Art Nouveau

Please enjoy this random Art Nouveau mermaid- I didn't draw it, just thought she looked cool. That's one of the things I like about the Art Nouveau school- both simple, yet in many cases suggestive of a dark side to things. (Well, some might consider this picture suggestive in a few other ways, but whatever. Take your prurient concern elsewhere).
Apart from that, I went down to Texas today, mainly because I've never been there- changed planes in Dallas once or twice, but airports don't really exist in any state- they are a limbo all their own. They seem to be set up to make you that much more eager to get to your destination, and get out of the depressing airport. Unlike much of the South, pleasantly. Very few people seem to be in a hurry here. Stopping at a gas station more often than not means an extra 10 minutes of talking about something with someone you've possibly never met. Is that a bad thing? Not in the least! Though I'll admit it was something of a culture shock at first.
Of course, not to speak ill of the east coast- it's different, not necessarily better. Maybe the heat makes everyone slow down, I don't know. That and it takes you at least half an hour to get anywhere in the South- I know a great many east coast cities seem to have trouble with urban (or suburban) sprawl, but down here it's not so much sprawl as wide-open spaces. Some of it is farmland, some of it is just there. No need to build on it if no one's going to go there anyway, is apparently the rationale. Makes sense to me. And the world seems to go around fairly well without a new housing development.
I also got to see armadillos (armadilloes?), which I had not done before. They kind of wander around Texas, apparently. And occasionally get run over on the road, which is unfortunate. They are probably the oddest-looking thing I've seen down here to date. Not very fast-moving, they seem, like much of the South, to be content to let things happen at their own pace. Good philosophy, I think.
Well, I guess that was the moment of Zen for today. Armadillos are philosophers. Or perhaps a better term is Taoist masters. In case it wasn't apparent, I sat down to write this post with no particular starting point. Kind of like the weekend drives- well, there is a starting point,athough after that it's kind of wherever the road leads. Usually out of Lawton, as there's nothing much happening therein. There's a tire plant, a couple fields of cows, of course a Sonic or three, a couple dive bars, and the post. The post has a gym, and as I recently discovered, a 2-mile loop track. That would be interesting to run two or three times, as 4-6 miles is a usual run distance for me. Though the track would be a little less interesting, it would be a good place to run a nice, flat, easy-on-the-knees surface. I also was talking with one of my platoon members, who was kind of looking for a running partner, but didn't seem to be able to find one. The only problem is, (and it's probably just an innate guy thing) that this particular soldier happens to be a young lady, and well, rumors tend to fly faster than bullets around here. Not that I really mind, a soldier is a soldier, and a running partner is a chance to wind up in relentless competition, but I wouldn't hear a word against her, as she's a friend and fellow wearer of the green. But at any rate, I guess I should pay more attention to my own run twhan someone else's. I think there's yet another PT test at the end of this month. I could be less worried, but that would require an increase in my medication.
Of course, the Army does not subscribe to the idea of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". It's more like, "If it ain't broke, let's set up a committee to figure out how we can fix it anyway, then spend about six months longer implementing it, when it was pretty fine in the first place." Thus, a new PT test. What was wrong with the old one? Pretty much nothing. Though now we're back to using "conditioning drills", basically a series of calisthenic exercises done in place of stretching. The rationale is that this will function more effectively than the stretching. Well, I figure greater and more informed minds than mine have figured this out. On my own, however, I still do stretches before a run, and after. Apart from the fact that I'd look rather silly out there doing these silly calisthenics by myself, I think the stretches work better. Maybe psychologically, perhaps physically, but the results are pretty much the same, I think. My rationale is indeed, if it works, don't mess with it. If it stops working, then fix it. So far, working out like a man obsessed seems to work for me. Keeps me occupied, in fighting shape, and staves off boredom that is probably one of the major root problems of the Army. The phrase "hurry up and wait" is very much alive and well- sometimes more than other times it wears on the soldiers.
Well, here's hoping your day is not boring, and full of adventure, excitement and really fun stuff!