it's that magical time of the year again folks... i know everyone has heard of a summer fling, but why hasn't someone coined the term "winter whimsicality"? well, maybe it's just not as catchy. or maybe you are just asking what this concept is... well, it is when everyone you know starts going out with everyone else you know and you, yourself, know that none of them should be with one another. it happens every year, and i would know being in school for four and a half years - and having my own whimsicalness once already...

you see, we all come into a new school year in the fall with wide eyes and stupid stupid stupid hearts, looking for mr or mrs right. we inevitably find one person we are really really interested in and try to hang out with them all the time - unfortunately this never works out right and by november we loose interest on both sides... luckily this gives rise to "that person we sorta know but only hangs out with our other friends." so for a month we casually gain interest in some person we don't know, and in fact, no one probably really knows all that well (except the person who grew up with them and knows for a fact that you'd be horrible for each other and is in general dissaray for your sanity in the upcoming months). so of course, going into the holiday season of december/jan, no one wants to be the only person not taking anyone home for christmas - so matches are made, however spontaneous, and relationships begin - sometimes innocently, sometimes... well, not so innocently.

regardless of beggining, time always is the downfall. if the relationship makes it to valentine's day, then it usually takes about another month for the couple to realize that once they took the time to ACTUALLY get to know one another, they weren't right for each other - or it takes an entire semester of drama to realize that physical attraction isn't worth the emotional distress.

this isn't an attack on relationships, or sheer bitterness at the fact that i am 22 and still single. it comes from experience and seeing many of my friends doing stupid things over and over, and then finally coming back to ask themselves why they ruined a good friendship, or just made a mistake in the first place. well, we are human and all err -- as i said, it has happened to me as well. but please, all you budding couples, do not loose heart! there are always the rule breakers who were assumably meant to be and stand the test of time, and if you are one of those, i salute you, and congradulate you on having one less thing to worry about in life... but to the rest of you, i would encourage you to step back, and step up to the fact that you may either be in a seasonal relationship for selfish, or unrealistic reasons...

as for me... i will sit back, enjoy the show, and be there to listen to whoever needs it - because i admit, not even me, in my great self absorption, knows which couples will fade and which will last. my road of love is being paved and i can only hope that it takes me somewhere i can find hapiness for a lifetime, not a semester...

as always, keepin it real... REAL real...

little heads up for those of you who didn't catch my away message the other day --
Link N' Sync

just a little tid bit to tide you over...

as always, keepin it real... REAL real...

on the sad side of things, since i work all the time, i missed what sounded to be a great time of outdoor excitement on one of the warmest nights we've had around here in awhile...

on the good side of things, i ate 24 chicken wings and played halo online at my boss' house... i know what you're thinking - "24 chicken wings?" well, i would have had the entire 25, but i thought i would share...

as always, keepin it real... REAL real...

i suppose on a less important note, i was officially "OK'ed" for cornerstone, although my post graduate state leaves me in an unfriendly position with the intervarsity organization apparently... i would gradually move on from college events and begin getting involved with a church (like most post grad's do, and rightfully so) if only Staples would give me a sunday off to actually go...

but that's a whole other story...

as always, keepin it real... REAL real...

Nate's Letter #4 (1/17/04) Day 10

Yo, to the bretheren,

life is so abnormal. some days the routine is so predictable, others not. there is a constant shift between total boredom and total excitement -- with rarely in betweens. i get odd chances to write, and odd chances to send out letters. may get to send this one today. still haven;t heard back from anyone. i had a 3 minute phone call a week ago and got to talk to my mom.

tomorrow is sunday, which means something. i am counting days, but when sunday comes around, i';; know that's another week conquered. it's the only day when we actually have very little going on. no classes, just basically bay maintenance -- and church.

the services are stale... there's not that real spiritual kick that is present in the churches in greensboro. but i go anyway. making some kind of mark on the kids in here too. befriended this guy, justin mcculchen, who lived most of his life as a MK in brazil. he has a hot brazillian girlfriend. mad props to that! told him about all the kids i knew who grew up in similar environments. his dad was a marine and later became a missionary. so i guess there's still a chance of redemption for me...

eveyrone here misses home, and we've had every reason to, i suppose. glad i'm not alone. a lot of these guys gave up girlfriends, good jobs, and more to come and serve their country. we're all just waiting to see where it goes. meal times are the one time of the day i always look forward to. we only get 5 minutes to eat, but somehow i'm eating more than i have in my life - only 3 meals too, as opposed to my traditional 5. breakfast was great this morning, as usual. the food quality is light years beyond the Caf, which quells the horror stories i had heard. i mentioned how impressed i was with the food the other day when the battalion commander, Lt Col Freehill, came and chatted with our table.

today we get our rifles. the next few weekes will be spent cleaning and maintaining them. and eventually getting to shoot and qualify as marksman. sometime down the road in training we are going on a week long out door adventure -- a campout, i'd like to think :-) oh yeah! finally got my stylish military glasses. everyone says i look like woody allen with them on, Psssh, whatever...

dang ya'll, i hope everything's awesome in greensboro. i either think or dream of home about every night. our first sergeant is playing games with our heads saying we might get leave after infantry school, and we might not. as long as i can stay in the game and not go crazy, things will be fine. i can imagine that john's planning a return guest appearance, mikey's playing lots of battlefield AND awesome guitar, and zoe's cooking delicious meals, and connie's acting insane, and laur'as making out with much older dudes... or not. and shannon's going back to finland, and danny's eating some chik fil a, and christie ray is watching jon play a racing "simulator" and julie is giving menacing glances, and daniel started buying easter decorations... and all is right with the world. that's what i can imagine. i hope it's happening.

love,
nate

ps. start putting the word "smarmy" into your regular vocabulary.

oh yes, and if you do write back, include that roster number (336, easy to remember, eh?) at the top of the "To:" address so that it gets here fast and i have a chance of actually getting to read it -- AND SEND PICTURES! BUT NO CARE PACKAGES! can't touch em', they'll just chuck anything other than letters and photos.

Nate's Letter #3 (1/10/04)

Mikey,

Word Up! things are crazier than Full Metal Jacket on my third day of basic training. atleast i am at my semi-permanant address. i'm training with Bravo company of the 2nd battalion 58th infantry. we have 3 platoons, of which i am in the 3rd. all my friends i made from reception battalion in the barracks are in 1st or 2nd platoon. but i am making new friends here.

my new battle buddy is chris raimond. he's from massachussetts and has a sister the same age as Katie. he's 22 and got an associates degree in HVAC, which he did, backed up with a secondary job coaching gymnastics before he came here. and there's jay schule who bunks right next to us, who did 3 years at U of minnesota as a business major before he decided to just do the military thing.

getting aclamated to this here is no easy task. reception batallion was strict, organized, and tightly scheduled -- for the days we actually did things. everything here though is rushed and we have to learn to work at impossible speeds. no matter what we get smoked by the drill sergeants anyways. each platoon has 3 instructing drill sergeants. our worst is sgt requejo, an angry man with an agenda to make everyone suffer for the fact that he was bullied as a child (my theory anyway). then we have sgt moore... and sgt moore. yep - two of them. and the only way to distinguish is to call one the short one and one the kind of mean one. they all smoke us when we get stuff wrong, but short sgt moore is pretty nice the rest of the time. hopefully things will get better.

how is life on the outside? beter hear from some fools, could really use the inspirational reminders. don't have time tonight to write more letters, but maybe i will before i send this one out monday morning. post this letter if you want... make sure to post my address and tell julie, christie ray, and laura that i do have their addresses and will try to get time to write. indeed, for everyone else, all i need is a word from anyone and i will try my best to promptly write back. we have little free time as i said, but hopefully once we get off total control (ideally in 2-3 weeks), freedoms such as personal time will exist.

(ending ommitted)

peace,
nate dogg

Nate's Address:

make sure to include roster # and rank with address

#336
SPC Nathan Rose
B Company, 2nd BN 58th IN REGT
9375 Conway Dr
Fort Benning, GA 31905-5914

Nate's Letter #2 (1/6/04):

Mikey, everyone,

still in processing at the reception station. my company, Bravo Company, is scheduled to move out to our basic training location on friday. tomorrow we have a PT assessment to make sure everyone passes minumum qualifications to move on. as soon as basic training actually starts, i'll have an address. may even be able to make a phone call once in awhile. but as far as personal freedoms go, it ends there. as i found out, after all of my training (which will hopefully be a successful course through SF training... no easy task but i will be ready for every challenge) even after all my training, regardless of my success level, i have no choice in where i get stationed. but should i get through airborne and only as far as that, there would be a strong likelihood of me being at either ft bragg, or ft cambell, kentucky. SF training would likely make me stationed at ft bragg or in germany. of course those are the duty stations... but anyway you slice it i will see combat overseas. i don't even want to know what wll happen if i just end up as regular infantry. not that it isn't a noble profession, it's just that everyone i know including myself, knows i'm made of so much more potential.

for now there's a complication in my processing because i have't actually been determined physically qualified for airborne school (it requires a hearing/earpressure/balance type of test, the details of whch i'm not solid on). anyway, hopefully by the time you receive this letter, that problem will be solved.

i miss everybody, but my life is pretty much locked into contract now. i have to do this out of duty, if not to the "america" identified by the flag and the statue of liberty or the lincoln memorial or the liberty bell... i'm doing this for the america i know and love... my friends back home who i don't want to disgrace. for every step of this i know you guys are there in prayer and support. all i can do is hope that i am making things happen for the right reasons. some of these guys talk about this being a part of world history with the things going on in the middle east... i just want to be a part of God's story. day by day i seek and find opportunities to share faith and edify others here in the barracks. the conversations have lately been amazing, and it's only my hope to transform the hearts of other men who will someday pull the trigger. don't know what i'm doing. but i'm hoping to get started.

your friend and ally,
nate

brooks and i went to best buy the other day and bought a new sound card and ANOTHER 80 gig hard drive for my computer, or "the deity of all computers" as john refers to it as... i now have crisp, wonderful sound and around 160 gig's of hard drive space...

i think i have spent too much money on my computer...




no, wait, nevermind...

as always, keepin it real... REAL real...

Nate's First Letter Home (1/5/04):

Yo Mikey & Everyone,

my last few days have been... crazy. i'm still stuck in reception battalion... supposed to be 4 days of processing (i.e. getting uniforms, bedmaking classes, etc) before the 8 weeks of basic, but it is gonna be thursday before we take our physical training assessment and ship to the other side of the base for basic training.

so anyway, the army is full of the usual crap you'd expect... everything, including the seemingly insignificant, becomes a mundane chore built upon precision. overall, though, the drill seargents haven't been as bad as i would have thought. and the guys that stay on my barracks are all pretty friendly. of course there are a couple pushier drill seargent's pets that really insist on giving their peers a hard time for stuff that's stupid. but that's how it is.

i still don't have an address, but i will know something more about hopefully next thursday or friday. hoping i will get to stay with some of the same guys in my barracks. a few of these guys are really funny and they've made the adjustment so far a but better to deal with.

everyone swears like sailors but i guess it's one of those things. and even though there's a lack of spirituality among my fellow soldiers, God has been working powerfully through that to bring me quickly to a point of reverence and reliance on Him. i hope that this will continue. for now, keep me in your prayers, folks. when i get an address, hearing from you guys reminding me of the life i loved, will be a great help.

if my training all goes on schedule, i will be in until june or possibly later. there is a chance i will have leave after airborne school, but no guarantees. from everything i have heard from the other guys, the PLDC course, which would make me a seargent, woudl happen sometime after my SF prep course and after the SF assessment and selection course. so, by the end of the summer i would be a seargent. i've gotta really want to do special forces though, and at this point, the thought of that is somewhat overwhelming, seeing myself trying to get to the end of each day. but it's a step by step process, and the little victories help.

however, the thought of getting to airborne school and finishing, taking a break from training, and moving to ft bragg is looking bright as a conclusion to the months of training ahead. if i wished to pick up and try at SF training again, the guys sat that it's posible to do 6 months later... anyway. this letter's gotten long. so until i write again, keep the love. my last 4 days have felt like a million years, so if i write again soon, it's only cause i lost track of real world time.

peace,
nate dog

forever representin' greensboro.

john's wisdom on why he doesn't need as big of a hard drive as me...

thesonof PETE: if you have over 80 gigs of stuff, you've got a problem
KngPolystr: i am just overcompensating for the fact i have a small wang
thesonof PETE: well see, mine is monsterous
thesonof PETE: so i should actually have a 10 gig
thesonof PETE: so big when you speak of IT you have to capitalize
thesonof PETE: some south american tribes worship it as their god of war

as always, keepin it real... REAL compensated...