Ray's House of Love (Volume II)

Komnena said:

Myself, I think Maryn should sock it to them.

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Oh brother.

Russ Mars said:

Have no fear; I'll probably be that person, if you consider 'never' as last.

Um, perhaps I should take that back. If Pandora wants me to see it, I may. I become quite malleable in the wake of her desires.

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Gift shoes. There's no lose there. (I guess they sell those things in Bangkok...)
Mario, shoe and mate deprived fella

Maryn, master of un-intended puns.


Men in Black III opens this weekend. I'z excited.

Wow, I killed two threads last night after I posted in them. lol. Ah well, gotta have goals I guess.

Morning all. Almost the weekend. Anyone have any fun plans for the long holiday weekend? I think I am going to go see MIB III with some friends. It looks good. I liked the first two.

Brought my laptop to work today for the first time in ages. Might actually try to write something on it at my lunch break today.

MIB3 can wait for netflix, I want to see Avengers again.

I saw Avengers, Russ look away for 5 seconds (Thor's friggin' eye-candy if I ever saw any). Even though Russ despises Superhero movies, I still love them. I love the humanizing, inner conflict the superhero usually goes through.

Maryn, how was the show? I love Who's line..

BeatrixKiddo said:

Anyone have any fun plans for the long holiday weekend?

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I always hope to have fun on Memorial Day, but it seems to always get overshadowed by the remembrance of so many of my fallen brothers.

pandora1983 said:

I saw Avengers, Russ look away for 5 seconds (Thor's friggin' eye-candy if I ever saw any).

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I don't mind you window shopping, just don't buy anything.

Seeing MIB this weekend is my way of honoring Memorial Day. (I kid, I kid)

I think it is easy to forget what the holiday is actually about. It's warm and everyone is out at the beach, parks, etc.

My dad was in Vietnam but he never talked about it.

Maryn said:

Russ, do you do anything official to commemorate the fallen? I used to know this guy online, Joe, who lost a bunch of friends in 'nam. For years, all the hoopla about Memorial Day depressed the hell out of Joe, until he got the idea of identifying the graves of military men in his city's small cemeteries. (Apparently the VFW placed flags at the big ones.) So Joe spends Memorial Day morning planting flowers, tending graves, and otherwise serving those who served so well, then feels uplifted and reminded to enjoy his life.

I thought that was pretty nice. He said nobody he knows in real life realizes he does this, except his wife. She volunteered to join him, but Joe wants to do it alone.

Maryn, who hasn't seen Joe in many years

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I know my views on death, funerals, graves, etc., especially relating to the military and political matters, are different from what many believe. I sure mean no offense to anyone, but here's how I see it and why:

During the last few years of the war in Vietnam, one of my peripheral duties was as an honor guard at Marine burials. Long story to short, dropping dead Marines, my brothers, into holes in the ground, time after time, as their families and friends wept, wailed and grieved at their gravesides just fried me. Something snapped. I just won't go to funerals anymore. I didn't even go to my father's funeral.

Certainly, the holiday’s ceremony and celebrations do absolutely nothing for the dead. It does not console them, though I suppose some of us, the living, are consoled. It’s a way to remember. How could we forget? Visiting and decorating veterans’ graves does not honor them, does not justify their deaths, and it certainly does not bring them back. What lay in the ground is not them. They are gone. It’s a way for us to TRY to cope with our loss and gain closure, and perhaps to rationalize and feel better about why they are gone.

I think the biggest thing we can do to honor dead veterans is quit making more dead veterans—support nothing of this country, the government or the military that contributes to that. Fight every day, in no matter how small a way, to give NO support, rather than remembering once a year to eat a hamburger and drink a beer to "honor" the dead.

Note that not a single war the U.S. has fought in since WWII has had anything to do with protecting this country, the U.S. Constitution or our "freedoms," not even the current wars in the Middle East. The cover story our government and military has fabricated to enlist our support is just that—a fabrication. Every American service member who has died in combat since WWII has died for nothing more than to further the imperial interests of the U.S. and global military industrial complex.

I do not apologize for my beliefs born of a long history of experience, nor will I argue here with anyone with differing beliefs, but I do apologize to anyone thinking it was inappropriate of me to take this opportunity to state them in this forum. If a single person objects, I will delete my post.

Thank you for your service, Russ.
You have given me much to think about.

All I can say to that, Maryn, is may the Universe and all the monkeys in Madagascar bless you forever.

Komnena said:

Thank you for your service, Russ.
You have given me much to think about.

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I appreciate that, Komnena, but if I'd known then what I know now...well, my service means nothing and resulted in nothing good.

i use an afgan made for the couch that is smaller and won't cover the whole bed since I am colder than hubby. Thing is, when I go to bed I am cold and want the extra blanket, but I always get hot around 2 or 3am and it winds up on the floor.

i don't have kids so what's my excuse? I think because sometimes I end up sleeping in the living room because of dogs scared of storms and other various issues.

Greetings from the road, y'all. Albany this morning, short visit with kid #2, her husband and 1 33/4 kids (second due in July). Seems like weather great most everywhere--although big apple was kind of cloudy and wanting to rain yesterday. I rode Megabus from Philly to here, had to walk up west side from 28th to 40th for the connection. City looking a bit grundgier than I remember.
No beefs from this quarter with any earlier posts. During a post-law time in my working life, when I was teaching high school social studies, I often imagined using a template for any war in U.S. history: what did our leaders articulate as goals for going to war; what had we accomplished at war's end in relation to those goals. Was it Smokey Robinson who posed the question "What is it good for? Absolutely nuthin!"
Trevor, off to Illinois later today

Hubby went out with his friend this morning and came back with Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol for me (ala Jeremy Renner.) I have been watching The Unusals with Jeremy Renner so he looked it up on Amazon and ordered. My husband ordered a show for me with a hot actor. Is that cool or what?

At first I thought you were saying he approved your decision to leave the comforter off the bed. HA.

What's your favorite Keanu movie? I'd have to think on it. I saw Point Break again the other day - it was on TV while I was cleaning. NOt as good as I remember. I liked Speed an awful lot.