Is it Inevitable?

One of my friends was being funny last week and she decided she was going to find me a boyfriend. She then went into questioning my relationship preferences which i avoided telling her at all costs, which was not hard because i really have no preferences. Also, I'm dealing with the fact that my cousin is getting married next weekend. This particular cousin i am very attached to. He's six months older than me and we've done a lot together (middle school, high school, college). Growing up i knew all his friends and he knew mine. This has made me dwell on my own dating life, which i actively avoid do to this whole grad school thing. It made me restumble upon a realization i had a long time ago: I'm probably going to marry military.

It seems weird when you think about it outright. But when i think about all the other military brats i know they all seem to have married military (or become military themselves).

The Short List:
Christina- married military
Rae- married military
Adam (Rae's brother)- in military
Shawn- in military and married military
Richard- in military
Tim- in military
Jessica- dating military (before i stopped speaking to her)

In fact the only military brats i know that aren't in the military or married to military are in my family (I don't know what that says about my family). I sort just assumed i would always marry military because any other lifestyle is foreign to me. Even since turning 18, i've moved 3 times and have no signs of slowing down. Military life is the only thing i really know. It makes me wonder if i have pigeon holed myself because of this. The fact remains would i even be able to find a military man willing to put up with my antics?

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History of Veteran's Day

I'm always amazed on holidays how many people really have no clue the significance behind them. This morning I logged into facebook to see a friends message saying something to the effect of

"I don't understand why our government feels the need to celebrate."

The line smacked of pretentious college students who don't understand the historical significance of Veteran's day and somehow feel that because of things going on in this country, we (the USA) shouldn't celebrate a holiday. So for all those out there who don't know the history behind Veteran's Day let me explain it to you.

In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11th to be Armistice day. Nov. 11th was chosen because that was the day in 1918 when the Allies and the German signed an Armistice ending the fighting of WWI. The official treaty ending the war would be signed some months later. The holiday was enacted to honor the soldiers who had given up their lives to fight in the First World War. In 1954, Congress changed the name of the holiday to Veteran's day in an effort to "honor the sacrifice of American veterans from all wars.”

The USA isn't the only one to celebrate this holiday, although other countries call it by different names. In Britain and it's former commonwealths (Canada, Australia, etc) it is called Remembrance Day. In France it is still referred to as Armistice Day. Poland celebrates Independence Day on Nov. 11th because the Allies had instructed a Polish General to restore the country on this day (from 1795-1918 Poland as a country didn't exist, it had been incorporated by Austria, Russia and Germany).

So for all of those who don't understand why we celebrate Veteran's day or why it so important for the government to honor fallen soldiers on this day, now you have no excuse.

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It Makes Me Feel Old

Every year Beloit College puts out a mindset list for the incoming freshman class. It includes things they don't remember, or things they have never lived without. It's always good to get a perspective on what college freshman are thinking since one day i hope to be teaching them. But in reading the list it makes me feel old. So here are some of the highlights from the incoming class of 2008.

7. Gas stations have never fixed flats, but most serve cappuccino.

19. Films have never been X rated, only NC-17.

28. IBM has never made typewriters.

50. They have never known life without Seinfeld references from a show about “nothing.”

And some from previous years:

4. They never “rolled down” a car window. (2007)

55. MTV has never featured music videos. (2007)

2. They have known only two presidents (2006)

21. Milli Vanilli has never had anything to say (2006)

2. They don't remember when "cut and paste" involved scissors. (2005)

61. Digital cameras have always existed (2005)

It all makes me feel old and out of date. I guess this is what my mom is talking about when i remind her i've never typed on a typewriter or used a record player.

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You Think This Election Is Dirty?

So every four years somebody tells me "This is the dirtiest election in history." But it never is the dirtiest election in history, most of the time it doesn't even rank in the top ten. So for all those people out there that think the mudslinging in this election is bad, here are some Presidential Election that say otherwise.

John Adams vs. Thomas Jefferson (1800)- In 1800 current president John Adams ran against his own best friend and Vice President Thomas Jefferson (during this period who ever got the second most votes became V.P. even if they were from opposite parties). It got dirty quickly. Jefferson's camp called Adams a "hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman." Adam's camp responded claiming Jefferson was "a mean-spirited, low-lived fellow, the son of a half-breed Indian squaw" and had had a child with one of his slaves (which later turned out to be true). And it only got dirtier from there.

John Q. Adams vs. Andrew Jackson (1828)- This election was a rematch of the election of 1824. In that election, no single presidential nominee (there were five) won a majority of votes and the Election was decided in the House of Representatives. Although Andrew Jackson had one the most votes out of the five, John Q. Adams got the Presidency amid claims of a corrupt bargain between him and fellow nominee Henry Clay (who then became Adam's secretary of state). In 1828, the two candidates came out swinging. Jackson claimed that while Adams had been American Ambassador to Russia he had procured girls for the sexual services of the Tsar, basically calling him a pimp. Adam's camp called Jackson an adulterer because it was unclear if his wife had been divorced at the time she married Jackson. Further the Adam's camp attacked Jackson's wife calling her a bigamist and totally defacing her.

Grover Cleveland vs. James G. Blaine (1884)- In one of the few elections in history where the incumbent president did not run (and was able to), the two men who actually got the nominations leveled some pretty serious accusations. Blaine's camp broke the story that Cleveland had fathered an illegitimate son with a young widow and the deserted her (not entirely true. There is no proof the 10 year old was his son, but Cleveland had provided financial support). Cleveland leveled charges that Blaine was flamboyant and corrupt; a charge that was mostly true as Blaine had taken a 64,000 bribe when he had been Speaker of the House years earlier.

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