fan of reading the nutrition label of anything I eat.
My next blood test seven months later showed a marked improvement, but the doctor still saw some high numbers, and he recommended a meeting with a nutritionist. This meeting was eye-opening. The nutritionist diagrammed how the body digests food, and how "bad" fat is created. He pointed me towards the South Beach diet for other principles. He introduced me to "heart-smart fats". He told me about the work of Dr. William Castelli and the Framingham Heart Study.
I didn't necessarily get "diet religion", but I have started taking Omega-3 pills, and redoubled my effort to eat more fruit instead of sugary or overly salty snacks (mixed nuts are good, in moderation).
My next cholesterol test will be sometime in late April or May. Who knows how these changes will affect those numbers, but the weight loss is undeniable evidence that these changes are having effect. The weight loss has been uneasy to me. I associate my weight with prosperity. Or maybe I justified it? Either way, tightening the belt is an easier thing for me today.
My wife looked at the results, winced, then showed me exactly how much half and half cream I use in my coffee. Let me tell you: it's more than two tablespoons. "From now on, no cream in your coffee," she said. So...this was how it was going to be.
Since that change, I've made other adjustments, all of which I've accepted grudgingly. I've eliminated butter and toast for breakfast, favoring yogurt or cereal (and just a cup of cereal at that). I've stopped eating peanut butter. Every now and then, I'll enjoy a salad for lunch.
Just these few changes caused my pants to feel loose in a few months. We made other changes, including dropping out or greatly reducing certain take-out choices (good bye lovely Chinese food; good bye tasty sandwiches from Panera; good bye McDonald's; good bye Dunkin' Donut breakfast sandwiches). Over this period, I've become a fan of reading the nutrition label of anything I eat.
My next blood test seven months later showed a marked improvement, but the doctor still saw some high numbers, and he recommended a meeting with a nutritionist. This meeting was eye-opening. The nutritionist diagrammed how the body digests food, and how "bad" fat is created. He pointed me towards the South Beach diet for other principles. He introduced me to "heart-smart fats". He told me about the work of Dr. William Castelli and the Framingham Heart Study.
I didn't necessarily get "diet religion", but I have started taking Omega-3 pills, and redoubled my effort to eat more fruit instead of sugary or overly salty snacks (mixed nuts are good, in moderation).
My next cholesterol test will be sometime in late April or May. Who knows how these changes will affect those numbers, but the weight loss is undeniable evidence that these changes are having effect. The weight loss has been uneasy to me. I associate my weight with prosperity. Or maybe I justified it? Either way, tightening the belt is an easier thing for me today.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Boston in the Movies
By no means an exhaustive list, but here are my favorite movies that were shot in Boston. For the other great city of my life, Jersey City, New Jersey, I can't name one (other than a few episodes of "The Sopranos").
7. A Civil Action - This was a tough book to adapt into a movie, but the Steven Zaillian does an admirable job. There are some "beauty" shots of Boston Harbor, and as Jan Schlichtmann (the lawyer, played by John Travolta) walks through the backside of suburbia, the film evokes Woburn.
6. Field of Dreams - I saw this movie a second time at the Hatch Shell in Boston, right on the Charles River. It's the perfect outdoor movie, with lovely scenes in Kenmore Square, and a great overhead shot of Storrow Drive. The movie only stays in Boston for a few minutes, but we get to have a whole scene in Fenway Park!
5. Spartan - David Mamet's action/adventure movie rolls quickly through Boston's Beacon Hill as well through the Big Dig tunnels. It's probably one of the first movies to feature the Zakim Bridge.
4. The Departed - This is the muscular gangster movie by Martin Scorsese that earned him his Best Director Oscar. The Zakim Bridge is also in this movie, as well as Boston's City Hall, and the Massachusetts State House.
3. Mystic River - Clint Eastwood has a gorgeous helicopter shot of the upper deck of Boston's Tobin Bridge, to introduce the two detectives in this grim movie. There's plenty of South Boston in here too.
2. Gone Baby Gone - Ben Affleck's movie is the gold standard if you want to hear the infamous Boston accent. This movie features the picturesque Mt. Auburn Cemetary, a flyover of Chelsea, and background shots of Dorchester and Roxbury.
1. Good Will Hunting - Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, two of Boston's most famous actors, teamed up in this soulful movie about a "city tough" prodigy who discovers his talents and his love. Robin Williams is awesome in this movie. Watch this movie to see MIT, Boston's Public Garden, the Red Line going South after it leaves Boston, and an older Harvard Square.
7. A Civil Action - This was a tough book to adapt into a movie, but the Steven Zaillian does an admirable job. There are some "beauty" shots of Boston Harbor, and as Jan Schlichtmann (the lawyer, played by John Travolta) walks through the backside of suburbia, the film evokes Woburn.
6. Field of Dreams - I saw this movie a second time at the Hatch Shell in Boston, right on the Charles River. It's the perfect outdoor movie, with lovely scenes in Kenmore Square, and a great overhead shot of Storrow Drive. The movie only stays in Boston for a few minutes, but we get to have a whole scene in Fenway Park!
5. Spartan - David Mamet's action/adventure movie rolls quickly through Boston's Beacon Hill as well through the Big Dig tunnels. It's probably one of the first movies to feature the Zakim Bridge.
4. The Departed - This is the muscular gangster movie by Martin Scorsese that earned him his Best Director Oscar. The Zakim Bridge is also in this movie, as well as Boston's City Hall, and the Massachusetts State House.
3. Mystic River - Clint Eastwood has a gorgeous helicopter shot of the upper deck of Boston's Tobin Bridge, to introduce the two detectives in this grim movie. There's plenty of South Boston in here too.
2. Gone Baby Gone - Ben Affleck's movie is the gold standard if you want to hear the infamous Boston accent. This movie features the picturesque Mt. Auburn Cemetary, a flyover of Chelsea, and background shots of Dorchester and Roxbury.
1. Good Will Hunting - Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, two of Boston's most famous actors, teamed up in this soulful movie about a "city tough" prodigy who discovers his talents and his love. Robin Williams is awesome in this movie. Watch this movie to see MIT, Boston's Public Garden, the Red Line going South after it leaves Boston, and an older Harvard Square.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Lunch Derailed
Around 11:30AM or so, after shoveling out our driveway and my wife's car, I took off for some lunch. I drove through our recently shoveled street, and then had to stop. A truck was stuck, blocking the entrance to the street that crosses ours. I live on a long dead-end road, and with the one entrance blocked, it meant no take-out lunch.
The driver of the truck was walking up the road, his ear pressed to his cell. "The road's blocked", he said, and I nodded, already thinking about what was in our refrigerator. On an off-day, I think I would have gotten very impatient, and even angry about this sudden change in plans. The driver walked by me after I executed a K-turn to head back home. "How about getting out another way?" he asked. "This is the only way out," I said. Then I put on a smile. "Well, someone's coming to help us out," he offered. "Good luck with it!" I said, as cheerful as I could. I didn't want take-out anyway.
The driver of the truck was walking up the road, his ear pressed to his cell. "The road's blocked", he said, and I nodded, already thinking about what was in our refrigerator. On an off-day, I think I would have gotten very impatient, and even angry about this sudden change in plans. The driver walked by me after I executed a K-turn to head back home. "How about getting out another way?" he asked. "This is the only way out," I said. Then I put on a smile. "Well, someone's coming to help us out," he offered. "Good luck with it!" I said, as cheerful as I could. I didn't want take-out anyway.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
