Manager Biography
My name is Matthew Justin Geiger; I currently hold a BS in physics and psychology based politics from Allegheny College of Meadville, Pennsylvania. I am the creator and site manager of the Washington Outsider. Originally a "zone" of Helium.com, I decided to recreate my political webpage into an independent website when Helium decided to further drop support for their zones community. Any parties interested in sponsoring this site or looking to offer suggestions may contact myself, the Site Manager, via the comment box on the Contact US page, send an email to editor@washingtonoutsider.org, or call us at (412) 206-1163.
Having published two novellas, Alien Assimilation and The Survivor, a short story collection, Dreaming of Other Realities, and a poetry collection, A Candle Shrouded by Darkness through Kindle Direct Publishing and Create Space, I am currently working on a larger book that I have long wanted to write. As I allow my creative juices and new writings to stew, I am retrofitting a back log of unpublished projects, so they can live up to higher standards and be available to my readers shortly. On the docket for now, I have one book, one novella, one sci-fi short story collection, half a thriller/horror short story collection, another book, and a nonsci-fi short story collection Here's a small sample from the book I'm currently revising: "A thick blanket of white show covered the river of evergreen trees and underbrush. Through the rows of pines and spruces, deer silently played as an incalculable number of smaller mammals and insects slumbered, waiting for the return of spring. In an instant, an ear splitting pulse of sound shattered the serenity as an ominous black cloud filled the clear blue sky. The inhabitants of the forest jolted awake in a cry of terror while the evergreen trees dropped mounds of white dust under the influence of an unknown force. A tremendous weight suddenly dropped from the sky, pushing the air down like a hammer. The creatures of the forest could feel the oxygen being forced out of their lungs as they desperately tried to hold onto life. In turn, the unseen force only pushed down harder. Frightened deer looked to the sky. It fluttered like water and turned even darker as a shiny black mass drifted downward. With that, the entire forest began warping around itself. Seconds later, the object hit the Earth. The impact zone twisted inward and exploded outward. A shock wave slammed into the surrounding trees. The evergreens burned as animals turned to dust. Only moments had passed, but the forest was now dead and blackened." My favorite genres of movies and television shows are comedies, science fiction, fantasy, and psychological thrillers; whereas, my preferred music styles are rock, heavy metal, and classical music. I also enjoy playing video games, such as Morrowind, God of War, Starcraft and Unreal Tournament, while four of my favorite fictional book series are Dune, Battlefield Earth, The Lord of the Rings, and The Foundation Trilogy. Furthermore, I like riding bike and jogging along with playing bass guitar. In addition, my drink of choice is tea (I am always looking for a new variety to try) while I also appreciate a fine cup of coffee, as well as "harder" drinks, now and again. Meanwhile, I have enjoyed writing as a hobby for several years. What started off as a goal to improve my writing skills turned into a pastime that has stayed with me since my sophomore year in high school. At first, I used short stories to experiment with various writing styles and voices. As I enjoy many different kinds of books, I wanted to reach a broad audience; however, my favorite genre was and always will be science fiction as it pushes the limits of creativity and goes beyond reality to powerfully explore human nature. I have always tried to write stories that everyone can enjoy no matter what their favorite genres or reading level are. Moreover, I want to teach people original and fascinating things, so I have tried to teach myself to write in a manner that allows weaker readers to enjoy my works while building their reading skills. After spending some time with short stories, I moved onto writing novellas as a means of testing my ability to tell a fuller story without boring my readers while I also strived to give the many people, who lack the time to read, the opportunity to keep their reading skills sharp by using the shorter format. Finally, in my senior year of high school, I was required to complete a graduation project, so I naturally chose to write a science fiction book called The Invader's Diary. I received many compliments on the creativity and descriptive nature of the writing, but sadly I have yet to have my book professionally published. Meanwhile, my long time English teacher, who really focused on the technical aspects of writing, introduced me to poetry; in college, I not only continued my writing hobby, but became the only natural science major on the Allegheny Literacy Review editorial board at the time. Entering college a year after the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001, I had a strong interest in politics and world events. Science, however, was my true love and, since physics is by far the most challenging, as well as the most fundamental, study, I have always wanted to be a physicist. Even though friends and family continually push me toward teaching, I feel studying science is equivalent to being a teacher to the world as the discoveries made by researchers contribute to all of society while providing new knowledge and skills to the masses. It is so very unfortunate that the number of opportunities in the sciences for the American people have decline so drastically in recent years. Because I enjoy learning and have so many interests, I tried to maximize my collegiate experience. At first, I wanted to major in physics and triple minor in political science, psychology, and writing, or accounting. In high school, I enjoyed accounting and economics, but my only collegiate experience in these subjects was working as a part-time accounting clerk in my college's accounting while I was a student. Due to time constrains, I eventually chose to double major in physics and psychology based politics. The inspiration for my second, self-designed major came from a concept known as civically responsible science; the concept requires scientists focus not only on ethics, which seek to avoid and minimize the negative impact of research on a community, but the needs of the community as well. Psychology based politics is roughly a curriculum that includes a wide variety of courses in psychology and broad political science topics that I felt would allow me the opportunity to use scientific methods to improve the analysis of social, psychological, legal, economic, and international issues. Moreover, I designed the degree, so I could bring the needs of society to the attention of the scientific community and vice versa. Furthermore, the active political scene since September 11th, 2001 has given me plenty of opportunities to develop my tools and test the effectiveness of my studies. While moving through my political science curriculum, many of my classes corresponded to world and domestic events, thus giving me a particularly strong opportunity to learn. Moreover, I had a broad group of friends in college who studied very diverse subjects and came from very different worlds; we would often spend hours upon hours discussing political, social, and world issues among other subjects. As I am from a fairly conservative community, yet went to a local school, which was fairly liberal, the only perspective that my group lacked was someone with a strong conservative slant, so I had to fill this role despite my overall moderate stance while my non- Allegheny friends certainly contributed to my thinking as conservatives. I come from a community that once had a very vibrant industrial base; shifts in the domestic market have left the region of Northwestern, PA struggling to rebuild itself while it remains very much technologically and economically depressed. My community is very rich in history as Meadville has long been considered the tool and die capital of the world while Titusville was the birthplace of the oil industry. Furthermore, my long dead uncle James Kiser and his Army Company were the personal bodyguards of Abraham Lincoln; of course, I'm fairly certain my uncle had the day off when Lincoln was assassinated. The most unfortunate aspect of my community's state is that there are an incredible number of extremely intelligent, talented individuals who do not have the opportunity to contribute to the world as they should. Furthermore, Northwest Pennsylvania's education system is fairly strong, which makes the economic issue even more frustrating as the talent we need to thrive is forced to leave the area. Despite coming from a very poor family, I ,at the very least, had the opportunity to become well-educated; whereas, many of the other young people in the area feel the option is beyond their reach while there continues to be a lack of opportunity for most individuals. |
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