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09:14pm 14/01/2009
  So, I was one of the lucky 5,000 who were able to get tickets to the Inaugural Parade through Ticketmaster, which means we have a couple of seats in the bleachers right along the parade route. The 5,000 tickets were sold out in less than a minute, but I still was able to score two for Ant and I. Hooray! If we survive the horrible city closures and security checkpoints which are already seriously fucking up the city, I'll share pictures!

-m.		  
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08:36am 28/10/2008
  It's only been 94 weeks since my last post!

Well, things are going decent. This coming weekend Anthony and I are photographers for a wedding, plus doing an album cover shoot for a singer/songwriter, then in a few weeks we're doing a couple of photoshoots for/with a class of about thirty five 6-18 year old girls who are going into modeling. This month is apparently the month for work for us. Today we're finishing up a nature photography class that we joined in September, which has taught us a lot and brought us back to our original photo focus.

Otherwise, work, sleep, and video games are a constant source of annoyance/revivement/relaxation. Maybe I'll post again before another 94 weeks!

-m.		  
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01:22am 06/01/2007
  So, this new year starts with Anthony finding out he's getting laid off only because his company is requiring at least one person from each dept be let go for transparency sake. Since this has been his dream job, he's quite upset about it. On the good side, his boss and coworkers have already found him a few other job offers at the same rate he's making now and working at similar companies doing what he does now - and they want him as a consultant as well since no one else can fill in for him once he's gone. His boss even offered himself in place of Anthony, which goes to show how unique and amazing his job has been. It looks like he should be hearing confirmation from one of the job offers by Tuesday anyways, still a few days before his final day at work. It saddens me greatly, because I'll be losing a good deal of friends that I've made with his coworkers as most of them were very good people who treated me as family. Not to mention my soulmate losing his dream job, his first job in his life that meant more to him than any other position.

Anthony is holding up good though, despite the sadness we both share. We're both hoping against hope that in no time they'll offer his position back to him, but we both know we can't hold our breath waiting for that. At any rate, it's been a stressful week.

-m.		  
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12:24pm 23/12/2006
  Happy Holidays to all!

(i'm posting this from my wii!)

-m.		  
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09:31pm 11/11/2006
  Well, it's been awhile again...

My nephew moved back home as of this past Monday, after being jobless for a few months - that's ok, we're tired of being parents as we aren't good at it - just ask the kitties!

In other news, I got to play with the Wii today - just Excite Truck at the local Gamestop, but it was still fun enough and awesome enough for me to still want to continue as planned for a launch day purchase. Otherwise, it's almost Thanksgiving, so we'll soon be heading back to Ohio for the holiday, and then off to Vegas a few weeks later to visit my parents.

I know it's a small update, but it's been busy lately.

More later!

-m.		  
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asd   
02:06am 04/09/2006
  Well, it's only been about four months since I last posted...ah well, things get busy.

Have spent the past four months being parents to my nephew - there are ups and downs, but he's a good kid and we're doing our best to direct him and give him full opportunity at this time. He finished his internship with Anthony's company this past week, and is now job searching. He was going to move back after the internship ended, but now he's decided on trying it out here, which I think is his best option.

I've been working for 2 months now at a place just a few blocks from Anthony's workplace in DC, called NRI. Just a few blocks from the White House, and I spend my days (and too many late nights) printing small and large format (up to 60" by 100+" - that's 5 feet by 8 feet and beyond!), doing layout and correction in photoshop, indesign, and other fun programs. It's a great, fulfilling, trying position filled with something always new - but I'm constantly working overtime, occasional weekends, and usually only getting home in time to eat, go to bed, and start the day again. This has been putting strain on Anthony's and my relationship, as we don't get the time together that we used to. He just had a week long conference out in Phoenix as well, which was more time apart, and that wasn't much fun. But, we have tomorrow off, and will be spending it together, which will certainly make up for some of the missed time.

Otherwise, I still don't know where I stand medical wise, as I won't have insurance until October, and therefore can't continue to be checked out without great expense. Hopefully I'll soon set up an appt and get the final tests done. The CT scans and biopsy all came back with the same info - nothing noticed, so it's on to xrays of the lower intestine when I can get back in. Fun.

The Canadian paperwork is almost done - the initial stage anyways. Then we'll have to get together supporting documents, and then after a rather large payment, the future will be in the hands of the consulate office in Buffalo, NY. I can hardly wait!!! Our self-set goal is to be full citizens (and hopefully ready to move) by Jan 1st, 2008.

The tropical depression that was once Ernesto hit us pretty hard here - we were without power for over 24 hours, and that does not make for fun. And now another one is on the way, hurrah!

So, that's it for the past 4 months or so. Hopefully I'll update again before January. :)

-m.		  
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01:14pm 27/04/2006
  www.responsibleshopper.org to find out information, good and bad, on your favorite products/companies/etc.

-m.		  
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Tee minus one   
02:31pm 13/04/2006
  So, tomorrow is the day my nephew Josh arrives, sometime in the evening. I also go in for my CT scan tomorrow afternoon, that's supposed to be quite low-key and most likely nothing will be found. Previous bloodwork came back to show no parasites, so yay for that. And in 3 weeks or so, I'll know about the biopsy results (which is done in every colonoscopy, apparently, of healthy tissue). So, yeah. It's been busy!

To top it off, I had the interview Wednesday with the possible Xerox/contract job, and it went well, although the money amount seems a little low to me (less than I was making before, anyways). Tuesday I had a phone interview with another contract company for a job at the State Department - and then they had me in for a real interview yesterday as well. It's quite an experience, going there...the most secure building I've visited in DC hands down. Anyway, it'd be a full time permanent job unlike the other, and more money, and the interviews went well, so I'm hopeful for that one. Sure, I'll have to adjust working 7 floors below Condi Rice. But again, it's always all up in the air until an offer is made and accepted, which hasn't happened anywhere yet. Anyway, that's where I stand on the job front.

Otherwise, we finally got rid of an old bed that was in the spare bedroom, so Josh can move his futon in. I'm cautiously optimistic about his moving in, despite some obvious concerns, but I think it'll be fine.

More to come!

-m.		  
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02:17pm 10/04/2006
  I survived the dual-scoping, but the cat scan wasn't setup for today, so I have to set up an appt for that, they took some tissues for biopsy which is apparently a common thing, but they did confirm a hiatal hernia (which is basically another esophegal problem to go along with my narrow esophagus), and the biopsy info won't be back for 3 weeks or so, and in the mean time I'll get a cat scan. My drugs to knock me out were on the weak side, else I'd still be out of it right now, but that was ok. It was a little painful, but I did get to watch it a bit, and that was kind of cool.

So, not really any new news on it, but at least there doesn't seem to be any major concern in my abdomen as far as tumors/etc, which is definately cause for relief.

In other news, I have an interview on Wednesday for a contract job with Xerox, which would last a year and a half. I'm pretty hopeful, and I think Xerox would pay fairly decently as well, and I don't mind the temporary aspect as our lives in this area is pretty temporary anyways. That's it for now, more later!

-m.		  
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11:53am 05/04/2006
  So, had the appt yesterday, went fairly well. The specialist believes it's nothing but allergies, but obviously it's going to take more than just looking at me to be sure on it, so next Monday I go in for an endoscopy, colonoscopy, and possibly stomach cat scan and another chest xray. So, I have to go through some fun prep stuff of drinking 4 liters of some prescription water like substance 12 hours before it, so that should be interesting.

On the good side of things, I'll be probably getting a double dose of demerol, or some other drug, and will be so far into la-la land, I won't care that they're prodding me. Anyway, that's it for now, more to come whenever the results come in from those tests.

-m.		  
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Well...   
12:13am 02/04/2006
  Sorry, I'm not clever enough to come up with good April Fool's day jokes. Honestly, I got laid off as of Friday. Also, we got word today from Ryan (confirmed not an April Fool's Day joke either) that he won't be moving in because Cedar Point has given him a good offer that he can't pass up. My nephew will still be coming though, probably in a few weekends from now, and now via plane instead of in Ryan's car.

But I must say I do appreciate those of you who thought I was clever enough to try to pull a fast one about the job. The good news is my boss gave me a contact with Freddie Mac (pseudo-government company) that's looking for someone just like me, so hopefully it'll be a very short unemployment phase.

Oh, and it's after midnight, so now you have to believe me for real. :)

-m.		  
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10:24am 01/04/2006
  And to top it off, I got laid off yesterday.

-m.		  
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the move-in   
01:41pm 31/03/2006
  So, in early/mid April - sometime after the 9th of April, that is, my nephew (20) and his best friend Ryan (21) will be moving in with us for an undisclosed amount of time. We've always had the option open to Josh and Ryan, as they're good kids and there's only so much one can do with their lives in a shitty shitty place like Michigan. Plus, my nephew has been itching to move out, to the point he almost (quite stupidly) bought a trailer that was 25 years old. The kid has no credit, but was approved for the amount necessary, but it would've been all his, and he would've had his friend live with him and pay half the bills (despite said friend mentioning constantly that if it didn't work out he could just move back home, thusly sticking Josh with all the responsibility). Fortunately, he thought it over enough and will be trying out here for a few months instead, looking at schools and a job starting out in the computer world. Ryan, his best friend, is going to try to work at King's Dominion or Six Flags as he's big into theme parks and worked at Cedar Point last summer. We've got a lot of house to clean, and it'll be a pretty big responsibility for me, as these kids are the closest thing to me having my own kids I'd ever get (especially since I used to babysit Josh since he was an infant).

To top this off, my body is all whacky. My stomach has been bothering me, and there was a bump on my scalp that needed checking out by the doc, so I went in for a checkup and blood tests. The bump turned out to be nothing, apparently it's a common cyst sort of thing that if it does get to big, they can remove it real easily. However, my bloodwork wasn't so good news. I'm definately anemic, so I'm on iron pills now (and no, it's not because I'm a vegetarian, I love how people fall into that myth) - but my blood is also showing that I'm fighting something. It's possibly a parasite, but I've only been out of the country once, and that was 7 years ago, which seems a long time to me, and somewhat unlikely. There's also an outside chance it's cancer, but that's quite unlikely as the pain comes and goes, and isn't always in the same spot. Regardless, we're not sure yet. I'm going to see a gastroenterologist next week for more poking and prodding after 3 blood drawings, a chest xray, and other tests that don't require mentioning - except that I thought of a great line when the doctor was about to do a prostate exam and said "Have you ever had this done before?" - of course immediately I wanted to say "Not by a doctor!" but alas, I didn't go there. :)

Despite all this fun-ness, we're still slowly but surely working on our canadian paperwork. Much fun for us all. I'll update more when I find out what's wrong with me, and once the kids get in town and how that all goes. At least things aren't boring here! :) More later.

-m.		  
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Vacation time...   
10:06am 02/03/2006
  Well, Saturday we leave for Vegas, as Anthony has a conference out there all next week, and since we didn't go see my parents in Dec., we're going now. Unfortunately Anthony will have class all day, but I'm sure we'll still have fun after he gets out - and it'll be nice to have some time with the parents too. Here's to hoping we win enough money to pay off the lawyers - and hell, while I'm shooting for it, be financially set for the rest of our lives, too? :)

Of course, we're honestly quite limited in our gambling when we go out there - usually we budget a certain amount a day (depending on how much we're taking with us) just for gambling - if we lose that, we don't gamble anymore. Whatever we have left of that, we take to the house and leave it there. And it's worked pretty good, we come home with near what we left, if not more sometimes. Anyway, we have fun and consider the money gone before spending it, which I think is key. And not to go crazy, as it can be easily addicting (at least for me, anyways).

In other news, I'm about half way through the inital paperwork filing for our eventual move. Unfortunately, it's the easy half - just names, dates of births, that sort of thing. Now all I need is my school, work, and activities from the past 10 years and I'll be near done! :) Anthony still has yet to fill out his, we'll get to work on that when we get back - fortunately he has less to fill out than I do, as I'm the principal applicant.

Hope everyone has a good week next week, I might check in occasionally but it'll be on a limited basis.

-m.		  
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Official Immigration Begins:   
04:47pm 23/02/2006
  Tomorrow, the 24th of February of 2006, I will be making the first official steps towards immigrating to Canada. My goal of doing so has been around for years, as most of you know. By filing paperwork (and the first payment), the process will begin in the eyes of the establishment, and of all others who believe Canada is just a threat of ours on our disgust with the current state of affairs in the United States.

I wrote in here, shortly after the election in 2004, how I was no longer going to accept myself as an American. In the very beginning of the Declaration of Independence, it states: “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

I, therefore, gladly declare the causes to our separation from this country:

The great corruption and the underlying policy of corporate rule for the rich few, and equal substandard care for the many poor. Including, but not limited to, the health care organizations and lobbyist control therein, providing increasingly lackluster health care with increasing costs going only to line the pockets of the wealthy politicians. The wartime corporations, such as Halliburton, GE, Lockheed Martin, who all focus on simply keeping the investors happy, no matter the human costs in times of war. Wal-Mart, and like corporations, who regularly break the laws of this nation with regards to their workers all under the guise of bringing goods to the consumers at a slightly cheaper rate, while pillaging and raping the good Earth around them.

The military wing of the United States, who mostly focus their recruiting efforts on the poor under the pretense of caring for their education, when in reality they only want another body to block the bullets from hitting those looting and pillaging the war torn countries they are stationed in. Supporting any war as they know it'll mean big money for themselves, while accepting the giant cuts that are necessary to health care, education, and many other areas, thus creating a viscous circle (creating more poor to prey on to sign up).

The current administration, for its many, many lies, deaths, and the general destruction and degradation of the country from the inside, from botching disasters to ignoring terrorists to reversing direction on everything this country stands for.

The good majority of Democrats and officials in power claiming to be 'liberal' and being anything but – never even attempting to push same sex marriage, socialized health care, removal of the death penalty, etc., but instead constantly losing elections (or barely holding power) by following their consultants to be 'republican lite' or 'more centrist'

The state of Virginia for failing to recognize any contract between myself and Anthony because of our sexual orientation, for failing to allow legal ramifications for losing his job due to sexual orientation, for failing in general to witness us as two humans who wish to join each other as one in the eyes of the state.

The apathetic population of the country, those who failed to see the disaster of Katrina as a nationwide failure of government, those who failed to see the Iraq war as a nationwide failure of government, those who failed to see the 2004 elections as a nationwide failure of government, those who failed to see how near each and every aspect of this administration serves only itself for benefit, at the cost of these same people. Those who refuse to fight and instead believe there is nothing they can do anyways. I will continue to voice my beliefs and fight as is possible (as still being an American citizen, I will still have the right to vote), but in the current state I no longer feel free as an American citizen.

(While there are many others I could list, for the sake of the reader I'll stop here.)

I am greatly aware that Canada will still have corruption, scandal, political garbage, corporations, apathy, etc. This is something I must accept and try to change from within, as it simply wouldn't be viable to emigrate to say Sweden or somewhere similar. I understand all countries have corruption and problems, but I also understand that I cannot stand idly by and continue to live in the United States while being treated as such. I will not stand for the current illegalities, the current barbarism, the current inaction to recognize myself as no different from a heterosexual, etc.

Most of you are true patriots, and will continue to stick with the country through thick and thin, and I applaud your efforts and your will. Also, do not be saddened by my departure from our mother soil – I look at this forward step as something that hasn't occurred since my great grandfather, Timothy O'Leary, left Ireland around the time of the Famine in search of a better life for himself and his future family and relatives. Very few of us get to experience the joy, the excitement, the fears, the expectations of emigrating from your home to a foreign country, and it is with this, I know how they felt (granted, extremely different circumstances and such). I am excited to expand my horizons, and for these reasons we should all be happy. Because the more we learn about the world at large, the better we can unite as one people, from one Earth, and move forward together. I thank you for reading this, and I'll be sure to keep you updated as our journey progresses!

-m.		  
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....   
12:37pm 17/02/2006
  Wow, I update less and less on here.

We're (*finally*) moving forward with Canada plans - we're sure we still don't have enough money saved up yet, but the paperwork is going to be such a bear, that we'll have time to work on that. We've found a great lawyer that we're going to retain for the process of immigration (what's another $1750 on top of $15 or $16 grand?), which we'll be making the first payment and officially starting the process next week. I've done a bit of the paperwork, man is it draining. After the basic info, they want the past 10 years (or now until 18, whichever is longer) history - not just work history, mind you - volunteering, what you did in your time off, all that jazz. Just thinking about it makes me tired, but it'll all be worth it in the long run.

Speaking of Canada, the conservatives won the election, as I'm sure some of you had heard. Hopefully, not too big of a deal as they don't have majority power, and plus, our party, the NDP, gained ground. If the conservatives do follow with their election promise of bringing back the gay marriage issue for the people to vote on, they have already said no rights would be taken away from anyone currently married - so I guess we'll just have to get married in Canada sooner rather than later if that becomes the issue. I'm thinking it's not too likely though, but who knows.

The NDP (New Democratic Party) recently put forth a proposal for allowing all organs to be donated, unless the person files to not have it done. Personally, I think it's a great idea, especially to help with their waiting times for their health care system (Although a million times better than the US, it still needs serious improvement - nothing is ever perfect with the gov't involved, no?)

Anyway, yeah. We're quite excited. It's still going to take a long time for everything, and we just signed our current lease for another year, so no worries about needing a new address to send christmas cards or the like, we'll have plenty of warning for that. I sure do hate the actual process of moving, but there's so much to do first, I'm not even beginning to be concerned about that yet.

In local news, we're heading to Michigan this weekend for my niece's birthday - she's turned 15 now, christ. Let's just skip that whole 'old' thing - we're going for a real quick trip, leaving tomorrow morning (flying out) and coming back Monday morning. And then, in two weeks, we're heading to Vegas for our delayed yearly trip and because Anthony has a conference for work out there. He won't get much fun time, but he really likes his job, and I'm sure he'll at least enjoy himself as much as possible while he's out there. Hopefully the conf. won't be too boring.

And then by then, we'll be into mid March already. Hopefully I'll get to update again before then, but we'll see. :)

-m.		  
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10:12am 04/01/2006
  Well, the new year has begun. Tomorrow night will mark only the second time (in four years plus) I'll be apart from Anthony for more than a work shift, as it's time for the trip to North Carolina, meeting up with the rest of my family for our Christmas together. Anthony doesn't feel welcome, so he doesn't want to go, and I'm fine with that and understand it as he doesn't like or get along with my brother or sister (less so with the sister though). Despite understanding and being ok with it, I'm going to miss him dearly, and while it'll be fun times with my family, the weekend won't be able to pass fast enough for me to get back home. It probably sounds silly, but well, there it is.

So, I'm heading down to North Carolina, and will at least have a good time seeing my mom and dad and other sister and her family, it'll be a good time. My mom's birthday is Saturday, which is why she wanted us all together, for her birthday and our delayed christmas celebration together, so I'll have some goodies to tell of when I get back.

In other news, there really isn't too much other news. The new year has yet to seperate itself from the previous, for good or for ill. Recently Sammy has taken enjoyment in chasing shadows - on the kitchen floor, or anywhere you're walking. It's funny and bizarre for awhile, but then it just gets sad. :) He's a cutie though and we love all our kitties dearly. Hank still gets carried up to bed nightly by me, and from what I understand from the last time I was gone and Anthony wasn't, he was quite depressed without me - indeed although it's a short trip, I'll miss the kids as well.

After the trip, work should be quite busy, and I'm still supposed to have a calendar to put together, albeit quite late. In other news, Anthony loves his new job and we'll all love it very much in a few weeks when he gets his first full paycheck! :) He's working for a non-evil company in DC, which can be rare - it's a non profit for helping other countries who want to become a democracy - but nothing is forced, it's giving as little or as much help as the country wants. Anyway, if he wants, he can travel to a few rough places, but that probably won't happen - although a site of theirs in Russia might be up for consideration down the road, as we'd both wouldn't mind a trip out there. That's a ways away though.

Well, back to work for now, I'll try to post some more next week sometime.

-m.		  
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12:39pm 23/12/2005
  Happy holidays to all!

I'm looking forward to our standard tradition of christmas together and opening presents and cooking food, it's always a fun, warm time. I hope each of you have a great holiday no matter what you do.

-m.		  
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"Canadian Gov't Defeated"   
08:22pm 28/11/2005
  http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051129/ts_nm/politics_can_dc

So, that news article headline/link talks about the current liberals getting a no-confidence vote, which means elections must be held, which will probably be set for late January. However, it's quite likely that the liberals will come out with the same number of seats, about - right now there are 133 liberals, 98 conservatives, 18 NDPers (New Democratic Party, the one I would like to eventually associate myself with), 4 indies and two vacant seats, for a total of 308 seats. Obviously, by seeing these numbers, you can see that no one group has a majority - if the libs or the conservatives want something to be passed through, they absolutely need some from the opposing side, or from the NDPers and the opposing side. While their politics are far different than here in America, and while it's very likely that politics are still politics up there, I still like seeing these numbers. As my conservative boss says, he's very leery of the fact that the conservatives control the Judicial, Legislature, and Executive branches of the government here in America. One party should never be in full control, because even with the best intentions, one would always leave out the plight of others, whether intentionally or not. Anyway, I thought it was interesting news you all should see. Of course though, my favorite paragraph from the article is as follows:

"The Liberals have been in power since late 1993, when they inherited a C$42 billion budget deficit from the outgoing Conservatives. That budget deficit is long gone, the economy is booming and unemployment is at a 30-year low."

It's like another universe where Clinton stayed in power! ;)

-m.		  
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The week of the Turkey, or Tofurkey, depending on preference..   
10:20am 21/11/2005
  Just wanted to have a quick entry to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, we'll be leaving tomorrow immediately after work, off to Ohio to be with Anthony's family for the holiday. For a short period, we will be breaking our vegetarianism, since we both find it unfair to ask our hosts, Anthony's wonderful aunt and uncle, to have to cater to us specifically when worrying about feeding the rest of the family. Anyway, the best food they have is their amazing stuffing, which lacks meat, so it's all good anyways.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a healthy, safe, and stress-free fun holiday weekend. Enjoy the traditions you follow, or make up new ones, but enjoy the company of your loved ones, both friends and family, and be thankful for them all. Happy holiday!

-m.		  
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rflagg
 
 
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