Beginnings of an Experiment

I've never been much of a writer. I've never considered myself incredibly creative, either. So in an effort to expand my horizons, I'm starting this blog. Here goes.

First, an introduction may be necessary. My name is Jon Stripes. I'm a US Army veteran. I joined the Army while I was still in high school and went to Basic Training between my junior and senior year. In retrospect, I kinda feel bad for that... my father was deployed to Iraq when I joined and while I was gone, and my mom didn't have either one of us around to help with my younger brother and sister. What I did gain from it was the experience of a lifetime that forever changed my outlook on the world. I was always fond of soldiering movies... The Patriot, We Were Soldiers, what have you (and if you can't tell I like Mel Gibson's movies.....) but I never understood what it was to truly be dedicated to your country, and lay your life on the line. Basic gave me a taste of that. From there, I made my life goal to be an honorable and loyal man to my family, my God, and my country.

I recently (Dec 2012) graduated from ITT Tech, with an Associates Degree in Computer Network Systems. It's safe to say I'm a geek... Video games are my chief form of entertainment. My main games currently are Eve Online and Kerbal Space Program. As far as Eve is concerned, I've been playing for nearly four years at this point, under the name Cecil Arongo. I started out as a carebear, dabbled in hi-sec wardec shenanigans for a while, and then went full lowsec pirate. I now live out in nullsec with Gentlemen's Agreement, an alliance within the ClusterFuck Coalition, or CFC. Among my other gaming is a space program simulator called Kerbal Space Program. In fitting with my love of sandbox-type games, this is a build-your-own-NASA game. It has a great community, both on Google+ and on Reddit, and it's truly fun seeing the often horrified look as they plummet to their death explore the Kerbin (earth) and Kerbol (sun) systems. If you thought Eve's learning cliff curve was difficult, try landing on the Mun or building a base on another planet from scratch!

The other thing I may do here, in addition to the occasional RL post, is dive into controversial firearms and self-defense law. You may not like what I have to say, but I enjoy a good debate and I look forward to chatting with you regardless.

Welcome.