For All You BSG Fans

This conversation was posted on my Facebook Wall yesterday. It's so cool I was motivated to finally break my blogging silence.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Battlestar Galactica, shame on you. Move it to the top of your Netflix queu immediately.

Attention Home Brewers!

I'm looking for a handful of home brewers (and military husbands or boyfriends) to interview for a piece in Military Spouse magazine. If I can get in touch with enough guys, I'd have enough material to do a feature on the topic, photo spread and all.

I know some of the readers of this site are into home brewing (as both John and I are), so shoot me an email if you'd be up for doing an interview on the topic. I'm sure many of you have some good stories to tell--and probably some heartbreaking ones, too (the wort boiling over, the yeast dying, bottles exploding).

I want to hear your stories. You can get me at thomas(dot)litchford(at)gmail(dot)com.

Or share your stories in the All Things Beer discussion thread, or in the comments on this post.

Thanks!

PCS Dread

This weekend, we're having our very first "Holy Shit, We're PCSing in Six Months" moving sale. In eight years of marriage, moving into a succession of houses slightly larger than the last, we've acquired lots of stuff.

For example, what is it about guys that makes us think we need to keep the empty box of every piece of electronics we've ever purchased? You know, just in case we need to send it in for service, or whatever.

So hopefully our sale goes well. Then we can focus on the next issue: where we're going to live.

Is Your Wife Considering Joining the Military?

A new discussion over in the forums asks, "What can I do to help my wife decide whether to join the military?" Click here to read the post and replies and share your own hard-won wisdom.

Women at War - Two Pieces in the New York Times

Two great articles in a series called "Women at Arms" in the New York Times, one today and one yesterday, have highlighted the roles women play in Iraq and Afghanistan: GI Jane Breaks the Combat Barrier and Living and Fighting Alongside Men, and Fitting In.

Each examines a different area of how our military has changed in recent years. Some of the changes are cultural. We, in the West, are used to women serving in the armed forces, just as we take it for granted that women work outside the home. (That's not the case for the Iraqis.)

Other changes have been forced upon female soldiers, and upon the Army and Marine Corps. The nature of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have obliterated the notion of "the front line": every time you leave the base, you're on the front line. And there is also much demand for women to perform certain operations, such as searching Iraqi women at checkpoints.

They also examine the challenges faced by female service members. There are times when they can feel very alone. And there are times when they feel very unsafe. It is an unfortunate truth that women in the United States military have to protect themselves not only from the enemy, but also from the soldiers along whose side they fight. Sexual harassment and sexual assault haven't disappeared from the battlefield, in spite of the gains we've made.

As a military husband, I found both articles very informative. Of course, I have to admit that I'm glad, once again, that my wife is in the Navy.