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Exercising my rights as a US Citizen [04 Mar 2004|01:47pm] I was reading CNN today and realized just how close we are to having the US Senate vote on the Federal Marriage Amendment. I decided that it was important to have my voice heard by my representatives in congress. The idea that we would amend the most important governmental document we have just to DENY a particular group of people rights is abhorrent. I don't think it really matters what your political views are, or what religion you choose to practice, as Americans, we need to uphold the rights of all of our fellow citizens, lest we be next. This country is truly about freedom for all who live here and just because some of us don't like the fact that some people have an alternative sexual orientation does not mean we should go against our values. It is the same reason we have the freedom of speech. There are many things that people say and believe that I find distasteful, Neo-Nazis, Skinheads and the KKK for example, but what makes this country great is the fact that I would give my all to protect their rights to believe and say whatever they want. I don't have to like it, and I don't have to listen to it, but I respect their right to do it. No one says you have to like homosexuality or "gay marriage" and none of us have to be a part of it, but all of us need to protect the rights of our citizens to be and live any way they please. I'm for marriage, of any kind, between any people... as long as you love one another, it's none of my business. I say this as a happily married man and a citizen of the greatest country in the world. Below is the letter (email) I sent to Senators Graham and Nelson of Florida. I also sent a letter (email) to Representative Wexler of the 19th District, but his was more a letter of support since he actually believe the exact same thing I do... Dear Senator Graham, I am writing to you in regards to the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment to the United States Constitution. As one of your constituents, a democrat and a happily married man, I urge you to fight this discriminatory measure. I strongly oppose any amendment to our constitution that denies rights to any group of people. The constitution is a sacred document that stands for our values of freedom and equality. If we allow an amendment to be passed that oppresses or discriminates against a certain group of our people, we go against the very ideals of what this nation stands for. For over two hundred years our country has been a beacon of freedom and opportunity for all people. As a country we do not discriminate based on economics, religion, race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. If two people love one another, then it does not matter what gender they are, they should have the right to create a spiritual and legal union with the same rights as any other couple. I hope that as one of your constituents, you hear my words and give them consideration when a vote is made in this matter. I thank you for your time and consideration in this matter. Sincerely, Maximilian A. Schriefer I encourage everyone to send a letter to their representatives in congress so that you can have your voice heard! These are the links: http://www.senate.gov http://www.house.gov/ Find your Senators and Representatives and send them an email! 2 comments|post comment

Places I've been [26 Jan 2004|10:15pm] create your own visited states map or write about it on the open travel guide post comment

Places I've been [26 Jan 2004|10:14pm] create your own visited states map or write about it on the open travel guide post comment

Namor cancelled [16 Nov 2003|11:06pm] Namor co-writer Andi Watson has informed ComiX-Fan that the Marvel Comics Tsunami brand series will end with issue #12 in February. The series, which Watson co-writes with former Marvel Comics President Bill Jemas, chronicles the early adventures of a teenaged Sub-Mariner with a romantic flavour. "#12 wraps up the arc that was planned," Watson told ComiX-Fan. "The decision was made a coupla months ago so it's no big surprise or a case of shoehorning everything in to one last issue. There's closure. There were no plans to write beyond the twelve that are coming out. Is anyone surprised?" Watson went on to explain that the main reason for the series ending is that it didn't reach its target bookstore audience of teenage girls. "The idea behind Namor was to create a book that teenage girls would read," Watson explained. "Teenage girls don't go into comic shops, they go into book shops. The target audience for the book will now never see it. It's just another book that got mauled in the direct market and by the fanboys and will sink without trace. But yeah, Bill was keen to reach out to build new audiences for mainstream comic books but it's always gonna be a long term project that requires a longer term consideration of profit and loss. The direct market continues to shrink and appeal to an ever narrower demographic... we all know this, it's been happening for decades. I said the same thing when I started and it still holds true." After debuting at 43rd place on Diamond Comic Distributor's Top 300 charts in April, the series has shed some 10,000 estimated sales through to October's issue #8, which charted at 112th spot (see OCTOBER 2003 INDUSTRY STATISTICS). Several other Marvel titles still placed lower on the October chart than Namor, including another recently cancelled series in The Crew. A Namor live-action movie is currently in active development at Universal Pictures, with Road To Perdition screenwriter David Self having penned the script. The Scorpion King star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is currently rumoured to be up for the lead role (see COMIX-FAN NEWS BRIEFS - NOVEMBER 6, 2003), a casting choice that, if true, would indicate that the film will not be based on the Tsunami series and its teenage star. Look for a hardcover edition collecting all 12 issues of the series some time in 2004 post comment

I don't think this one works right.... [19 Oct 2003|10:18pm] sweetyuk 40% shimmerize 29% emer13 25% alonewestand 25% flyguywpb 0% How sexually compatible with me are you? Take the NEW sexual compatibility quiz at LJMatch! If this thing is right, then I think our marriage is doomed.... Hence it must be majorly F%#Ked.... :) 3 comments|post comment

DAMN RIGHT! [09 Oct 2003|03:24pm] What Makes You Sexy? by eva71 Name/NickName Gender Sexy Body Part Is Your Feet Special Talents Are Everything (Multi-talented) Created with quill18's MemeGen! I'm all about being multitalented ;) I'll make a real post soon, I promise, I have a lot to talk about. 1 comment|post comment

Just some crap [08 Oct 2003|01:32am] Conscious self Overall self Take Free Enneagram Personality Test ESTJ - "Administrator". Much in touch with the external environment. Very responsible. Pillar of strength. 13% of the total population. Take Free Myers-Briggs Personality Test post comment

I'm Sporadic [22 Jul 2003|02:55pm] [ mood | mellow ] [ music | 50 Cent ] Ok, I'm not posting as often as I probably should, and I should probably be posting more on wednesdaycomics about my current feelings on my weekly pulls but I've been caught up with some things. Right now we have professional staff training, which I mentioned in the last post, so that's taking up a lot of time. shimmerize, my sweetie, got me Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for XBox and I'm just plain obsessed. It's an incredible game, which is what I'd expect from BioWare. It's seriously indepth and it has a really cool battle engine. I love being a Jedi and swinging around my lightsabers at people. I think I'm only half done and I'm already 25 hours into it. After I finish it I'm going to start over and be seriously evil and kill and steal, it supposed to have a different spin on the story if you play the other side. Heather and I are also picking the brain of our local comic shop owner John. We also might help him out from time to time on a voluntary basis. Hmmm, what else is going on? Not a whole lot really. I guess that's it, maybe I'll write again later post comment

I'm baaaack [15 Jul 2003|03:45pm] [ mood | restless ] [ music | Dave Mathews ] Ok, so it's been a looooong time since i posted. It's been pretty damn busy around these parts with Wedding Planning, The Wedding, The Honeymoon ;) and now professional training at work. We hired 2 new professional staff members who seem to be working out pretty well. I haven't spent too much time with them since I'm on the far east side of campus. It's one of those double edged sword kind of things running the Apartments. It's nice because I'm fairly autonomous, but on the other hand I don't really work with any of my co-workers on any kind of regular basis. I would have to say that the positives outweigh the negative though. Anyway, I'm still sick, shimmerize gave me some sort of cold that she picked up on our honeymoon but I can't seem to shake it completely yet. Still coughing up a storm and blowing my nose, I think it's partially allergies now. Oh, I'm finally getting around to registering for my Masters classes. I still have to take the GRE in the fall so I can officially start my M. Ed. but I can still take classes for credit until I finish up all that paperwork. It's been a bit annoying trying to register though since the registrar's office isn't very forthcoming with information and then I realized I had a hold on my account because I didn't have my immunization records on file with the university. I've been trying to get the info from Tulane for the last 3 weeks, eventually they called me back after 2 faxes to them and 2 phone calls. They asked me if I was sure that I went there. It seems as though they had misplaced my file and since they couldn't find it, obviously I was delusional and imagined going to school for 4 years there. Anyway they finally found my records and finally sent them. Of course it wasn't a complete record, because that would be too easy. I remembered I had a copy of all my shots that I had as a "wee little one" in my files at home, so between the two of them I have the complete record. So one would think I could take care of all of this now and be done with it, so I could register, but no. My means of transportation across our sprawling campus, the golfcart, is dead as a doornail and as of yet we still don't know what is wrong with it. I could drive, but my lovely and sick :( wife is at work... so it looks like I'll have to bring it by Health Services tomorrow and get my hold lifted then. Thankfully the classes I'm taking aren't that popular. Larry (My Boss) tells me that the professors I'll be taking have very good reputations, so I hope I'll enjoy them. I'm looking forward to having some more theoretical background in my chosen profession since all of my background in the field is experiencial and utilitarian training for the most part. I don't believe I'll ever be a collegiate academic, I much prefer to be a practitioner. I have though about High School teaching eventually, but for now I enjoy my work with Housing and will probably stay in the field for at least another 6 years. Possibly longer if I find the right school. Otherwise I may try my hand at High School teaching or try to break into High School Administration. Back to the here and now, I've decided that now that I have myself established in the Apartments, my focus this year will be Community building, Staff Development and Student Organizations (The Scholarship House, Community Council and Judicial Review Board.) I want to focus on my true purpose which is as an untraditional educator, or a eductor of the world and life, whatever you want to call us. My profession affords me the ability to teach students outside the classroom about the world around them and how to act as a successful and productive member of society when they leave the shelter of Academic life....... You know, that's a pretty hardcore statement, I like it, I've decided I'm Going to type that up and put it around my office for everyone to thing about. I mean, that is Ideally what we are in this field, so it's important for us to rememeber it all the time..... Hmm... something for me to ponder myself even. Guess I'll be posting again more often.... 2 comments|post comment

My Mama didn't raise no fool.... [22 May 2003|08:59am] Which Kind of Driver Are You? by Don's Windshield Replacement I pity the fool... post comment

The summer Lull... [20 May 2003|03:11pm] [ mood | bored ] [ music | Dave Mathews (again) ] Now that the 2002-2003 academic year is over and closing has happened and now that we've reopened the complex for summer, we have hit the summer lull. Though I have a couple of projects to work on I don't have a lot going on in my office. I have to keep an eye on a couple of other construction projects, but nothing that takes up my whole day. Like I said in an earlier post we have a construction project working on the catwalks that run through the building, which are being refinished. Then there is cable installation going on in some of the apartments. Otherwise I'm working on somethings here and there, but there is no Judicial problems of which to speak (knock on wood) and since I have half the residents, there are half the issues. shimmerize is at home relaxing and healing. My father's gift shipped... it's going up to their house, I told him it was a present for shimmerize since her birthday is the same as my dad's June 5. I told him just to put it aside and I'd get it when I got there :) I'm still waiting on a package to ship from Amazon.com. Actually 2 packages, the first one is Sex and the City Season 4, and the other contains 5 TPBs. The last three Nightwing TPBs, Elektra and Wolverine for my lovely Fiancee and Y-The Last Man which I keep hearing so many good things about. I'm also waiting on a couple of pairs of dockers for work, I already did my, as Heather puts it, "Back to school shopping." Got a bunch of these shirts at Old Navy, they're all the same, just different colors hehehe, then a belt, socks and 2 pairs of dockers, that's my clothes for the year. I'm a simple person when it comes to clothes. Never been a clothes horse or a slave to fashion. Ok... I don't have anything else to say right now... I just added a friend of mine from "home" (Watkins Glen, NY), emer13. post comment

Is it the weekend yet?! [19 May 2003|03:43pm] [ mood | tired ] [ music | Dave Mathews ] I'm just tired, it's been a long day and I wasn't even here. shimmerize hurt her back on friday pretty bad and hasn't been able to work so we went to the doctor today. They said she pulled it pretty bad. They think it's from strenuous reptiive use. They said she should get physical therapy but she doesn't have time for it right now with the wedding and work. They gave her an anti-inflammatory and a muscle relaxant and told her to do some exercises twice a day and use hot and cold compresses. We then went on a search for her prescription and when we finally found it we couldn't get her insurance to work so it cost $100 out of pocket! We REALLY need a national health care plan in this country. How can the middle class afford this without insurance. THere is Medicaid for the under priviledge and the rich don't need to worry, but what about the lower-middle and middle-middle class? We just die?! Thankfully I have great insurance through the state because I work for a state university and she'll will have my insurance in a month. That was all we did today really though. I got a gag gift for my dad for his birthday which should be amusing... otherwise nothing going on... Back to work post comment

If I were a Woman.... [18 May 2003|01:12am] [ mood | sleepy ] I'm beginning to see a pattern... It looks Like I'd be Jean Grey... She is my Favorite X-Woman, so that's cool with me :) 1 comment|post comment

[16 May 2003|09:38pm] [ mood | bored ] post comment

TGIF [16 May 2003|06:25pm] [ mood | bored ] As they say, Thank God it's Friday! I'm just tired from the last 2 weeks... even with taking Wednesday off and sleeping late I just feel drained. Practically nothing happened today at work. I finished my end of the year report, 5 pages long... Fun stuff. shimmerize and I might go to see Matrix tonight after she gets off work, that would be AWESOME, I'm really excited about seeing it even though it's gotten mixed reviews and I've heard that you have to see it twice to make much sense of it. Right now I'm watching the first Matrix, even though I've seen it probably 20 times but I wanted to watch it again before I saw the new one. I've also been rereading the whole Run of X-Treme X-Men, I can't say enough how I love the Liquid Colors over Larroca's pencils. I also love the Team, though it all seems to be up in the air right now. Guess we'll see who's on the team after GLMK II ends. I personally hope that Igor Kordey isn't on the book too long, though I like his style on X-Treme better then his stint on Cable. I can't pinpoint exactly what I don't like, but it's just not crisp enough for me and his lines are a bit too rounded. I just don't like the way he draws their faces or anatomy (I guess that almost everything huh? hehehe). They just don't look like the characters I know and love to me. He is a good storyteller though and can convey Claremont's script very well through his art. I will have to say that I've lived through worst artists though, so I'll survive. Guess that's it for now, maybe I'll write again later if I feel the urge. post comment

Comic Book Day shouldn't start off this way.... [14 May 2003|06:22pm] [ mood | content ] 1 am, Wednesday, May 14, 2003 Loud pounding on my door, over and over. I go to answer it, and I'm surly from being woken from the first decent sleep I've had in 2 weeks. Matt greets me at the door and says, "The Big Screen TV is Missing" and I go "What?" and he repeats himself. I tell him to call the campus police and that I'd be over in the lounge in a second. I run to go put on some clothes. When I arrive the spot where the 62" Sony TV use to sit is now occupied by an end table. I decide that maybe since construction will begin on this section of the building soon, that maintenance may have moved it for safe-keeping. I go to check every room in the Administration building (where the TV is) and find nothing. At this point I'm upset and get a sick feeling in my stomach. It reminds me of those quotes you hear parents say on TV, "See, this is why we can't have nice things." I call the Asst. Director of Housing and he says to check and see what's going on in the morning and if maintenance doesn't know what happened to it then file a police report and we'd take if from there. The campus police arrive and I tell them what we're going to do. It doesn't make me feel any better, it just makes me think, "Why do people steal things? what is the point, it only hurts the rest of the residents." So I spend the whole rest of the night tossing and turning feeling ill. I get up earlier then usual, go into work and find Dick, our maintenance mechanic, and I tell him the story. He starts to laugh and thinks it's funny until I tell him I've been up all night worrying. Not his fault, but he tells me he hid it and shows me where it is. I was finally relieved but I took the day off sick to sleep, since I didn't all night. Anyway, now I'm feeling better.... I woke up at 12 and shimmerize and I decided to go pick up our comics and get lunch. We went to Lost Realms, got our stuff, talked a little while and went to McDonald's. Came home, read our comics and are now playing on the internet in her office. I wrote reviews on some of the comics I got today and you can read them on wednesdaycomics post comment

My Precious..... yesss... [13 May 2003|04:07pm] [ mood | ecstatic ] [ music | Billy Joel's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 ] On a brighter note I got my Blackcat minibust today in the mail, which is very exciting! That brings me up to 5 mini-busts and 2 mini-statues. For those of you who don't know, my office is quickly becoming a comic-lovers dream. I have 6 lithographs framed and hanging on my walls; a 1960's Marvel retro theme by Art Adams, Elektra by Greg Horn, the cover of Daredevil No. 1 by Quesada, A large Avengers vs. X-Men, The Death of Phoenix Acetate Print (like an animation cel except 24" x 36") signed by Jae Lee and the new Phoenix print by Michael Linsner. Then I have my busts and statues. I love being in my office, it makes me feel at peace. It's like a haven for me. It's what I always wanted for an office, comic book art prints and statues of my favorite characters. A couple of my staff members and residents in my complex have taken a keen interest in it. One resident I had in for a Judicial hearing was wide eyed and after we finished his hearing he goes, "Can I look around around a little before I leave," just like a kid in a candy store... It's just awesome, because that's how i feel surround by all these things. I also love being a part of LJ now. I have found a lot of interesting people on here, who have the same love of comics I do. I also like being a resource for people new to the media. I've been giving sweetyuk suggestions on X-Men TPBs to read and how to get into the universe. I was telling her that I envy her because she gets to discover this whole new world and sometimes I wish I could do that again. On the other hand, it's really hard to get into comics, I remember how over whelming it was when I first started to really get into it. It also drove me nuts that I didn't know certain history and until some of the TPBs came out a few years ago I was in the dark because back issues get really expensive really quick. Ebay has also become a great market to find the issues you're missing. It's also great that Marvel and DC and some of the other companies have become so dedicated to TPBs. They are great way to get into comics easily and most importantly CHEAPLY. Ok.... now I need to go back to work again. 8 comments|post comment

Work work work all day long, work work work while sing this song... [13 May 2003|03:12pm] [ mood | working ] [ music | Alice in Chains "Unplugged" ] I went through yesterday in a daze. 3.5 hours of sleep will do that too you. I also slowly became more and more insane as the day wore on. I just got annoyed yesterday, it's been 2 weeks of straight administrative work, weekdays and weekends and one of my desk workers screwed up half the keys for the residents who are checking in. I just couldn't take it anymore so I took off at 12 and my fiancee, shimmerize and I went to run errands. Went to Longhorn for lunch fast since both of us were starved and then went shopping. She had a pretty good haul, getting cool stuff at Sanrio and Hot Topic. I got a pair of shorts and a few shirts for work. Then we went home, I was pissed and grumpy every time someone called about something wrong at my office, it was driving me nuts. So we left again, went to Barnes and Noble for a while and then had some dinner at Ruby Tuesday's. Today I'm just kind of out of it because I didn't sleep too well, I had nightmares all last night. It's just weird because I never have any dreams I remember, let alone nightmares. It was probably from the lack of sleep and the long day. Today has been pretty normal, just work work work, but at least I'm in a somewhat better mood... post comment

I love the Devil... THE DEVIL I SAY!!! [11 May 2003|11:10pm] The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Second Level of Hell! Here is how you matched up against all the levels: Level Score Purgatory (Repenting Believers) Very Low Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers) Low Level 2 (Lustful) Extreme Level 3 (Gluttonous) Very High Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious) Moderate Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy) Low Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics) Extreme Level 7 (Violent) High Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers) High Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous) Moderate Take the Dante's Inferno Test post comment

Why Won't they Just stop Calling [11 May 2003|09:48pm] [ mood | okay ] [ music | Elvis Presley - "Only Fools Rush In" ] So, Technically Sunday is one of my days off, but since people are checking in this weekend I'm "Mr. Answer-Man." I swear I was called at least a dozen times today about peoples keys not being right, or their room not being clean, or someone who was suppose to move out didn't. And of course on top of all this a resident comes to me and says "I need to see you." Which just makes this, "Just not my day...." Oh well, that's ok, that's what happens in this field. Tomorrow should be quieter and I think I'll be taking a half day, because the last 2 weeks have really made me tired and I haven't been able to spend time with my Fiancee at all. This week will be my week to seek my inner peace and regain balance hehehehe. Sometime this week or next I'm getting started again on the Comic I'm writing. If you don't know it, Marvel is accepting submissions for their "New" line called Epic. Old name, new concept. Anyone can submit scripts or artwork and try to get published, so me being the Marvel and Comic-man I am, decided that I would throw my hat into the ring. I've got a pretty good plot and story idea for a brand new series and everyone I've talked to about it thinks it sounds "fasinating" so here's hoping Marvel thinks the same thing and I become a published comic writer and get a nice big check :) OH! This just in..... "LOS ANGELES (AP) - Mutants preserved their power at the box office as "X2: X-Men United" remained the No. 1 movie, taking in $41.4 million in its second weekend. "X2," the sequel based on the comic book about genetic mutants with superpowers, lifted its 10-day total to $149 million after an opening weekend of $85.6 million, the fourth best of all-time. By Wednesday, "X2" should pass the $157.3 million that "X-Men" took in during its entire run three years ago, said Bruce Snyder, head of distribution for 20th Century Fox, which released both movies." I'm going to see it again soon, don't know when yet.... but this is great news that means at the very least we'll be seeing a trilogy out of this and I couldn't ask for anything more. X2 was like a dream come true for me, and as much as i liked the first one, this one was Leaps and Bounds better. 2 X's as good, dare I say hahaha. Anyway... I'm really glad Heather gave me a LJ, I really enjoy going through the comic communities and sharing my knowledge and love of comics. I have a deep burning passion for comics, only surpassed by my deep burning passion for a certain woman named Heather. And I just love sharing that with people, I'm not the person to come up and seriously ask, "So tell me the background of the X-Men" because I will literally talk to you for hours on end about their history, story lines, character bios and everything else. Hell the holy "Summers' family tree" would take an hour :) Ok, I guess that's if for tonight.... not that interesting of a day... post comment

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