No, no free mail in my mailbox today, but still got some cool mail, per hubby. :)
First, I got another letter from my nephew's basic training buddy... you may remember I sent them all Thanksgiving cards, and one kid wrote me back. Well, I wrote him back, and apperently, he wrote me back. (Of course, Da Nephew has been resoundingly silent, the lill twerp, but whatever, haha!) Cool!!!! :)
I also got an "Informational Membership Packet" from The United Daughters of the Confederacy, which hopefully I'll be able to join. Now, now, don't spazz out on me... NO I AM NOT RACIST IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM. As the popular bumper sticker (down here, anyway) says, "Heritage, Not Hate," y'all. I learned in 2001 that my Great Uncle's Grandfather [on my father's side], Pvt. Woodson B. Costley, fought in the War of Northern Agression, er, um, yeah, the Civil War, I mean. ;-) He was wounded at the Battle of Mission Ridge, surrendered in Alabama (I forgive him... after all, he is family!) and served out the rest of his time in a POW camp in Meridian, Mississippi (yes, where my friends Janis & SFC Norris Galatas are from!). He survived and lived happily ever after, moving back home to Georgia... and a hundred and something years later, here I am today! It took me a few years to find this guy.... all I knew from my G. Uncle's funeral was that HIS grandfather served... I had to track down the name and figure out who, what, where, when & how myself. :)
ANYWAY... gotta connect one geneological dot (connecting my father to his Uncle, my Great Uncle) and have that documented, and (depending on what the membership fees are), hopefully I'll be good to go! I think it's COOL that I have a direct link to a part of some of the most influential history of the United States. :) I hope to learn more about my Great, great, great (etc) Grandfather and his life after the War, if I can find it.
Before you spazz out over the whole "Daughters of the Confederacy" thing (which, by the way, I'd be immensely proud of joining, if I am able to - I can learn a lot from that part of history from them!), know that I am eventually hoping to be able to join the Daughters of the American Revolution. My aunt (on my mother's side) tells me our family goes all the way back to the Revolutionary War (and you just can't get more American than THAT now, can ya?! lol!) and that one of my cousins or something joined the DAR some time ago. Once I get the Civil War stuff figured out, I'll track down the Rev. War info and get that squared away. :) Too cool. :)
OK, this was a lot longer than I meant it to be, but all that mail waiting for me had me all happy! :)
Monday, December 10, 2007
Another Good Mail Day!
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10 comments:
Hi Kat, I got your link from DNR's blog.
Despite the obvious differences between us, I really didnt come here to say anything bad. Honest. I was just curious.
But then I heard the music... Unfortunately I had the speakers on. Still, I wanted to resist.
But then I saw the photos... Then I read a bit of your posts... Of course I knew what to expect, but its harder to see and to hear it, than to imagine it.
Why do I do this to myself? Well, I guess we all have some kind of morbid curiosity within us.
So, I want to ask you, and please dont see this as mockery, but rather as genuine interest: how come so many americans act that way? How exactly do you all become like that? By "that", I mean:
- mostly ignorant about the rest of the world.
- obsessed about everything that is American.
- filled with an enthusiasm that borders on the ridicule.
- talking like spokespersons from some propaganda agency.
- incapable of questioning your establishment, its ideas, and its actions.
I mean, I really dont think that all americans are dumb. But now we know more about you, without actually living there, than just movies: the internet is filled with thousands of blogs, forums, websites that confirm this.
Do you ever think to yourselves "boy, how idiot this sounds!", and just keep acting because others around you do it too? Or you really believe in all of this, and "intelligent independent thought" is just some weird foreign notion?
Thank you for your time, cheers.
a.jones,
I know both Kat and DNR and I have a question for YOU. What is wrong with having pride in your own country? Do you hate yours so much that you have to focus on reading about OURS in such a way that you go around to blogs and leave snarky comments with disclaimers about how you're NOT being snarky? Guess what....most of us read massive numbers of stories and articles about other countries. We follow geopolitical activities closely. Some of us have even spent a total of over 10 years in Europe and Asia. And guess what again...WE LOVE AMERICA. And from the huge numbers of people lining up at embassies all over this world of ours, there are many many folks who want to come here.
So get off your high horse, pull your head out of your ass, and quit trolling on my friends' blogs. Don't you have a life?
Kat, congrats on the Daughters of the Confederacy membership. My great great grandfather, Yelton Brown, was also a Confederate in the War of Northern Aggression. Heritage, not hate, indeed! I love being a Southerner! YAY!!
And A. Jones - Kat and I come from a long line of Americans that love our country, but aren't afraid to question our leaders. Evidently the Portugese aren't as crazy about their country as most Americans are, but maybe that's because you're from a much, much older country. I'm sure that 250 years after Portugal was created (say around, 1375) its citizens were annoying the hell out of the French, who'd been an official country for several centuries. (Considering that Portugal made an alliance with England in 1373, that's a pretty fair assumption.) Cut us some slack - we're not ready to be apathetic jerks who troll the internet looking for people to belittle because of their patriotism... well, not just yet, anyway. We're still too excited about our country's place in the world and how we as its citizens fit into the big picture.
If you want to find some apathy-ridden American-hating jerks to pal around with, why don't you stick to some different forums? Just a suggestion.
B. Mathews - thanks! I'm not a member yet, but am really hoping to be soon. :)
a. jones - I'll deal with/respond to you later, *IF* i have time to do so.
LL - AMEN!
It (he, she... ) is acting like a cold virus that is getting passed around. It will be gone soon.
BTW - I had great-great... grand fathers in the Civil war too. Two from the north and two from the south. Ironic part is all four were at Gettysburg. One from each side was killed there and the remaining from the south was taken prisoner. He was taken to some prisoner camp New York state. He walked home to Savannah after the war. My uncle is in a group like yours and goes to Civil war re-enactment events a couple times a year.
COOL!
I just had one of my five readers unsubscribe... I can't help but wonder if the whole "Daughters of the Confederacy" thing has anything to do with it???? LOL guess I'm just too paranoid. Oh well.....
Hi b matthews, congrats on your Google skills regarding Portugal (hint: even Portuguese dont usually know the date of the Alliance Treaty by heart). I think you're right - being in its teens, America has a different mentality. Its understandable.
Not so understandable, is that you are getting even younger, not older - and increasingly dangerous. It started after WWII: McCarthy and the HUAC, marked the beggining of your loss of touch with reality. From them on, it was always downhill.
I wonder how you «question your leaders»: judging by the results, I doubt you're questioning them enough, B.
Even after dubya and his minions step down, the culture of fear and violence is already so inculcated, that it will be impossible to change it in the next years.
You seem poised to control and bully others. Maybe not you personally - but so far no one here has expressed anything but concordance, «pride», and so on. You all seem to be part of the problem.
A small correction: I dont belittle some americans because of «their patriotism», as you put it, but because of their stupidity, self-righteousness, and bad taste. I know it still sounds somewhat cruel and pointless, but look at it this way - we've got to start somewhere.
And maybe any of this may lead some of you to introspection... hope springs eternal, as they say.
Finally, thanks for the tip: I'll start searching for my «apathy-ridden American-hating jerk» pals, right away. But what if I find them boring... I sure enjoy having you gay folks to talk with - and no, I dont mean that kind of gay, you proud southern condescending «member of the queer culture» you. YAY!!
It's pretty rich to call me condescending, a. jones, considering all the crap you've posted in your recent comments. Why don't you post an address of a forum you frequent or something, so we can rip each other to pieces somewhere besides in the comments of someone else's blog? I'd love to debate you, but using blog comments to do it is ridiculous and rude.
B, you seem to be quite a bit above your present company, so not nearly as much fun as G.I. Joes, bikers and "proud moms"... you must agree.
But OK - time to leave these good folks alone. I know you have a blog, so if you want to suggest some nice place (cant really remember any), why dont you post it there.
Be gentle, though: I'm still a bit heartbroken after being kicked from DNR's blog, so I would not resist another rejection.
Oh, and kat: dont worry, I'll visit. If you do find the time to «deal with/respond to me», I may reply. So maybe you should leave it there. Cheers.
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