It's Kind of Funny Story.
So lemme tell you about the beginnings of this little enterprise.
Back in 2021, I had just finished a long deployment and reported to a new command, where I was more or less immediately sent on more travel to participate in more military exercises. But this time, I was sent to Hawaii (not too shabby), and while I was working out of a series of tents, I was staying in a hotel (also not too shabby).
Don't get me wrong, the hours were long and the work was, well, work, but I did have some down time. But after 12 - 15 hours of working in a tent in the August heat and humidity of Hawaii, no one's super excited to do much more than crash, so there I was, scrolling on Facebook.
I came across a post of a friend of mine, who's signature phrase is "Listen, Muhfugger..." and a few of us were joking about putting that message on a hoodie, and -- it helps if you know I'm a bit extra at this point -- and so I thought, "How hard could it be?" So I made up a design and figured out how to start an Etsy shop and link it to a print-on-demand site (no way to truly handmake an item when you're out on an exercise, of course) and bing-bam-boom, Lima Charlie was born!
Followed that one up with a Malicious Compliance design, but that story is b best for another time.
While Lima Charlie started as kind of a joke, and then continued as kind of a way to get some creative energy out, I like it. It's kind of military-ish in theme, and kind of San Diego. Also kind of Danny Glover-style "I'm too old for this..." which is really something you get when you serve for a long time.
In any case, I'm having fun with it, and I hope you do, too.
