nightsky

I would hazard to guess it is b/c he's not a very complex character. .. he's kind of... flat? he's got a loving relationship with Brad (I did really enjoy it when they deepened their relationship), and he's happy with Greg. Before that... he's just well, a whore? I might have to re-read parts of CAP... i think Mark set it up so that Stefan could be a complex character (with all that background stuff from before he became a Schluter), but it hasn't really manifested much (or, rather, I don't feel I got a ring side seat to Stefan's struggle with coming to terms with all that stuff) I'm on Man in Motion and enjoying Brad and Robbie. Sad though. Sad sad.

i've always loved me a good series, so I def. started with CAP. I think I'm enjoying each story more and more, not only b/c I've gotten to know each character better, but also b/c I've become more and more invested in the outcome and i think the writing has gotten stronger. More character development, which I love. (an aside) I worked all day today (well... 830am to 3pm) so I'm giving myself the rest of the evening to read and clean the house! YAY!

I'd like to hear some from George's partners... it could help flush out some of the other characters. But back to Be Rad (b/c of course I was weak and read 2 chapters last night)... I'm hoping Jake is not going to keep showing up, b/c he keeps throwing a wrench into things (which, I suppose, is his function as a character). Very interested to see how the Frank/JP and JP/Roger and JP/Stefan thing unravels, and the angst of the Robbie/Brad situation is just... riveting (and exhausting). I'm also wondering how Mark is going to resolve Robbie's relationship with his mother... what with her wanting to "pray the gay away." I love the idea of Brad's love life being a soap opera.

there are two ways for me 1) cajole authors into sending me the chapters/stories in PDF format. upload to my kindle. 2) the super laborious way: copy and paste the text of the stories into a word doc, and upload to my kindle. i think neither is likely to happen anytime soon (for me). BUT for you, I would guess that as one of his team, you can get your hands on a pdf or word version. I think i see a kindle with your name on it.

You all have no idea how hard it is not to be reading right now. i wish (ahem ahem) these chapters could be loaded up on my kindle, which I (right now) reserve for reading when I'm going to bed. Perhaps I'll get my checklist of "things that need to be done RIGHT NOW" done tomorrow and I'll reward myself by allowing myself to finish this story. I'm sure I won't get closure on Brad (b/c hopefully he has much more story/life in front of him) but it'll be a good place to take a mini-break. I love Brad. Even when he's being a shit (to Doug, Lark,...). and especially when he's being vulnerable with JP, Stef, Lark, Billy, Ace, or Robbie.

I'm sorry that that happened to you. It shouldn't have, and it was wrong. On the other hand, I think that people ARE picking the battles that mean something. TO THEM. I think the challenge is in getting people to care about battles that might not be just about them, but about others. How can we expect others to care about our battles if we don't care about anyone else's?

ACTUALLY. no. I've never read the last page of a fiction book before reading all the rest. But the timeline is right there... and I was getting confuzzled about all the characters... and, and, and... i'm making up excuses. I'm weak. what can I say? it's hard not to have any spoilers since there are a zillion and five posts about the stories on here. But that doesn't mean I won't enjoy the journey of getting to know each character and reading about how they get to wherever they are... or who they end up with... I do want JP to find someone. I thought Sam was it, but some posts SOMEWHERE hinted that Sam's karma from his dealings with Jeff would be coming to bite him in the ass. right now, he's enjoying some young ass, so I'm not seeing the karma bit yet. I'll just have to keep reading.

ooh. what about Conan the Barbarian, Terminator movies, and Rocky? Good Will Hunting. While not maybe your typical manly man movie, I think it has elements.

Oh. I have looked at the timeline... so I know that some characters don't get to stay around for very long. And I already cried (when Stef got shot and thought Greg was dead, and Brad pulled him back... sniff sniff.) but thanks for the heads up. one more chapter.... just one more.

Anyone ever attend Hash Bash? it's quite an event. Last I went, the ticket for getting caught smoking on the Diag was about $25. Pin it to your shirt, and you've got a free pass for the rest of the day. Get caught drinking from an open container... $500. Not sure why it's not held closer to 4/20 though.

maybe you're not meeting enough women. I love that movie, even if I can't make myself watch the part when John has to shove the needle full of adrenaline into Uma's heart. I love the relationship between Bruce Willis and Ving Rhames, John and Sam..., and Harvey Keitel with both of them. Man movies. (aka, the movies all my men friends pull off my shelves and watch over and over and over?) Gladiator. Lord of the Rings (personally, the Two Towers is my favorite). Star Wars I-VI. Fight Club Kill Bill maybe i'm just a blood thirsty wench.

i've not read this thread, b/c i'm not done with the story yet (chapter... 17?) but I wanted to let Mark know that I am blaming him for my lack of productivity. Since starting the CAP series, I've gotten very little done. Good thing I'm a fast reader. Your writing is too compelling, darn it! Funny how a change in POV can alter my opinion of characters. Like Roger (for the better), and Sam (not for the better). I love reading about the siblings' relationships with each other, and Brad's view of his relationships with the adults. I hope at some point we get to know Billy better, even if I know that he's not going to be around too much longer. sniff.

I love a good heated discussion, but the other person has to know it's not a "fight" or it just makes me more stressed. And if crocheting and knitting are the gayest thing to do.... there are a lot of gay people that don't know they're gay. I can't believe I forgot to say I knit to relieve stress, except I knit very little now (graduate school has taken over my life). And... I think I would hardly ever work out if I didn't do it to music. oh. Psychotherapy helps sometimes too. but that's more like maintenance instead of on the spot treatment.

1) work out or something physically oriented (like cleaning the house) 2) talk to friends... preferably in person, but usually over the phone 3) a few drinky drinks (esp if it is a certain period of time that is stressful... instead of a chronic issue) 4) sleep 5) think up a nice reward for whenever I finish whatever is stressing me out (like a trip home to go see my friends is a major reward... giving myself a mani/pedi is more likely)

Ppl like to be mean when they don't have to be held accountable. I pos'ed it, so it's all balanced out. I'm going to bed kinda mad at Stefan and Roger and Peter. (I'm in the "everyone goes to LA and screws everyone else, but no one is really ok with it" chapter.) OTOH, I did just "meet" Greg...

Grr. ppl been spoiling left and right (unintentionally, of course) but that's ok. I can't wait to see who Stefan ends up with... although all signs point to JP.

Do we get to learn more about him (Armand?) I'm on Chapter 20. S just found out about Brad and Josh.

Second resurrection... I'm about halfway through. I feel sorry for Stefan for being torn about his love life, for feeling guilty about his inability to be monogomous, and jealous of all the action he gets. To be honest, I do miss hearing JP's POV, but it's nice to get to know Stefan's inner thoughts. Can't wait to find out what happens with Roger, Peter, and Armand.

Good lookin' out, but while knowing the possible ending relieves some of the need. to. read. right. now. feeling for me, the stories are really about the journey and character development. Which is probably why I was so... befuddled about Jeff's demise. I felt cheated that I didn't get to see HOW he became such a drug addict that he lost everything and everyone who was so important to him. IMO, he was more stable and centered than JP (emotionally at least), so it didn't make sense. I can't wait to get to know Brad, Robbie... etc better. I assume that Brad is Bradley of Janice's affair?

There are biological reasons why Jeff might've had such a difficult time with the drugs (some of us are predisposed to addiction), and he obviously had a lot of psychological baggage. But...I just didn't see how he went from who he was in CAP to the person he ended up being in 1968. I kind of get the suicide. He became a complete A-hole, but I just didn't get how he went from character with the most integrity to the character with the least. oy! more jumping ahead! I don't know who Robbie and Matt are yet, b/c i'm in the midst of Land Whore. (can't. stop. reading.) Deke just got offed, but I'm not very sad.

Well... I guess I single out Jason as more worthy to be offed b/c of his past history AND he was there too. stephen king has far too many stories for me to begin to guess which short story you're talking about, plus I stopped reading any and all SK titles after Tommyknockers. but I must admit that this... EVENT... rings a bit like one of his full length stories... Dark Half? Where the writer goes up to a secluded cabin to kill off the main character from a series, but is then plagued by the voice of that character, therefore driving him slowly insane?? Never say you weren't warned Mark.

I just spent an unspeakable amount of time reading CAP and 1968 (thereby neglecting the mtn of work on my desk), so I can't read through this thread right now. But I do want to comment that I cried, Mark. You made me cry, dammit! Jeff. really? I mean, maybe if we had seen it coming, had some sort of inkling as to why a guy who seemed so centered, would go down that path? Sure, his parents were abusive, but he seemed to have dealt with that stuff even before college. So... how did he get so deep into the drugs? He was a character with so much integrity and I was very sad to see him go. Why couldn't it have been...Jason? He got to the point where I thought he should die. (ok, yes yes. he had a horrible abusive history too... but sadistic bastard would've deserved it after what he did to Stefan). Part of me is scared to read this entire thread b/c of spoilers to the rest of the story. I see I have a lot of reading to do here. It'll keep me engrossed as I wait (patiently?) for each chapter of Crosscurrents to be posted.

I'm happy with what I've got. I teach, do research, am writing a dissertation, and various other functions. I am totally in love with macbook pro 13" it's small, compact, and reliable. I HAD a Dell laptop, but got the Blue Screen of Death too many times to trust it anymore. Because yes, I'm too lazy and forgetful to back up on a regular basis.

ACK!!! I'm not there yet! Here's another one. Thank goodness for Marathon Monday here in Boston, or I'd be in deep doo doo. I'm totally sucked into this story. April 1963: Billy Schulter dies at sea on USS Thresher I think where it is located now on the timeline makes it seem like Billy died before Andre...

Dec 1962: Andre killed in action? I am just reading CAP now, so maybe this is a mistake (which would be great) but in case it is real... And I'm already sad, seeing that Jeff is going to die of an overdose. Sniff.