The return and a departure

Hello everyone. I am returning to two things. The first is the war in Iraq and the second is this blog. I posted fairly frequently during my first deployment and hope to do so again. For my first post I would like to ask for a moment of silence remembering the late journalist and novelist Hunter S. Thompson. He shot himself in the head with his favorite handgun at the age of 67 or 68. Does a year or so really matter at that point? And let's face it, that is the cool way to go. Everyone from Hemingway to Cobain has chosen to leave the world at their own leisure. It is easier. You can plan for it. It takes all of the guesswork out of your final moments. Bit messy sometimes, but every decision is going to have its drawbacks. It is an admirable path altogether. They have all shared their creative gifts with the world and then exited before they became a nuisance with a bedpan in an old people's home. At this ripe old age it probably became clear that the days of interactive Gonzo journalism were coming to a close. And nothing helps sales like a sudden unexpected death. He was the last living writer that came out of the great social experiments of California in the 50s and 60s. His soul joins Kerouac, Kesey, Ginsberg, and Bukowski, and Burroughs wherever they may be. Rest in Peace.