I was using stumble and fell upon one of the funniest posts that I have read in quite a while. I wanted to share it you folks. If you have friends that play D&D or WoW, this is great. A lot of my buddies play WoW and I know that they catch and endless line of grief about it. So, check it out here. The site/blog is called The Sneeze. Enjoy!
Boredom finally overtook me today and I decided to get up and go on an adventure. Well, what I really mean is that I went for a walk about town. I have had a lot of work to do lately and have found little time to depart the ship. Today, I tossed caution to the wind, donned my backpack, my sunglasses, forgot my sunscreen (sorry Shelley…I know…I’m feeble minded), and got to walkin’. First I stopped by the Starbucks on base and fueled my engines. While there, my shirt did its best drying off trick as I read my book and drank my iced coffee, boy was it hot outside! That was my first bit of caffeine in about two months, and to my surprise, I didn’t even get a nervous twitch. I finished up my coffee and headed out the back gate.
Upon exiting the gate, I hung a left and ambled down towards a local park that is nestled along the front of a small levee. The sidewalk leading to the park made for a great trek. For about 6 blocks, there lies an intricately designed “river” that flows down the sidewalk. It comes up through fountains, around statues, collects in pools (where crows bathe…an interesting sight), and meanders all the way down to the park. I passed small children waddling through the shallow “sidewalk river” as well as parents cooling off their aching feet in the flowing water. How I wished that I could shed my shoes and jump into one of the larger “estuaries” that dotted the sidewalk leading to my destination. Alas, I am not familiar with the local courtesies and I kind of stick out here, so I was afraid that I would be in for some sort of social faux pas. I forewent my urge to wade through the man-made river and walked on. I finally 
arrived at the park and was greeted by an ancient Japanese battle ship, the Mikasa, that was launched from Britain in 1900. It had masts that were rigged for sail, so that marks it as kinda old. It was pretty amazing. The ship had huge dual batteries on the fo’c'sle and multiple batteries running along both the port and starboard sides of the hull. I was duly impressed. That ship comes from a day when Sailors were worth their salt and held a firm grasp on nautical traditions and know-how. I snapped a couple of pictures of the mighty vessel with my sony mylo and shoved off to continue my exploration of Yokosuka.
I made my way back towards the Naval base and ended up on Blue Street. It is aptly named for the bits of blue stones that dot the street, embedded in the asphalt. I walked up past Blue St. to an area that seemed to be geared towards younger Sailors. I don’t recall the name of the street, but it was lined wall to wall with bars and shops full of nautical baubles of all sorts. I stopped into some of the shops and found some really exciting trinkets. I phoned my wife, gave her my best sales pitch, and she declined. Thank God for her, or I would be broke. Either way, I did enjoy digging through the treasures that are fit for a fine Sailor, such as meself….arrrghhh.
The Dragon Bar mural
As the sun began to steal away every inkling of energy in my body, I made my way back towards Mikasa park. I wanted to get one last look at the proud old battleship. I passed a really cool mural on the wall of the Dragon Bar, took a picture, and continued on my bee line towards the old warship. On the way, I called my wife again to chat and she warned me that I probably ought to get out of the sun for a bit and find some shade. The lovely woman is forever looking out for me. I am currently on some mighty strong meds that prohibit extended exposure to the ol’ sun, so inside I did go. I ducked into a small cafe, named Pot Luck.
Once inside, I was greeted, in English, by a middle-aged Japanese man. He seemed to be tending the restaurant and quickly ushered me to a booth that was nestled against a decorative bay window. He plopped a menu in front of me and off he went. I perused the menu for a few minutes and settled on a “Coke with Ice Cream.” I called the waiter over and placed my order. He ensured me that this was a very wise choice and off he went to concoct this delicious treat. When he returned, he placed the Coke-float down on the table, and looked at me expectantly. I nodded my thanks and looked back down at my drink. He remained, fixed in front of my booth. After an awkward moment of silence, I shot him an inquisitive glance. He nodded and directed me to take a sip. I did and it was exquisite. The soft serve ice cream was mixed just right with the Coca Cola and ice cubes. It tasted like my childhood. To be on a continent well on the other side of the earth, far from the place that I grew up, I sure did feel at home. I just wish that my beautiful wife and our kids could have been there to share the moment, and the Coke float.
After I had cooled down and finished my drink, I bid farewell to the gentleman that had served up my order and headed back out to the Mikasa. I tell you, there is no place like Mikasa park for anyone interested in Naval history to visit. The Mikasa is the last remaining pre-dreadnought battleship in the world. It is surely a sight to see. If you are interested, you can jump into a history lesson on the Mikasa here.
Well, I am going to relax for a little while, after this long day of explorin’. Take it easy folks.
My twin brother has put me on notice. It seems that he is concerned with the negativity surrounding my most recent blog post involving rejection letters and the such. I do not normally entertain requests, but he has asked that I shed some positive light onto my blog. He went on to inform me that he nearly shot himself after reading my last post. He posed the following question: “Could you bear that loss on your conscience for the rest of your days?” He also went on about one of his friends suffering through an unfortunate skin irritation, but I digress.
I pondered his thoughts of self extermination and his friend’s unsightly rash and I have decided that doom and gloom, indeed have their place, but some good cheer is in order. Here are some things that are uplifting:
Rainbows, unicorns, sea lions, kittens, and sunshine. I guess that I could also write a short story that is positive and inspirational, as well. Perhaps it could contain the aforementioned uplifting subjects. So here goes:
A young unicorn named Jezebel lived at the base of a rainbow. Jezebel was the most beautiful unicorn in all of her realm. She had a pet kitten, named Spanky that she loved dearly. One day, Spanky was taking a stroll along the sandy beach, enjoying the sunshine, when she stumbled upon a sea lion that had been displaced during a hurricane. The enormous waves had pushed the unlucky sea lion onto the beach, where it became stranded. Always helpful, Spanky decided to call upon Jezebel to assist with getting the sea lion off of the beach and back into the open ocean. Spanky closed her little kitten eyes and willed Jezebel by her side. Jezebel appeared and Spanky began to explain the sad predicament of the displaced sea lion. Together, Jezebel and Spanky ushered the poor creature from the beach to the ocean. Noting that it was shark season, both Spanky and Jezebel donned protective chain-mail stockings to guard their furry legs against possible shark bites. As they waded deeper into the breaking surf, they began to feel forceful strikes against their well protected extremities. Unfortunately for the sea lion, it was not wearing armor at all and was quickly devoured by a ravenous shark. Happy that they would live to see another day, Spanky and Jezebel waded back towards the shore line where they ate cupcakes and listened to Dave Mathews albums. THE MORAL OF THE STORY IS: Live every day like it is sharkweek!
That should satisfy hi
s requirements. Most definitely uplifting.
Speaking of my twin; he has decided to take a hiatus from his blog, The Beer Ninja. His blog is a short lived memoir of his experiences with obscure brews of beer. Unfortunately, he has been drinking the same beer for three weeks now and has sworn his allegiance to this brand, scorning all others. I will keep you updated of his progress. Don’t worry folks, his liver is fine. He is hardly a daily drinker. I have that for gospel.
Really, I didn’t have anything to blog tonight, but here I am. I was trying to think of a really cool title for a blog and came up with Holy Smokes Batman. As far as content of said blog…I don’t know. I just like the name. I had a pretty interesting day today. I called my twin and spoke to him for a few minutes, sharing some really good news with him. He is doing well. I have added his new blog to my blog roll….the beer ninja. From what he explained, a beer ninja is someone at a party who sneaks up behind you and nabs your beverage! Holy smokes!!!! He has posted a review of some obscure beer, which likely caused him to suffer through an upset tummy. He would be better suited as the Milk Ninja, but I digress (just kidding Jeremy). I enjoyed his post and I look forward to reading his blog as he adds to it. I remember when I first joined the navy, we would send stories back and forth via email. The tall tales that we collaborated on would have the guys on my ship rolling with laughter. Jeremy writes really well (I think so). I fondly recall a story that involved the occult, a reckless hamster, a mermaid, and a young Sailor. Well, I began working on a story tonight about a stuffed parakeet who is causing his owner all sorts of trouble. I better turn in for the night, I’m getting sleepy.
Welcome to my blog. I don’t have any solid plans for this medium, but I am excited to have a blog of my very own. Stand by!
