Smallpox Is for Suckers

So there I was. Sitting at work, minding my own business. I get an email, claiming that I am delinquent on my medical records, and therefore unready to deploy. The only thing I was missing, was my smallpox shot. I had heard plenty of horror stories about this guy, and was in no excitement to get this vaccination. However, if you're unfit to deploy, you are unfit to take leave, and I have a special lady coming out here in a few weeks. I would prefer to have some time off to show her around the island, and not be at work; so off to medical I went.

Also, they told me I had to.

Wednesay afternoon, I am shown a terrifying video of what smallpox can do to you, and why you need the vaccination. We are then shown a terrifying video of what the smallpox shot will do to you. Thrilled, to say the least. A brief interview shows that I am qualified to receive the smallpox shot, since I'm not pregnant, and I was ordered to.

The shot, is not a needle.

...just to give you an idea. It isn't all that big, but it hurts.

Anyway, you are injected three times, in a small triangle form, like the Coheed and Cambria logo, or the Predator's laser sight. Within a week, the three spots will have become small blisters, and will form one large blister, roughly the size of the dime.

One week passed, and there I was the following Wednesday, nervous. The Doc looks under my bandage, and LAUGHS. Didn't even try to hide it. No blister, NOTHING.
The result? 15 more shots in the same. Exact. Spot.

Well here it is Monday now, two days from my second check up. And wouldn't you know it? Not the slightest hint of a blister. Turns out that after your 18th shot, if you still don't show a blister, you are signed off on and considered inherently immune. I was asked if I was around cows a lot as a child. I wasn't, actually, but whatever the case may be...I was stabbed 18 times, for nothing.

Can't wait till my follow up on Wednesday. Suckers.

Try Again?

So....I enrolled in college. I tried back in 2002, the year after high school as well, which got me nowhere. Between not being motivated, not feeling that I fit in, and the freedom of not being held accountable for being absent or not - I was gone nearly every class.

But hey. I was 18, and hanging out with friends and making raps was more important to me at the time.

Five years pass, I am in the Marines, and I am offered another opportunity to go to school. So...I try again.

I decide that working with youth has always interested me, so I will take a class in education.

Two classes have passed, and I have already decided that I would rather get a weekly papsmear than go to this class.

It is nothing against the teacher (who is incredible), my classmates (who are very open and friendly), or even the curriculum (which I have no room to debate anyway). It is the science, politics, and social circles that come with "teaching".

You can't just get a job, obtain a degree, or even make a group of friends, without conforming to what has already been set into motion before you got there.

What a sad revelation to come to.

To lose all faith in something you have such a high passion for in such a short time.

Perhaps that class made it all worth it. This one, I will actually finish.

Stay class, Okinawa.

Feels Like The First Time

I am rediscovering my love and passion for music - and am loving every minute of it.

The meloncholy, the passion, even the mindless and fun works.

No matter what mood you're in, someone always feels like you.

So Many New Things...

So here I am. SItting at the library on base, with my brand spankin' new laptop. And yes, of COURSE it's a Mac.
Problem being, the wi-fi on base is ran on Japanese frequencies (or however you term that). So the website come up with plenty of Japanese symbols and this and that. It took me 10 minutes to log on to my blogger account, and another 5 to find how to update my blog. This will take some getting used to.

Other than loss of web translation things are going well here. I just got promoted yesterday to the rank of Lance Corporal, so this laptop was my little reward to myself. Truth be told, I registered this one under Courtney's name, and then when I get another one I will send this one to her. My intentions are half sweet, taking care of my girl; half excuse for me to buy more stuff.

I will be getting a camera soon, so I will be able to post pictures on here. I thought Oregon was the most green, and San Diego had the best sunsets, but they have both been beaten hands down to Okinawa.

But it's still hard to read their websites.

Wow

So...I live in Japan now. I'm in a receiving platton right now, so I will be pretty busy taking care of settling in. I pick up with my new unit on Wednesday. Wish me luck there!

I'll update more often once I get settled in, get internet, and all that stuff. Take care everyone.

Robert Redford Would Tell Me I Suck

So, I have the video camera now. I taped us in the barracks. I taped us walking around the base. I even taped the barracks in the distance as we walked around the base. Of all the words that come to mind, "riveting" is not one of them.

My new-found aspirations to be an independent film maker, seems to not be panning out as hoped. My first feature is a short documentary, featuring Marines on a Navy Base who aren't allowed to leave. That might even end up being the name of the short film.

The Sundance Film Festival may not be ready.

The tape is about half way finished, and upon marking completion, I will ship the camcorder and my indie drama back to Courtney, who is still in Oregon, roughly eight bajillion miles away.

She won't like it, either. But a least now she will be able to picture in her head the places that I describe, and the people I live with. Think of it as The Real World, meets MASH, meets The Constant Gardener.

Today, we PT'd (physical training). Saturday it may be, but PT we did. It.
Today was ultimate frisbee, and my team ultimately scored 7 points to their 5, and it was a feeling of ultimate satisfaction, since the highest ranking Marine there was on my team as well, and he therefore did not need to destroy me for sucking at life.

He hasn't seen my video.

I wish I had a computer at my disposal, one where I could upload my drama onto it, edit it, put a little music here and there, maybe some sound effects, maybe a CGI little talking animal sidekick to accompany me around. I could then burn my labor onto disc, and distribute it all over. Instant cinema.

However, the lack of equipment gives the film more of a "raw" feel. Don't confuse "raw" with "poor and lazy".

The film will be not be rated. That would cut down on the "raw"ness. Ultimately.

Well now I've pretty much scribed out every scenario and plot of the audio/visual fest that is my life, right here on this blog. Now when Courtney sees it, she can say "Not only did it suck - the book was better".

Just wait till you get to the scene where we're allowed to go out in town in Newport.

School is VERY tough and demanding, but that will not be filmed. It's not pertinent.

Thought of the day: does it really have to be "ultimate frisbee"? That sounds like we should be listening to Quiet Riot blaring out of our Camarro and wearing our Master of Puppets cut-off shirts with ill fitted jeans. Frisbee Football, I thought, would suffice.

Whew!

Week one of school is finished. It's Sunday now, and the weather is absolutely horrible. It rains sideways, and the wind is probably exceeding the speed limit - no joke. Granted, the speed limit on base isn't super fast, but it's still cold as all get out.

School is fairly tough. At least, it is for me. This whole legal thing is very new to me. Very interesting tho.

I am going to have Courtney send me her video camera over here, so I can make a kind of documentary of the school here. So it should be sufficiently boring, and be pretty much me acting like a moron trying to make people laugh.

Whoever anonymously posted a comment, come back! It's my turn to read your blog now. It's only fair...

Well I'm done for now. Every time I go to update my blog, I realize how mundane I must seem.

Oh and by the way, watch "Stranger Than Fiction". Surprisingly, it was really good.

Holla back.