User:Davidpmaurer/sandbox

David Patrick Maurer
David Patrick Maurer is an American author, artist, and composer.

Early Years
Maurer was born in Port Huron, Michigan in 1963, and lived in that city until shortly before his 30th birthday.

Personal Life
In the summer of 1979, Maurer got his first 'real job', teaching guitar lessons at Port Huron Music Center in his hometown of Port Huron, Michigan, a working-class town at the junction of the St. Clair River and Lake Huron. It was there that he met store owner Dave Teeple, who hired Maurer and became a profound influence on his life for the next fourteen years.

"Dave Teeple taught me the most important things about work, running a business, and how to treat people. He is a naturally sweet man, genuinely interested in everyone and everything, and the hardest worker I've ever met. He allowed me to learn as much as I was interested in, and sent us to business seminars and brought in sales coaches to teach us how to sell things the right way. This became the basis for Customer for Life. I made a career out of applying those principles."

Eventually, Maurer began to see the limitations of remaining at Port Huron Music Center. While the work was often enjoyable, by the end of his tenure it began to seem repetitious, no matter how many tasks he took on. Since it was a retail job, there were restrictions on how much he could earn, which concerned him more and more as he contemplated starting a family. He searched for other full-time work, but found that Port Huron had little to offer.

In 1993, Maurer left Port Huron for good. He and his then-fiance, Tracy Nicholson, moved to the Detroit suburbs. He secured a position with Quality Computers (later Scantron Quality Computers) selling computer software and hardware to the education market, and eventually became the company's national sales manager. It was during this time that Miranda, the couple's first child, was born (1997). In 2000, they moved to the Minneapolis area to accommodate a job offer that Maurer accepted with JASC Software. Shortly thereafter, they had their second child, Kyle (2000). Although Maurer and the children loved Minnesota, his wife Tracy hated the bitter northern winters. They eventually relocated to Cleveland, Ohio, in 2008. The move had the bonus effect of putting them closer to family again.

Influences
In regard to literature, Maurer has cited the works of Kurt Vonnegut, Terry Pratchett, William Goldman, Christopher Moore, William Burroughs, Stephen King, Clive Barker, and Hunter S. Thompson as influences. At last count, he has read William Goldman's The Princess Bride no less than 47 times, and considers it 'the perfect story'.

Musically, Maurer was influenced from an early age by the music that his parents listened to, such as Neil Diamond, the Monkees, Janis Ian, Pink Floyd, Barbra Streisand, Nazareth, and the Doobie Brothers. In his early teens he began to listen to Andres Segovia, Al Hirt, Rush, Yes, Queen, the Police, and bands introduced to him by friends and other local musicians, such as the Jam, Durutti Column, Prince, Iron Maiden, and King Crimson. Maurer has said that one of his favorite places to visit at this time was a Port Huron record store called Blue Moon Records, an independent store whose owner had eclectic tastes.

"I would walk in on a Saturday afternoon," said Maurer, "and hear Kyoto monks, Rachel Sweet, Chris and Cosey, or the Pretenders, and buy a copy of whatever was playing. Everyone who worked there had terrific taste. I bought as much as I could afford. It was such a cool place!"

Artistically, Maurer has mentioned Klimt, Van Gogh, Mike Mignola, Sam Keith, and Max Ernst as influences. He is also fascinated by the work of Salvador Dali and the pioneers of the Art Nouveau movement.

Writing Career
Maurer maintains an Author Page on Amazon.com, a blog called 'Elsewhen Returns' (devoted primarily to politics), a business blog called 'Work Iz War', a Facebook page under the name 'deepeemaurer', and a Twitter page under '@davidpmaurer'.

Music Career
Maurer received his first guitar at age four, and promptly destroyed it. At age eight, he borrowed his brother Craig's guitar to take lessons from a student teacher after school.

"The action on that guitar was ridiculously high; I could barely hold the strings down, and my fingers ached after every lesson. I didn't know how to tune it or change strings, but I instantly fell in love with that woody vibration against my chest. It just felt so right. I don't know how else to describe it."

At age eleven, his father, Patrick George Maurer, purchased a used clarinet so that Maurer could enroll in band class.

"James Honsinger was our band teacher. He stuttered, but he clearly loved his job. It taught all of us to be patient, waiting for him to get what he wanted to say out there. That was when I first started to sight read and write actual music on paper and experiment with melodies. Before that, I sang everything, even when the music had no words. I learned the rudimentary scales and what each instrument in the band was for - their role - and the a bit about harmony. It was cool to be with other kids that were into music - band geeks. I found my people."

When Maurer turned 13, his father purchased a better quality acoustic guitar (Conn Drifter) that Maurer still owns, and later an electric guitar (Starfield Les Paul) and Peavey amplifier - the beginning of Maurer's love of that brand.

"I'm not a fan of Peavey's Chinese gear," said Maurer, "but their American-made amps and guitars were a great value for the money. They had and have unique sounds, and I use a Peavey Studio Chorus 210 to this day, which I bought after selling a Roland JC-120 because it weighed a ton and had a terrible distortion sound. Peavey gear from the 80's and 90's was built to last, and reliable, and I was lucky enough to get to try a lot of it because I worked at a music store. That was my first exposure to Roland keyboards and drum machines, and Fostex recording gear, too."

Maurer got together with two fellow high school students (Joe Quandt on bass, and Bob Edie on drums) to form the band Kashmere, which played instrumental covers and some of Maurer's original music - without vocals.

"I'm not a fan of my singing voice," Maurer has said. "A couple of the bands that I've been in - sometimes really good ones - fell apart because no one had the balls or the chops to sing. It wasn't until I started working with Jerry (Schoenherr) and Greg (Zauner), both of whom built up my confidence, that I started singing my own songs."

Maurer joined his first 'real' band, Lyghthouse, at 17, when a classmate mentioned that his brother's band was looking for a rhythm guitarist.

"Lyghthouse was everything I needed at that moment," said Maurer. "It was like finding your family. Everyone got along really well, and we did things together outside of the band, which was great at the time, because I was going through some tough times at home. Lyghthouse was an escape. We played all different kinds of music because everyone had different tastes, and we wanted to make sure that got a few songs to play that they especially liked. We met girls together, played a few weddings, parties, school dances, a concert at a local hotel and the local armory - and started to develop our own sound."

Founder John (Greg) Maddox had written an original song called 'Nuclear Baby' that gained some popularity, and his knowledge of electronics led him to build a light board and lighted drum stage - gear that was out of the financial reach of a small town band. Weeks of uninterrupted practice at the secluded farm of their lighting director allowed the band to develop their chops, both in sections and as a band. With each passing gig, their increasing ability and showmanship began to develop a following.

"We played one show where we were the backup band, but sold more tickets than the headliners," said Maurer. "That was a huge surprise - and it felt great. After our set, a lot of people left, which was kind of surreal. We weren't used to that kind of attention. We'd spent the summer in a barn!"

Maurer started writing songs for the band when Maddox left the band to pursue

Politics
Maurer often describes himself as a social liberal and a fiscal conservative. He believes that the U.S. education, law enforcement, and judicial systems are in need of drastic overhauls, but that capitalism is a solid economic model - provided that the participants aren't permitted to game the system.

"Public companies should be about returning value to the shareholders," said Maurer, "not enriching executives and board members. Executive pay should be based on long-term performance, not just cuts. I have no problem with an executive making money, provided that the shareholders get to decide what constitutes a fair wage. Along those lines, I don't believe in golden parachutes. Why in the world would you incentivize someone to leave? That sounds like you made the wrong hiring choice. Why should shareholders have to pay for that?"

Regarding public education, Maurer supports equalized funding nationwide, so that the same amount is spent per student regardless of district, county, or state, and so that achievement standards and teaching material are identical from state to state.

"This whole idea of having a different curriculum from state to state is pure politics," said Maurer. "It leaves students caught in the middle, and leaves graduates from certain states incapable of filling today's increasingly tech- and science-focused job openings. Although there are definitely some companies that play fast and loose with work visas, it's hard to make the case that American students are more qualified than students from overseas, even when it comes to basic things like language skills."

Religion
Maurer was born and baptized a Catholic, and attended catechism classes after school in the fourth and fifth grade. His early devotion to Christianity began to falter in his mid-twenties. By the time he turned thirty, he was a hardcore atheist.

"I just grew out of it," said Maurer. "The more you look into religion, the more you think about it, the more ridiculous it is, until you wonder why you ever believed. I know that it gives many people comfort, and makes them feel less alone and powerless. That's fine, but it's no reason to turn off your brain or give money and power to con-men."

Short Stories

 * 1) Crayon Sugarsweet and the Spooky Thing
 * 2) In the Land of Nod
 * 3) Trophy
 * 4) Media Man
 * 5) Blue
 * 6) Green
 * 7) 3 Little Pork Recipes (with Tracy Maurer)
 * 8) Frost Flowers
 * 9) Gingerbread
 * 10) Sinkhole

Collections

 * 1) Grimmer: Terror Tales for Today
 * 2) Fill My Brain: Om Nom Nom for Your Grey Matter

Novels

 * 1) The Ring Around the Rose, Book One: The Setup
 * 2) Red (republished as Nerd Girls Go 2 Hell in October of 2014)
 * 3) Rest Stop (in progress)
 * 4) The Ring Around the Rose, Book Two: Bodies and Motion (in progress)

Business

 * 1) Work Iz War (collected articles from the business blog, http://workizwar.blogspot.com; in progress)