Goodbye Scarlet/Gold Road

Today I said goodbye to my life as I knew it for the past eight years. This was my last day on active duty. I've got a little over a month of time where I'm still considered active, but it's like a big vacation. I don't have to go work and I don't have to cut my hair or shave everyday, so that's a relief because I hate shaving everyday. I've got a job lined up in Virginia that I'm sort of wrestling with, but we'll get into that some other day. Today was very bittersweet for me, it was very surreal to be honest. I realize that I'm not going to be in the military anymore but at the same time it felt like a normal Friday. Eight years of normal Fridays and it really did go by fast.

There have been some good times; Pensacola, Biloxi, New Orleans, Virginia Beach; and there have been some bad times; Parris Island, Camp Lejeune, Virginia Beach; but over all it's been a great experience. It didn't really do well to set me up for the real world because we got a lot handed to us that I'm just not going to have anymore, but it got me out of Pennsylvania and living at home and forced me to grow up and live on my own by paying rent and bills and buying my own stuff. Sometimes I'm ready for the "real world" and other times I feel like I'm moving out of my mom's for the first time all over again.

I am ready to go though. I'm not leaving because I'm disgruntled at the Marine Corps, but at the same time I'm ready to grow up and find out who Adam Parson is and leave behind who Sergeant Parson was. I'll always have a piece of him with me but there is this whole other life that is on the other side of the door for me. I'll have some stability that won't force me to move every three years or so. To be honest I will kind of miss that. I liked going to a new place and seeing new things, no matter how much I bitched about it. I've got a child to worry about though and I have to do what I think is best for the both of us. What I think is best is staying in one spot and not having the dogs of deployment barking on the front porch. I never tried to hide from deployments, but I don't want to leave my child if I don't have to.

There are some things I'm going to miss, but here's what I won't:
1. Formations. They may look good from the other side, but please come stand in one.
2. Forced running/exercise.
3. Constant bashing of my music choices. I like John Lennon and I like a strange little bi-sexual named Ani. Deal with it! Oh by the way I enjoy listening to Bob Dylan too!
4. There are other news sources out there not named Fox.
5. Green shorts. I have underwear longer than these things.
6. The fear of change. Don't be scared of new cammies and running suits.
7. Constant bashing of all things gay. They're gay, so what. They won't pervert you any worse than you are already. They may even enlighten you to some things that you never knew existed.
8. I'm 26 years old and I know how my uniform should fit me. I don't need an inspection every October telling me that.
9. Stamping my last name on every piece of clothing I own. Yes I even had to put "Parson" on my underwear and socks.
10. Admin and Supply acting like it's their money. If I'm entitled to it, give it to me.
11. Change of Command ceremonies that are in the hottest part of the year at damn near the hottest time of day.
12. Yes I am a Sergeant, but you know what, Colonel? I'm not stupid. I could have a very good conversation with you on a wide variety of topics because I too have read more than Playboy; they do have some great articles though (once you're done looking at the pictures)!

So Gentle Reader, there you have it! Please stay tuned for the adventures in post military life. It should be interesting and you will have a good read as I press on with my child in tow.

Full Fuckin' House

I'm watching Bob Saget's HBO special and I've got to tell you so far it isn't funny at all. The biggest selling point is watching Danny Tanner drop F-Bombs. Once you stop laughing at that, it loses it's humor. I heard him on the Howard Stern Show last week and he was just carrying on a conversation with Howard and the crew and he was funny, but here he's almost like watching a really bad Robin Williams impersonation. It's very erratic and a lot of swearing, which doesn't bother me, but he's banking on the fact that we will laugh for an hour at watching a family TV show star suddenly talking "dirty" and it doesn't work after about five minutes. He should have just come out and said "Fuck" and then just walked off stage and it would have fulfilled what everyone wanted to see and hear.

I just realized he's the "Voice" from "How I Met Your Mother". Interesting.

Big Love/Big Hate

I just finished watching Primetime on ABC and this week they focused on polygamists in Arizona. Towards the end of the show they did a segment about a group of the women who are taking action to end the laws that make polygamy illegal. Me personally I agree. Why not make it legal? What's the problem. They're marriages in the community last and are, at least on the surface, happy marriages. Some groups say it's demeaning to the women, but it's their believe system and who are we to question it? People are real quick to preach tolerance until it clashes with one of their principles. In my opinion these folks may be a little skewed in why they feel that God encourages plural marriage. It seems very mid-evil to me, but like stated already it's their believe system and they are still in America and could leave if they wanted to.

I'm not a big fan of bringing freedom with a gun, but at the same time we are trying to make the world live like we live and in my experiance that lifestyle isn't that bad. So here we have groups saying get out of Iraq and the Middle East in general, but then turn around and say the way those people are treated is horrible and someone should do something about that. So now what? I think most of the people in those parts of the world are kept stupid to prevent them from rising up and overthrowing their governments and making a country that will be sucessful and not get caught up in a leadership vacuum that is filled by some crazed dictator. In the end are we any better when the day is through?

Paint A Date

I started watching this show on VH1 called "The Pick Up Artist" and I must say it is flippin' hilarious. It's about seven or so guys who are the epitome of nerd and they are under the tutelage of so called Pickup Artists who go around teaching schmucks like me how to be the guy that "men want to be and all women want to be with". Sometimes it's a little embarrassing to watch these guys go into a club/bar and try to start conversations with women. Some of these guys have never had any resemblance of a girlfriend. The first two episodes focus on the men changing their image from simple polo's and jeans to modern style and flair.

I really don't have anything witty and fun to say about this show, but it is entertainment and it makes me laugh. The only VH1 show that tops it has got to be "Rock of Love" nothing like watching White Trash women try to get the front man from my old favorite Glam Band, Poison.

Whine in the Woods

Q and I went camping this weekend with 13 of our friends in the wilds of West Virginia. The weekend was very interesting in the world of your Friendly Single Parent. My son was the youngest one there and he was following the other two boys around like a little brother and he was wearing on their nerves like one too. There was a lot going on that made him a little overwhelmed and that made him get testy and whiny. I felt like a bad parent this weekend because I was just pissed off more than I have been in a long time at my Little Man. This single parent thing is just wearing on me more and more lately. I'm also stressed out with getting a job, getting him to school, the fact I have no money anymore, and the general uncertainty of the future. I want it to be next month so I can hopefully come down and relax from all this chaos.

Drowning

I'm feel like things are spinning out of control. As my military career comes to a close I've got a lot on my mind and it's starting to show. I've got to figure out how much to ask for. Where do I want to live? How much is it going to cost me to live there? What do I have to do for Q to start school? The biggest question, what do I want to do with my life?

I've been trained in the world of IT and I really don't like it. The only thing that's been consistent in my life has been teaching. I would like to become a history teacher, preferably at the collegiate level. In order to get there I've got to do a lot of college and if I try to do it part time, it's going to take even longer. I've got an opportunity to go to either Ohio or Florida and be able to go to school full time. The problem with that is what can I do to pay the bills while I'm doing that. Q will be taken care of while I'm in class, but the rent is still due.

This sucks! Any advice?

K-Y Do You Ask?

The guy in front of me at the grocery store bought KY. I wonder if he's going to use it with others or save it all for himself. Pretty funny because he almost used my Bonus Card to buy his KY, but he found his own card so I won't have someone at the Giant Grocery Headquarters laughing at my record with a purchase of chicken breast and KY with a side of salsa.

KY is something that you can't mask the use of either. You either can't get wet in front, you're using the back door, or you're masturbating. There are absolutely no other uses for that product. It falls in line with douche and depends. I know I'd hate to prance through the store with my diapers and self pleasuring lotion; and I just said a prayer that it doesn't come to that.

Oh well, I hope Mr. KY has fun with what ever purpose he made his purchase.

Tupac Cobain at Live Earth

I realized my age the other day when I found out that most folks starting college or, in my case, just joining the military don't much remember life without computers. They also don't remember seeing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" interrupting the "Hair Bands" and their control of the charts and video air play. This is so strange to me because I still think of these things happening last week. I can still tell you what I was doing when MTV News told me Kurt Cobain and Tupac Shakur where gone. Up to 9/11 and the Afghanistan and Iraq wars this is what my young "Y" generation thought of with the highest reverence. I swear as soon as I turned 18 time went in fast forward. Now my parents don't seem so dumb when they told me it would!

I'm watching Live Earth concerts today and while I love the music, I keep wondering what is really going on. I've got one side telling me the world is fine and the other telling me that the world is out of control. I'm guessing we're somewhere in between. We've got issues that we need to address, but if we don't we're going to have some serious problems. I really wish this country would stop pointing fingers and just tell the folks the truth.

Speaking of Live Earth, I found out two things today; Dave Grohl is an amazing entertainer who pours out his passion on stage and Alicia Keys is one very talented and sexy woman.

UPDATE: Dave Mathews dropped the "F-Bomb" on Bravo's coverage of his set. How's that for freedom of speech? Actually he dropped about 10 "F-Bombs" during the song "Too Much".

Tennis Porn

I went to the barber shop today to get mine and Q's mop chopped. While I was there they had the Wimbledon Championships on and I swear if I wasn't looking at the TV it would have sounded like lesbian porn the way the ladies where grunting and moaning. I watched one women's match and the start of a men's match where there was no grunting or moaning. I know that during sporting matches you're bound to make noise of exhaustion, I've done it my self. It was made worse because of the stadium being so quiet. The question still remains; why are the guys quiet?

I Came, I saw, My Feet Hurt

The day started when I woke up around 4:30 AM in preparation for my big trip into the Federal City. I then dawned my favorite olive green suit with blue shirt and matching tie with olive and blue patterns woke up Q took him upstairs for his ride to day care and I was off around 6:00 AM. I drove to Laurel, MD with out any problems but there the unavoidable stop and go traffic that is Interstate 95 began; so much for making the 6:52 train! I saw my desired train pulling away from the station as I arrived to the Greenbelt Station parking lot. After trying to successfully place my full size over compensating truck into one of many spots designed for the original Cooper Mini's I grabbed my bag, slung it over my shoulder, and headed into the station. I had to add money to my fare card, which I thought I knew how to do but the very polite Metrorail employee showed me the error of my ways and my SmarTrip card now had $22.00 that could be used for fair and parking fees.

I was able to catch the 6:58 train from Greenbelt to Chinatown however in keeping with Parson Law was delayed because of another train moving slowly, the delay was less than five minutes so apparently the Metro doesn't fall under my jurisdiction. I pulled out my iPod from my bag and hid it in my pocket because I'm sure everyone wants to steal them an iPod, but no one even noticed me so no problem there, maybe it's because I used black ear phones instead of the "mug me white", only the thief knows for sure. I enjoyed the sounds of The Clash while I read the free news paper that a nice young man handed me as I entered the station and I was disturbed by an article about a man being beat to death by a mob after he hit a child while driving; the child, by the way, had no serious injuries. I arrived to Chinatown where I made a hasty exit from the Greenline to catch the Redline. When I got off the Greenline the song "Train in Vain" was playing and I thought that was funny even though there is no mention of a train in the song at all. As I exited the train the song "Magnificent 7" was playing and I found this appropriate because it's all about the rush of the daily grind.

The meeting I was attending was pretty boring and for the most part useless for my position with my organization so I'll spare you the details of that and go back to my city narrative.

I wandered around downtown Washington in search of a decent place for lunch that I found in a place called Harry's Saloon. I sat outside under the awning watching the sidewalk traffic of the many business folks, tourists, and kids enjoying their Summer vacation. I had a steak sandwich that was less than ten bucks but tasted like it was worth twenty. The two bankers I followed in obviously knew what was good, so if they stop by, thanks!

Now, I'm about six hours into my day and since about two hours into the day my shoes where digging at my poor little toes. I never understood why women would bitch about shoes looking great but feeling bad, I have now changed sides of that argument. Ladies, I support you and your shoes!

Even though my shoes where digging into my tootsies, I decided I should see some of the sights while in town so I finished lunch and headed back towards Pennsylvania Avenue. I had a very nice view of the Capital Building straight down Penn Ave, but I decided not to hoof it down there. I was close to the White House, so I walked the few blocks to see how things where running. Pennsylvania Ave is closed to traffic in front of the White House and the street has been redone with brick and it looked very nice. A family asked if I could take there picture to which I happily obliged. The nuclear weapon protest lady is still there, she was there two years ago when I was in Lafayette Park last.

I then headed back to the train station for the trip home. I grabbed a copy of The Onion for the ride and I laughed all the way home. The articles of note are "Bush Calls For Development Of National Air Conditioner" and "Bar Skanks Announce Plans To Kiss", very funny articles to say the least.

By the time I got back to the station my feet where on fire. I guess I'll have to get off my cheap ass and invest in some new ones. These are almost 10 years old after all! I found my beloved Silvie (the Silverado) right where I left her with out any new scars so that made me happy!

In light of today's adventure I've decided that if I am going to stay in the area I would rather do it in DC. While Baltimore has some good points, I just find DC more inviting and interesting. I'm sure my love affair with the hustle and noise of the city will leave me, but until that day, I want it all!

Boo old shoes! Hooray DC!

Mr Adam Goes To Washington

I'm off to DC tomorrow to sit in what I'm sure will be a boring meeting, but there will be lots of folks there who may be people that could help me on my way to employment. I'm going to bring my best impression and some business cards that I made, so we'll see what happens.

I've got to be there by 7:30 which means I've got to leave my house by 6:00 to catch a train into DC at 6:52. That part isn't cool, but it's part of the job hunt I guess.

CJ, I'll tell Georgie you said hi, since you're old pals and all...

Don't Stop Believing

Tony Soprano went out to the sounds of Journey last night. In case you missed or don't care, the show ended with Tony, Carmella, Anthony Jr., and Meadow all together at a diner where the screen went to black and we where left with no idea what happened to Tony, Paulie, or Sil. I think this ending did exactly what it wanted to; make people talk. All I heard today from ESPN to the View was how the show ended. The ending was very "artistic" with the black screen and the unresolved plot lines allowing the viewer to make up their own minds, but it was still a little disappointing.

Arevederci Antonio!

Lockdown de Paris

Paris Hilton got out of jail after three days of a three week sentence. Everyone is making a big deal about this, but really, how is this different than getting released after seven years of a 21 year sentence? Maybe Paris had good behavior and they sent her home early. Now she gets to hang at the house and must wear a Lowjack for the next 40 days. Now, I know when I've had to sit in the house when Q was sick I got a little cabin fever, so maybe she will too and that will not be fun, but then again, she could have a house party and for Paris; "That's Hot!"

Low Tide

There's happiness on that side of town
I dropped mine somewhere on the ground
My eyes are always looking down
I need a hand back up
I need to hear your sound

Can you give up what I need
From this pain I need relief
I got a match and gasoline
Can you save me from me

I saw you out the other day
I couldn't think of what to say
I just wanted to touch your face
I want to know what is my place
I'm think I'm falling back
I cannot win this race

Can you give up what I need
From this pain I need relief
I got a match and gasoline
Can you save me from me

My inner demons stepped outside
I tried to surf in low tide
I gave up before I tried
I want you here by my side
I've got some extra cash
Lets go for a ride

Can you give up what I need
From this pain I need relief
I got a match and gasoline
Can you save me from me

At the Ole Ball Game

Today is baseball day so Quentin and I are headed to Camden Yards with the little league where the teams get to walk around the field before the game which I can't wait to see. This will be the second major league game I've been to in my life. The first was in Pittsburgh about ten years ago. I wonder how Quentin will do with the game being that baseball is not the fastest moving sport and my son has an attention span of about 30 minutes. Hopefully we'll make it through the whole game.

Do It Like They Do On The Discovery Channel

Ever since I was a little Adam I have been fascinated by the likes of the Discovery, History, National Geographic, and Learning channels. I will sit and watch a two hour feature on migratory birds with out even flinching. If there is a "Modern Marvels" marathon, I'm in my glory. Call for pizza and wings, because Daddy isn't cooking tonight! I can't dare miss this program telling me how the Empire State Building was made. Granted it isn't that bad, but you get the point.

One of my favorites was a BBC documentary series done about five years ago called "Blue Planet" that looked at all the ocean life at the different depths and how there is life on this planet in even the harshest environments. So when I saw the adds for another BBC and Discovery project called "Planet Earth", I had my DVR set and ready. This one is an eleven part series that covers every climate and continent on Earth. The thing I liked best about it was that unlike other wild life docs it stressed the beauty and complexity of our planet and not the state of it. There are a few conservation messages throughout however and while I do support protecting the planet as much as we can, I don't want to get bashed about the head and face with it.

Over all you'll be happy to know that it's business as usual in the woods and while there are a few hang ups here and there most of the species are doing what they do on this planet, come and go. There are a few species that are endangered and while some of that may be contributed to us it really is what has been going on for millions of years. Animals evolve and some of them get left in the dust called extinction. After all when did last see a dodo bird?

Doped On TV

Starting this past Saturday I started the annual Spring cold. I always get at least one of these this time of year when the weather starts to act unpredictable. I went from wearing shorts to wearing my parka in the course of a week, feels like I never left Buffalo. However Saturday was fine and I even managed to go out that night. Sunday was the storm before the calm. I was stiff and would go from cold to hot and back to cold. All I wanted to do was pop cold medicine and watch bad TV. Unfortunately couldn't do these things because I had to drive to the great town of Breezewood, PA to pick up Quentin.

The drive up was alright but the drive home was horrible! I was drinking so much water and orange juice that I had to stop twice during the two hour trip. I got home and unleashed Quentin to the toys and I dozed on the couch while watching the race and then the hockey game. Those events didn't bring much relief from my non-breathing misery, Fat Tony spun twice and broke his racecar and the Penguins lost 4-2 to the Senators. My only joy came from taking Sudafed and having some of the strangest dreams and half conscious thoughts throughout the night. It was a long night of waking up and trying to sleep again.

Tonight I'm going to try NyQuil and my sleep should be much better!

The 5th Became The 6th

I have a rare day off during the work week and here I sit typing at 8:15AM. I do this because I was awoken around 7:00AM with a feeling of panic. I did that because yesterday was the 5th of April and that is the last day that my rent can be paid with out receiving a late charge and I'm certain you get some kind of "nasty gram" telling you that your rent is over due and you're a very bad person! For some reason every month I wait until the 5th to drop my rent in the box that is in the leasing office. I feel like the longer I wait the more money I'll have. It's a strange thing I know but the more I can look at an ATM reciept and see more money in the balance the happier I am.

This morning my body clock woke up around 6:00 and I reassured myself that I did indeed have the day off and it was safe to go back to sleep. I wandered back off to dream land and then shot up around 7:00 realizing that if I had the day off that it was the 6th and I knew that no trip to the office has been made on the 5th. I got up and proceeded to get dressed in a funny color combination of blue Adidas pants, white shoes, light blue shirt, green fleece , and a black hat. I get an envelope to put the check in and I go to the truck to get my check book. Since Maryland can't make up it's mind of what season it wants it's about -20 outside and that causes the pen in my truck to not want to write. I don't have time for this! They're going to be in the office soon, I think anyway, I really don't know. I take my rainbow of clothes and my gaggle of paper and back to the house. I fill out my check, put it in the envelope, tell Quentin I'll be right back, and step out into the tundra again. I walk over to the office, drop my rent in the box, head back home against the wind making the cold even colder, and now all is right with the world...until May 5th that is.

I Love The 90's

You know, those days really don't seem that long ago. I mean sometimes they do, but sometimes it seems like last night. When I get caught up in my day to day life, it seems long ago. When I hear a song or see something that reminds me of that time period, it doesn't seem like we got so grown up so fast. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, growing up that is, and I always said that there would be no regrets in my life and to some extent that's still true, but looking back, there are things I'm sorry I didn't do. Do you do that to or is it just me? I feel like I'm missing out on things because I didn't spend my 20's like someone on the real world with a great social life and lots of going out. It's almost like the reality of careers, bills, family, and getting older make it seem like I missed out. Then I have to ask did I miss something?

To Be Continued...(Because I want some sleep!)

I Love The 80's

I got Sirius Satellite radio and I couldn't be happier! No more commercials, I've got somewhere around 200 channels to choose from, and I get my Howard Stern show back. Last week I programed all my presets so that way I'm not scanning through around 200 channels looking for the ones I really want. I've been stuck on "The Big 80's" and "1st Wave" for almost a month now though. I'm out of the new music scene because I'm too busy buying The Clash, The Cure, and INXS from iTunes. Someone told me how great their new Chris Daughtry CD is and I almost asked if they had heard that new one from The Clash. So is this an age thing, discovering new music that at least twenty years old? Is this like Seinfeld, I hated the show when I was young but I love it now that I'm in my mid-twenties?