Cole Parker

Are you suggesting Des is an easy lay? C

Aha. Persistence pays off again. Wear them down, I says, says I. C

You quite obviously meant: With experience from both reading and writing, the order of words becomes easier to discern, even though it is sometimes obvious only after it has been posted. indeed! C

Thought so!C

Clever! C

I'm going to jump in here and make a comlete ass of myself. Usually, I have a good feel for these things, and in this case I seem to have none at all. But that won't stop me! As I say, here's where I make an ass of myself. I think, the way they are used, 'If only I had known' and 'If I had only known' mean exactly the same thing and are interchangeable. I also believe they're idiomatic. If you look for a literal meaning of 'If only I had known,' it means if you and only you had known something; it excludes all other people from that knowledge. Yet, that isn't the way it's used or what it means. The 'only' in that usage is for emphasis, and so the usase is idiomatic, meaning the phrase has developed meaning over time that is different from the literal meaning of the words in the phrase. That makes perfect sense to me, but might be entirely wrong. Of the two usages, 'If only I had known' and 'If I had only known', either, by itself, sounds correct, and I'd have a difficult time saying I preferred one over the other. I think, if you held my feet to the fire, I'd use the first rather than the second because you're not spliting the verbs that way with the problematic 'only.' I'm sure this doesn't help anyone at all, but I don't always have such a great vehicle to show my ignorance. C

Is 'wiles' a misspelling of 'willy'? An intentional one? I mean, that's pretty clever, putting that idea in our minds with an aliteration.But you needn't let your insecurities all hang out like that. Giggling could come from a number of reasons, and is does you a disservice to assume it stems from the sight of your dangly bits and their provocation of amusement. Giggling might be from the sight of a youth baying at the moon, or perhaps the off key manner of the baying. It might be from whatever soundtrack you have oozing out the window around you. Although, from your previous blog entries, you might be more offended with people finding your taste in music risible than seeing your masculinity exposed to their glances.Anyway, please keep writing. People only laugh at that when you intend them to.C

Hey, let me deploy my diversions in peace, man! And I wasn't the one to hijack it, anyway. I think Colin did. Whether he did or not, I'm blaming it on him. C

Step six: Get up, go to the door, and explain to the cops why you were standing naked in front of the window shouting at the moon while the revelers below were looking up and giggling at you.C

Tangled tongues tormenting Trab, tortured while trying to Talk with tenderness

I just finished the Foley-Mashburn series by Brew Maxwell on Crvboy. Everyone else has probably read it as it began in 2002, but I just read it now, finished it tonight in fact. It's all about relationships, love, and leaning about being gay in a supporting environment. It's incredibly long, and very well done. If you haven't read it, you should look at it. It starts with the story 'Tim.' I also liked the Colby Series by Tim Mead a lot. It's also at Crvboy. C

I agree, Trab. I read it some time ago. It grabs you and won't let go. C

Or perhaps we now have an idea where all these little gifts he leaves in people's shoes are coming from. C

Thanks, Trab. We all appreciate you not blabbering on like usual. C<g>

You do realizee that your voice is uniquely yours, don't you? And in being uniquiely yours, it is interesting, not cliched, valuable and entertaining. You have something to say, and don't need to be so hesitant to say it. If the responses to your posting this snippet were unfavorable, would you no longer write? I sure hope that woudn't be the case. Ultimately, you're writing because you want to, so if I like it or hate it should have nothing at all to do with you writing it. Colin is correct in saying that you have to write for you. If you write just to get acceptance of an audience, you won't be satisfied because you'll be compromising what you're saying to garner approval. Don't do that. Write for yourself. You'll need an editor, but they're easy to find if you write well, and you do. However, knowing you'll have that at the end means you don't have to concentrate on making it perfect, so you can simply write what feels good to you, then let the process take off from there without it influencing what creativity is involved during the production phase. I hope you continue with what you've started. The amount you've written is about the amount I read to decide if I want to continue reading a story. I stop reading more than I continue reading when I get about that far into stories. This one I'd want to continue reading. Cole

Can anyone, anyone at all, imagine our Wibby wearing that smile? I think not. C

I think he forgot. To much thinking about vacationing in England. C

I'm not touching that with a ten foot Pole. If there is such a thing. I think the NBA would know if there were. Oops. I just used the subjunctive, which is Colin's pet peeve. What do you feed one of those, anyway? Pet Mart has never heard of them. C

I think he means it, Colin. Really, really means it. Dirty old man! C

Oh, well, if they never complained, that was all right then. Ha ha ha ha ha. C

What challenges me, guy, is trying to read dark purple writing against an ebon background. I could care less what your orientation is, but get your contrast right! C

Preceded by the need to shower, of course. Now, what activity led to that state of affairs, you'll have to tell us<g>.C

Aren't there warning signs at Nifty about youngsters visiting that site? Colin, you weren't transgressing, were you? C<g>

Does anyone else have a problem here as I do? I'm not sure what a "collector position" is and what the requirements for it are, but she's disqualifying the applicant because he's overly enthusiastic? Because to show his enthusiasm he uses an expression he's heard and can relate to? I found when I'd hire people, enthusiasm, if real, was a desirable trait, not something to be discarded quite so easily. Just because he used someone else's expression to evince his enthusiasm is not a reason to disqualify him. In my thinking at least. C

Colin's attentions to this story were not minor or trivial. He has a tremendous grasp on reality, and geatly helped shape the sum and substance of this story. He can be as coy as he wants, but his contributions were substantive. And hugely appreciated. C