Monday, August 3, 2009

Welcome to FOB Ennui

Everyone here seems to be walking around like zombies lately. I'm also feeling the "it's five o'clock somewhere" effect. Might be that the initial buzz of being in a new situation has worn off, replaced by the realization that it's gonna be pretty much like this everyday for close to a year.

While our SAC has been very creative in coming up with projects (at which ironically, all of my recent bosses have excelled!), there is no adrenaline likely to result from getting 'em done.

Now before anyone responds that "...boredom in a war zone is a good thing!", there is a lot of space between mind-numbing repetition and having mortar rounds, rockets, and bullets flying about like those dang monkeys from The Wizard of Oz. Add in the fact that when we CID folks are busy, it usually means that there are victims, and I'd just as soon not have any of those produced either, thank you very much.

All of this ultimately means that I've run out of excuses, and will have to commence serious work on writing my novel, which has been in suspended animation for quite a few years. Okay, now that I've committed myself publicly to the task, I'll have to either produce something during my tour of duty, or face embarrassing questions upon my return next year. (Not that there won't be a few of those anyway, such as, "How come you didn't offer to review any local jurisdiction CEMPs, if you were so freakin' bored?" and "Is it common to GAIN weight while in a combat zone?")
Well, as the French infantry used to say, "Audace, Audace, Toujours Audace!", which I believe roughly translates to, "What idiot decided for us to charge toward the enemy machine guns?"
Wish me luck, friends...'cause a lot of you will appear in my novel in one form or another...Bwah Hah Hah!

6 comments:

  1. Oh sure... don't think anything you write can equal finding the parody of you in the "Wild Bill Video" I sent up north for your retirement party.

    ..."he who laughs last"....

    Stay safe... pt

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  2. Thanks for reminding me of that video, my friend. It definitely portrayed a side of me that nobody there had seen before..."adding" to my reputation...I still owe you for that. : )

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  3. Hey Lep: I'm a member of the Pacific Northwest Writer's Association (PNWA). We just had the annual Summer Conference last weekend. It's usually held in late July. So-o-o-o, you should be back in plenty of time to attend next year's conference and actually pitch your novel to editors and literary agents. Let me know if you need any help. I'd also be happy to read any of your material.

    Best wishes in your novel endeavour!

    Ted

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  4. PS: Back to the subject of writing...

    Even this blog would make great material for a memoir.

    Your "central theme": a 50-something guy deploying to Iraq for the first time, can be a great hook.

    There. Now you have 2 items to discuss with your future literay agent.

    Take care.

    Ted

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  5. Ted, thanks very much for the suggestions, and your offer...I'll definitely take you up on it. I used to belong to the PNWA, and really enjoyed their conferences...always picked up useful tips from the pros, like Earl Emerson (one of my favorite writers ever!)
    You are right about the wealth of material I've got...it's just figuring out how to mold it into an interesting story that's got me pondering now...

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  6. "Wild Bill Video?" Do tell... :-)

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