I had dinner last night with one of those newly-discovered friends in my real life who also reads my blog. We discussed many issues, and I had a good time getting to know her point of view a little better. It's a bit strange: she said that she and another friend discuss new stuff on my blog at work in the morning. But it seems like nobody else thinks it's weird, so I guess I'll go on being whispered about on post.

Some things that we talked about last night that I wanted to give her links to:
Fallujah Marine in Trouble for Pulling a Kerry
You're Not in 'Jesusland' Anymore
Ethics in America (the one you want to watch is Under Orders, Under Fire I & II)

And here's something else we kinda hit on last night:

Americans donÂ’t hate Europeans. We donÂ’t even hate French people. Well, most of us donÂ’t. In fact, by and large, we love Europeans. We find them fascinating and mysterious. We buy European wines and foods and brag about how many American dollars we had to spend on it. We think that Europeans are somehow more sophisticated than we are, and we seek to emulate their sophistication, at least in gesture if not in spirit. But, when you get right down to it, many Europeans simply arenÂ’t individualist enough for us, and so we kind of lose them at some point, usually when we start talking about how much we love our country and our freedoms. It isnÂ’t that we donÂ’t understand that Europeans love their country, too, or that we donÂ’t appreciate European culture. ItÂ’s just that we are American and that means more to us than having a cool accent.

Posted by: Sarah at 02:18 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I didn't blog very much while my husband was here, but I also know that I haven't been putting out very high quality stuff for quite a while now. I just don't have anything good to say. I'm also dealing with some feelings of weirdness that word has gotten out around here about my blog, so all sorts of people who are in my real life are also reading my blog. I therefore keep second-guessing what I want to say. I heard an Iraq anecdote yesterday I'd like to talk about, but I'm not sure it's OK for distribution. I overheard a bizarre statement at the memorial service, but I don't want people to recognize who said it. All of a sudden I want to pull a fad, to disappear and start a new blog elsewhere under a new name.

But let's face reality, even if I resurfaced, I still wouldn't have anything good to say.

Posted by: Sarah at 03:18 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 Sarah - I guess you have to weigh what the consequences would be with your postings. If there's no potential for harm to yours or Russ's careers then the next thing would be offending a friend or acquaintance. If none of these two items apply I'm not sure why you can't post about it. You are never rude with anything I've seen you post but you do worry about other people more than you need to, I think. I really love your blog and this influenced me to start one. Not that I have any traffic but Jeremy (American Warmonger) told me to forget about anyone else and write what I want, but I am usually respectful without resorting to questionable language. Hope this is just a phase for you. :-))

Posted by: Toni at November 18, 2004 08:39 AM (SHqVu)

2 I've had the same type of problem lately myself. I've discovered some of my customers read my blog as well as some of my friends. I kept it a big secret for a long time. No One I personally knew prior to blogging read my stuff. Now I do the same thing you're doing. Should I write this? Will they know who I'm talking about? Will this cause problems? You're blog is an extention of YOU. The way I've finally come to look at it is, I'm having a converstation with my readers. As with any conversation not everyone will be interested, not everyone will agree and not everyone will like what I say. In real life they would either stand and argue or walk away. That's the same choices they have here. Just use common sense (never a problem for you) and don't be mean (not something you do either) and you have nothing to worry about. OH....the way I discovered one of my customers was reading was I posted a story about them. No names, just the situation. They pulled me aside after one of my training classes to tell me they enjoyed reading what happened from my perspective (I wasn't happy about the situation I wrote about). I about died.

Posted by: Tammi at November 18, 2004 09:07 AM (UOdfZ)

3 I for one would consider it a great loss if you stopped writing. Write what you feel like, it doesn't all have to be profound 100% of the time. Done any knitting lately?

Posted by: John at November 18, 2004 09:20 AM (+Ysxp)

4 Yep, but the knitting is a present, so I can't even talk about that!!!

Posted by: Sarah at November 18, 2004 10:01 AM (SrtId)

5 As always, you shouldn't write things on the Internet that you don't want your mom to read. That being said, I nearly fainted when my mom left a comment on my site about something I had written. That doesn't stop me from saying a bad word every now and then. My parents read my drivel. Cow-orkers read it. As a bonus, people who don't even know me read it, link it, and quote it. I write whatever I please, for the most part. I wish I wrote more. I certainly won't write anything that would embarass anyone I know (people I don't know are another matter) and I remain somewhat anonymous for job reasons...I don't want anyone to know where I work, even though I'm sure a dedicated researcher could puzzle it out from the little bits I've dropped. Other than those restrictions, I'll write whatever nonsense comes to mind. You should write whatever is in your personal comfort zone. If you have a good story to tell, but feel that it would be inappropriate to post, then by all means, don't post it. If you have to sanitize it, then do that. I read your stuff because I like to read it, and being Vilseck alumni helps some too. Readership will wax and wane over time, mostly through forces you can't control. So why worry about it?

Posted by: Jason at November 18, 2004 11:25 AM (565iX)

6 Oh, I'm sorry! I'm just so proud of you. Like the links to Sean - I sent that to quite a few people. You speak for a lot of wives, and many of the things you feel are universal among us. Please don't feel intimidated or uneasy about your popularity. And, hey, if you need any help with this confidentiality stuff, I'll be glad to give you my rules of sanitization. They've saved many a company commander!

Posted by: Oda Mae at November 18, 2004 03:49 PM (p3yKT)

7 Sarah, Don't feel bad about your posts. I've been reading for a while and never posted a thing...that is, until I was moved by your passionate writing in response to SSG Fitts. You have a talent for putting words on paper and giving people things to ponder and maybe even act on. (Like me responding). Keep up the good work and live life to the fullest. Vonn**

Posted by: Vonn at November 19, 2004 10:33 AM (FmIVz)

8 Sarah..grok is also being read and passed around in New Jersey. We love you here, you keep us connected to what is happening on base in Germany and in Iraq to our sons and sons-in-law. Please don't stop.

Posted by: Mom (someone's) at November 20, 2004 08:49 PM (WXHIS)

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