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Cat got your tongue?

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What to write? That is the question

OK guys (he says, using the asexual version of the word "guys"), I'm having a dilemma. I'm writing two stories now, "A Summer Love," and "The Gunroom." My original intent was to write them in tandem, to try to publish alternating chapters of each. That's not working for me, primarily because I need to write where my muse takes me.   I've been enjoying "The Gunroom" lately, and have done more work on it than ASL. I decided that I'm going to go with it, which means I'll probably publish mo

Mark Arbour

Mark Arbour

Spring Break and Nude Beaches

So...   I just got back from Spring Break. We cruised around the Caribbean for a week, and got to spend a couple of days on St. Barts. If you haven't been to St. Barts, you should go. It's awesome. The towns are cute, people speak French and/or English, and they drive really fast on these narrow, concrete roads that look more like paved goat paths.   So we went to a beach that is known for being clothing optional, which is cool because then you get to see lots of boobies. The guys te

Mark Arbour

Mark Arbour

Writing about AIDS

My current story, "Man In Motion", takes place in 1985/86. It is impossible to write a gay-oriented story in this era without infusing the AIDS crisis into it. For someone like me, who was closeted, AIDS wasn't a daily event. I didn't see my friends die, I didn't even know anyone then who was positive. For me, it was more of a latent fear. The fear that you could get it. The fear that I could get it. And then not only would I have a death sentence (most likely), I'd be outed. I think AID

Mark Arbour

Mark Arbour

Stale as Week Old Bread..

So I finished up on my latest story, Be Rad. I'll post Chapter 40 (the final one) today sometime, and started on the next one. I'm kind of frustrated with myself. I have a really hard time writing in a true prick. Not as in male phallus, as in someone who is truly bad and evil, and has no redeeming qualities. Every time I try to do it, I end up rehabbing them and making them human and, to me, somewhat likable. (I almost wrote lickable. Freudian slip). I worry that this makes my writing

Mark Arbour

Mark Arbour

Hosted Status: Quite a Journey

I'm kind of a rebel. Seems like I often end up fighting against "the system," and I usually end up mouthing off and getting myself in trouble. I've done that plenty of times here at GA, and gotten myself in lots of trouble. Even got some warning bars along the way. Of course, for someone like me, that was almost a badge of honor. At least it used to be.   I was gone from GA for quite awhile. Almost 2 years. I pretty much bailed during the "days of Kitty," and I really hadn't planned t

Mark Arbour

Mark Arbour

AIDS: The hot stars we lost

I've been known to be a prick from time to time, especially on the boards when someone really pisses me off, and rarely will you hear me talk about actually crying. I was always taught that crying was something you didn't do very often, and certainly not in public, because it wasn't masculine and it wasn't socially proper. Well, I'm breaking the rules today, sitting here with tears streaming down my face, remembering some of the people that we as a society lost to AIDS in the 1980s.   I sta

Mark Arbour

Mark Arbour

Hairspray

I'm sitting here on Friday night at midnight and the movie "Hairspray" just came on. Yes, this is what you do on a Friday night when you're in your 40s. Anyway, this has become one of my favorite movies for a bunch of reasons. First of all, the cast was great. Allison Janney, John Travolta, Christopher Walken, Queen Latifah, and Michelle Pfieffer, they were all great. And then there's Zac Efron. Wow. What a wet dream waiting to happen. Then there's the message, the focus on segregation.

Mark Arbour

Mark Arbour

Herpes

No, I don't have it.   I started writing my next installment, set in 1980. The big STD fear in 1980 was Herpes. If you got it, you'd get sores on your dick, or your mouth, or both. It wouldn't kill you, but it might be painful, it was certainly inconvenient, and once you got it, it was FOREVER. Not like gonorrhea, which you could treat with antibiotics. No, if you got Herpes, it would be with you forever. And that meant that when you meant that special someone, you couldn't just have

Mark Arbour

Mark Arbour

The Lull After the Storm

It's f**king cold here in the midwest, but sometimes that's kind of nice. I've got the fire turned on (gas, not wood, because I'm lazy), the cat sitting in my lap, and there are snow flurries outside, dusting the ground with white powder. But not the kind you can inhale. And I've just finished a writing marathon that started in August and generated three stories and more than 80 chapters. I'm feeling lazy.   Still, I've got another one on the back burner, a continuation of the saga I sta

Mark Arbour

Mark Arbour

Dear Red States....

Dear Red States: We've decided we're leaving.We intend to form our own country, and we're taking the other Blue States with us. In case you aren't aware, that includes California,Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of NewUSA. To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states. We get stem cell research and the best bea

Mark Arbour

Mark Arbour

Reasons to be Happy

I woke up this morning, late, after watching election news until 3am. It's like the political Superbowl. But I woke up in a happy mood, excited that after 8 dreary years of Bush bullshit we might actually be able to restore America, economically and internationally, into the respected pillar that it once was. I love my country. I think a new day is dawning, a day where we actually try to solve our problems with new approaches. I feel the same way I felt after I voted for Reagan in 1980, my

Mark Arbour

Mark Arbour

Mark Foley Transcript

We were discussing Congressman Mark Foley's conversations with pages; one was posted online and was pretty explicit. In case you're interested, here it is. Maf54 is Congressman Foley.       Maf54 (7:25:14 PM): hey Auto response from Xxxxxxxxx (7:25:14 PM): scrounging for food...brb Maf54 (7:25:25 PM): ok Maf54 (7:25:35 PM): kep scrounging Xxxxxxxxx (7:31:51 PM): boo Maf54 (7:32:13 PM): bo dude Xxxxxxxxx (7:32:17 PM): lol Xxxxxxxxx (7:32:26 PM): whered ya go this afternoon Maf54 (7:

Mark Arbour

Mark Arbour

1968 and Criticism

I just finished writing the sequel to Chronicles of an Academic Predator, which is titled 1968 because it's, big surprise, set in 1968. In my yahoo group I've gotten some interesting feedback, some of it bordering on petulant, because I killed off one of the primary characters. I've attached the postings from two of them below. I guess when I started writing I hoped I'd simply get rave reviews, which would be a great ego stroke, and then I could go on with my life feeling just that much coo

Mark Arbour

Mark Arbour

Give Sharon some Oxygen!

OK, I just finished writing this massively long story (Chronicles of an Academic Predator). Poor Sharon, just when she thought she could rest, I started working on a sequel. So those of you who know her, please send her some e-oxygen.

Mark Arbour

Mark Arbour

Blogging to Ether

Well, it's been so incredibly long since I've posted anything to my blog that I doubt anyone will read it. That's OK. I'll use at as therapy, kind of like psychological masturbation. Actually, the thing that's on my mind the most this weekend is the end of my first true fictional story, "Chronicles of an Academic Predator," which I've posted at my yahoo group and on e-fiction. It was pretty fun, since I set the story in 1962 - 1963, a time of change and crisis. The historical research was t

Mark Arbour

Mark Arbour

Easter Sucks

Sometimes going through the motions pretending that I actually believe the stuff written in the new testament becomes so hypocritical it almost overwhelms me. Sort of like pretending to be straight when I'm bisexual. Is my whole life just one big deception?   f**K it. I'm gonna go get stoned.

Mark Arbour

Mark Arbour

Speed Skaters

So I've been glued to the TV watching the winter olympics....and I've been watching this controversy in the US men's team. Apparently Hedrick and Shani Davis are about ready to kill each other. I keep trying to figure out which one I like, and who I think is "right" in this situation. I was a big Hedrick fan, because he's good (and hot), but Shani, with his shyness, and barrier-breaking medal, appeals to me as well. Anyone got any insight?

Mark Arbour

Mark Arbour

Underthehoodster is a girl?

Well I just spent my spare time for the last three days reading Underthehoodster's Perry and Jesse series. What a captivating story. The detail and the character development were simply excellent, and it was one of those stories that I just couldn't stop. There were a things about the story that just hit me as being wrong, or maybe even impossible. Upon analyzing these impressions, I kept returning to the overwhelming conclusion that the author is either a closet female, or writing from an i

Mark Arbour

Mark Arbour

The Drama of Leaving

What is this obsession for some people to make such a big deal about leaving a website, with drama, pulling heartstrings, etc., only to then return just a few weeks later? I think the correct term for that kind of behaviour would be "attention whore", and I guess responding only validates the behaviour. Damn...I ranted about this and self-fulfilled my own irritating prophesy. Some people suck, and not in a good way.

Mark Arbour

Mark Arbour

Mounties Detain Pitt Chasers

I saw this headline and pondered that, while armpits can be sexy, I didn't know that chasing after them was illegal in Canada. Turns out it's about people chasing after Brad Pitt. I'm not sure I blame them for that either.   It's a boring day...beautiful outside, with lots of work to do inside. Blah.

Mark Arbour

Mark Arbour

Snowey is OK

Just a quick note to let you know that I got an e-mail and im from Snowey and he's doing OK. I think he's trying to find balance in his life as he moves forward with his marriage, and the time commitment to his online relationships may be a hindrance. I'm hopeful that as he finds that balance, he'll be able to return here in some capacity.   It's such a relief to know he's OK, and he's not out of my life forever. Thanks to all of you who were so supportive during my emotional meltdown.

Mark Arbour

Mark Arbour

The Culture of GA

I woke up this morning, pretty late for me, and started hustling around my place getting organized. I was supposed to have office hours today. Then I logged on and read Snow Dog's post. It hit me hard. We were good friends. I relied on his intellect. His left brain complemented my right brain.   I spent the day depressed. I cancelled office hours. I did my class and came home and went to bed. Alone. I swore again that I would never allow myself to get close to another person on the

Mark Arbour

Mark Arbour

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