[Adam Phillips] Crosscurrents, Chapter 31

[Adam Phillips]

Well...after a long delay while we had the interior of our house redone, the new chapter has been posted. It's summertime for Andy...and it's a golden summer.

 

https://www.gayauthors.org/story/adam-phillips/crosscurrents

[db4530]

Adam,

 

What a wonderful new chapter. While all of it was great, I wanted to comment on one small detail. I really love how nicely you captured Matt and Andy's intimacy as they once again said good-bye in the driveway with an embrace and two kisses on the neck. More than any other physical act that the two of them have shared since they became friends (or at least since their first encounter on the beach), two kisses on the neck seems to carry the deepest significance for them. When one of them really wants to get the other's attention--to say that he remembers who they are as a couple, what their history is, how he feels about the other and the deep love and friendship that underlies it all--it only takes two little kisses. It may seem trivial to outsiders, but it carries a whole world of meaning for the two of them. I think most couples have some "signal" like this that reminds them of the close bond they share with each other, but you capture the essence of that intimacy so beautifully. It's just another of those details that makes Crosscurrents a wonderful story, and another example of why I believe the writing is top-notch.

 

Thanks again for sharing this story.

 

db

 

P.S. Why do I think I'm not going to like Julie very much by the end of the story?

Edited June 21, 2011 by db4530

[Adam Phillips]

Adam,

 

What a wonderful new chapter. While all of it was great, I wanted to comment on one small detail. I really love how nicely you captured Matt and Andy's intimacy as they once again said good-bye in the driveway with an embrace and two kisses on the neck. More than any other physical act that the two of them have shared since they became friends (or at least since their first encounter on the beach), two kisses on the neck seems to carry the deepest significance for them. When one of them really wants to get the other's attention--to say that he remembers who they are as a couple, what their history is, how he feels about the other and the deep love and friendship that underlies it all--it only takes two little kisses. It may seem trivial to outsiders, but it carries a whole world of meaning for the two of them. I think most couples have some "signal" like this that reminds them of the close bond they share with each other, but you capture the essence of that intimacy so beautifully.

Yep. If you'll remember, it was two kisses on Matt's neck that initiated their first lovemaking experience on the beach...the one that resulted in so much subsequent pain. Now, in a way, it's been made for them into a symbol of all they've overcome to make it back to each other.

 

P.S. Why do I think I'm not going to like Julie very much by the end of the story?

 

Aww, c'mon. She's a sweet girl.

[Cjay]

It's interesting to know your choice of songs. I had to listen everything on youtube and it makes me appreciate reading CC even more. Now I have CC's soundtrack on my ipod :-)

 

IMO,there's no way Andy will once again mess things up with Matt. Unless one of them get someone in pregnant. Hope not! thanks for a great chapter Adam.

[Adam Phillips]

It's interesting to know your choice of songs. I had to listen everything on youtube and it makes me appreciate reading CC even more. Now I have CC's soundtrack on my ipod :-)

 

Good. I'm glad you did that. I want my readers to know what those songs sound like as they read the words. For some of my long-time readers, I actually assembled a zipfile of mp3s of the songs of CC and made them available on a file-sharing site, but that file's not around any more.

 

IMO,there's no way Andy will once again mess things up with Matt. Unless one of them get someone in pregnant. Hope not! thanks for a great chapter Adam.

 

Oh, Cjay. So much faith in Andy. And for so little reason.

 

I'm not saying you'll be proven wrong. I'm not saying you won't, either. I'm just saying.

 

See, I know Andy. And I'll tell ya, the boy's haunted. Seems like there's always something inside that can flare up any minute to cause trouble. And remember, as an author, I still have the Prologue to validate in some fashion or another, and it wasn't exactly all sunshine.

[Caedus]

So considering Andy being haunted by the death of Matt's brother, and even greater the societal norms expected of him, even after being raised in an open, accepting (perhaps even to some unorthodox) enviornment, it may not be fair to expect Andy to ever fully be rid of it.

 

This makes me a more than a little curious about humans and social engineering, but also how we should ultimately view Andy and Matt as people reacting to society when this story's over.

 

Good chapter, Angie..there are too few women out there like her, her development to who she is deserves her own story, if only to capture how she came to her current view of Andy and Matt's relationship.

[methodwriter85]

And they all lived happily ever after...

[jdkrebs]

this was another great chapter...it is so great to see the love coming through. Isn't this what life is about? To love one another? gay/straight/rich/poor/black/white??? How wonderful. How absolutely wonderful. Thanks for sharing your creativity and talent.

[db4530]

Angie..there are too few women out there like her, her development to who she is deserves her own story, if only to capture how she came to her current view of Andy and Matt's relationship.

 

This is a great point Caedus. While perhaps Angie is not unique in the truest sense of that word, there are not many people in the world who would truly love their "One" knowing that, in addition to loving them back, their "One" also needs to deeply, both physically and emotionally, love other(s). The relationship that Angie has consented to does not fit neatly into the categories that we typically hear of in non-monogamous situations. It is not an open relationship because, as far as I can tell, Angie is not free to see others and Andy is only free to see Matt. It is not a polyamorous relationship because Matt and Angie are not together. It does not seem to do the situation justice to refer to it as a "love triangle" because instead of there being animosity between Matt and Angie, there is friendship, respect and to some degree love. It is almost as if there are two parallel relationships--Matt and Andy on the one hand, and Angie and Andy on the other hand--but neither relationship would be as fulfilling to Andy (and perhaps also to Matt and Angie) if the other one didn't exist.

 

Angie is a wonder and I think you are correct that she deserves her own story to show how she grew to be someone so open to the endless possibilities of love and the beauty that exists when love is found.

 

In addition, considering where we know the story is going based on the prologue, it will be interesting to see which of our three main characters takes us to that melancholy place that none of us wants to see. Based on his past freak-outs, it would seem that Andy is the likeliest candidate. However, there is also the possibility that Matt could end up being the one who backs out on the physical side of his relationship with Andy, perhaps because he meets his "One" and she is not as cool with the whole situation as Angie is. Or maybe Matt's discovery of his "One" causes Andy's next freak-out. Who knows? If Adam really wants to shock all of us, he could make Angie the culprit. However, given her consistency regarding Matt and Andy's relationship, blaming its downfall on Angie seems about as likely as aliens abducting Matt and Andy during their next night camping on the beach.

Edited June 22, 2011 by db4530

[Adam Phillips]

In addition, considering where we know the story is going based on the prologue, it will be interesting to see which of our three main characters takes us to that melancholy place that none of us wants to see. Based on his past freak-outs, it would seem that Andy is the likeliest candidate. However, there is also the possibility that Matt could end up being the one who backs out on the physical side of his relationship with Andy, perhaps because he meets his "One" and she is not as cool with the whole situation as Angie is. Or maybe Matt's discovery of his "One" causes Andy's next freak-out. Who knows? If Adam really wants to shock all of us, he could make Angie the culprit. However, given her consistency regarding Matt and Andy's relationship, blaming its downfall on Angie seems about as likely as aliens abducting Matt and Andy during their next night camping on the beach.

 

Get a grip on them hosses, cowboy. Let me disagree with the premise: Is there anything in the prologue that tells you where the story is going, exactly? I already told y'all many times that by the time the story is over and done with, you won't want to slit your wrists. Let me submit that none of you (well, none of you who ain't in some hypothetical-but-probably-nonexistent super-secret by-invitation-only Yahoo-style group) know just what specific melancholy thing it is that has Andy thinking the things he's thinking in the Prologue, so you have no way of judging just what's going on that has caused Andy to do his Empty Room thinking. Also, surely by now you know that just because Andy thinks something, that don't mean it's necessarily so. Of course, if we get to the end of the story and the ending leaves Andy hanging because he's mistaken on something yet again--though the reader can't know for sure that he is--well, I'll grant you that the fact that he's sometimes wrong in what he thinks is no consolation. Because that still leaves him and you, Gentle Reader(s), in turmoil.

 

But then, that's the kind of thing that sequels are often for. Speaking entirely hypothetically.

 

Seriously...I think that many of you are now interested not only in Crosscurrents, but in Matt and Andy and their relationship. I gotta tell you I'm deeply humbled and flattered. What higher praise could an author ask for than to have readers care about the emotional lives of his characters? And so, in the spirit of your concern not just for a story that you've enjoyed reading but for some of the characters within it, let me say once again that you haven't seen the last of our intrepid duo once you read the final words of Crosscurrents.

 

There's a reason for this, and that reason is related to the reason that I can't simply "shock all of [you and] make [emphasis mine] Angie the culprit." See...thing is...putting it that way makes it appear that I'm in command of the story. You think I write this thing? I sit down to write a chapter, and the story tells me what's going to happen. I don't make anything happen. For at least two reasons. One of them has to do with the fact that the writing often takes on a life of its own and decides what I'm going to tell at any given juncture. Even decides how much detail I'm going to put in. It's fornits, I tell you. (Look it up.) It ain't me. That's why I've been waffling over whether there'll be 34 or 35 chapters. I don't know yet. It depends on what the writing decides.

 

Uhh...that was a rabbit trail, no? Anyway, back to the "reason for this." The reason you ain't heard the last of Andy and Matt. See, when Andy started telling his story, he was in that condo thinking back during Spring Break 2003. He starts reminiscing, and gets to the end of his look back--in a narrative sense--in the space of a weekend of reflection. But in reality--I mean, I have to be joking in what I'm about to say, since Andy and Matt are literary characters instead of living, breathing people, right?--Andy's been narrating this story for eight years! And...uhh...well, you know, if Andy were a real person, some things might have happened in the story between Andy and Matt--things between that weekend at the condo, and, say, now--that Andy hadn't yet experienced in that spring of 2003. So what he thought was a natural kind of end to the Andy and Matt story, well, that wasn't really an end. Their story keeps on going past that weekend of his final spring break. That's the sort of strictly hypothetical thing that would necessitate a sequel.

 

(Let the reader understand, as the Good Book says.)

 

And in fact, you'll see a sequel. Probably about ten chapters in length. Called Finding Home. It'll be narrated by Matt, and he'll be picking up the story where Andy left it off. And he'll take it to about the year 2007...but he'll cover the ground a lot quicker than Andy, who is long-winded as hell. Right, JB? Why 2007? Well, maybe because that's when the story that CC begins to tell finally resolves itself for good and all.

 

Or maybe not, maybe I'm just blowin' smoke up your ass.

 

Yeah. I'm being a smart-ass. It's therapeutic. I've been in a weird place since the latter part of January. There's been a crazy situation cooking in my life and it's f**ked with me and just yesterday I started getting back toward Normal. And boy, are y'all gonna be sorry.

[theschnauzers]

Adam,

 

As one of those few who read that Prologue when you first posted it, w-a-a-a-a-y back when, something just occurred to me about it that I don't think I have ever seen pointed out.

 

The Prologue shows what Andy was thinking at the beginning of that "weekend" of reflection and remembrance when he arrives at the condo at the beach, there's not a thing in it that definitely states what Andy is thinking at the end of that weekend, In fact, we, the readers, don't even have a clue as to what Andy is even thinking yet at the end of that particular weekend, although those first paragraphs of the story might have implied to a casual reader that the reasons for the whole "reflection" thing would still be the same as that weekend came to a close. Maybe those reasons and expectation change by the end. I'm not going to say any more than that because I'm not a mind reader. But as a story-telling point it is something a reader should keep in mind, even if it does take almost a decade.

[nop]

Get a grip on them hosses, cowboy. Let me disagree with the premise: Is there anything in the prologue that tells you where the story is going, exactly? I already told y'all many times that by the time the story is over and done with, you won't want to slit your wrists.

 

Y'know, I've thought all along that it would be that type of story. And I hate that type of story. And still you've had me hooked all along. Glad I came to read the forums - now I can look forward to the next chapter without also dreading it. Great story, Adam.

[methodwriter85]

Get a grip on them hosses, cowboy. Let me disagree with the premise: Is there anything in the prologue that tells you where the story is going, exactly? I already told y'all many times that by the time the story is over and done with, you won't want to slit your wrists. Let me submit that none of you (well, none of you who ain't in some hypothetical-but-probably-nonexistent super-secret by-invitation-only Yahoo-style group) know just what specific melancholy thing it is that has Andy thinking the things he's thinking in the Prologue, so you have no way of judging just what's going on that has caused Andy to do his Empty Room thinking. Also, surely by now you know that just because Andy thinks something, that don't mean it's necessarily so. Of course, if we get to the end of the story and the ending leaves Andy hanging because he's mistaken on something yet again--though the reader can't know for sure that he is--well, I'll grant you that the fact that he's sometimes wrong in what he thinks is no consolation. Because that still leaves him and you, Gentle Reader(s), in turmoil.

 

But then, that's the kind of thing that sequels are often for. Speaking entirely hypothetically.

 

Seriously...I think that many of you are now interested not only in Crosscurrents, but in Matt and Andy and their relationship. I gotta tell you I'm deeply humbled and flattered. What higher praise could an author ask for than to have readers care about the emotional lives of his characters? And so, in the spirit of your concern not just for a story that you've enjoyed reading but for some of the characters within it, let me say once again that you haven't seen the last of our intrepid duo once you read the final words of Crosscurrents.

 

There's a reason for this, and that reason is related to the reason that I can't simply "shock all of [you and] make [emphasis mine] Angie the culprit." See...thing is...putting it that way makes it appear that I'm in command of the story. You think I write this thing? I sit down to write a chapter, and the story tells me what's going to happen. I don't make anything happen. For at least two reasons. One of them has to do with the fact that the writing often takes on a life of its own and decides what I'm going to tell at any given juncture. Even decides how much detail I'm going to put in. It's fornits, I tell you. (Look it up.) It ain't me. That's why I've been waffling over whether there'll be 34 or 35 chapters. I don't know yet. It depends on what the writing decides.

 

Uhh...that was a rabbit trail, no? Anyway, back to the "reason for this." The reason you ain't heard the last of Andy and Matt. See, when Andy started telling his story, he was in that condo thinking back during Spring Break 2003. He starts reminiscing, and gets to the end of his look back--in a narrative sense--in the space of a weekend of reflection. But in reality--I mean, I have to be joking in what I'm about to say, since Andy and Matt are literary characters instead of living, breathing people, right?--Andy's been narrating this story for eight years! And...uhh...well, you know, if Andy were a real person, some things might have happened in the story between Andy and Matt--things between that weekend at the condo, and, say, now--that Andy hadn't yet experienced in that spring of 2003. So what he thought was a natural kind of end to the Andy and Matt story, well, that wasn't really an end. Their story keeps on going past that weekend of his final spring break. That's the sort of strictly hypothetical thing that would necessitate a sequel.

 

(Let the reader understand, as the Good Book says.)

 

And in fact, you'll see a sequel. Probably about ten chapters in length. Called Finding Home. It'll be narrated by Matt, and he'll be picking up the story where Andy left it off. And he'll take it to about the year 2007...but he'll cover the ground a lot quicker than Andy, who is long-winded as hell. Right, JB? Why 2007? Well, maybe because that's when the story that CC begins to tell finally resolves itself for good and all.

 

Or maybe not, maybe I'm just blowin' smoke up your ass.

 

Yeah. I'm being a smart-ass. It's therapeautic. I've been in a weird place since the latter part of January. There's been a crazy situation cooking in my life and it's f**ked with me and just yesterday I started getting back toward Normal. And boy, are y'all gonna be sorry.

 

 

You've really been using what appears to be your typical vernacular much more often than back when you were working on the dissertation. I can just hear the Texan twang from all the way over here. I like it a lot. I can just picture you in a cowboy outfit, chewing on grass as you relate all this to us.

Edited July 3, 2011 by methodwriter85

[Adam Phillips]

Just thought I'd say hi to all of y'all from the beach. I hope you're having a good Fourth long weekend. I know I am.

[PrivateTim]

Just thought I'd say hi to all of y'all from the beach. I hope you're having a good Fourth long weekend. I know I am.

 

Did you umm..... have a July 4th Party? 17th annual perhaps?

[methodwriter85]

Did you umm..... have a July 4th Party? 17th annual perhaps?

 

He's a Texas guy. Of course they did. Texas people love any reason for a barbeque.

[Adam Phillips]

Did you umm..... have a July 4th Party? 17th annual perhaps?

 

14th annual. But you're on the right track.

[sparky53]

Hello Adam,

Fantastic chapter is all I can say.

 

Thanks

[methodwriter85]

14th annual. But you're on the right track.

 

I still can't believe that the summer of 1998 was thirteen years ago. I had just graduated from elementary school, and it felt like such a big deal. For some reason, I associated "Closing Time" by Semisonic with my 5th grade graduation. I don't really know why. LOL.

 

Kinda weird to think that you guys born in 1979/1980 are now in your early 30's. I keep thinking, "Born in 1979 means you must be about 26 or so, right?" Time goes by so fast. I was having a conversation with my friends where we talked about how it seems so impossible that we graduated from high school six years ago- it just doesn't seem possible that 2005 could have been that long ago.

Edited July 8, 2011 by methodwriter85

[Adam Phillips]

Hello Adam,

Fantastic chapter is all I can say.

 

Thanks

 

Thanks, Sparky. I'll try to get the next one out real soon.

[littlebuddy]

Another amazing chapter. I like reading out the dialog out loud because of how easily and believable it flows. Chapter 30 brought me to tears, Chapter 31 renewed my love for humanity. Kudos.

 

lb.

[Spot]

So I read all the chapters to this point yesterday..a rare day on an even rarer weekend with no responsibilities and no family around. Not sure the etiquette for posting comments drawn from various chapters in one place--here in the forum? As a review of the last chapter? (Too many places to comment for one site?) So based on the few current events blogs I've commented on, I'll just post here on the most recent thread.

 

Anyway, I'm enjoying the story. I echo the praise from others. I particularly think that Adam is doing an excellent job portraying Andy's blindness as to what/where the problem is between him and Matt. Though it is plain to others (Angie, Trey, Cole, Danny, Mr. Sharpe) and they've clearly pointed it out to Andy, he still was obsessing on ideas he'd made up in his head, and twisting minutia to support his make believe. Like obsessing on the word "were" in the email from Matt that he discussed with Trey. Having been on both sides of the "its as plain as the nose on your face" talk, I've found this thread in the story to be very realistic.

 

(I realize now after browsing through some of the non-story content that CC is autobiographical, so maybe that makes it easier to describe Andy's cluelessness and struggle, but it still has to be done convincingly to the reader, and at least for me, this has been very well accomplished.)

 

One thing I particularly enjoy in reading is how details advance the story or the characters. The "were" scene above is a good example. In chapter 30 there was another good one, I thought, when Andy asked his dad if he wanted to play ball with him and his brother. After years of being disengaged and racing to bury himself in his sports/substances/sex/studies, to me this signaled a broader re-engagement for Andy. He'd already started with Angie, but for me, this showed that Andy was doing a better job thinking about others too. That playing ball was more about dong something with Danny (and his dad) than just something to occupy his time and thoughts. Also, for me, it finally made his relationship with his dad a little more complete too. The scene where he talked about "the night on the beach" with his dad was good, but I thought it was a little coincidental that his dad would happen to have relevant books on the shelf and for me that scene was more about someone pointing out that Andy was projecting his fears/biases on Matt than it was a true discussion with his dad--it seemed too analytical.

 

In my real life, I do technical writing, and any word or phrase that doesn't add meaning or content is cut. No fluff. (Adam can probably relate to that in his math/science life, maybe we'd be in the same department, but not if I had to move to Texas.) So maybe I'm obsessing about a line of fluff to move the scene along at the beginning of Chapter 30, or maybe it was intentional. Adam, I'd be curious about your intent there, even though it is a minor point.

 

And one detail that confused me: early in chapter 28 Andy gets an email from Matt, in which he says: You don't get off as easy this school year. This is a game you're playing Andy and it's at my expense. It's like you wanna keep me at arms length to protect you. Protect you from ME. Jesus. WTF Drew.

So I read this and thought: "Whoda F is Drew, eh? Oh yeah, Andy = AnDREW" But no one, particularly Matt, had referred to Andy as Drew in the previous 28 chapters (with Prologue), so where did this come from? Matt alternates between using Drew and Andy after this point. So what's up with this?

 

By the way, I did a "find" for "drew" on the other chapters before posting this, just to be sure. If you post a comment with a factual error like that on the other blogs I read, you flamed hard.

Told you I was into details in reading. Not so much in real life though, that's my wife's job.

 

Adam, keep up the good work (and be strong in the face of the tests of a 4-yr-old <g>).

[Adam Phillips]

One thing I particularly enjoy in reading is how details advance the story or the characters. The "were" scene above is a good example. In chapter 30 there was another good one, I thought, when Andy asked his dad if he wanted to play ball with him and his brother. After years of being disengaged and racing to bury himself in his sports/substances/sex/studies, to me this signaled a broader re-engagement for Andy. He'd already started with Angie, but for me, this showed that Andy was doing a better job thinking about others too. That playing ball was more about dong something with Danny (and his dad) than just something to occupy his time and thoughts. Also, for me, it finally made his relationship with his dad a little more complete too. The scene where he talked about "the night on the beach" with his dad was good, but I thought it was a little coincidental that his dad would happen to have relevant books on the shelf and for me that scene was more about someone pointing out that Andy was projecting his fears/biases on Matt than it was a true discussion with his dad--it seemed too analytical.

Uhh...I never enjoy discussing Crosscurrents in terms of my offline life, but the discussion might have some merit in terms of how the autobiographical nature of the story sometimes compromises its literary quality. As far as the scene goes, that's pretty much how it happened. My dad's study also serves as the home's library, and I got my love of reading deep and wide from him. His study has books of every kind, on every topic imagineable. He even has it organized and categorized like a library.

 

The analytical tone of the discussion is typical of the way he and I interact. There's also plenty of warmth, and I think the scene itself conveys that...but we both tend to go with our heads rather than our hearts when a crisis hits.

 

So I read this and thought: "Whoda F is Drew, eh? Oh yeah, Andy = AnDREW" But no one, particularly Matt, had referred to Andy as Drew in the previous 28 chapters (with Prologue), so where did this come from? Matt alternates between using Drew and Andy after this point. So what's up with this?

Uh. Well. Okay. Again, autobiography rears its ugly head. I really hate dragging my offline life into this to the point of making explicit identifications of some offline reality with the narrative of CC, but you're right. It's a literary flaw. It came from a deeper place and sort of escaped not only my notice, but also my proofreaders', I think. And they're three smart, smart people. See, when I write this stuff, I have to get in touch with those memories and the feelings that are associated with them. The real-life Matt calls me "Drew" sometimes, especially in moments like that, and those memories rose up so strong when I was writing, it just sort of came out. And now I guess that reveals a little something I'd just as soon not have revealed, but on the order of things it's less of a reveal than is conceding that the story's autobiographical, and anyway, we all have to suffer for our art.

 

I can't tell you how many times "Adam" makes it onto the page when I write on CC, and also Matt's real name. These days, as a matter of course I run a search-and-replace before I send to my proofreaders. Usually. Before that, my proofreaders were usually pretty good about finding them. Problem is, they know Matt's real name (and mine, of course), and they e-know Matt himself, and so they didn't always catch them either. Some astute reader would write in, and I'd have to rush a correction before anyone else caught it. Beyond that, I think in a couple of forums which shall remain nameless, my proofreaders have seen "Matt" call me "Drew." Hence, it was so natural to me, it didn't hit me that I'd never used it before, and it was so natural to my proofreaders, it never occurred to them either.

 

By the way, I did a "find" for "drew" on the other chapters before posting this, just to be sure. If you post a comment with a factual error like that on the other blogs I read, you flamed hard.

You only get flamed hard by me if you're a tool. And anyway, the Police here at GA pretty much keep a watchful eye on that sort of thing. Haven't you noticed the 1984-like placidity of this place? Get Arbour to tell you some war stories...

 

Anyway, thanks for a provocative and insightful post. And thanks for the kind words.

[Spot]

Uhh...I never enjoy discussing Crosscurrents in terms of my offline life, but the discussion might have some merit in terms of how the autobiographical nature of the story sometimes compromises its literary quality.

Thanks for the response Adam. I wasn't trying to dig for personal details. I assume that even in autobiography, especially when the events are 10-15 years old, there must be some creation of details and literary license, and really I was wondering more about the "wanna play" detail as an object of your literary approach, because I liked it.

 

The warmth in the study scene was there, I thought, but more before and after the conversation, like in how quickly his/your dad responded to the request, etc. But hey, that's just my reading.

 

As for offline/explicit identification of Drew, you could probably have said something like: It's a literary flaw because I have a real life friend that goes by Drew and sometimes I don't catch it. That'd've kept you from having to be too detailed and satisfied me. But the more detailed answer is certainly appreciated.

 

Haven't you noticed the 1984-like placidity of this place? .

 

Yes. Sooo much better than political blogs. There was already enough hurt in the world, and then political blogs and online comment sections to newspaper articles were created. (Hope that doesn't cheapen your line too much.)

[Adam Phillips]

There was already enough hurt in the world, and then political blogs and online comment sections to newspaper articles were created.

 

Yeah, well...uhh...last year here, I did get into a pretty ugly head-to-head with an evolution-denier in an Evolution thread. I mean, a person can only take so much stupidity and ignorance. I've been careful to avoid that kind of stuff since then. After all that, I've tried to operate around here with the philosophy "if you can't say something nice," etc., etc. No point in going postal on clueless near-strangers. It's the people I know who usually get the sharp end of the stick once in a while.

 

All that's to say that some of my readers and groupies are far too familiar with what they've termed Adamic Blasts. But GA isn't a good place for those. They been good to me, so I try my best to behave here.