aj

It is sadly true that good manners are noticeably lacking in this era, in general. Lack of civility seems to almost be looked upon as 'honesty' or 'forthrightness', as though one cannot be honest or forthright without being rude. definitely a pet peeve... cheers! aj

sorry for not including a link...i'm techie-handicapped. But, T. Chase did say that i could send along the first couple of chapters to you, if you'd be interested in having them in your mailbox, instead of hunting them down on Nifty. cheers! aj

I've been reading a new story by T. Chase McPhee, over on nifty. It's a different tale than most of the ones he writes--most of which are very nicely written (especially in terms of dialogue) but pretty unreadable for me because they're all about a form of sexual expression that does nothing for me--ok, i'll just say it: I'm not into BDSM. sorry to disappoint all of you out there that were just waiting for a chance to tie me up and whip me. But this new story--called "Nature Walk"--is a horse of a different color. It's a 'family drama', with a caste of characters in many age ranges and some of the most charming characters i've read in a good while. It's worth a read, and I daresay, would make a good addition to AD. cheers! aj

Guys, I'm tired. I'm so weary of having to have discussions like the one above, of having to defend my life as a good thing, against all the nay-sayers and conservative idiots that feel they have the right to preside as judge and jury over my life. When will this end? When will i be able to write a story and not have to worry about whether it will be looked upon as a positive or negative influence by an audience that so desperately needs an affirmation? I'm sorry to be a downer, but i needed to vent a little. aj

I'm a big fantasy fan, so i'm all in favor of the church/crown conflict that you described. I think it'd be a great subject--love to see you work on it first, but i think all these ideas are great. you can guess which option i voted for... 8)

sadly, even proofsters have their limitations. cheers! aj

It's been awhile since i've been in a shower (in an interesting quirk of the english language, that could be read 'show-er) room, but i worked for many years in the downtown Y here in Seattle, which for many years was functionally a mini bathhouse. It was a haven for lots of married men on the make and their admirers. So it was a good place to get over getting shy, because everybody was looking at everybody, without the aggression of a bathhouse. Incidentally, i've only been in an actual bathhouse once, and was revolted by how dirty and sleazy the place was, and immediately left. So i'm a snob--sue me. :D Anyway, I was a lot heavier than i currently am at the time, so it would be fun to go check out a showerroom again, at some point. cheers! aj

sadly, the degree to which one is out is not congruent to the degree of one's confidence in the shower room. This is conclusion is not mathematically derived, but arrived at through direct, personal research. cheers! aj

Bravo, Rabbit! I believe that punctuation and grammar should serve the cause of art, not vice-versa. Once one knows the rules and can use them with some facility, then feel free to break them in the service of art...always remembering that art must tread the line between originality and comprehensibility. cheers! aj

I'm likin' this story. I'll admit to being one of Dcorvus' beta readers as well...I told him at the time that it would be a very fine addition to AD, and here it is. Couldn't be happier about it. cheers! aj

Nice to see your voice again, bud. haven't heard your ramblings in way, way too long. Sorry to hear about the problems with your gran...but don't underestimate the ol' gal just cause she's in the early stages of alzheimer's. She could still surprise you, i bet. One of my residents at work, who has fairly advanced dementia, looked at me the other day and asked me how my boyfriend was. I was very surprised...i asked her how she'd come to that conclusion and she told me was 87, not stupid. Of course, 15 minutes later she asked me if i had her mother's phone number, but it was a fairly amazing moment. Mr Right isn't going to find you in your current situation, unless he has a CNA's license or something...and then you'd end up marrying the help, but what's a little gauche next to true love? Seriously though, while taking care of your gran, you need to get out and do things for yourself too. If you get exhausted and burned out, you won't be any good for her or yourself. So...go to that MCC church service, or gay bingo, or whatever other social outlet you feel attracted to and meet some people, you! cheers! aj

What surprises me about all this is that anyone is really surprised by this obvious and blatant infraction of this boy's first amendment rights. This is the meaning of Homeland Security, and what happens when threats from 'terrorists' are used to terrify a country's population into passively giving up their rights, which is exactly where so many of the Bush administration's tactics have been headed--everything from a color-coded "Threat assessment" system to the creation of a 'homeland security' department in the first place. The point is, and always has been, to instill fear in the general populace, so that they will allow the regime to compromise their liberties in the name of "making the world a safer place" for them. aj

You're absolutely right--"You are what you do." You wanna know the truth about someone? Watch what they do and ignore the words. It's like what i like to call "Bar Bios"--the stories that people tell about themselves when they meet someone in a bar, and feel like they'll never meet this person again. Ignore those, and watch how they interact with the bar staff and other people in the bar that they don't know if you wanna see how they really are. It's the same with characters in a story. If you want to reveal something important about someone, have them act on whatever character trait it is that you want to illustrate. Action is always stronger than exposition. cheers! aj

Welcome, clay49! always good to see a new face. Don't be afraid to comment...we'll give you a while to get up to speed before we start in on you...lol...actually, this is a really chill forum, so post away. cheers! aj

Your vision of suburbia is spot on...and the sad thing is, it's equally true in the gay ghetto. Here on the Hill, in 'mo town, I totally see all the same things that you're talking about in these poems--life lived in the pursuit of distraction, living with Tina, easy sex and the endless pursuit of "the perfect man" who will come and take away our pain. cheers, aj

I'm impressed on two fronts: 1.) the sheer audacity of the post. I can imagine the principal seeing it on the intraschool net and just about having a heart attack. 2.) for having rendered Gabe speechless. cheers! aj :clap:

One of the things i do like as a sidebar kind of thing, if the writer is playing with extremely bizarre spellings, or the story is set in a place with a foreign language, is a pronunciation guide. I remember reading a story by Louise Cooper, set in Wales, that referenced that language a lot, and i had a very good time with the pronunciation guide, trying to figure out how those place names sounded. Likewise, in fantasy stories set in ancient ireland or scotland, it can be very helpful. However, I'm not a big fan of the dramatis personae...or a genealogy or pictures of the characters or all that. If you write it well, you don't need all that. When i read New Brother, i was fine with the nicknames and actual names. So, overall and in a word: don't. cheers! aj

Hey James-- excellent story. I read it all at one go, and enjoyed every word. Having come from a similar background, only in alaska, and not having a best friend like that, i was actually a bit envious of Jimmy--how much does that blow? I appreciated the development of Jimmy's character through the action in the story, with a minimum of explication...just letting his actions speak for themselves. Travis is an interesting character...one wonders if we'll see him again? He was important as a point of character development for Jimmy, but an interesting guy in his own right as well. Someone mentioned typos in the story--yup, it needs an editor or proofreader, but they weren't all THAT distracting, and i'm more than willing to put up with a few misspelled words for good language, which this one definitely has. Dewey is right, I think. There are probably a number of publishing houses that would be interested in reading this manuscript if it goes on long enough. If not long enough, i'd send it to an anthology request and see if you can get it printed in a collection. cheers! aj

Hey green-- good work on the tale. It's got some interesting characters, and despite a lot of tragedy, it's got the makings of a good story. It's a little rough in places, and could use a good editor. There are a lot of people on this site who are willing to do that sort of thing, myself included. I'll look forward to reading more of it as it comes out...would you consider making announcements on this forum as new chapters are posted? thanks, aj

I like this story. Ethan is a very likable guy. And it's clear that Ube Licker has researched his story really well...or he's following the dictum "write what you know." or both. I loved the background details about hawaiia. I have to admit, i don't think i'd want to be at this school, not because it's an all gay school, but because of the class differences I see between ethan and pretty much everybody else there. Most of the guys there seem like they've got terminal ennui, and that's an attitude i have a hard time with. I guess the idea of that many rich, bored guys all crammed into one place grinds on my very working class sensibilities. Anyway, i'm looking forward to more chapters, and hoping that ethan doesn't get corrupted. hehe cheers! aj

Was that Camp Twin Spirits? I think i remember hearing about it in the local rag...

Does anyone else remember the scene in 'Impromptu' where Chopin is challenged to a duel, requests the cleaner of the two pistols (he was wearing white gloves, you know), turns and walks three of the 10 paces and faints dead away...so George Sands scoops up the pistol, shoots the other guy, and hustles Chopin off to the inn before the moist night air can do him irreparable harm? That sounds a bit like my conduct if i was ever to enter into a duel. I think Blue's idea of chicken enchiladas at point blank range sounds a lot more fun. cheers! aj

Yeah, i guess Matt Groening beat me to the punch. damn! guess i'll stick to my little tales about the faeries among us. Thanks for answering, Dewey. I'm looking forward to the next tale in the series, but i have to admit, i'm not very good at writing in a pre-set environment...can't stop having the characters do weird things that don't work in the established world. Nevertheless, i appreciate the offer. cheers! aj

I'd like to do the next story in the series...but not sure where to go with it. Was considering Will's dog as a pov, but my dog charges exorbitant fees for interpretation--ungrateful cur! Then i considered making Aaron a schizophrenic and telling the tale from the pov of one of his delusions, sort of a stream of consciousness thing, ala James Joyce in "Finnegan's Wake," but then i'd have to provide a commentary for it to be understood, and that didn't seem like much fun. I've just about settled on a hard sci-fi thing, told from the pov of the alien sociologists who have been observing the whole thing, but that's a little derivative, don't you think? Anyway...i'll keep working on it. cheers! aj

i'm going to second pr's emotion--this is really fine writing. Yes, it's a little more sexual than most of the stuff i like to read, but the characters here are very finely drawn, and i love the internal dialogues. Nice work, t.! cheers! aj