Ashi

OMG. That last portion of the dream about landlady's son..., yikes. Nifty material. LOL. Oh, I wish I've had dreams like that. I rarely have sexual dreams. Actually I never have one, now I think of it. The closest is just kissing. And I hate dreaming of people I know in real life, because that means they'll be soon departing from my life. Day dreaming, that's another story. If I wrote those early morning half-asleep dreams out, those could easily be Nifty materials. In any case. Stop thinking about those dream guys when there are guys who care about you here....

Well, I do miss Borders a little. Did they declare bankruptcy or merely shrink in size to selective market? I think that is also the case for Woolworth's. Remember the Thrifty (drug store) ice cream? That might be California only.... Thrifty got bought out by Payless, then Payless was in turn bought by Rite Aid, and then Rite Aid sort of divide the market territory a bit so some of them became CVS.... But I think Thrifty branded ice cream could still be found in some market, because it's such a strong brand (which is weird.... The ice cream that drug store made is more recognizable than their own core business). Structure. Oh, don't even get me started on that one. Express did an awful job when they bought Structure. It didn't buy the brand and just celebrate the brand the way it is, Express decided to transform a strong brand into a mirror image of itself... None of Express Men's offering is appealing to Structure's (then) existing customer base. Structure was changed from a brand that's masculine, street chic, appealing to collegiate males, into yet another Banana Republic wannabe (I own a lot of BR stuff, but who wants to buy clothes from a copycat brand?). Why buy a brand and lose all its customer base? Isn't it cheaper to just build a brand from ground up? It reminds me of my former boss, who did not come in and adopted to our store's existing culture, but she decided to change the company culture to her liking.... Of course our store disintegrated and sales suffered. Back in the days, a classmate said, "Who doesn't own a Structure [credit] card?" Yeah, that store was popular. And now it's a store I don't even walk into, because even the window display is unappealing. Selling clothes to young, image-conscious males is not as simple as it looks. Most managements probably think exactly like my mother, who think all men's clothes are generic and have no variation. Blockbuster cut down on physical stores, but online wise, it's still competing with Netflix. Remember Sam Goodie? Virgin Megastore? How about Urbanoutfitters when they were really selling urban clothes, rather than a place that suburban kids go to buy stuff in order to despite their parents? (I mean, re-constructed clothing you could buy at Goodwill except with heavy premium, tattered scarf thingy (probably functions like one), coffee table books that shows different sex positions. My brother bought me a book: 101 Things to do Before You Die, and one of things is to have anonymous unprotected sex or whatever). Remember when Diesel was still an edgy, off-beat brand rather than a mass market brand that's "trying" to be off-beat? (I missed Diesel Style Lab.... That's a nice place to exchange glances with other gay guys ) Remember when guys were wearing V-neck shirts with round-neck under shirt showing? That was coupled with a pair of Dockers' khakis of course. All over sized and baggy.... Because it was not hip wearing your own size (I was wearing XL, and now M..., and I was skinnier back then). Tappered jeans that gave you elephant feet? Guys wearing tank tops that couldn't even cover their nipples? (I am not complaining) If you go back a little bit, you might even remember half shirts and MC Hammer pants (gosh, those are fugly).

Argh, whatever. I never said something like that.

Ewww.... *jumps onto TetRefine's laps* Wait..., you're too young. Where is a guy in my age group I can take advantage of find comfort with in a situation like this?

Yeah, I noticed. It's basically for you and MJ's age group. They should include Sega Saturn though. And I don't miss Dorito 3D.... I thought it was over hyped. How about them Furbies and Beanie Babies? I know.... :cries and hugs CassieQ: Wait, you're a woman....

You'll find someone.

I love it, though admittedly I think it's aiming for a generation slightly younger than me (wha? No Barney the purple dinosaur and no Mr. Rogers? And where is Blue's Clues?).... It makes me feel old.... EDIT: And I still have the road carpet. I think it is still sold at IKEA....

It's a heart-warming and honest story AJ has written here. An episode of life many of us gay guys can relate to and feel for. I enjoy how AJ decided to flip the perspective and looking it from the straight guy's point of view. Don't we all wish two childhood best buddies would end up happy ever after? It doesn't always happen, however, and so the story reflects that reality. Still, AJ gave a satisfactory resolution with an epilogue.

Oh, Y_B, oh, Y_B..., when are you going to be openly gay? If you finally found some strength to get out there and get a real nice boyfriend, I'll be helping you pick your wedding dress. LOL I don't know why I enjoy making fun of you, but I think you're really a sweet guy under all that silliness (hoping Hayden would hear this). No, Hayden, absolutely don't fall for a straight guy. It's just totally confusing and it'll mess up your life! You don't wanna be in denial all these years and when your friend get married, and you still tell him to be happy and have a happy marriage, like you let him have the room with his GF and you mope in the library. It's sad.... Quickly get over it, please. It's like taking a vaccine. You think you'd get hurt, but as soon as the needle is in, it's not that bad. Same thing can be sad with getting over a guy you thought you'd hurt like really bad when leaving him.... Trust me, human protection mechanism will kick in (I thought I would cry my eyes out, but I didn't. I cried more thinking about him than learning he was married. Then after that, he felt totally unattractive to me, and I was like, what the heck was I thinking). If it doesn't, buy yourself a pint of ice cream.

Happy belated, KC! :-)

LOL. Y_B is such a silly wad. No, he is not a newbie. He is fairly harmless (I hope...) but his sense of humor could give people heart attack sometimes.... *offers blueberry muffins*

Nothing beats a nice, crazy family gathering with some twists! Many scenes are whimsical and nicely done. I love the interludes with Megan Milford. Lugh did a good job creating a tension, suspense, and some fear of unknown in a coming out situation. It makes Chord blush, but I feel I would too, if I were in the same situation. The dichotomous reaction from different generations is very nice touch. Well done.

Cool. Be happy.

Lugh captured the mind of a person who's constantly being bullied in school well. The end of the story gives a nice lift of the spirit. The end of the story makes me want to ask what does the phrase mean though. A sensitive story.

One day I will. Probably next year. This year is all about finishing up my current YA stories. Next year we'll see if my adult story will become a reality and that'll be my NaNoWriMo challenge.

Happy happy birthday.

Mann Ramblings' story is foremost, a drama of humanity. It's a story of surviving the lost of love one. Each character is endowed with human touch. They have flaws, but they're more human that way. I enjoyed Matthew's lashing out and repent afterward, mother's eyes on the glass of Scotch, reluctant to admit her fault fully, and Ben's snore, all very memorable moments. I love the slow build up of the story to a melodramatic climax, and a graceful resolution at the end. In the middle of the story we're given a statement that's poignant and full of irony. Toward the end of the story, the author gave us a hope of positivity. I think it's very well written. I enjoy the story fully.

:Vic2: Who doesn't love Vic? Who doesn't love Vic? Who doesn't love Vic must be a prick. Go Vic! :Vic2: :Vic2: :Vic2:

Happy Birthday!

Very sad. I hope the daughter survives also.

Yeah, good wishes to all of you who has/had to experience it. Be safe (even after the storm in the flood).

Well, I read the slide show in that page, I don't think alcoholism is the only problem or solution to their problems (some suffered from STD and Asperger's, which I don't think alcoholism is a possible solution). Anyways.... It's not just writers suffer from maladies (physical or mental) they may or may not able to control, most artists have some sort of problems also. I mentioned in chat one day, like Rachmaninoff (classical music composer/pianist), we can make a harvest of sorrow (he suffered from depression, just like Tchaikovsky and Mahler and probably more that I don't know). There are a lot of things we can learn from life experience, whether tragic or blissful. Just apply such event to something productive. I believe experience adds a lot of dimension to a story. Anyways, Philip K Dick said, "A Scanner Darkly (1977) was the first complete novel I had written without speed." (retrieved from Wikipedia:Philip K. Dick). I've heard some English major students said they were taught in school that they should experience life as much as possible. If you have a unique life experience, then why not exploit it to its full extend?

Well..., that makes sense. I talk nerd so yeah.... I appreciate the chart he made. I think his room decoration is about as confusing as his sexual orientation/gender role/sexual behavior, and/or perhaps romantic orientation, which is of course, separated from sexual behavior, though we should not fell into the trap of logical dichotomy that everything must be binary. I mean, he said he identify as a heterosexual, but clearly he must be a bi-curious asexual, which is of course, also a sexual orientation....

Calvin Klein. I found its low rise boxer brief a few years back and I was like totally in love.... It hugs tight like a chastity belt. And it lifts my thing in the back also.... Cotton blend version. The more synthetic fabric blend version is more stretchy but I am allergy to it.... Why are we talking about underwear again?

Welcome, welcome.