4 July

In the past, I've posted various historical documents and speeches related to our nation's founding for Independence Day. This year, I'd like to share something personal. This is the oath of enlsitment that I took at the Oakland MEPS in November, 1983.

I was in the third row, three in from the right edge. The oath was administered by a USMC Major. I can remember every detail of that room. It was a big day, biggest of my life up to that point, although there would be others that would soon surpass it. But I'll always remember the day I took the oath as the day I first committed myself to something larger than my own existence, the day I stepped forward.

"I, Douglas Berry, do solemnly affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice."

One sentence, and it changed my life.

Happy 4th, everyone.

D'oh!

Yes, I made a Simpsons image.



Make your own!

Loot! Loot and Tacos, and Kylie the Wonder Niece!

The best thing about getting older.. people give you stuff.

Thanks to kengr for the fun package of random weirdness. The stickers will be used at the next TAS party.

jemstone, perfect choice, and you're right.. you need to have parts one and two. Very interesting to hear how the band has changed in the intervening years.

valkyrwench, thanks for feeding my need for epic mythology. I can't wait to see the looks at work when they see me reading Das Nibelungenlied in my truck. Conservatives Without Conscience was a nice bonus.

baka49er found yet another neat t-shirt for me.

But last night was all about the tacos, Kylie, and my sister's career in smuggling basketballs (she's ready to pop.. had a contraction during dinner.) Kylie is just amazing, she tells stories, loves to sing, has good table manners (except for trying to crawl onto the table to get the entire cake) and was fun to be around. she suggested that we sing "Happy Birthday" twice. No problem there!

Amazingly, I didn't make a pig of myself. Ate two big tacos, and one piece of cake. Coming off a four-day convention and having a bit of a stomach issue right now might have had something to do with this. Kiri and I were both very tired. Kind of a pity, because the food was excellent and I would have loved to have more. We let Ann have the leftover cake ("I'm nine months pregnant, I'll eat it!")

We need a good iron skillet so we can do our own corn tortillas.

Today? I think we're crashing. May go see Transformers later.

Happy birthday wishes to my fellow 7/4 crew.. figmo, apandaleaf, justnate, and sister Ann. But not the Incoming Niece, who wisely decided not to clutter up the 4th any worse than it is now.