I’ve had a lot of people give me the big “WTF!?” lately over various things I’ve done/am doing, so let me get you all up to speed.

1. In case you’re wondering who in the hell I just married, Mike is the same guy I’ve been with since May of ‘04. He’s the one who deployed to Iraq that year and came back in ‘05. He was in the Marines for four years (’99-’03) and then came to college at Idaho, where I met him. He went on to join the local USMC Reserve unit, which is how he deployed to Iraq. He’s completely out of the Corps right now, but more on that in a minute.
2. We got engaged on April 19, 2007. He actually had my ring for quite a while before that, but wanted to get the proposal just right. We had been dating just shy of three years when he popped the question.
3. We originally intended to get married summer ‘08, but I really didn’t want to do the wedding planning thing for over a year, especially since we’d been dating long enough that we didn’t feel the need for a long engagement. We kicked around the idea of getting married late this summer, and when I started looking into details, everything lined up for us. The venue we wanted happened to be available, Mike’s brother would be on leave following his latest deployment, we wouldn’t be planning around school/graduations/work/etc. So, we decided to have the wedding August 4th, and it went off beautifully.
4. To my knowledge, I am not currently, nor have I ever been, knocked up, pregnant, with child, or in a family way. While nobody has come right out and said “Um, did you guys get married in a hurry because you’re a pregnosaur?” I know you were all thinking it! (For further information, we aren’t planning on having kids for a little while yet, but we’d be totally okay with it if it happens sooner rather than later.)
5. Mike and I are both on track to graduate next May. He’ll have a degree in history with a minor in poly sci, and I’m getting a journalism degree with a minor in history.
6. We recently decided that Mike will pursue a commission in the USMC. The process is in its earliest stages at this point – he has to work with an officer selection officer to get a package put together, then get selected, then go off to officer candidate school and earn his commission. He’s probably going to go for a ground commission and will put in for infantry. This was actually more my idea than his to start with, so no, I’m not being drug along against my will. He was initially talking about going back in the Reserves, but I don’t like Reserve life and am actually pretty excited about the idea of moving around and seeing different things. I just hope we don’t get stuck in 29 Palms.
7. If the USMC thing works out as planned, Mike will be in Virginia next summer for ten weeks. I’m not sure where I’ll go during that time – I might look for a journalism internship, or just couch surf for a couple months. (Beware, if I end up in your neck of the woods…) After his commissioning, he will probably report in to a training company at The Basic School, which is a six month accompanied assignment. I’ll join him there, probably at the beginning of September. I believe infantry school is another ten weeks or so after that, also in Virginia. After that – we’ll go wherever the Corps says we go, and I’ll either be staying home with kids for a while or looking for work in local print media.

So – there you have it. I think that covers all the latest bases. Questions? Email me. :)

I just installed a new spam filter on the blog, because I was sick of constantly policing/approving/denying comments… Mostly when a lot of them were along the lines of “FREE TRAMADOL!!1!!!!” I don’t even know what Tramadol is, but they’re offering me so much of it for free, it can’t be that good… Anyway, IF you have any problem with legitimate comments not getting through, email me here and I will fix it ASAP. I will still be monitoring what my filter does and does not catch, but if you notify me, I’ll fix it quicker. Thanks!

Hokay, I know people have mixed feelings about blog ads, and some of you may ignore them completely. That’s a-okay. They are on my blog now, though, so I figured I would say a couple words about what/why/how.

Actually, the why first – because I’m a dirty, rotten capitalist. I want to make money. I spend time on my blog, and while I certainly do it because I enjoy it, I would also like what I enjoy to double as a revenue source. (C’mon – wouldn’t we all?) If I can get some compensation for my time, I’ll take it!

The ads I’m currently using are through Google’s AdSense program. If you’re interested in setting up AdSense ads on your blog/website, you can click the referral link in the left sidebar to set up your account. I can’t really give an honest review of the service yet, since I’ve only just begun, but it’s obviously very popular. I also have a link for Firefox, which everyone in the world should be using whether I get a kickback for it or not.

The other ad placement around my blog is pretty obvious. Do with ‘em as you wish. :)

Oh – last but not least, leave me some feedback if you have an opinion about my ads. Love ‘em? Hate ‘em? Think they should be repositioned? Let me know!

I’ve just added a “subscribe to comments on this post” feature. Next time you leave a comment, check it out – you have the option of subscribing so you get email notifications of any comments to the post.

Things to note:
1. I do not have it set up so you can receive emails of only replies to your comments. Alas, I have not yet figured that out. You’ll have to deal with subscribing to all comments for now.
2. There, for some reason, are two boxes you can check to subscribe. One appears below the name/email/website fields, one below the comment input box. I don’t feel like futzing with the code to get rid of one of them. They both work, so pick whichever one you want.
3. Once you subscribe, the lower of the two boxes turns instead into a link that you can click to edit your subscription to the post – i.e. stop receiving comments if you want to.

That’s all the housekeeping I have for now!

…Man, I wish every evening ended that way! *cough*

Anyway, I give up on this serious blogging business. I know, I know, you’re like, “But Laurel, you just STARTED!”

The thing is, all the folks who have encouraged me to blog over past months/years have done so based on the fact that I write some pretty high-larious stuff. It’s not always politically correct, sometimes I use a little profanity (I live with a Marine… actually, two Marines right now, give me a break!) and I’m always pissing somebody off.

But that’s my voice, that’s how I roll. I can be serious, too, and I can write heady political stuff, and I really am quite smart. I’m just equally smart ass.

So that’s that, I’m not going to be blogging with the “Political campaigns of 2038″ filter on… If people don’t like me thirty years from now for something I write today, oh well. I’m sure my tattoos and applying for the Guns and Girls 2008 calendar thing (hat tip Brian Keith) and various and sundry other horrid things I do mean I’m already off the American Family Association preferred candidates list. That’s a-okay with me, as long as the GOA and JPFO love me forever.

Before I run off to work, I thought I should throw up a quick post to let you know what exactly I’m – well, we’re - doing here.

1. I wanted to start this blog because I have a lot of things to say. I went out to dinner with some college-age friends and an older couple (mid-seventies) last night. When we left, the older man thanked me for not being “…one of those gals who just sits there quiet like she isn’t supposed to talk. You’re good for conversation and I like that.” I told him I’ve been called a lot of things in my life, but “quiet” was never one of them.

2. I think the things I have to say are worth listening to. Be it opinionated editorial stuff or just my rants about dealing with the local village idiots, I think I create things of value. I won’t say I’m out to change the world here, but… Oh, what the hell – I’m out to change the world. I want to convey information to other people, because I think it’s information worth having.

3. I want to do my part to redeem the political climate of my generation. It wasn’t until my involvement in College Republicans that I saw exactly how polarized it is, and exactly how little thought goes into so much of it. It’s about toeing party lines and beating the other guy. I’ve seen the exact same thing in reverse, aimed at the right from the left. I’m a little more interested in saving the country, thanks.

4. I’ve always enjoyed writing, but I never do enough of it. I’ve found I write best when it’s a) non-fiction, and b) for some sort of an audience. Hence, a blog.

5. I’ll come right out and say it – I’d like to turn this into a money-making venture somehow. Don’t be shocked and saddened if ads appear someday; I won’t promise they won’t be here, but I will promise to impose strict quality control so they’re in good taste and don’t make my blog look stupid. I fought with MySQL and CSS and a lot of other letters and numbers to make this thing look good, and by Jehova, I’m not going to screw it up.

Anyway, I want to make it very clear that monetary rewards are not my main motivation. As mentioned before, I’ve journaled/blogged on LiveJournal for years, and never made a dime off of that. When I decided to “go public,” it was for the distribution of information and my chance to carve out a niche in the blogosphere. It was only after I decided to make the leap that it occurred to me that some people do make money doing this, and I’d be interested in doing so as well.

And, on that note, I have to head over to my normal job, because I’m not making a penny off this thing yet!

I’ve long been told that I’d make a great blogger. Truth be told, I’ve been more or less blogging over at LiveJournal for a few years now, but my sordid tales and profanity-laced tirades are, though hilarious, designed for a more select audience… And by that, I mean “People who (hopefully) won’t post this all over when I run for Empress of the Universe.”

So, I decided to open up my realm of blogination, win some new friends, and influence people. I’m good at that kind of thing.

What you will find here:
- Writing with my name attached to it. Hello, I’m Laurel. I went back and forth about anonymous or pseudonymmed blogging, but ever since I went down the rabbit hole of national College Republican politics, I’ve had a serious distaste for people who have opinions but won’t sign their name to them. Chances are if you won’t claim your words, you shouldn’t say them in the first place.
- Politics. As stated elsewhere, I’m a Republican-turned-libertarian. I’m what conservatives claim to be – for small government, against regulations, for personal responsibility. I don’t use drugs, but I’d support legalization. I’m not a lesbian, but I don’t really understand the national frenzy over homosexual marriage. I don’t plan to get legally married at all – since when do I need a license for such a thing? I don’t believe in public welfare entitlements, social security, or property taxes. I loathe eminent domain, especially as corrupted by Kelo v. New London. My thoughts on Iraq are mixed, but mostly not good. I marvel at the rampant stupidity of both liberals and conservatives, so both shall be strung up here.
- Guns. Simply put, I enjoy them greatly. In case you were wondering, the second amendment is not about hunting. It’s about the right of the people to be armed to protect their ability to violently overthrow a tyrannical government. I take guns and gun safety very seriously, and encourage others to do the same. Our gun rights are fragile, so I believe it is important for each and every gun owner to demonstrate why we aren’t what the anti-gun lobby makes us out to be. I appreciate everything from my 1861 Enfield breechloader rifle to my soon-to-come modern AR-15 black rifle. Gun talk is welcome here, and I’ll engage in a fair amount of it myself.
- Beer. I love a good beer – I’ll chronicle the occasional microbrew, and probably mention on an obnoxiously regular basis how much I love Guinness. I suppose the beer heading will also serve as a bit of a catch-all for my social life.
- Some other things. College, my boyfriend, the great outdoors of northern Idaho, the future, the past, family, my pets, my truck (oh, what an awesome truck it is!), random ramblings, rants about idiots, pictures, travels, reading, gaming, and so forth. There is, after all, more to me than politics, guns and beer.

What you won’t find here:
- Racism. I don’t understand it and I don’t tolerate it. As you might guess, northern Idaho has it’s share of backwards-thinking morons who think skin pigmentation is the utmost important facet of an individual. Really, Bubba, I can see how your trailer-park living self, wearing your “The South Will Rise Again!” underpants and spitting “tabaccy” between your front two teeth… your only two teeth… could feel superior to well-educated, high-achieving, intelligent people who happen to be a darker brown than you. It makes all the sense in the world. Okay, for that matter, I also don’t tolerate Antisemitism or other unfounded religion-hate, or sexism. I’m pretty much from the “Don’t like ___________? Then shut the f*ck up and don’t do it” school of thought on most matters.
- Entitlement bitching. Nobody owes me anything. I interact as little as possible with the government at all levels, and I don’t want handouts. I don’t really get along with people who do, either.
- …That’s about it. Anything else is pretty much fair game – I don’t like censorship, so you’re free to comment at will. Just be aware that the ass you may make of yourself is your own creation. I do reserve the right to delete comments that a) post private information about myself without my permission or b) are blatantly lewd or abusive. I’ll be the judge of both, but again – I dislike censorship, so don’t make me go there.

Enjoy.