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Somehow, this sparked a story idea, with the intent the guy and the delivery boy would find a happily ever after, but so far, while writing down notes, there's plenty of story going on, could be a good adventure, but hmm, nothing in the love and lust department. Not looking good for the customer or the delivery boy. But it's new in that it's been a long time since I've really tried serious outlining/notes, and this is going like it could be a complete story, beginning, middle, and ending. Maybe. Just because I opened my mouth (keyboard) about fortune cookies. -- I've discovered a couple of things I'll have to ask friends, though, so I don't screw up a story point. Back to fortune cookies! LOL, so what happens if the delivery boy isn't into beef and broccoli? Go through the rest of the menu? Hope for another delivery boy? Date the entire waitstaff? (LOL, could be awkward if you're not bi....) BTW, what happens if you go for two fortune cookies? If you don't eat the fortune cookie first, before the fortune? After? Only eat half? See, I wonder these things.

Pass the bill to the person on your left. Neat trick, but I'm at home by myself, and this isn't takeout, so it wasn't the delivery boy. Darn fortune cookie! ....Hey wait, if there is a cute delivery boy... Maybe that fortune cookie has something there after all. Hmmm....

I had Chinese food (Chinese-American, anyway) tonight: beef and broccoli. I had to have a fortune cookie with it. I got a big bag of fortune cookies. We usually think they're profoundly wise. Hey, I'm all for that, my parents had a fortune cookie on their first real date, telling them they'd met the person they would fall in love with and marry. So y'know, I'm kind of a fan. But sometimes, I think the fortune cookie writer was having a bad day. Or sometimes, it's fortune cookie revenge! So I thought I'd share the fun.

Hiya Beagle. I had posted a topic, How do you know if he/she likes you? - Writing and discussion prompt over in the Raccoon's Den. So if you hadn't seen that, that's what got these going. It's great to see people responding. Stories, articles, poems, discussions, there's plenty of room for more.

I'm bumping this thread topic up, so that people don't miss it, since someone just said they had missed seeing it.

Des, buddy, your foot's asleep again. That's a great poem. But then, I've always been a romantic. That stuff gets me.

I'm glad they were having fun with that tutorial. Wouldn't mind some comparative biology myself. :)

We dream. We're mortal. At some point, we realize we are all mortal and we can lose those we love. We also may realize our dreams or goals may not always last. But... It's still worth dreaming, striving for something, and life would not be much without either dreams or loved ones or things we want to accomplish. Two songs I really like say, "I hope you dance," and "Do it anyway." Hmm, and as for what happens when we are too sick or too old, and near those final moments -- I just hope that there are people who care when we go and who still care when we're gone. I would really like to see some of those people and animals I've liked and loved so much, some day. Until then, gotta remember there's lots to do and people who still need us, and we need them. Maybe even love along the way. Tough to remember those things sometimes, when things get rough, but there's gotta be better, in life or in whatever might be in that next stage.

Flippin' smiley codes. :rofl: :rotfl: ...oh frak... there goes my forum geek card and toaster....

It's all those hydrocarbons in organic chemistry. Maybe he should switch to orgasmic chemistry. He might still be confused, but at least he'd be really, really happy! Looks around. Why's everybody looking at me like that? What'd I say? :rofl:

We don't have a separate music/audio forum or sub-forum, so I'm putting this here. I have been catching up with AwesomeDude Radio lately. It gets competition from my other listening, but I have missed ADR lately, so I've been listening. There's nearly always something I haven't heard in a long time, or something I've never heard, and...it's really cool. Tonight, I heard something. At first, I thought the singer might be Ben Harper. Or John Legend. Or K'Jon. This white boy listens to many things, and my tastes have broadened and deepened as time goes by. But no, when I looked, the song was "Summer Rain," by Carl Thomas. I'm sure I know who he is and what else he's known for, or other groups. But I'm not always good with names. I know that one should ring a bell, though. The song is great and I don't think I've heard it before. There was also the Peter Gunn theme earlier. Man, I haven't heard that in a while. Tonight, I've heard a couple of songs in French, Spanish, Portuguese, and something else I didn't recognize (Polish or Czech, maybe?). I really like that. -- Other languages are also quite welcome, whether I speak them or not. Hah, I'll also say, there are a few songs from the REO Speedwagon HITS album that I remember (bittersweet) from a couple of summers with one of my best friends and major crushes. And no, I didn't get the chance to find out if he had the same feelings for me I had been having for him. Whether I'll try to put that into a story or not, I don't know. But the feelings around that as well as those songs (also some by the Eagles and other groups from then ('78 to '80 and songs/groups popular before then) bring back memories. I grew up in the '70's and '80's, so songs from the '60's through the '80's, and things my parents listened to, are all back in the ol' memory banks. -- I like plenty of things from the '90's and forward, too. Heck, I'll listen to nearly anything at least once. Dude knows I also like bluegrass, and yes, I sometimes like country and western. I tend to go mostly for rock. You'll find Sigur Ros in my playlist too. Like I said, I'll listen to nearly anything at least once.

I've just read Ch. 10 and I'm sure I'll have more to say. (How'd you guess?) But for now, I'd like to say, this one hit home quite a bit. Some ways, I know why. Others, maybe it's whatever else is going on with me, but some I think is sort of rattling around, resonating with the story. Anyway, thanks very much. This story is meaningful (and helpful) for me personally. But that aside, I think it's one of Cole's best. I still like "Courage" very much. Both Troy and Chase make eminent sense to me. Though neither of them is quite like I was, they sure fit a few things. Good job. Liking this novel immensely.

Choices, choices. I haven't forgotten I was going to comment. But I have an excuse. I've been writing! Yeah, maybe "my dog ate my homework" is more believable. The Adobe PDF thing doesn't bother me. (1) Many Mac users still may have Acrobat Reader if they have any dang Adobe product. (2) Many users don't know jack about their computer, no matter what OS, and I'm not a guru, just slightly more advanced. (I miss my old Mac.) (3) The main story points, that it can be done and they chose to do so, is valid. Also, it doesn't stop governments or big businesses from doing it either. There could be all sorts of moral arguments back and forth about the dad and friends doing that, etc., etc., and I could say I don't think it would be what I'd do if I were he, assuming I was a programmer or hacker, but then, I have not been someone who's had a family member abducted. If someone were to harm someone I love (that includes good friends) you can bet I would be (at least) raising the roof and rallying whatever attorney I could afford. In the case of this story, I know who my number one suspect would be, but I haven't seen enough to think something implicates that character. Given that Troy's dad is a tech and having to monitor their email for safety, I'd be really surprised if he doesn't know Troy and Chase are close. However, unless Troy and Chase have been specific about some things, it's alos possible it could be interpreted as an open-minded, very close friendship. Straight friends and gay friends all talk about dating, relationships, sex, the more exotic stuff, whether it's something they'd want to do or not. How they talk about it does say something, but not every conversation about it means that two friends are actually doing whatever it is. A *fair* and loving and smart dad would see things like that and be careful about it before jumping to too many unfounded conclusions. But yes, this depends entirely on what Troy and Chase have said, plus what Troy's dad believes about any of that. I will say too, being smart and well educated does not always mean someone is accepting of things like being gay... or the idea their son and his best friend might be fooling around (or more serious about it). So, it would all depend on what Troy's dad believes and what Troy and Chase have written. Family and friends, in my experience, or heck, even the person him/herself, can miss clues that are right there, because they don't want to see them, either about themselves or someone else. I think Troy is so close to his own situation (things with Chase and him) that he's primed to think everyone knows and thinks of it either in the ways he likes, or in the ways he has doubts about it. (Hmm...now who else does that sound like?) Figuring out what's going on in people's heads can be complicated. Or it can be simple. You'll have noticed I over-analyze from too many sides at once. Call it an occupational hazard from training in both literary analysis and some programming courses. Bottom line? Troy's dad and Chase's dad have not locked them in their rooms and made them wear chastity belts. Note also, whatever Charlie knows about Troy and Chase, he hasn't blabbed it to the neighborhood either. Until further plot complications, I'd say that's a good sign. Very good story, much food for thought for me too. Kinda reminds me of someone. A few someones.

I'm part-way through Luggie's Tale and enjoying it. Luggie needs to write more. I'd get more reading and writing done today, but it keeps coming up with heavy thunderstorms. Loved the sand blocks. Heheheh.

hahahaha! Thank you! :snicker: Great dad, too.

* Onan could be very popular in certain circles. * Just noticed Onan is Nano- backwards. Which must mean that if Nano is Onan backwards, well, perhaps Onan is bigger? More popular, at least. (Don't mind me. My sense of humor is warped today.) (OK, maybe not just today. Shrugs.) (Hmm, why didn't I find one of those circles? Oh yeah, because I was too uptight. Eh.)

The song is great. I think we may have a translation, if the old thread is around. I'll need to do some looking. Gotta love the Dutch. That kid is great. If I'd been born Dutch, I probably would've had an entirely different, better adjusted sexual self. Or here, in some alternate universe.

Morlock's bollocks? Can't take you people anywhere, can I? That sounds like something the iOS spellchecker would do. At least we know the Chrome spellchecker *likes* bollocks! This is good, eh? :rofl: So much for me trying to be literate and erudite and sophisticated. August? It's July! Bwahahaha!

This question comes up a lot in various forms, so I'll try to address it fully. If you're short on time or attention span ;) then I'd suggest even so, take the time to read it. I'll try not to be too stuffy. There's a difference. You will hear a couple of rules in English class. You'll always hear the first one: If you're writing a non-fiction piece, such as an essay or article or newspaper report or a thesis, then yes, it ought to be in standard business textbook English, just like you were taught in school. If you're lucky, in class, you'll also hear: Other writing, fiction, for instance, can and usually should be more informal, with a more conversational style. But in the classroom, before college/university level, you might hear only the rule about standard textbook English, either because the students don't know the difference, or because the teacher doesn't want to tackle teaching the difference. But the basic two rules that cover even both those cases, are: * Who is your intended audience? * What is the intended style of your piece? In some cases, an informal article shouldn't be written in strict textbook English because the style or the audience require something else for an effective message. If you're going to write for a leisure magazine, for instance, or Rolling Stone or Seventeen or the latest teen mag or fan magazine, then you want to use an approach that your audience will listen to. (Case in point, that's why I didn't say, "to which they will listen.") If you wrote a short article on, say, teen pregnancy or using a condom and other hygiene and birth control to prevent the risk of getting an STD, yes, including for gay teens, then you'd write the way teens talk, unless those teens are Vulcans. ;) It's the same if you were writing something for rock fans, motorcycle fans, and so on. If you write for manga and anime fans, they have their own lingo. A primarily gay audience...may have a certain vocabulary too...but that might not reach the questioning or straight folks who are reading. But you asked about fiction. Fiction is a beast of another color: The whole crayon box got turned over and melted. And then they threw some watercolors and glitter on top. In fiction, the audience expects the narrative or exposition style and the dialogue style to fit the story. The story is king. The characters are kings. Unless they're not kings. Um, yes, problem carrying through on the metaphor, there. ;) No, seriously, your dialogue should absolutely fit your characters. Your exposition / narrative are likely to be a little more formal or standard. However, that too should fit your story. If your story is being narrated by a poor man who never finished high school and lives out in the country (or inner city or...) then he is not likely to speak in textbook English. If your story is from the 19th century, they wrote differently, in narrative and dialogue. If it's from ten thousand years in the future and the Spice must flow, they use another style still. If your story deals with poor urban youth, something fits that. If it's about the average family next door, then they probably use contractions and a few non-standard ways of speaking, but mostly, they use standard English in exposition, whatever they sound like in conversation. Or, to put it more succinctly, go read Mark Twain. Or Of Mice and Men. Or A Tale of Two Cities. Or Dune. Or watch Star Trek. Or an actual NASA mission. Huck and Tom and Jim don't sound nothin' like no schoolmarm from one o' them uppity cities back East. Nossuh, they talk like plain folks. If'n Huck spied him a coon, why he'd sic that ol' hound dog on 'im right quick. It is important to declare, define, allocate, initialize, and dereference dynamic memory properly when using pointers. One must also pay particular attention when managing, collecting, and deallocating blocks of memory addressed by pointers, and setting the pointers to null, in order to perform garbage collection, avoid underflow and overflow conditions, and prevent memory leaks and errors from occurring. I made up both of those off the cuff. The style of the second is not really good, but it is thick with buzzwords and dense, which is true of any such textbook. My whole point? Story. Character. Style. Audience. -- You should know the textbook rules, so that you know when and how best to bend or break the rules when you do so, for the greatest impact. Gene Roddenberry got all kinds of flak for writing that famous, "to boldly go where no man has gone before" line, and splitting that infinitive. He wasn't the first person ever to split an infinitive. Shakespeare, or earlier. But these days, you will find very few textbooks or so-called experts who will quibble too much about a split infinitive, and I've seen that Star Trek example cited as an example of why it is effective, strong style. I was (still am) pretty careful about English usage. But you wouldn't have caught me avoiding contractions in speech, or in informal writing, unless I was trying to imitate a Vulcan. (Hey, I'm a fan, don't look like that.) What I'm saying is: Story. Character. Style. Audience. Those are what matter in fiction. Break the rules when you need to. Know how and why, so if someone complains, you can defend your reasons, and because it will help you know how to bend or break the rules to do what you want. But yes, fiction needs to have everything bring out the desired effect, just like music or cooking or acting. (Acting and fiction are both about pretending and imagining and sharing the make-believe with an audience.) Don't beat yourself up if you prefer a more formal style. But don't be afraid to use an informal style, when it suits what you're trying to do. N.B. -- There are a few cases where I argued some style or grammar point or other with a writer or two, and I now think I had my head screwed on wrong. Thankfully, in most of those, the writer knew better and said so. In other cases, I wish some writers had followed my advice instead. ;) My point in mentioning it is, there's an art to bending or breaking the rules. The story and characters are king. The style needs to suit them. The style must reach and move the audience. Anything I or any editor or a teacher says is just hot air, if it doesn't meet those needs. Feel better? Go forth and use a contraction, I dare you! Have a character say ain't. I promise you'll live.

A little less grumbling than my above post: There is also this article on the Queer Side of Comic-Con International 2012. If you're a comics/manga/anime geek or scifi/fantasy geek, it's well worth reading about. There are all sorts of good things, gay/queer or not, at San Diego Comic Con each year. I'd love to attend someday. Note: Overall, you'll find science fiction and fantasy conventions and fans more generally friendly to LGBT folks. After all, if you can conceive of friendly alien lifeforms, possibly friendly human lifeforms of alternative orientations are not so outlandish. At least, in general.

:rotfl: I was going to suggest ungirding his loins might work better, but I see you had already taken care of that. Yup, a guy could really like a friend like that. It might be worth some shrieking and landing on the ceiling. Great job!

There's an interview somewhere with Burt Ward, the actor who played Robin / Dick Grayson in the TV show. He was around college age but looked younger. He was required to shave his legs for the costume. The rest of the interview does get into how he and Adam West and others joked about the subtext. I was blissfully, naively unaware of the subtext as a kid, reading the comics or watching the TV show. As I got into my teens, I was, "of course" (usually) "too old" for cartoons. Usually is the keyword there. I still didn't quite clue in on the subtext. But yes, eventually, it does soak in. Comics and manga are fine. Kids know it's pretend. They know it's about role models and good and evil and cops and robbers. They know the stories are fun as well as about morals and things like being athletic, "fit in body and mind." And straight boys and gay boys alike want to be handsome, masculine, physically fit, and attractive to someone they like. They probably know that, and art, is why those guys and girls are presented in skin-tight costumes with lots of muscles. The women are all shown as very curvaceous and beautiful. The men are muscled and handsome. It's about fantasy powers, after all. Yet it's also about learning and teaching roles and anatomy and that kind of thing. And yes, for those of us who grow up and begin to realize we like other guys (other girls) we begin to wonder about those skin-tight costumes, or why Tarzan and Conan and all run around in a loincloth (or less). Probably the really funny thing is this also shows our collective cultural biases: Either to make it clear it's not sexual (supposedly) or because of several cultures that are shy about nudity, almost none of these superheroes or villains run around nude. Unless, of course, they have "mutated" or are aliens, in which case, the guys still have mere "bulges" where they would actually have actual "anatomy" showing. ;) Fun comparison: Compare Chewbacca and Harry from Harry and the Hendersons. Whatever Chewie's got, it must be something, wouldn't you think? But it's hidden under a whole lotta hair (pause for chorus). But Harry, if you notice some of the pictures, is allowed to have something a little more realistic, even though yes, they were pretty careful about that. Harry hangs out with the young son in the movie, but we can all tell that our buddy Harry is more like a lovable, likable brother or buddy than any subtext there. We seem to have this idea that we have to wear something for swimming too. The girls wear bikinis, though some wear something less revealing. The boys wear board shorts or shorts or sometimes a swim brief or Speedo. (And yes, not every guy who wears a Speedo really should, um....) -- But isn't it funny that we think everyone has to be wearing a swimsuit, and people get upset over any nude beaches or skinny-dipping? -- You'd really think people would realize, if you're going to wear briefs or a Speedo or a bikini, why the heck not just go nude? -- Probably the same for tights. I say this as someone who did grow up mostly innocent of all the subtext (until puberty) and as someone who grew up mostly body-shy and with a pretty strong (not exclusive) nudity taboo at home. Yet I also grew up close by the Texas Gulf Coast, so it was commonplace, growing up, for people to wear shorts and for guys to go shirtless or wear a tee or tank top, while girls might wear a halter top. So again, there's a blurry standard there. Um, one note, though. I sure did like watching Flipper as a boy, and even though that was very much like how my friends and I dressed most of the summer, uh, as I got a little older (early teens and on) it did begin to dawn on me that, hmmm, say, watching those two guys sure is entertaining in all sorts of ways, and had been as a kid too, I just hadn't known quite why yet. And yes, you bet I watched Flipper reruns. (That is, until it really hit me just what was so much more interesting, and I got embarrassed and uptight. Wish I hadn't been so self-conscious and judgmental.) ... So anyway, let's hear it for Flipper! And hurray for comics. It's all in good fun, and it's a learning experience. Heck, for some of us, it's even more educational, not to mention fun.

Heh, thanks, guys. This does apply to me, but I did see this on YouTube, and given that the video was from a gay teen giving advice and the commenter had to be a questioning teen asking other advice, because apparently he liked someone he knew, heh, it really struck me as a universal question that needed some answers. Especially since growing up gay doesn't come with a handy how-to manual. :) (Neither does being a gay adult, or anything about life in general. Dreadful omission, kids not coming with how-to manuals when they're born!) I get that I'm not going to like every guy, or every gay guy, and not every gay guy is going to like me. Hah, in my own experience, I seem to have had trouble liking guys who were (or said they were) straight. Dang, you know? It can be discouraging, when a guy you like lets you know (subtly and indirectly, or pretty directly) that he doesn't like you. I have had one friend say that he wasn't gay, when I didn't think I was sending signals. Apparently I was. I knew, intellectually, that he was being nice, essentially saying he was still a friend, but it took a little while for the emotional surprise to work itself out of my system. But then, I've known many guy friends I wasn't attracted to, including some gay friends after coming out. Relationships and figuring things out aren't necessarily easy, but they aren't necessarily too tough, either...or nobody would ever have a relationship (or any of the benefits, sexual or otherwise, that go with one). Gee's flash fiction -- Gee, that is really great. Um, I didn't mean to set this up as a message from our sponsor, but I'd recommend people submit any flash fiction or shorts or serials to AwesomeDude and Codey's World. That one would be great. It says a lot. I've never played Xbox or PlayStation, so hah, I had no idea you could network and play against online players like that. (You'd think I would've guessed or read up on it, Sheesh.) But I liked the idea of the kid liking the advice, that he was curious enough to log back in too. It's a hint that hey, some things are private, so watch your mic and/or cam, and don't abuse the features either, but that there's friendly and neutral contact out there on the net or among gamers, and so on. (It is, by the way, why forums and sites like this, or that advice vidder on YouTube, are out there.) It also interested me, how the guys are at ease with one another, so Luke knows he can talk this over with Byron and with Jared there. But of course, I did talk over some things with friends, growing up, and tried to see if I could talk about it with some friends. LOL, you know, if I could hear those conversations again, I bet both sides would be really funny, all the verbal fencing going on, both trying to figure what he can say to the other guy, how much to trust each other. Yet with good friends, there's also a level of trust that builds up, where you know some things are fine without needing to test the conversational waters. I had a little initial confusion in sorting out Luke, Jared, Byron, and the online opponent kid, but when I did, I paused and restarted and got it sorted out. Very good stuff. Please keep it up, guys. I'd hope this is a good topic generating a lot of discussion. (Even better if somebody gets a good boyfriend or girlfriend out of the deal, heheh. Good luck out there, y'all.)

Sometimes you see something so ordinary, and it stays with you. Days ago, a gay YouTuber had an advice video, and one sincere commenter (gay but questioning) asked a very, very basic question, the very same question people (straight or gay) have been asking since time began: How do you know if someone likes you? The rest of the comment made it clear the young guy liked some male friend and was hoping his friend liked him back. Well, you know, that's not an easy answer to fit into 256 characters, or 256 thousand, probably. But there are so many answers to that, and so many potential hurdles along the way. It seemed to me like a topic for a video in itself. Or a story or an essay. How would you answer this? What if it was a friend in school who asked you? Your kid brother? Your older brother? Your son? Daughter? Sister? -- I am saying it's a given that the person asking is a teen, because I think that is when we first start really asking the question. But for that matter, it could be someone college age or older, or it might be a pre-teen just discovering he or she likes (loves) someone and hopes they love him or her back. It could be complicated if it's your friend asking because they like you...or you like them. I am writing that as if it was giving some possible story ideas. But I think this might be better suited for either a discussion topic on the forum, or for an essay, an advice article. Are the question, and the possible answers and options, really the same for a same-sex like/love as they are for an opposite-sex like/love? My own instincts say that when it's same-sex, there are some considerations that just don't enter into it for getting to know someone opposite-sex. I know this was a question of huge importance to me when I was a teen. "How can I find a friend to talk to about this stuff? How can I find someone who likes me, to try any of this stuff I'm feeling? How can I find someone who really likes me?" It's just as vital a question as an adult, for that matter. I'm not sure how common it is, but for me, it never entered my mind that another boy, a friend, might be a "boyfriend" or we'd be a "couple." It wasn't that I wanted merely sex. (Though I'll be honest, I did want that, even though I wasn't sure about actually doing anything. I still wanted it, at least the chance to find out, to try, beyond what I'd done.) It was that I couldn't imagine being able to be open about being together, and that anyone else would want that, at all, or with me. (Yes, that says a lot about my self-esteem as well as how taboo or unlikely I thought it was to find another boy who liked boys.) I am not sure if that last paragraph is something most questioning teens (or most gay but single teens) go through or not. So it's a writing or discussion topic along with the others. Now, some guys (and girls) apparently have no problem finding a friend to talk to, experiment with, or go steady with. But others have very limited experience, a lot of "ships passing in the night" missed or fumbled chances, or for some, no experience. Others have negative experiences. Some might have played as children, but had no idea as teens, and only discovered (or recognized) their feelings as they got into adulthood. Anyway, before I wander around any further from the central topic, I wanted to say that I think this very central, basic question is worth answering in some meaningful depth. I'm fully aware there will be many ideas and many more opinions. It is something I feel nearly every gay or questioning teen must go through on the way to figuring themselves out and finding how to date and form relationships. So it seems like it deserves some answers. As I said, I could see this sparking stories, articles/essays, personal experiences, and discussions. Rather than place limits, I thought I'd just throw it out there and see what people think.

You know, I have been using placeholders lately for some names of people and places. So notes on story ideas or even drafts of scenes/chapters will have Guy2 or Boy1 or BigBoxStore or U. of X. or Anytown, things like that. It seemed like a way to get the ideas down and find the name that fits later. That says to me I'm stressing too much over a name that fits. I've considered listing names so I don't inadvertently wind up with two or three of the same names running around in unconnected stories. I find it hard to keep up with names anyway. I am fine with using ordinary names or unusual names. (My own full legal name is unlikely, and Ben is my middle name, nickname, really.) So a strange or troublesome name is an everyday thing for me. (Dear Ms. W...) When they ask for my first name, though, I know they don't know me. :) I have a quirk, though, about trying to avoid using the names of people I know, at least who I know currently. If I write a story about someone named Scott, for instance, will my real friend Scott feel like I'm making some comment about him? (In his case, maybe not, but in others, maybe so.) Or if I write about a Sean, well, a real Sean was one of my best friends, now deceased. I somehow doubt he'd mind now, but more, uh, lively friends (or myself) might feel awkward about it. -- This is probably something I need to get over, though. I know several Mikes and James though, so I suppose that's fine. I'll admit I occasionally do a double take when "Ben" keeps doing things in a current TV show. Weird, when you're not expecting it. (Even more so if someone calls "my" name when I'm out somewhere.) Maybe I should just scribble out a bunch of names and play 52 card pickup. It has the advantage of I haven't tried it.