aj
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Posts posted by aj
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I was completely unsurprised by the quality of this story...Camy always comes through with a fine tale, and this one was no exception. This one is of AD quality, and I think that says it all.
Well done, Camy!
cheers!
aj
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Oh my goodness...I just found this thread all these months later. I'm so sorry i didn't reply at the time. Please believe that I wasn't high-hatting you...just didn't know.
To answer the question on the minds of those who asked - well, that's another story. I have a small beginning made toward writing that story, and eventually...someday...I'll finish it and post it on AD. It will mostly feature Amos and his partner, Dan. I see it as a roadtrip story of sorts...we'll see where it ends up.
Thanks again to all who wrote such kind words!
cheers!
aj
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How odd that you should mention this one...I just read the whole thing in its entirety the other night, and loved it too: nice system of magic, good characters - with the 'hero' being a very mixed bag of 'good' and 'evil' - and some memorable battle scenes. The only thing that semed a little incomplete to me was the problem that he brought up and then discarded regarding the national government and its involvement in magic: that felt incomplete, and I think he's going to have to deal with that in a great deal more detail at some point in the future.
cheers!
aj
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Well done, Cole! I've followed this tale with real pleasure, and I'm both elated and sad to see it end. These are boys (and girl) who are going to stick with me for a long, long time.
It was a kick for me to see someone else work out the dynamics of a trio, as I did (with very different conclusions) in JB&P all those years ago... different backgrounds and a very different set of personalities so a very different outcome, but I love seeing someone approach the same problem and solve it in a different way. Great work!
Anyway, congratulations on a tale well told and a beautiful conclusion. Thanks for many hours of entertainment and learning.
cheers!
aj
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I grew up in Alaska, in a town where people walked around with pistols strapped to their waist and a rifle in the gunrack of their truck all the time. There was wildlife in the forests around my home that made wearing a gun when out in the woods a very good idea - it's not a good idea to let yourself slip from the top of the foodchain with bears around, and a high calibre gun is a pretty good way to guard against that. In addition, hunting for food in the form of moose and mountain goats was common place, and many families wouldn't have made it through the winter without that moose in their freezer.
So I know guns, and have no particular fear of them as an object, or in the hands of well intentioned, responsible people.
But, many people are neither well intentioned or responsible. A great many people in my current home city get shot every year, and far more people die of gunshot wounds in my city than any other means of violent attack. So, I have a hard time with owning a gun in the city...I would have to drive hours to find anyplace to shoot, and I know that if I did try to use it to protect myself, there's a pretty good chance that it would be taken away from me and used against me.
This is why, when my father sent me my .22 rifle that I owned as a child, I sent it on to my older brother and asked him to keep it for me. Gun ownership is not something that I can see for myself.
cheers!
aj
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*crackle...crackle* Hello? *sound of long distance static* Hello? Dude, are you there? Dude, if you can hear me, stay by the phone and I'll call you right back.
Hey Dude, wow, this is a lot better connection. Yeah, this is Seattle. We were all sitting around drinkin' some of our fine microbrew earlier tonight and you name came up. We all said we'd been missing havin' you around, so I thought I'd give you a call. See, I hear you're looking for a new home for Awesomedude HQ, and thought I'd get our bid in early. I think we'd do a fine job of hosting you, the site, and all your kitty buddies.
Oh, you're all ready thinking about us? Awesome! We'll see about getting that non-homophobe in office, and get back to you then.
All right, then. Bye!
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Thought for the new year
Handle every stressful situation like a dog.
If you can't eat it or hump it.
Piss on it and walk away.
I would add to this "And get a lot of sleep - you never know when you might get to go for a walk."
cheers!
aj
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Interestingly enough, I recall reading a study about this very subject: apparently, there is an orientation based difference in what pheromones attract gay men from which ones attract straight men. It was discovered that straight women and gay men are attracted to essentially the same scent (sweaty male body smell) and straight men and lesbians responded to a different set of smells. I don't think I'd be inclined to go around smelling guys' armpits to verify this result, but if true, I find that very compelling evidence that sexual orientation is an innate trait, depending on the age and experience of the subjects being tested...if they were older and more experienced, maybe their reaction to certain scents could be a pavlovian reaction. I know that smelling a man with a little bit of sweatiness makes me salivate.
cheers!
aj
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*flaps off*
Do Emu actually flap? I need to look into this more closely...I've never actually thought about emu sufficently to wonder if they flap or not.
cheers!
aj
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I think this has some very real potential. I like the voice of the character - seems like a guy who lives mostly in his own head, and is used to going on and on about stuff in there. I know how that feels, for sure. I'd really like to see more of this, and as I was reading it, I could feel my special, spidey-editor's sense just tingling. This one would be a lot of fun to work over.
Anyway, do us all a favor and don't give up on this, ok? It's clear that this guy has a story to tell, and it derserves to be heard.
cheers!
aj
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navigation? *shudder* Whenever I go out driving with my best buddy, I somehow end up being the 'navigator'...which inevitably ends up with me being yelled at for being such a lousy navigator. See, I have a very mild case of dyslexia, which comes out as left/right confusion...not that I don't know the difference, or that I can't tell which arm is my left or my right, but on a purely cognitive level, I get the two confused. I can look to my right, know that that's the direction we need to turn, and say "Take a left here." I'm so used to this that when I'm driving, I expect that I will take the wrong turns and have learned to have a very good sense of how to get back to where I was so i can take the turn I should have taken the first time, but my buddy gets very frustrated if we don't do it exactly right the first time.
I know that for me, the study has it exactly right - I do navigate from landmarks. I'm terrible at looking at a map and knowing where the hell I am, so I have to watch for physical signs about where I need to go: turn this way at the 7-11, cross the street at the Crescent Tavern and take the next street on the same side as I'm driving on, etc.
cheers!
aj
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Interestingly, I had an encounter with raccoons just last night. I was just getting home from work - about 7am or so - and there was a great deal of noise coming from the parking lot across the street: loud hisses and growls and the most bizarre shrieking noises. Something was up in one of the trees over there, and there was a rather large raccoon on the ground. Suddenly, a big branch fell off the tree, and a second raccoon came rolling off of it, looked around like "How the hell did I end up down here?" and then was charged by the first raccoon, and took off running across the parking lot with the second raccoon in hot pursuit. I was safely behind a tall fence, so there was no chance of my becoming involved, but it was an amazing cacophony.
cheers!
aj
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I'm enjoying this tale as well. I think my favorite part is the way he manages the interaction with the protagonist's mother....very deft touch.
I don't know that I would go as far as Wibby - but then, who would go as far as Wibby no matter what the topic? - and say that either Driver or Cole are the best writers on the 'net or even this site, since this site in particular suffers from an embarrassment of riches as regards the talent displayed here, but I always click on it when I see a new chapter out.
cheers!
aj
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hey 'nutz -
I didn't want to sound too sycophantic, so I held off on writing a note until others had commented...but, like Graeme, you know what I think of the story. I suppose you could say that, being your editor, it's in my job description to like this story...but it ain't nececelery so. I've told plenty of people I didn't like their story and why.
But I like this one. I've said it before...it's your literary voice, because it sounds just like how they used to talk back home, and that's comfortable for me to read. I like your characters, too: just ordinary guys trying to make it in the world.
cheers!
aj
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This is what happens under a religious dictatorship. the separation of church and state is not intended to protect the church...it's job is to protect the government.
cheers!
aj
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I've always preferred a long slide model, myself.
cheers!
aj
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I wonder why, when I go to the link in the post, I get an MSN sign in rather than the test?
I think I'll just state that when I took the GRE, I got 99+ percentile on the vocab section and let that be my bragging rights. I missed 'propinquity,' but that was the only one.
cheers!
aj
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Codey has gone on to the next great adventure, and we who are left behind are poorer for his departure, but much, much the richer for the body of work and the memories that he leaves us.
May the Mother hold you to her breast, Codey, and your journey be swift and uneventful.
cheers!
aj
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I've gotten some very nice feedback on some of the few stories I've done...I think the ones I most appreciated were when people commented on "Story Time" (soon to be on AD) and said they wished they'd had a gramps like in the tale...frankly, I do too. What it showed me was that I had succeeded in my attempt to write a good character, and that always feels good.
Sadly, no one has said they wanted to meet/date/sleep with me...I think I'd be a lot more complimented by that.
cheers!
aj
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Pearlman's a scumbucket, and rumors have been flying around about him for years...nothing new about that. He needs some jailtime for the shit that he pulled.
cheers!
aj (no, not THAT aj
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It should be pretty clear that the originators of the poll aren't seeking to confirm whether sexual orientation is an inherent trait or not, but whether people believe that it's an inherent trait or not.
But, and here is the bottom line, I think it is being used as a means of bringing a little controversy and attention to their site more than as a means of honest inquiry, which strikes me as a little cold-blooded.
cheers!
aj
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By far the most interesting line in that story was the last one...mostly because I find myself completely undecided as to what to go as for Halloween...how often do surveys mirror real life, I ask you?
aj
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*sigh* I hated to hear this, as it means that one more bright light is flickering. My thoughts and prayers to Cody and Tim and both their families.
aj
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LOL..."Of course Dumbledore is gone...you can't expect him to stay in your picture all the time, now can you?" or words to that effect. It's heartening to know that Camy is so dedicated to his listeners. However (I almost spelled that as 'hoever' which might be somewhat appropriate at this juncture), I think that with a little effort Camy could learn to multi-task and be doing someone while singing...it's all about breath control, y'know.
cheers!
aj
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Holy Crap!
in Readers Rule!
Posted
I read the first book of this epic tale tonite...damn! This is some good stuff! I was particularly amused by the name of the chief underling of the main bad guy: Karn Roven. lol
But that aside, this is a brilliantly realized world building effort. Very nicely done!
cheers!
aj