The Dunvegan Highlander has MOVED!
Feel free to visit me at: castawaysojourner.com
Commenting has been turned off on THIS site, but all the posts here have been transferred to castawaysojourner.com, so if you wish to comment on a post, you can do so there.
Thanks for reading!
-DH
It’s so classic. So repetitive.
So often, especially if a man is feeling alone, he opens himself and becomes especially vulnerable to deceivers. If they can reach inside of him and temporarily fill that void, identify, encourage other aspects of the man, they are also likely to get access to deeper parts, and before long, everything they say sounds good to him.
Appeal to hatred, Appeal to fear, and Appeal to passion are all very effective. Men generally feel that they have to choose one of two extremes, wherever they may be, and this is often fed when the deceiver begins to tamper with the most concrete aspects of his belief; when general uncertainty takes over.
Beware of letting those who appear to speak truth to reach into your personal and spiritual life. Remember that your Faith in God Almighty, and the salvation he has offered you is the MOST IMPORTANT (I can’t stress this enough) thing you have on this earth. It is the Pearl of Great Price-don’t let the swine touch it.
“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
-Philippians 2, 12
Be constantly aware of your approach to God and your mentality regarding him.
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked…”-Galatians 6:7
-DH
Alright, here it is: the sister song to “My Heart Bleeds Peanut Butter For You.” It was filmed during the same session as the other, but hasn’t been produced or viewed until now.
This song also had a strange inspiration-namely, Bill Bryson’s (author of I’m a Stranger Here, Myself) comedic story of his experience in cleaning out his refrigerator.
Presenting “Breakfast Pizza…”
Enjoy!
-DH
Within the next two days, this blog, castawaysojourner.wordpress.com will become independent, with its own domain, castawaysojourner.com.
If I’m not mistaken, your subscriptions will be deactivated with the move, but if you wish to resubscribe to the new site, please drop me a comment, or if you know my email address, shoot me an email.
This move is for the purpose of familiarizing myself with cPanel, the online management program used by HostGator Webhosting, with whom, in a few months, I hope to apply for a position as a customer service rep.
In other news, I am foolishly considering producing another film trailer this February, in the tradition of the last two years. The Spaceman (2010) & Finding “It” (2011)
It’s a little premature to say for sure, but the idea for this years’ was born shortly after I released Finding “It”, last February. The idea sprang up, and I thought, well, nevermind, 2012 is forever away, anyhoo.
Huh huh huh. “Dang, wow, dang.”
So I’ll be looking into it…the cast this time is even larger than Finding “It”, and the filming may be just as difficult, but we’ll see. At least I know what I wanna do this far beforehand.
We’ll see. For now, however, Tiger of the South Media hesitantly presents…another goof video, coming up next post.
-DH
It is 9 o’clock PM, the 31st of December, 2011. Three hours remain in the year. For some reason, I feel like the ending of the year would be somehow significant, but thus far, it has been peaceful and uneventful.
2011 has been here. It will never come again.
I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions, but I do have a few declarations for next year, several of which are massively life-changing for me…
I’ve probably forgotten something, if not several things, but just looking at that list…it’s pretty…um…scary for me as I look over it. I thought I’d never “grow up”-heck, I’ll be always growing up-but at least, legally. I feel like I’ll always be a child somewhere inside.
Yes, I will always be a child to my Heavenly Father…and I like it that way. I never wanna grow too old for that.
It’s 9:30 PM, the 31st of December, 2011. Two and a half hours remain.
2011 has been here. It will never come again.
2012, I can’t wait!
-DH
P.S. Not only that: this is the 100th post on Castaway Sojourner. Huzzah!
Thanks for reading, y’all! I do appreciate it!
I felt it slam into my head, and fell helplessly to the decking inside the castle wall. There was no denying the slippery, wet substance all over my mask and hands. I cast a resigned look at my comrade crouching next to me, and chuckled, “hard luck.”
I fell face first on the rampart, dead…
“Dead,” that is. And the slippery wet substance wasn’t red, thank goodness. Today, I didn’t suffer any open wounds…some of my friends weren’t so lucky.
So yes, I spent the day hurling small hollow projectiles filled with slime at strangers…what fun! 
Something I love about armed combat: shared experiences and goals can bring complete strangers together to build formidable squads.
My comrade-in-arms whose name I never knew, but who killed ten people after they had shot me. In a later battle, after he was shot down, I killed seven more.
Another was my young comrade who I had befriended from the first, who I knew simply as “Green.” He was shot in the “Vietnam” jungles, and in my attempts to avenge him, I encountered the lad above.
Brave young "Green" who stood with me under concentrated enemy fire in a Western Town, and charged in the front lines at Normandy, but was taken out in Vietnam.
And there were, of course, my friends who I was with, my brothers and cousin.
I experienced several different sensations today…a few in particular stand out in my memory. I have listed seven: one for each enemy I killed while invading the enemy castle during my second-to-last battle. Heh…sorry…yeah, I’m proud of that one.
1. The typical “I’m gonna DO THIS!”
A pause… “um…I’m gonna get pummeled. That’s gonna hurt. Feet…move. You have people charging with you. Run. GO!”
2. That sense of accomplishment when you and your comrades are cheering atop an enemy stronghold, after pushing them to the very back of the field, and victory is within grasp.
3. That sense of desperation you feel when lying “dead” on the battlefield, and still the enemy relentlessly coats your helpless corpse in paint until the impact of the balls finally begin to feel numb.
4. The excitement you feel when you have succeeded in infiltrating the enemy’s headquarters with a brave comrade and wreaked havoc among the unsuspecting occupants.
5. That slightly morbid, dismal sense of triumph you feel when the guns fall silent and you realize…the enemy has been annihilated; all dead-to the last man.
6. That paralysis that follows having been shot in the hand. Again.
7. Team unity, moral; order, leadership; fearlessness and determination.
Today was a blast. A big thanks to the friends who made it possible!
I apologize if this post sounded conceited…if it helps, the truth is, as far as I remember, I dunno if I actually killed more than a dozen of the enemy today. Possibly, but who cares? My comrades were awesome, and that’s all that matters. 
Defending the Castle
Only a sampling on the armies on the field. There were approximately 30-plus fighters per army.
“A hand grenade? Did they just throw that?” my unnamed comrade asked incredulously, seeing the oval pink projectile bounce and come to rest at another soldier’s feet.
“A grenade? Where?” I asked.
“Here,” the other handed it to me, “do you know how they work?”
“Uh…I dunno. Pull the pin?” I stared at the peculiar cross between a grenade and a water balloon, and gave the pin a little tug. Nothing happened. “Guess we should throw it back.” I continued, clambering up the steps and into our sniper tower, opposite the enemy’s castle, accompanied by my comrade. I pulled the pin again. No luck.
“Whatever. Lemme just…” I tugged on the opposite end, and it untied like a water balloon.
“I dunno how it’s supposed to work, but look out!” I lobbed it over the wall, and our army burst out laughing as the awkward projectile flipped awkwardly through the air, showering pink paint over the enemy’s battlements. That was so cheesy, but fun all the same, I thought. My comrade and I, laughing, high-fived and descended to the field again, preparing for a more personal assault…
-DH
I had to post this…my little sister was praying this evening, during which she said,
(ellipses are her pauses)
“Please…help…those people who are at the place where it’s…got a flood. Please be ni…nitest (nice/nicest) to them. Um…I told you about…that little girl who only got to keep her blanket…please [help her.]“
This just…really touched me-I’ve never heard her pray like that. May her faith always be strong. I wish I always remembered to pray for people that way.
This prayer was in reference to a little girl she saw in a video of the the tsunami that hit Japan earlier this year.
“And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” -Matthew 18:2-4
In my personal experience, there are three keys to victory in battlefield simulation:
1. Unity and Morale
2. Order and Leadership
3. Fearlessness and Determination
It is important, however, that an army have all three: each of these elements complements the other, and can only exist in a two-part order: the command and the main force.
The Command
When a commander is strong-spirited, he wants the best for the army. He builds morale, inspiring in those he leads a fiery fearlessness and determination; but when he is strong-handed, he causes division, and destroys his peoples’ morale, which results in the death of the third element. A good commander must be strong spirited, at the head of the fight, humble and encouraging. I admit, I learned this the hard way.
The Clash Between
However: responsibility falls also on the people. When some refuse to be lead or to join themselves with their comrades, unity falls apart; moral is lost, order is destroyed and leadership pointless. No matter how fearless and determined those divided soldiers are, they will be picked apart separately and annihilated.
The Main Force
A good soldier also wants the best for his comrades. He cooperates; he provides a noble example, being a leader in his capacity. He holds in his hand unity and morale, with which order is preserved, leadership regarded, and fearlessness and determination inspired. The success of the whole force relies on each soldier to bear in mind the welfare of his comrades, and the goal of the campaign.
***************
Without order and leadership, there is no unity and morale. Without unity and morale, there is no courage and determination. Without courage and determination, there is no unity and morale. Without unity and morale, order and leadership cannot exist. If one of these elements are missing, the others cannot survive.
***************
Back in March, my dad, uncle, cousins, brothers and I went to the Survival Game of Texas paintball park, and these rules showed themselves in spades. Our team of about thirty soldiers learned them quickly after being slaughtered in the first battle, and for the rest of the day, scarcely lost another.
And…tomorrow, I return to the battlefield.
Heh. So dramatic.
-DH
So…there are four days remaining in the year.
Four.
4.
IV.
||||.
2011 has been quite a year. It’s been a long year; and yet, January first seems so recent…what happened?
Whatever happened, I’m thankful for it all. This has been the best, most influential year of my life.
Okay, okay, I’ll tell you why I’m writing this post:
I began blogging on my JibeNow blog, The Outer Hebrides, on 10 February, 2010.
When JibeNow closed in February of this year, I had written 34 posts, which I moved to WordPress and the Castaway Sojourner. I have posted 62 since, putting me at a grand total of 96…with those four days left in the month.
So: I intend to reach 100 by the end of the year. It’s not impossible, but it may be difficult, since I have a personal rule that each post must be “legitimate.” This one barely qualifies, itself, but since it includes all this information…I think it’s legit. We’ll see what I can work up…
And looking forward to 2012: End of the Mayan Calendar…
:blank look: Yeah? What do you suppose happened? Maybe the composer got bored of writing it…or something like that.
Or maybe it was an ancient practical joke that was so convincing that it’s still working today.
Heck, I don’t know anything about it and frankly, I don’t care. Apparently, when Christ comes on the clouds, no one’s gonna miss him. So I’m just gonna keep living my life, investing my talents until The Master returns.
“Dang, wow, dang.”
-DH
You claimed the last candle…
The table was full and shining brighter than ever before…
But not nearly as brightly as your eyes
I wouldn’t have looked away for anything.
Enraptured by your fearless finesse,
Dazzled by your smile
I’m smiling back-”resistance is futile:”
‘You’re still a dream come true.
-DH
