On a cold January morning, 05:00, my parents drove a VW across the frozen York River Bridge to get to Ft. Eustis Army Hospital. There was an average of 23" of snow on the ground as it was the Blizzard of '66. At 14:00 hrs, a 10 lbs. baby was brought into the world. 43 years later, that 10 lbs. baby posted 9 lyrics from Husker Du, apparently the first lyrics from that band to be posted.

This is strictly coincidence. A lot has happened over the last year. My comic collection is now completely organized for only the second time in my life. I managed to go to the Wizard World Philadelphia comic convention, where I had a blast: meeting writers and artists like Greg Laroque, Peter David, Chris Claremont, and Michael Golden. I got a lot of autographs, bought a lot of odds and ends, and had a great time in my beloved hobby and passion. My son is now several months into a residential treatment center, which has made an amazing difference in his temperment. His therapy has taken great strides forward, and we could be looking at him coming home in a month or so. After all we've been through up to now, these last couple of months has been amazing and encouraging. My ex-wife is preparing for deployment into Iraq with her National Guard unit. I'm not really sure how I feel about that, but of course I wish her well. Nothing new on the job front: funny thing is, last year I was writing about the Trade Show, and the Trade Show for this year is just ending. There have been some changes in the office personnel however: mostly departures. I, however, continue to hang on. I have bought a lot of music (some new, some old), movies (again, some new some old), and a lot of comics (one more time...). I spent a goodly bit of time last night listening to Jesus and Mary Chain, Jim Capaldi, Missing Persons, and Paul Simon. Yeah, a pretty strrange mix, I know. I had really not felt the motivation to maintain this journal, but I had time today, with very few interruptions, and it was a strange sort of anniversary.

It's rare that I make a Sunday entry, but I seem to have the time, so... My beloved Redskins started off the Season well, defeating Miami by the predicted 3 points, in overtime. I had my usual role-game Saturday night, and had a good time catching up to friends I hadn't seen in a couple of weeks. Saw the ex-wife today: weird, as always, but I really do want her to be able to be involved with our son, even if we can't be married. Helped my sister with a bookcase that my friends (who are moving) didn't want or need anymore. Nothing new on my comics (as yet) although i anticipate picking up ten more boxes (bringing me to 24) and eliminating a huge pile of short boxes. There were several good reads out this week, and it was a fairly large week for me. Countdown, Batman Annual, Supergirl, Nova, Wraith, Exiles, Excalibur, Uncanny X-Men, Captain America: The Chosen, Jonah Hex, and more besides. Therapy with my son tomorrow, and court on Tuesday (an advisement hearing). A full week, but hopefully the Trade Show will mean less stress for those of us stuck in the office (about 3/4 of us will be gone, but I am not one of them). May try to end tonight with a movie: I am feeling like watching the fight sequences in the Matrix: Reloaded. I kinda wish the Journal feature here had a Rich Text option: I would chose the Verdana font, and use a larger font size.

Another Labor Day come and gone. I spent Saturday helping friends move, and most of the rest of the weekend recovering from the 13 hour ordeal. Summer is winding down fast, and I couldn't be happier. Soon, the cool air of Fall will blow in, followed by the rampant cold of Winter. New comics come tonight (due the holiday, shipping is delayed one day), so I'll have some time tonight to read in peace. I figure I'll stop off home first, change, then walk over to the comic shop. Hopefully, I'll have some money in my account: the IRS put a lien on my account, instead of accepting the payment plan I wanted, so twice now, I've suddenly had no money when I was counting on it being there. I'll be glad when this is over. It wouldn't have even been necessary, but in order to make ends meet, I had to tap my IRA early, and I thought I had paid sufficient penalty, apparently I hadn't. Oh, well, it's nothing I want to think about right now.

It's a Wednesday night which means two things: therapy, and new comics. Guess which one I'm looking forward to. The multi-family group sessions for my son aren't so terrible, except, sometimes I feel as though they aren't working. I feel like he just wants to smoke dope, and doesn't want to get straight, and it's hard to keep caring and keep doing all the work for him. I mean, what the fuck is so great about pot anyway? So, selfishly, I am looking forward to new comics.

Not a lot happening, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Considering how tummulteous things have been over the last few years, a few quiet days are a good thing. I have attempted to re-energize my writing, and work on organizing my comic collection. Last night was a fairly large $$$ night for new comics: Countdown, Green Lantern Corps, X-Men: Endangered Species, Iron Man, Thunderbolts, Mystic Arcanna, Superman # 666, JSA Classified: Mr. Terrific, WW Hulk Gamma Corps, and assorted others. Wednesdays are always high points for me. Comic collecting has been a source of joy for me most of my life. If I could get myself so motivated, I would pursue the ambition of writing comics professionally. At times, I think it could still happen: I am such a perfectionist however, and can get so disorganized mentally, I have a hard time disciplining myself to write. On other points, I am going to try to remember to pick up some blank CDs so I can create a few CDs for gaming nights. Often, I want to hear specific songs, but don't want to cycle through an entire album. My Mortal Kombat Megamix is a nice collection of tunes appropriate for action-oriented RPGing. I have recently acquired several songs I would like to have collected in one place that I can listen to away from the computer. I also have some holes in my comic collection to fill in, so I will probably also make a purchase from Midtown in the near future. It's Thursday: only one more work-day to go and then it's the weekend. I will be so glad to get away from the phone for a couple of days.

I have not gone to a concert or been to see a band perform live in some years now. But, in my lifetime, I have been fortunate enough to see KMFDM, Lords of Acid, Marylin Manson, Monster Magnet, The Cure, The Moody Blues, R.E.M., The Pixies, Love & Rockets, The Fixx, and a few others. (I narrowly missed out on Rush, INXS, and Led Zeppelin). While I much prefer the studio versions of songs, there is something to be said about attending the live performances, particularly when the bands are wildly enthusiastic about their performances. Happy reflections of good times past. I'll have to give some thought to going to some concerts in the future.

As per usual, it's new comic night. I'm not sure what all is coming out, but I'm looking forward to it. Besides reading comics, I also run a role-playing game on Saturday nights. I write stuff for the game: new characters, plots and storylines, and modifications to powers, skills, and special equipment. My game campaign world is set in the year 2014, so I come up with ways to subtly advance the level of technology of the world we know, while keeping things familiar to the players. I create alien races, I write my versions of the gods of mythology, and I create entire planes of reality. The system we use primarily is the Palladium game system. I draw off of other games I've played for source material, such as Marvel Super-Heroes, DC Heroes, Champions, Shadowrun, AD&D, Gammaworld, Top Secret, MERP, GURPS, Twilight 2000, and Cyberpunk. I try to take time out in the week to write stuff, partly because I like to, and partly because it's good mental therapy. Sometimes, I feel as if I need my hobby in order to not feel overwhelmed with life and all it seems to throw my way.

Tonight is my last night with my therapist. Not that I am necessarily better, nor am I wanting to end things, but this is all the time I have been alloted. Mixed feelings, but then I had mixed feelings about getting back into therapy for myself anyway. I think some good has come out of it, although perhaps not as much as I would have liked. Not much else really goes on: there are a lot of details that I don't go into here, partly to protect my own privacy, but partly because I don't see a point to writing them down. Besides, I'm a better talker than writer. Or, typer, in this case. I'll be glad when the hot months of Summer are over. And yes, I know that means that the pretty girls will go back to covering up, which is a downer, but dammit, I'm tired of the miserable heat and humidity. I'm tired of the high electric bill for the A/C. I'm tired of not being able to wear jackets (long story) because it's too hot. I am not a "boy of Summer". I don't have a 'beach body', nor do I surf, or anything else associated with Summer. I am more of a Winter person, except for the Christmas season. I could do without the whole Silly Season: the crass commercialism, the forced family events, the whole thing. I vote for moving Christmas to Summer, and having Winter vacation instead.

Okay, somehow I stopped paying atention for a long while. Anyway: not too much to report here. Stuff with my son (Court stuff) is still looming large, and will undoubtably be heart-breaking for all of us. I try to be supportive of him as he grows through this tough time in life, but at the same time, he brought this down on himself. As for myself, I am still collecting comics (since about 2003). Although I had quit back in 1992, I kept the majority of my old collection, and my tradepaperbacks and graphic novels, and other stuff. I always loved collecting, and am glad to be back into it. The industry is not what it once was, but there is still good stuff out there. I am particularly fond of: Annihilation: Conquest. A good series, using several good characters from Marvel history. Nova and Starlord are my particular favorites, but Wraith and Quasar are also good. World War Hulk. Also a damn good read. The Hulk has never been more Incredible, more savage and angry than he is here. Virtually every hero in the Marvel universe is feeling the sting of the Hulks' rage. Endangered Species. A series of 8-page back-ups in the various X-Men titles, this story deals with the Beast attempting to deal with the fact that there are only 198 mutants left on Earth, and no new ones are being born (as a result of the events in the House of M story). Countdown. DC has set forth a series of series beginning with the Identity Crisis mini-series, moving into Infinite Crisis, and carrying on through "52". This latest magnum opus series deals with the return of DCs' Multiverse, and several characters will see big changes coming. Sinestro Corps Wars. Longtime Green Lantern foe Sinestro has put together a crew of villains who could literally shake the foundations of the Universe. Fear is their weapon, and they have it in spades. Both Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps have never been so interesting (except for the Green Lantern/Green Arrow arc from the 70s). My music recommendations for this entry include: That Petrol Emotion. An Irish band from the late eighties/early ninties, with powerful commentary and artful lyrical talent. Both Babble and Chemicrazy are great albums. Shriekback. I can't say enough good about them, but I am particularly attached to the songs Newhome, Nerve, My Careful Hands, My Spine is the Baseline, and Nemesis. Lou Reed. New Sensations is my latest purchase. Actually, I had owned this album on cassette many years ago, but only recently was able to replace it on CD. Lou Reed continues to display his storytelling gifts, bringing his life in lyrics, much as with the Velvet Underground. Jefferson Starship. Nuclear Furniture. Once again, an older album I was finally able to replace with a CD version. Evrything good about the Jefferson Starship is found here. They have left behind the pyschadelia of the Airplane days, and continued to evolve and adapt. The previous album Winds of Change was also quite good, but they improved on themselves dramatically with Nuclear Furniture. If you liked the song "I Came Back From The Jaws Of The Dragon", then you'll like this album.