Cole Parker

Does yours have feathers on it? C

I think my job is done here. I got the blood flowing through the British veins among us. As I've said before here, I'm a great fan of the James Herriott novels. He spends some time writing about his fear when facing a hard-throwing, intimidating bowler. Most any competitive sport played by adults has intimidation as part of its structure. And as for badminton, I love that game. In fact, I was my college's intramural champion, many many years ago. It was a sport I was made for, because I was tall, very thin, very fast on my feet, and cagey. I also could hit the cock about 100 mph from many hours spent on the tennis courts. I don't know why the game isn't more popular here. Competitive badminton is simply a great, great game. C

I think he means soda water, Trab. The stuff that's better used as a vehicle for scotch, as in scotch and soda. C

All it takes is one hard pitch, up and in (or, for those uncomfortable with the vernacular, thown by the pitcher towards the batter's head and running towards him so even as he's pulling away, in the split second he has to do that, the ball is continuing to chase after him), for a kid to learn that baseball is not a game for the faint-hearted. It's nothing, nothing at all, like softball. Fear and the steadfast resolve to ignore it are a big part of baseball. Overcoming the fear of being hit by a fast moving, unforgivingly hard baseball, either while standing in the batter's box and having the pitcher thow it at you, or while standing in the infield and having it hit toward you, oftentimes coming at you blisteringly fast and bouncing erratically, or taking a short hop right in front of you, you must ignore the fear if you want to play the game. In softball, fear plays a very small part in the game, and it's almost exclusively on the defensive side. In baseball, conquring your fear must occur on both sides, offensive and defensive. I don't think you have that in cricket. There the ball is plitched into the ground, not at the batter, it's thrown with a funny sort of straight-arm motion that robs the throw of any real speed, and in any event the batter is padded and protected like someone's little sister. The only fear inherent in the game is that one of the spectators might spill a spot of tea on his white trousers while sitting in his canopied box with his fellows, politely clapping and speculating on whether the batter might get his century while nibbling cucumber sandwiches. In baseball, the batter's anxiety is frequently augmented by a pitcher who is intentionally intimidating. He will glower at the batter, spit in the dirt, glower some more, then take a couple of warm-up throws at a speed where the ball becomes a blur, and throw them over the catcher's head, then five or six feet outside and inside, establishing the fact, cementing the fact, that he has absolutely no control over the ball, and the batter knows he'll be standing right next to a very small target, and may well become a very large and plunkable target himself. With that thought in mind, he's supposed to step up to the plate, crowd the plate if he listens to the screams of his manager, and aggressively stride towads the pitcher while swinging the bat, watching the ball and hoping it isn't curving in at him. Yes, it takes courage to stand up at that plate, look that pitcher in the eye, not back down, not shake with fear, while the pitcher is glowering at you, or myopically looking in your general vicinity but with a hopeless sort of shrug, then yelling at the catcher that he can't see the plate at all but he'll try his best, just be ready to jump for the ball, it could go anywhere. Then he'll throw the first pitch a foot inside (toward the batter, again for you vernacular-challenged chaps) and you best be lightfooted and quick on your toes if you don't want the ball imbedded in your ribs. Getting hit in the ribs REALLY hurts! Where does the courage come from? From being a boy. The kind of boy who plays baseball. When he's 11. C

Wonderful story, Camy. Great evocation of time and place and the emotions of a boy coming into his own. I loved reading it. Now, how about a few more chapters. Huh? Huh? C

All you ever wanted to know about tenterhooks. It's the last item at this link: http://www.word-detective.com/011502.html#tenterhooks C

Yeah, you're right, TR. My error. Watching vidoes of Lawrence's friends speaking, reading accounts of the boy, are simply heartbreaking. And you can't help but feel for the other boy. I will never understand trying a boy as an adult. An adult would not have made the decisions he made. The entire situation is simply awful. C

Touche. C

Not everyone knows that. Some of us don't need to.<g> C

It was reported in one recent account that the victim had told the shooter the day before that he liked him. How many gay boys have been through this, to varying, or the same, degrees? Tell someone you find them attractive or that you like them, and sacrifice any and everything up to your life because of it? Brandon, the victim, had a great deal of courage and resolve to live as he wanted to despite the consequences. And now he's dead. C

There are several ways to interpret Rad's greeting, you know. "Oh god Des" was probably shorthand for, Oh god, there's that Des butting in again! or perhaps, Oh god, not Des again. Could have been, too, "Oh god, spare us from Des one more time!" Or even, "Oh god, take me now: it's DES! Interpreting it to mean, "Oh, it's that god, Des," could be seen as being just the slightest bit narcissistic. Or, an even worse pejorative: as falling below your accustomed heralded level of creativity. I can hardly wait for a response! C<G!>

One feels impelled to ask, what is it being cleaned of? Does your cleaner do bloodstains? C

I got up this morning to an inbox full of irate letters from hooked readers looking for their Saturday morning DDG fix. I got the bombast of their withdrawal symptoms. It was very strange, because last night I saw with my own eyes Chapter 31 posted for viewing. Today, that's been replaced with a second Chapter 30. I think there are gremlins gumming up the works. C PS - Thanks, Camy, for providing the link.

Des, I'm sorry to be the one to break the news to you, but if you give up bathing, it won't matter a whit whether you're gay or straight, what you will definitely be is lonely.Repeat after me: Cleanliness is next to godliness, cleanliness is next to godliness, cleanliness is next to godliness.Be the god you were meant to be. Bathe.C

After reading all that, I have one thing to say. Oliver is exactly right: the story is exactly where I want it to be. Heh heh heh. C

Here I was all set to argue with James, which would probaby have been a first for me. But when he said Nick wouldn't be able to get with Brandon until he graduated, presumably meaning when he left the influence of his father, left home, whatever, I was ready to disagree. But then James cleared it up and voiced the sentiment that I was about to state, that Nick has accepted his own boundaries and until he feels mature enough to escape them, he'll continue to exist within them. It's all within him, all his values and attitudes, and it must be him that seeks change. As the story ends, he's nowhere near a point of doing that. Brandon was attracted to him by his superfical aspects. When he learned who he was deep inside, he learned the attractions were just that, superfical, and not anything a long-term relationship could be built on. Had the two boys moved forward based on their attraction for each other and ignored their very basic differences, eventually they would have been doomed as a couple, and the parting would undoubtedly have been more painful than occurred here. What a wonderful story, one where things like this can be discussed, where we have differentiated characters who act according to their individual psychologies and run true to how they've been developed. Writing like this is rare on the Internet. C

Trab, I'd never do that. I'm glad you realize that. We all face that kind of thing in our lives. I hope I'm never the bearer of it, and will never be intentionally. C

Trab, you never fail to amaze me with your cornucopian knowledge of everything under the sun. You run the gamut from dead bodies to, probably, dietary supplements for endangered condors. Rarely does a thread start here where you cannot provide some sort of arcane enlightenment. I feel privileged to have you among us. C

We all do occasionally. Right now, need another drink.OOPS! Don't read this, Jason.C

The problem Des, is you set too high a standard. Whatever I write in return will sound insipid, and who wants to show themselves in that light?What you wrote was wonderful: witty and clever and funny and creative and engaging. I loved reading it. I look forward to more of the same, even if to get it I have to write stuff like this.I thought your b/f was the one to do the stroking around here.Oh, you wanted empathetic, supportive, intellectual stroking. Maybe you need a b/f upgrade. But then, giving up what you now have for that would probably mean you'd then be coming to us for the other kind, and Down Under is way too far for me. Not that it wouldn't be fun!C

"Too callused" Now that's clever! When all you kids hung your stockings up for Christmas, I doubt Santa had any problems at all know which one was yours. C

I heard from someone who saw it who had to leave in the middle and throw up. Nausea from all the jerkiness on the screen. I suppose it would be fair to recommend it, but also to caution people with any tendency towards motion sickness. C

Blue: If you don't wear socks, someone may feel the need to sock you, if changing the word from a direct object to an intransitive verb and introducing a sense of ambiguity doesn't raise your editorial hackles. C<g>

Those four books are perfect for young readers, and older kids who haven't learned the joy recreational reading. They are absorbing stories where a kid, especially a boy, will identify with the protagonist and will read all the way to the end of the book. I would heartily recommend them to anyone who knows kids who like to read, or should be reading. They can be read by a mature fourth grader, and certainly enjoyed by older kids. They're simply marvelous. As for knowing to recommend them, I've read three of them and the fourth was suggested to me when I told someone I needed another book for a story I was writing, a book that would entrance 9-11 year-old boys. C

Aha! You're at it again! As with your beloved Oxford squiggly mark, the mouse/mice rule is not universally accepted. I've seen it done both ways. In many places, many times. Stop trying to foist your own likes and dislikes on us as hard and fast rules, your rascally rodent! C