Checking back in

[aadler]

9:15PM Central Afghan Time

Had to be away for awhile; I got sent to support a limited operation in Gereshk, and when a lieutenant colonel decided that his presence back at KAF was more important than waiting for things to finish up, the choppers left without me and four other men. The task force at Gereshk put us up overnight, so I didn’t suffer any discomfort, but it did put me temporarily out of touch.

We weren’t expecting to be able to return for awhile — scheduling air transport can be tricky — but staged all our gear at the opcen just in case. Good move: I was suddenly told, “Let’s go!”, and just like that we were running to get on board a pair of Blackhawks we hadn’t even known were coming in. I wound up in the “wind seat”: there’s a spot in the back of a Blackhawk, the right rear seat facing forward, that catches all the turbulence from the rotor wash, and that’s no fun at all. I couldn’t open my eyes, I had to hold my nose closed to prevent the blast from slamming up my nostrils and causing a nosebleed, and the wind kept trying to pull the helmet off my head, straps notwithstanding. At the first refueling stop, another man pulled his backpack over into the wind seat and I took the center rear-facing seat, and everything was fine after that.

It’s now expected that we’ll be back in the States around May 7, with a week or so of out-processing. So we’re now below the six-week mark remaining in-country.

I finished the editing on my most recent Buffyfic, and I expect to be posting it tomorrow. Now I need to begin determining which story I’ll attempt in my time remaining. I’ve learned to be wary of starting something before I have a good feel for it inside my head, and right now nothing quite feels ready to be addressed.

Prompted by liz_marcs’ LJ, I checked a remix (“the Ballad of Charles Whitman”) of her story “Revelations”. I was impressed and surprised by the quality. “Revelations” was one of Liz’ first, and she herself said it was far from being her best, so the amount of improvement is understandable, but the final product really was impressive. The next time a remix challenge or program or whatever comes up, I’ll definitely look into becoming part of it. It seems unlikely that I’d have as much luck as Liz did — whoever tackled hers was just plain good — but it could be interesting either way.

Luck and best wishes to everybody enjoying life at home.

Comments

[jgracio.livejournal.com]

Now, I don't know all the writers so this might is premature, but I think The Ballad of Charles Whitmanthe is by nwhepcat. If it isn't, then, the writer has just found a new fan. :)

And see, the biggest problem with the remix is that you can get lucky, and get a a writer that is not only good but also likes your stories. Can you imagine what would have happened if Liz had drawn a Xander hater as her remix writer? :( Luck of the draw and all that.

You really should write something featuring Riley and the Agents, with your military background you'd be able to include details that other writers can't. Or maybe you should just keep writing whatever makes you happy. :)

Anyway, glad to hear from you. Won't you miss not getting rides from Blackhawks? :)

[learnedhand-dj.livejournal.com]

I think I learn more from your LJ posts than just about anybody else's. I mean, the "wind seat?" Where else would I have heard about that?

I, too, was very impressed by The Ballad of Charles Whitman, and was somewhat overwhelmed when I checked out the Remix web site. There are so many stories over there! Far too many for me to just wander around, picking ones at random and hoping to strike gold.

Liz was the one who finally talked me into posting some of the stuff I write, instead of just letting it languish on the hard drive. She had several good reasons in support of posting, but they all came down to "nothing ventured, nothing gained." I think joining up with the Remix site is the same sort of thing. You could get a great rewrite, and the author you rewrote could love what you did to their story. Or, you could get a weak rewrite, and the author you rewrote could openly question your skill and/or sanity. But if you don't give it a shot, you'll have 0% chance of getting the good stuff. If I have more stories to choose from next time (to give the author who gets me a fair chance), I might just give it a shot.

[aadler]

I don’t like riding helicopters. The damn things always come down one way or another, but some of those ways can be unpleasant, and I’m constantly aware of the possibility.

As far as contributing to Tales of the Agents, I’d love to do something like that, but I can only write the stories that come to me, and nothing like that has appeared in my head. Somewhat to my regret.

Regards the remix (I see I’m responding to your comments in reverse order), I only recently heard of it, and don’t actually know how it works. I’ll keep investigating, though. The story upon which I commented solidly snared my interest.

[aadler]

I coined the term “wind seat” myself (though I may not have been the first to call it that), but the phenomenon is real. I think it’s a combination of airframe configuration and the direction the rotors turn, because I’ve noted that the passenger in the left rear seat has no such trouble.

As I commented above, I’ll be looking further into the whole remix business; it seems like a promising further avenue of online fanfic socialization, plus seeing different individuals’ approach to the same story can be quite interesting and entertaining. Is there no end to the fun that can be had in this venue? Doesn’t seem to be.

[jgracio.livejournal.com]

For the remix, this post seems like the best place to start, as far as understanding how it works goes. :)

Heh, at least you're brave enough to ride them, me, I'm afraid of heights, planes are okay because the brain doesn't register how high you are, but I don't think I could ride an helicopter. :)