Gunfighter: A Modern Warrior's Life

My favorite posts of 2009

The New Year is almost upon us, so instead of writing some useless drivel about the changes in my life and blah, blah, blah... I thought I would share some of my favorite blog posts from this year.  So, if you are new to my blog and want a sampling of my writing, here it is.  If you aren't new, have a look and see if you missed anything.

Have fun.

I finally got around to writing about the causes and effects of The War of 1812, for my dear friend, Janet... I get a lot of hits from people seraching for info about this splendid little war... and even some unpleasant comments.  I guess people are still touchy about it.  Who knew?

I also wrote this Letter To President Obama concerning his cabinet choices.

I wrote The "End of Acting White" the day before President Obama was inaugurated... this was one of the ost heartfelt things (among many) that I wrote this year.

My review of The Bush Administration stands alone.  Reading it again, I wouldn't change a thing.

This "Fatherhood Friday" post about "Daddy Dentistry", still makes me laugh.

Sometimes I blog about food, and in this instance I had a request from two of my readers for one of my favorite recipes: Shrimp 'n Grits, a la Gunfighter.  Here it is... with pictures.

A story about lonliness.

A story about parental pride

A Story aboutparental trust and worry

A Love Letter to My Readers

A post about being a Man

This post wasn't planned, but it was obvious, to me,  that I had to write this post about Male Bonding

This was a Challenge from a really cool dude: A Sermon for Pentecost Sunday

Do you remember the Skip Gates Scandal?  The President, The Professor, and The Lawman... a lesson in journalistic foolishness.

This was my description of The Perfect Workday for Fatherhood Friday.

A Letter To The President about his decision to escalate the war in Afghanistan.

and lastly, a post that I wrote in the middle of 2008, and didn't post until late this year.  This one is called "An Angry Black Man"

Some of these posts were favorites for some of you... some of them you may not have read at all.  In any case, they are some of the ones I liked best.

Happy New Year... be safe tonight.

Beyonce and Gunfighter

Mega-star Beyonce and I have something in common, did you know that?  It isn't love for Jay-Z... and it isn't a common relative or ancestor (none that I know of anyway).  It isn't the we both have sung for the President of The United States (I must have lost my invitation for that little shindig).

No... what we have in common is a little more er... personal.  You see, Ms. Knowles (or is it Mrs. Z?) was born on September 4th, 1981.  That was the day I left home to go to Boot Camp.

I feel old.

The Chronicles of Charlie

Charlie has been with us for a month now, and let me tell you , he has rapidly adjusted to the life of house pet/member of the family.

One thing that has made me very happy is that Charlie and Soccer Girl have bonded fully.  He tends to sleep in her room most nights, and runs around the house frolicking with her at her insistent calls of "Charles!" (she calls him Charles).

Here are a few pictures of my new pal, in his new home.

"Aren't I handsome?"

 

"Merry Christmas!"

"I like soccer.  I just play differently than you!"   

 

Jingle Charles 

 

I will continue to keep you up to date on Charlie's new life in later posts.

 

Cheers,

GF

When Terrorists Hide

Recently, over at The Huffington Post, there was an article about a Yemeni airstrike that killed at least one suspected major Al Qaeda leader.  This airstrike, according to the article, was carried out by Yemeni forces, using American and Saudi intelligence to back it up.

The article claims that nearly thirty people were killed in the strike.

Not suprisingly, a bunch of people wents crazy and started talking about how wrong this was, etc.... but it leaves me cold.  You all know I how I feel about the invasion of Iraq.  You all know how I feel about escalation in Afghanistan.  Hopefully you all know that it isn't pacifism that drives my opposition.

Look, if we have god reason to believe that we know the location of an Al Qaeda leader or a cell, we should endeavor to kill or capture this person or persons immediately.  Additionally, should one of these subhuman scum hide behind the skirts of the local mosque, or any other places that civilised fighters shouldn't take refuge, I say bombs away.  If you don't want your church bombed, don't hide there... or place a mortar there.

Reant over. 

Please enjoy the following little ditty that I made up, sung to the tune of  "Santa Claus is Comng To Town"

 

You'd better not plot,

 you'd better not plan,

to strike the U.S.

or we'll get really mad

Droppin' bombs all over your head!

 

With surgical strikes

and predator drones

if you use Cell, we'll blow up your phone

Droppin' bombs all over your head.

 

We see you skulk in Yemen

You hide behind your kids

We'll blast you where we find you

and high-five with all our kin, so...

 

You'd better not plot

you'd better not plan

to strike the U.S.

or we'll get really mad

Droppin' bombs all over your heads.

 

Grisly, I know, but it sums up nicely.

Holiday Giveaway Three: Kwanzaa

Alright, friends... the third time is the charm!  Now that the Hanukkah and Christmas book giveaways are concluded, it is time for the third and final Gunfighter Giveaway for the holiday season!

My friends at Hachette Books have asked me to host a third holiday giveaway, this time for Kwanzaa. 

All you need to do to enter is to click here, and go to The Great Gunfighter Giveaway blog,  leave me a comment in the comment section and you are in!  As is my custom, there are no religious, cultural, or ethnic boundaries for this giveaway.  As we are prone to say in my own particular denomination:  All are welcome.

This little give away begins today, and will run through New Year's Eve.  Again, all tyou need to do to enter is leave a comment, and you are in like Flynn.

 

The books in the prize pack are:

1.  The Boy Next Door By Irene Sabatini
2.  Mrs. O By Mary Tomer 
3.  Role of a Lifetime By James Brown, Nathan Whitaker, & Tony Dungy
4.  On the Line By Serena Williams, & Daniel Paisner
5.  Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales By Nelson Mandela

Again, I will announce the winner on New Year's Eve.

A third thank You to the folks at Hachette Book Group for asking me to host for them... anything that I can do to put more books into someone's hands is a blessing.

Christmas!

 

Animated or not, Linus gets right to the core of the apple, encapsulating the story of Christmas, from 2nd Luke, verses 8 through 14.

Lesson over... it is Christmas!

Merry Christmas to one and all! 

Let's sing, shall we? 

"“Yea, Lord, we greet thee!,

 born this happy morning;

Jesus, to thee be all glory given!

Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing, O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.”

 

God's blessing on you, your families, and everyone you klnow.

Advent is Ending, Christmas Is Nearly Here

Tomorrow is Christmas.

It's time for Ho Ho Ho (Must. Resist. Tiger. Woods. Joke), Santa Claus, Reindeer, and George Bailey.  It is time for family and friends.  It is time for The Polar Express, Red Ryder BB guns, and The Grinch.  It is time for really good things to eat.  It is time for songs, cookies, and gifts.  It is a time for over-indulgence.  It is a time for insane shopping centers, and working your credit card until it screams.  It is a time for fun.  It is a time for peace.  Christmas is all of that, indeed... but there is so much more, and it doesn't start and end with shredding brightly wrapped packages.

For another twenty one hours, we will still be in the season of Advent.   For many Christians, this is where the Christmas season truly begins.  You see, four weeks ago, we entered that part of the liturgical year where we began a time of waiting.  A time of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.  The season of Advent is, for many... certainly for me, the beginning of Christmas.

Everyone in my home is asleep... even Charlie.  I should be asleep, too... but this is a special time for me.  A time to think about what tomorrow means.  The birth of Christ is no small matter... indeed, few things can be considered more important from where I sit. 

I don't really have the words tonight.  You know me, I'm usually too wordy by half... but not now.  For now, I'll just sit and wait.  I think that's enough.

Join me, won' t you?

 

 

 

snOMG!!! (2)

I was having some posting issues, and I wasn't sure if it was my SD card, my computer, or Typepad... but here are some more snow pics from this weekend.

Charlie was totally digging the snow!

The blue car... try hard to see it, is mine.  There was a lot to shovel, eh?

Almost finished!  Man, did we bust our butts with all of this.  We were sore and tired after two four hours shoveling sessions.

After this, we retired to Castle Gunfighter for Christmas music, wine, a good meal, and falling asleep in front of the television.

Time well-spent, I say.

snOMG!!!

#snOMG, and #DCsnowpocalypse, are just some of the Twitter Hashtags for the recent storm we had here in the Washington, DC area.

The storm dumped nearly two feet of snow where  live, closing schools, airports, shopping venues, and even the Federal Government (I have Mondays off... I feel cheated!).  Yes, it was a weekend of togetherness that started with an after-work trip to the supermarket, and ended with a trip to the insanely busy, if poorly plowed, Potomac Mills Mall. 

Lest you have some vision of my family sitting by the fire,  having  hot toddies, baking cookies, and doping generally Christmas-y stuff, as some folks might do when it snows, ;et me disabuse you of all such nonsense, here and now.

Our house as the storm raged! This is after I shoveled the first foot and a half of snow off of the walkway.

This was taken on Sunday, the day after the storm.

If it looks like these two are having a grand time of it, that's only because they are.  I already knew that Soccer Girl was a snow person... it turns out that Charles (as SG calls him) is as well.

I'm A Little Busy....

Because, dude, I have  some senior Senate staff members coming to my range to play with guns instead of passing healthcare legislation for a firearms demonstration.  I also have remedial shooters, and have to qualify some freakin' mucketymuck from Headquarters.

I'm going to be too busy to post anything worth talking about, so I will leave you with the following topics for discussion instead:

Morning traffic, heading into Washington, DC from Virginia.

Or!

(Taken at SeaWorld, Orlando before the Killer Whale show)

The total saturation of social media in all aspects of our daily lives. 

Discuss... I'll be back later... probably in a highly agitated state.