The World According To Chris Brewer

Glory, glory, glory. I have had four hours of sleep over the span of two days. Crazy, but I would gladly sacrifice my sleep any day for a SEAHAWKS PLAYOFF VICTORY!!! That’s right boys and girls, we beat Carolina last night 34-14 (and it really wasn’t even that close).

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I got one hour of sleep last night. I’ve been at work since 8:00 this morning and I am still here, and I don’t get off work until 10. But it’s SEAHAWKS GAMEDAY which means it is gonna be time for a nap during the Steelers-Broncos game. I am tired, sotiredthatiamtypingallmywordstogether and nearly forgetting punctuation.

That’s it for now. GO SEAHAWKS GO SEAHAWKS GO SEAHAWKS

Artist: LMC
Track: You Get What You Give
Released: 2005, All Around the World
Rating: 4 out of 5 (Very Good)

It’s been nearly eight years since the New Radicals came out with their album “Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too.” On that album, which pretty much sucked, there was one good track to be found. That track, “You Get What You Give,” would easily make a list of my personal top 50 tracks of all time. So when I saw on the Internet today that LMC (I don’t know who it is or what the acronym stands for, or even if it is an acronym) remixed the song, I looked for it on Cabos.

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Hey everyone, quick update from the confines of the International Zone in Baghdad. I am typing from a new Internet cafe that has just recently opened up in the Embassy, along with a Green Beans Coffee shop. We can now enjoy espresso…that’s pretty cool.

Not much to say today except that I slept in until 1:45 PM (and my body finally feels completely refreshed now) and when I walked outside, it looked real hazy but brown somewhat. Took me a few minutes to realize that sand was blowing around everywhere. Not cool. I walked back inside and one of our trailer mates asked me what was wrong, why was I crying. I simply told him I missed my family and friends, and if he walked outside he would miss his too.

Hope you all enjoyed the videos I have posted lately. I took a few photos of the housing complex I am staying in, being hit by the sandstorm. It doesn’t look like much but it did decrease visibility and irritated eyes and sinuses everywhere. Weird, because that stuff usually doesn’t happen in January. I actually hope it rains tonight and knocks down the dust because it smells like chalk everywhere. Seriously. It looks like you had a million kids come marching through clapping chalkboard erasers together in the worst practical joke ever created.

Oh well, I have to shoot some video tomorrow morning and then come to work. TOMORROW IS SEAHAWKS GAMEDAY!!! GET PUMPED. God bless.

Today I uploaded the two remaining news stories that I did, as well as a personal update I shot right outside the U.S. Embassy. I think it was Day 14 when I shot the video by the Crossed Swords, and today marks exactly 10 weeks since then. So a personal update from me is long overdue. Anyway, here are the videos for your consumption and enjoyment.

Link: January 20, 2006: A1C George Reinas Personal Profile (QuickTime format, 2′ 08″)

Link: January 20, 2006: Security Forces FPASS (QuickTime format, 1′ 40″)

Link: January 20, 2006: Personal Update From Yours Truly (QuickTime format, 3′ 15″)

Okay everyone, sorry I am late in updating today but it has been a busy night for me. I work best alone so suffice it to say that after everyone went home, I stayed and worked on some stuff to get a head start for tomorrow. Tomorrow, by the way, I have to go shoot Valentine’s Day greetings at the palace….fun stuff, let me tell you. As a result, I couldn’t get my second news story up tonight.

I will have my second and third stories available for viewing here tomorrow. Sorry I couldn’t upload the news story, thank the network services folks around here for that. Our internet is slower than molasses. Oh well, tomorrow the stories will be up. God bless.

My mom turned 44 yesterday!!! Be sure to wish her happy birthday…leave a comment on this post.

Sybil Brewer is the best Mom in the whole world, let me tell you. In fact she and I were talking the other day about how she and Dad went without a lot to raise Jason and I. It never really fully hit me until I left home, and I don’t think I’ve ever thought about how much my parents (especially my mom) sacrificed for me, until this year. I think the thing that helped me realize it is the fact that my parents have moved to Missouri and are basically starting a new life.

[image:480:l:s=1:t=Sybil Brewer, The Best Mom:w=300]Growing up, Mom showed us the love and care that no other parent could even rival. She always did the right things at the right times. When we talked back to her, she had no reservations in disciplining us however she felt. She quit her job at Delaware Plaza, a retirement home in Longview, Washington, just to be a stay-at-home mom. Man, if I could someday be half the parent that my mom was and still is, my kids would be model citizens.

The past year has been tough on Mom — I remember when I would call her from work when they had first moved and she was feeling down because the family had moved to Springfield in good faith in the Lord, and she didn’t know what to expect. Even though my family has established themselves in Missouri now, there’s no denying the stress my Mom still faces with Dad working in Washington D.C., me in Iraq right now and Jason getting ready to graduate high school and leave for active duty in the Army. It’s amazing though because I can even see this is one of the toughest challenges she has faced, at least since I’ve been alive, but I’ve never once heard her complain about her situation. Instead Mom tells me that she keeps the faith in the Lord and she knows things will be better someday. That is so amazing and I don’t know if I could respond the same way. She is SuperMom.

God bless you Mom, and I hope this next year treats you well!!! I love you!!!

This is something that Aftan sent to me today. She wrote the whole thing…I gotta give her credit, it is worth the read and I think it’s awesome because it really applies to me. Check it out.

?¢‚Ǩ?ì?¢‚Ǩ¬¶little moments of joy. Like you feel just good enough to appreciate a sunrise or any little thing?¢‚Ǩ¬¶its kind of a spiritual thing that maybe God puts there and that?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s joy, happiness?¢‚Ǩ¬¶yea, just hang onto every little moment that comes along.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù
~~Chris Ledoux

I always liked Mr. Ledoux?¢‚Ǩ¬¶he always seemed to know how to say something that made me think. Let?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s get a little background on this quote in particular shall we? Ledoux said this right before he died of cancer. Why is it that someone has to be so close to eternity to realize that it is the ?¢‚Ǩ?ìlittle moments of joy?¢‚Ǩ¬ù that matter?

I have been thinking about that a lot today. It is so easy to get caught up in the trivial happenings in every day life?¢‚Ǩ¬¶the frays that ruin the clean cut, so-called perfect life that everyone wants but will never have. A grumpy boss, a terrible TA that lacks English skills, not having any personal alone time?¢‚Ǩ¬¶these issues and others seem to shadow the thoughts of those around me. But instead of focusing on what can be gained from the experiences that God is setting down for them they instead focus on the negative. Why can?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t they learn how to humble themselves to their boss, find compassion in the difficult time others may be having with communication, and patience in the people that they are constantly around?

Surely if you haven?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t dealt with these issues you have dealt with others that have shadowed your days. God gives you these trials to see how you handle them. So why not take the lessons that He is giving you? Don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t let the troubles keep you from take the time to ?¢‚Ǩ?ìappreciate a sunrise or any little thing?¢‚Ǩ¬ù? God gives you the little things so you can survive the bad things He throws your way. Instead of focusing on the terrible things that happened in your day appreciate what ?¢‚Ǩ?ìGod puts in there?¢‚Ǩ¬ù?¢‚Ǩ¬¶a sun set after a bad day, a pet cuddled in your lap, the love of those around you and most importantly the love of Jesus.

The Bible says that God isn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t going to give you more than you can handle and that is something to have faith in. The little moments of joy are what proves that. Just when you feel like you can?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t take any more something happens to remind you of that. Those are the ?¢‚Ǩ?ìlittle moments of joy?¢‚Ǩ¬ù that Mr. Ledoux is talking about I think. They are just one of God?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s many ways of saying that He is still there, still guiding you, and yes even testing you to make sure that you don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t take for granted those simple little joys.

So I urge you next time you want to throw your hands up in the air and give up instead drop to your knees. Instead of asking for things you may want that YOU think is going to make your life easier THANK Him for what He has always done and the lessons He is teaching you. The bad things are going to come and go but the good things He blesses you with will last a lifetime?¢‚Ǩ¬¶including the lessons you learned from the trials He gave you. ?¢‚Ǩ?ì…just hang on to every little moment that comes along?¢‚Ǩ¬ù and know that you are going through it for a purpose.

Hey everyone, pretty much the only update to bring to you today is a news story I made this week. Remember my trip to Balad Air Base? Well, here’s the first of a three part series highlighting the Air Force’s Security Forces (a.k.a. military cops) squadron down there at work. Hopefully the series provides a decent look into what they do, given that each story is about 1:30 long. I shot, edited and voiced the entire thing.

Link: 1-18-06: AFN Iraq Story - “Security Forces Profile”

NOTE: If you don’t have QuickTime, get it before you see the file. It’s available at Apple’s website.

Thanks for checking the video out!

You may be noticing I changed my site design AGAIN. I had to do it because the last theme i used, Nikynik Orange, while still an excellent design, was too restrictive for me. The sidebar just didn’t work out too well. I downloaded K2 from Binary Bonsai and hacked the code, expanded the header image (for those of you who don’t know computer speak, it’s the picture of Springfield up top) and was able to keep the Shoutbox and Recently Played Tracks List intact. It looks good on my end in Firefox, but if you’re an Internet Explorer user and you run into any errors or the site flips you crap, please let me know. Feedback is appreciated.

I have also included support for Technorati tags. Technorati is basically Google for blogs, you can search millions of blogs worldwide for certain keywords and they will show up. Really useful tool when news sites or even Google itself doesn’t have what you’re looking for.

Also, clickable links are displayed in orange.

Anyhoo, have a happy Wednesday and welcome to the always-improving, always-evolving World According to Chris Brewer.

[tags]Wordpress, themes, K2, Technorati, Nikynik[/tags]