(Riss):
THE ARGH: *facepalm* The Army guys often mock the Air Force from afar for doing too much D&C and not enough PT. From what I've heard from the AF cadet in my Behaviorism class, the AF PT is actually quite adequate, at least in my book...and they rock AROTC's fucking face off when it comes to D&C. I mean, D&C is sort of
important. If nothing else, it's designed to give everybody the training they need to move about in giant herds using efficient and orderly means.
AROTC sucks so hard at this that it is truly not even funny anymore. Today we had the second round of training for flag duty. I have to be in charge of retreat every Friday, so I had to practice all the commands (and will have to continue doing so throughout the weekend ;_;), and I sort of blew the marching part. So did the other guy, who has to be in charge for most of the rest of the week. And the people we're leading have issues with the marching itself, simple stuff like staying in step. Gods, I am so glad that no AF people passed by to see us muddle blindly through two of the most common and fundamental military rituals in existence. -_-;;;
PT scores are not everything, dammit. We looked
pathetic. I'm beginning to wish we could do some kind of cultural exchange program where we take in some AF cadets and teach them to harden up into psycho PT beasts that laugh at pain, while sending some Army cadets temporarily into the blue to larn 'em some D&C and personal discipline. Man, I would sign up for that in a heartbeat. Our organization does not look respectable if cadets go around hosing flag ceremonies.
THE WOW #1: I talked to that AF cadet again today. According to my watch, I guess we stood in the hall and talked for...about two hours?? o_O Not just about military stuff though, but also about classic novels and transhumanist technology. True, she's initiated the conversation both times, which circumvents the "should I say something? Yes! No! Maybe! Wait, let me think about it...no, thinking is too hard! I'll just leave and not say anything!" sequence that I usually get into whenever I'm tempted to be social with anybody. But...I don't know, it's been so long since I talked to a normal person for any length of time that I assumed that I'd forgotten how to do it. I am frankly shocked as hell that there's been no catastrophic Social Fail yet, although I have been deliberately steering clear of potentially controversial topics. And I'm learning a lot, since AFROTC actually trains people to be real military leaders instead of playing wargames all the time. She's given me a lot of things to think about. (I continue to wish that I could switch to AF and still shrink heads and have a four-year scholarship. Alas, cruel fate~! TT_TT)
THE WOW #2: So the university processed the FAFSA and sent me the results of the financial aid decision... Last year, I didn't bother filing taxes because ROTC picks up the tuition bill and I use my nontaxable stipend and financial aid to survive, so technically I have no income. Dudes, the government gave me a grant of over $5K and the school already cut me a check. I am looking at it now. Holy poopnuggets, we can definitely live on this for a while. *_* Maybe we can splurge a little after all.
THE WHA?: I checked with my cadre commander, who checked with a couple other cadre members, who described to me the current Army tattoo policy. Under that policy, it is technically okay for me to have that microtattoo I was thinking of getting. To my surprise, it also turns out that you can have the whole back of your neck tattooed as far forward as your ears, which makes me wish that I had the money to get that back piece done before they decide to change the rules again. :P (Part of it was going to be a flying rooster and I wanted the head going up the back of my neck. But I'm thinking that I'll be lucky to get that work done for less than $2K, so it's nowhere on the radar right now.)
The fact that I checked is a big deal because, basically, I got laughed off by the first tattoo artist I talked to about this--not because of the design itself, but because of the location. Now, people constantly tell us that I look twelve years old, or at least ten years younger than we actually are, and perhaps that's why I have to deal with people assuming that I must not have done any research on whatever I'm talking about and that I make choices about permanent body modifications with no in-depth consideration.
Yes, it is risky to have even a small tattoo on the back of your hand. It is not a news flash. I would really rather that people give me a polite reality check and then move to helping me out with damage prevention instead of treating me like a complete airhead. [/rant]
Since I've now learned that the Army is technically willing to work with me on this, at least in the sense that I can get the work done without being forced to laser it off later or something, I've been revisiting the design and tweaking the placement. Tomorrow I'll probably put it into Photoshop and do a bunch of resizes so I can see how small I can make it before it's no longer effective for my purposes. I need it in a particular position, but I'm trying to tuck it back a bit so more of it will be covered by the cuff of a coat or dress shirt. To my delight, the new placement should make it all but invisible when I salute, unless the salutee is way taller than we are. ^^
I am still going to check around and see where I can get the best sense of quality for a decent price, since I'm now aware that studios have minimum tattoo prices that apply even to really tiny things. I am resisting the temptation to finalize one of the other, simpler designs and do them both together so I can feel like I'm getting the most for my money... This is really the only one that I feel a need for at the moment. The design for [S] and I can't happen before the winter solstice, and most of the others are too complicated and thus way too expensive to justify right now. Really, the only one I could see doing would be the Thorn Company pseudo-fan tattoo, which I'd rather wait on. ^_^;; Anyway, I'll see what kinds of prices I can find.
Possibly Fridays will end up being Sudden Journal Activity days for this semester, since I really do need the whole weekend to crunch for school (at least while I'm in ROTC leadership) but I can spare a bit of time on the front end to run my/our fingers/mouth. ^^