Eddie Beaver

Conversations with shipmates usually didn't exactly broach these topics and I found an outlet in blogging basically half-baked opinions about politics, foreign policy, the fate of hundreds of thousands of Africans on the wrong side of the ruling clique in Sudan and the Navy. After interacting with a number of bloggers and discovering some excellent blogs that rekindled a love for examining geography and studying culture, I embraced the niche of "milblogger" and mixed a bit of elementary Navy life writing with my uninformed policy analysis, discussions with more mature and thoughtful bloggers that usually devolved into useless arguments egged on by me, petty nitpicking by me, and empty shows of support and appreciation by myself for ideas and viewpoints advanced by those bloggers who were much abler than I was at the time or even now am. Oh yes, and those damn Africans in Sudan still captured my attention and a fair amount of the focus of my usual emotional blogging (done often in the free time on the night shift on at-sea internet connections that were less than 14K). Along the way, I fell in love, read a bunch of books I did not take nearly enough notes on or write insightfully enough about, and got chewed out memorably for posting commentary (Thank God I didn't add in the comments of others and fail to quickly delete the comments from shipmates who went after certain officers on my posts!) I probably should not have about the murder of a Japanese National by an American sailor on my ship and the ensuing "free time" crackdown by the chain of command that was largely justified considering the alcohol abuse issues of more than enough sailors. Friends serving in Iraq communicated their displeasure with the chain of command's leadership, the realization by one that torture and abuse by US forces was getting other soldiers attacked and killed, and all in all the general incompetence of the entire operation that has been amply demonstrated and documented in countless books and reports. I became angrier and the writing typically suffered. I cringe reading some of it now. The bottom fell out when one of those friends was killed in an IED attack. The torture issue consumed me, leading to more pathetic arguments and half-assed reasoning and moralizing that accomplished little but embarrass me in front of bloggers I had learned to respect. 

Moving to Washington state for my last year in the Navy, I abandoned my mil-blogger niche and tried to focus on creating my own trivial ideas for analysis of certain issues or grafting the ideas of others onto my own via another blog. Frankenstein-esque thinking ensued, with somewhat better writing and value, but not of the caliber or variety I had hoped for. More books were read and more this time were reviewed and ruminated upon. Oh, and the Africans in Sudan continued to be on the wrong side of the ruling clique, with US policy playing a limited role in a shifting global environment that left screechers like me with far less ground to stand on when criticizing America's leadership or lack thereof. 

 Even with the new blog, things did not come together as I had hoped. My blogging time was crimped first by my position as a supervisor on my second ship (time demands increased exponentially) and then a variety of transition issues related to my transition from active duty into a GI Bill student. Working full-time, going to school full-time and being newly married shortly thereafter rendered blogging nearly an impossible event on my schedule. My years-long itch to write (frankly not that well) that had been previously satiated by blogging was instead fulfilled in multiple ten-plus page reports and essays for different classes.

Now, I have an expressed purpose for trying to blog again and am ready to try again because:

- My writing has suffered when I am not regularly engaged in a thoughtful consideration of material and ideas, something I cannot always do every week in class or elsewhere.

- I have learned a great deal already in my newfound role as a student of both geography and anthropology and thus a fear has emerged (not so unfounded) that I will not retain as much of the lecture and rigorous discussion material as I would like once various semesters have finished, necessitating some type of forum for me to reflect on the more influential or important moments in academia. 

- I miss the interactions with fellow bloggers, valuable moments in time which I have tried and rarely been able to replicate with fellow students. As I realized shortly after I finished my three years on my first ship, there are often environments with some incredible people that you will miss tremendously once you leave, casting aside whatever problems and disappointments that may have occurred during your time with them. 

- Above all else, if I am going to read books (as I love to do) I must proactively engage with them in a way more useful than merely taking notes. 

Thus my latest attempt to blog (I average about 18 months per burnout) will emphasize book reviews, discussions and the occasional foray into geography, urban planning, anthropology, sociology, gerontology, and a few other subjects which I have and will be busily examining as I transition into graduate school and naively try to synthesize as much as possible. 

Outrages of the day will be limited. Whatever else can be said about America, it still arguably has the brightest future of any major country ( a perhaps specious claim worth a fair number of posts in itself), largely irrespective of a policy choice made by George Bush, Barack Obama, or Sarah Palin. Thus my commenting on their latest transgression or triumph appears pointless and merely stroking of the ego or satisfying emotional impulses. 

Red lines will be observed though, as when someone advocates for the Constitution to be ignored. 

If I have 25 subscribers and a few commenters a month who keep me honest, I think this may actually not be a total failure of an endeavor. Otherwise, its at least a better version of a Google Sites/Wikipedia project.