Thoughts from the White Board - June 15

I've had achy sinus pain for a couple of days.  !@#$%  But it could be worse.  I could feel worse, like my wife does.  Sorry babe.  Hope you get better soon.

Finished reading the biography of Eisenhower's presidency that I've been working on off and on for the past week or two.  I t was good, and I learned a lot.  I'll do a review of it in the next week or so, I hope.  But for now, I think I'll keep this post short and to the point.

Book Review: Don't Know Much About the Civil War: Everything You Need to Know About America's Greatest Conflict but Never Learned

Another book review.  It has been a while since I did a regular one, as I got tired of them for a little while.  Probably will be another while until I do another, since I have some school-related work to get caught up on that I've been... how shall I put this...  studiously forgetting existed?  Yeah, that's close.  I don't want to do it.  And so I'm procrastinating a big chore that I need to get done.  But I can't delay forever.  Wish I could...

Ok, I'm rambling.  Here's the review.

Source: Amazon.com

Don't Know Much About the Civil War: Everything You Need to Know About America's Greatest Conflict but Never Learned by Kenneth C. Davis

From the book’s cover:

Why did Abraham Lincoln sneak into Washington for his inauguration? Was the Gettysburg Address written on the back of an envelope? Where did the Underground Railroad run?
Can you answer these questions? If not, you're not alone! New York Times-bestselling author Kenneth C. Davis comes to the rescue, deftly sorting out the players, the politics, the key events -- Emancipation and Reconstruction, Shiloh and Gettysburg, Generals Grant and Lee, Harriet Beecher Stowe -- and providing little-known facts that will enthrall even learned Civil War buffs. Vivid, informative, and hugely entertaining, Don't Know Much About® the Civil War is the only book you'll ever need on "the war that never ended."

Dual Review: The Hunger Games (movie and book)

Here at last is my once much anticipated review of The Hunger Games movie, with the attached review of the book that I wrote for my previous blog (last Autumn, I think it was).  Unlike my last "Dual Review" (that one was the book A Princess of Mars and the film John Carter which was lossely based on it), I'm going to switch the order of things here and do the movie review first.  Primarily this is because the book review is a repeat.  That and I just felt like switching things up.  Haha!  Take that, you dastardly forces of entropy!  That's me.  Keeping it fresh, since... 20 seconds ago.

Ok, on with the reviewing.

Thoughts from the White Board - June 6

Today is an interesting day in the history of this planet.  As such, I thought I'd lay a little of the past upon you, gentle reader.

First up, today is the 68th anniversary of the Allies landing at Normandy, also known as D-Day.  Luckily for you though, I won't wax pedantic about it.  If you want to know more about the significance of the event, go look it up.  I will only say that D-Day both spelled the eventual doom of the Third Reich, since it opened up a true second front for the Nazis, but can also be said to have helped save the beleaguered Soviet Union, which would then go on to be the great opposite of the Cold War.  I guess you could say that no good deed goes unpunished.

The Soviets practiced human wave-style attacks in which the man in front was given a rifle and a few bullets and the men behind him were instructed that when that armed man went down, the next guy was to pick up the gun and keep up the charge.  This was just one variation of the Soviets defensive strategy employed in the cataclysmic Battle of Stalingrad / Source: Original artwork by David Pentland featured for sale at Cranston Art.co.uk

Op-Ed: The Gordion Knot

Sorry the traffic on this blog has slowed down.  I realize now why I took off last summer (and then some) from blogging.  For instance, last week was crazy.  Painted several rooms for a relative, and it was a lot of work.  And speaking of work, the job keeps me busy.  But for the sake of not sounding "ungrateful," I try not to talk about my employment.

Today is one of those Opinion-Editorial pieces that I write from time to time.  I wish I could write more than I do.  I wish I had the focus and energy to write all the things I think are worth saying, sometimes.  But such is not to be, I guess.  It does make for an interesting perspective on what my life as a college student does for me.  When school is out for a break, I seem to lose some of the qualities I have come to value from my experiences at the university.

Oh, a short interruption to my thoughts, and then I'll proceed to the point of this post.  The good news is, my dog was found.  It is so wonderful to have her home.  Thanks to those who put out good vibes into the universe, and prayer and positive energy, as they may be wont to call it.  We are happy she is home, and will do whatever we can to make sure this problem does not happen again.  It was as though we lost a family member, and one not easily lived without.

An interesting segue there.  The subject of my Op-Ed is family-related.