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Now this is a commencement speech I'd pay money to have heard. What a fabulous piece of writing.

Goes along with the movie I watched some of last night, The Ground Truth, which I only recommend to you if you have not become convinced that this war sucks and our military is somehow about something more honorable than training killers. This film is a record of the soldiers themselves quite bluntly admitting that that is all it is about and anyone who thinks otherwise is naive. I only watched about the first half hour, though, because it was too brutal for me to continue (the soldiers took cameras to Iraq and talk about all the horrible things they did). I already believe what the film is trying to show me, which is that war is pretty much bad for everybody involved (except those at the top, theorizing about life & death or economics or politics). But if you know someone who is still defending this war or doesn't actually realize what soldiers go through, have them check this one out.

On a happier note, I'm also quite pleased to report how surprised I've been by checking out Gilmore Girls. I know, I'm late to that party. But it's so sharp and witty. I laugh out loud. I really wasn't expecting it to be so clever. And Lauren Graham is simply fantastic. I went in expecting not much but have been pleasantly surprised. So it's making for fine procrastination/breaks during my paper writing.