Post 55: Lupine Lupus, The Jackalope Catharsis, and These Colors Don't Run

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day to you all.  While I hope some reflected on the life of one of the 20th century's great leaders, I suspect most of you just took advantage of mattress sales or streamed Netflix.  

I just returned from an outstanding weekend trip to Austin.  Devotees of this blog will recall a passing allusion in 2010 to barely escaping with my life the last time I was in Austin due to drunken encounters with both peacocks and bikers.  Austin Part 1 was for the wedding of one of my best friends from law school - also named Austin.  The ceremony was held at this gorgeous arboretum that contained hordes of ill-tempered peacocks.  While the first thing that comes to mind at the word "peacock" is often "beautiful plumage," these things are about one missed meal away from the scene in Jurassic Park where the game warden guy gets killed by the Raptors.  By the end of there ceremony, our group was being actively stalked by an entire muster of these things. 

He's, ah, probably pining for the fjords.

Clever girl. 

The reception was tasteful and elegant.  This, however, did not stop me from attempting to drink gin at a volume previously rivaled by individuals at 11:59 P.M. the night prior to the enactment of the Volstead Act.  While I did nothing that would cause permanent shame on the House of Utah, I have had lingering guilt about my drinking like a teenager at his first high school kegger.  I am, after all, an officer and grown ass man.  Lock it up Utah. Lock it up. 

This weekend's trip back to Austin, with Austin, was highly cathartic.  We revisited a number of the locations from the wedding weekend and I feel I was able to reclaim at least a modicum of the dignity I checked at the door back in 2010.  In honor of the Broncos getting absolutely embarrassed on Saturday night, I threw out a Tebow while at The Jackalope, a Sixth Street institution. 

We all went to the Austin Zoo the next day.  I came to find out that the Austin Zoo is no ordinary zoo.  It is a zoo for rescued animals.  These are animals with a god-damn story.  The whole experience ranged from peculiar to depressing.  The goat at the petting zoo struggled with a speech impediment.  The capuchin monkeys all had terrible self-esteem.  Everything had a limp, missing limb, or some other baggage that just made me feel like I was living in an ASPCA commercial.  As we were leaving, we came across this outstanding mural.  It featured four fierce looking animals, all residents of the zoo.  We were four fierce looking individuals, visiting the zoo.  It seemed like a sign from on high that we were being assigned our spirit animals.  

 I am Bandit, a wolf hybrid with only three legs.  Courage Wolf has come full circle. 

These animals have seen some shit.

Also of interest was the fact that RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan was also staying at the Austin Hilton.  We totally hung out.  

Cash Rules Everything Around Johnny Utah

I was able to get home to Chicago for Christmas.  I always have an outstanding time at home and it was wonderful to be back, especially after missing the holiday season last year due to my deployment.  Speaking of which, I need to wish a formal Vaya Con Dios to my former roommate Bohdi, who just deployed for a 365 day tour to Afghanistan.  "Living to Get Radical" shoutouts to $-Money from Nellis and my JASOC friend Siv who are in the midst of their own 365s.  And because I know he discovered this blog, a special and radical "Back off Warchild" to my deployed Deputy, Major M.  I have been despondent and lost without his exemplary leadership and can only hope for his speedy return.  

Happy Holidays...is what terrorists say.  Merry Christmas from the Utah Brothers. 

Things at the office remain busy but have improved significantly.  The other JAG assigned to my division returned from his deployment and resumed running our administrative discharge program.  I am incredibly grateful for his return; my workload has downgraded from "simply ludicrous" to "sort of manageable." 

I received word that I was selected to be the next Area Defense Counsel (ADC) for Cannon.  Each Air Force installation has one (and very occasionally two) defense counsel assigned that represent the Airmen that my current office prosecutes.  Selection for ADC is competitive as each base legal office as 6-10 JAGs but generally only a single ADC slot.  This, in theory, means I have done well enough to separate myself from the pack and move to a more challenging position.  It is the career progression I hoped for out of this assignment and while it is an awesome responsibility, I am incredibly excited about moving into the job the summer.  More on that to come.  

That is it for now.  In honor of my new spirit animal, Bandit, one last Courage Wolf for all of you: