J.J.Janicki

Growing up, I would have found Solsticeman's version of purity an awfully lot easier to deal with. J.J.

To be honest, Chris, I was hiding in my closet observing my activities. Comes from being such an introvert... I guess... Yeah, that was probably it, all right. That, and something like, "You know, I'd really, really like to improve on this..." It's always fun - or at least interesting, to compare notes, though. Thanks for the kind words, though. All of y'all.

Tracy! You're alive! Old people. ... You have to reassure them. (Adapted from Throw Momma From the Train.) (And...) You know I'm only kidding, right Tracy? I mean, I'm GLAD you're alive... at 4:43 in the morning.... um....

Growing up in Germany at that time, it would have been a near-miracle if you weren't caught up, believing well past the bitter end that you were a part of something that could change the world... for the better. Alfons Heck came of age in that environment, as a proud member of the Hitler Youth, and having read his story (A Child of Hitler), in that respect, Wandervogel rings true. Alfons Heck also appeared in a BBC documentary (seen on our Military Channel), and courtesy of YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1-HFb_w71k number one: Hitler was charismatic. Whether you know a word or German or not, you still cannot help but feel it. (At the very start of the video.) And then at the 7:17 mark, there's Alfons Heck, and after watching... I understood that something very similar could happen in any country. Even here. It's possible. J.J.

Trying my dead-level best not to throw in any spoilers, I guess all I can say about Puppy Love is: if you like reading good stories, then this is definitely one of them. Just go with the flow, okay? Well, okay, I guess I can also say this. Right now, I'm a little over halfway through Dan Simmons' Summer of Night, a novel I'd not heard of until seeing it mentioned on one of the AD forums. I'm a little over halfway through, and A: I have to agree with Stephen King's blurb: that he SHOULD be in awe, only B: I have to keep reading and reading some more because by now, I also know that there are no guarantees, that even a character who seemed to be the most important can come to a bad end - not even halfway through the book!! - and having grown to like most of the boys in SoN very much, I'm wondering how many more are likely to survive the last 20 chapters, so with all that in mind... Puppy Love was a much-needed diversion. Can't think of a better way to start a rainy Sat morning. J.J.

Just the part after Patrick wakes up to Tangerine Dream. Not the angsty part. Unless, of course, anyone's interested in seeing what should have been a "worst" changed from the original and incorrect "worse", but aside from that.... just the last part. If one so desires, that is.

It might be better to ask a question like this in the Green Room, but since it involves TSTDSAA.... Well, okay. A reader had a very good question in regard to the hospital room experience, and in thinking about it, I had to admit that I'd once again fallen prey to a slight case of tunnel vision. As in ack as opposed to ACK!! ... because the reader was kind of enough to say that he'd enjoyed the story in spite of that. But anyway.... and for what it's worth, after asking Mike about it, the slightly improved version will be reposted in the near future. I'm guessing tonight or tomorrow. `Cause if you see a way of improving the story, then you should, right? (Figured since I mentioned a question at the start, I should ask one.) J.J.

I'm still in the process of getting the hang of forums and the like - and I'm also being interrupted by thunder storms, some with a lot more potential to do very bad things to my computer than others - but my remark just above was in reference to breakups being commonplace between the ages of 18 and 23. It took me quite awhile to grasp that. A lot longer than it should have been, I guess.

NOW you tell me! Geez!

I was always wanting to hear Tony Peluso's finish again. And again. And then, "Just one more time, and that'll be it for now, okay?" Used to drive my friends nuts, because most of them were into harder stuff.

I'm not quite sure how I managed to survive the 70s, but overall, I still miss it. And not just because I'm a little bit older now. I think I'll leave it that, but yeah, time certainly does fly.

Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned on this forum how I was hoping the writer would let me in on some more stuff he'd written and how I would then pass it on... But for what it's worth, I passed the story on to someone else and in reply he said: You're right. I loved it. The writing is to die for, absolutely exquisite. This guy is a real artist. I've forwarded to a couple of friends whom I'm sure will like it too. So if nothing else, it looks like it's still unanimous.

Colinian's link still works. Just checked, and it DOES!

I agree with everybody else. It's beautifully written. Haven't come across anything else by him, but if he answers my email... in which I sure wasn't saying anything bad about his story... unless maybe he thinks I was a being a little too effusive... Well, I hope not. But anyway, if I hear back from him and he's written anything else, I'll pass it on, because I'm sure it'll be worth the read as well.

My first reason for checking out A Girl For Me was just that I know a TG. Never met her/him in person, and odds are, I never will, but still, I'd say by now we have a relationship and at FIRST, I was only thinking that this could be a story she'd really enjoy. (By now, I have no problem thinking of her the way she'd prefer.) But anyway, five chapters in, and I'M blown away. Failte200 is one hell of a good writer, it's that simple. So after googling him, I came across this: http://queerschool.com/?tag=/Failte200. `Course, then there was the question of whether or not the two links still worked, so I quickly checked that out as well, and... um... Well, okay, pasted in just below are the first two paragraphs of Alex and Bobby: Alex was afraid, and knew he had every right to be, but he also knew that this wasn't something he was going to be able to help. So he was understandably fretful as he waited to drive Bobby home from school. Two weeks ago, he'd finally been able to admit, at least to himself, that he liked guys. That he was gay. He'd actually said the word to himself. Gay. It was surprisingly hard to do. He'd known, in a way,that he was gay for four years now – since he was fourteen. Knowing wasn't really that big a deal. It was a secret, certainly, not the kind of thing you let anyone know about. Not here in West Texas, not here in the Permian Basin, not here in the tiny, dusty town of Wink. Knowing was easy. Using the word was hard. Shit. It looks like I might be hooked again.