John Doe

Seeing banners help ads.... I was inspired. I want to make my own. I am learning how to use photoshop and I think I can make one. My question is ... I see that some authors use their banners as their signature... how do I do that? and How would I be able to link a site to my banner? Like when I click on the banner it'll take me to the story so i don't have to have an external link. Any replies or help would be nice and thanks for helping and viewing.

How do you link a url to a banner/picture/jpeg?

Christmas Shoes - New Song What Hurts The Most - Rascal Flatts (I Agree with their song "Skin" too) The Last Kiss - Pearl jam There's more .... I'll think of others. (I agree with Just a Dream by Carrie Underwood too) Angels in Waiting by Tammy Cochran

Yeah ... it's difficult. The time is coming when Kan has to ake a choice. Really make a choice. Not a maybe or a possibly. The end is near. We will see what happen.

Heh I am trying to have GA catch up with Nifty. So thus chapter 20 will be posted on GA and nifty at the same time and all chapters following will be the same, not that there will be much. (Yay... my first FINISHED story) Doesn't know Jack... It seems like you do know what you are talking about. I wasn't trying to make you explain or fault you. But indeed your "lecture" had clarify your intentions. Haha. Well done sir. Drewbie... I have sent a reply. Heh. And for the rest of my readers out there... Feel free to join in anytime. You can say or mention anything you want. Whether if you like a certain character (or dislike), the plot or storyline comments or questions... or curiosity about the author. Open forum here. I'm watching. Thanks for reading everyone.

You can also fix this by making the group modderator(which would be you) the only person able to add anything to the group.

AMEN! PREACH ON BROTHER!!!!! PREACH ON!!!!

Tiger, I understand that they are actual people with actual feelings, I was not implying otherwise. And you are right, people are people and they SHOULD be treated accordingly. I have treated everyone I came across with respect and politeness. Internalized homophobia? It's not internalized. I know it and I let people know it and I explain myself... which I should have done. (I am done addresssing Tiger... This next part is my rant) All my friends know my feelings and I have gay effeminate friends who understands, it's not like I'm hiding a secret. Many of the effeminate gays I have ever met (and that's a lot) were nothing but bad image creators. They make fun of people's appearance, disrespect people's opinions, grab random women's boobs and butts, make mean comments about others, and their excuse for doing so was they were gay so it's okay... as if it was expected. This guy in high school was effeminate and I was nice to him. I gave him rides from school becuase we had the same afterschool activity. He relied on people taking him home and he EXPECTED people to take him home. The day I did give him a ride home he complained the whole entire time. I was driving too fast. I needed to drive faster... blah blah blah. To say the least he was also mean to everyone and stated his "opinions" freely. "Oh, honey, you're getting a little chunky here." But everyone says it's okay because he's gay and gay men are opinionated. No, that shit don't fly with me. I can't tell you how many times I go to bars and my female friends gets groped by gay men. They get uncomfortable. "It's okay, I'm gay," is not an excuse and reason to grope someone. It still invades the person being grope's privacy and comfort zone. But it's taken in stride that these things are okay because the person is gay (Will &Grace moments come to mind). If a gay (and I hate to use this term because it's F-king ridiculous but it gets the point across ->) straight-acting man should do the same, there would probably be an fight. Once I was with a friend, drinking at a bar after work. This friend was very religious. He had his opinions about gay people (of where they were going after death) but he didn't let that stop him from seeing me as a person. We met near the "gay section" of town. This guy I met once for like 2 seconds walks into the bar. Yes he was effeminate. He sees me and starts talking to me. One thing lead to another and an arguement broke out. When I first introduced my friend to the gay man I made a disclaimer. "He's very religious. It was surprising he agreed to wander so close to the Sodom district." And the gay guy almost immediately ask what he thought of gay people. My friend politely declined but the other man was persistant. So my friend told him the truth. Basically we got yelled out of the bar by an angry group. But you know what we were minding our own business. My friend was being a friend. He was not rude to the person. He told the person what he believed and yet somehow he was called a hater and whatnot. Everyone in that bar probably thought it was a victory for them to chase out a "gay hating" Christian. But my friend was a man who had his opinions, but he was still my friend and he never expressed such feelings to me. We are still friends and never once has he asked me to save my soul or repent. He accepts me for who I am and I respect and accept him for who he is. So yeah because all of these "stories" I don't like effimante gay men. From my experiences, they all have been cruel, mean, harassers (mentally and physically), and everyone seems to think it's okay because of the fact that they were effeminate gay men (prime example: Perez Hilton. The douche celebrity commentator... he has a following... massive... and people love him because he's a queen bitch, but he's accepted because he's gay AND effeminate). I don't think it creates a positive image for the GLBT community. So yes, I dislike effeminate gays by association. Is it right? No. But it's not like I won't give a person a chance. I always do. Sometimes even second chances. If you disagree then fine we can agree to disagree. But it's not like I won't talk down to a person because he is effeminate... I will still treat anyone and everyone, I should ever interact with, with dignity and respect. Just because I don't like someone or something about someone does not mean I have to lose my human aspect. If it really bothers me... I'll tell you what bothers me and again you can dislike me for disliking you. So I'm not saying there shouldn't be effeminate gay men. I'm saying there shouldn't be people with rude, bad, horribe habits and use the excuse of a being an effeminate gay man to execute their cruelty, or lack of respect. It embarasses me to know such people represent a culture and community I am lumped into. If you happen to dislike effeminate gay men just because... by all means you can dislike them, but yes you still have to treat the man with the golden respect and emotions you would want to be treated with. We all have our dislikes... no one person is golden and perfect. We all discriminate (don't try to deny that either because it's true)... just differently... whether a person's mentally or physically handicapped, or by race, creed, religious affliliation, physical appearance (fat or thin... skin tone and markings), gender, orientation, and the list goes on. It is okay? No, but sadly to say it's human nature to judge and compare. So yeah I'll give that to people. I won't expect them to change, if they do then great, and they should do the same for me. As long as everyone is being fair, treated equally, and with respect and dignity. Well that's off my chest... so to reroute... stereotypes are bad... we all make them... and yes they are annoying... and they are wrong... but we still all make them... we still make assumptions (an "early" form of stereotypes)... and it can't be helped... people will make them... but you should address them if it bothers you...

"Rules are meant to be broken" Ha in some cases they shouldn't. Many people think they are too good for rules and well yeah... but rules should be a guideline and once you are comfortable enough in your work, then the rules could be molded and mended to fit your needs. I like the one where it says "Only bad writers think that their work is really good." I see it everyday. People seem to think they are the next bestseller and what not... if you are, you would have been already. Richard Ford's advices I am tossing out the window. After all they are only advice, take what you will of them. (I also think the guy is a tool and jerk... though his writing is amazing.)

doesn't know jack... wow your whole thing does makes sense. And I think you are mostly right. We have become and enamor ourselves with the thought of one love... the soulmate, and forget that there are other types of love out there. I must say I have never thought of it that way before and it does make sense and could be applied. What Kan is facing is a love of identity and culture. He only hates it because it conflicts with his love (partner, soulmate, etc). But yes I agree with everything that you say. You have put into words what I have been trying to say with a novel. Haha. But it doesn't mean that Americans do not understand what an is going through or that there are none (not that you were implying that all but as a generality and I just want to clarify). I'm sure out there are many American young women and men, grown men and women who do not have a "strong" ethnic, cultural (I couldn't find the right word, but you get my drift) background who are in situations much like Kan's due to different circumstances and family values. I first wrote this story to get feelings off my chest and to have a complete story and thanks to readers like you all I am getting close to what I hoped to accomplish. The end is coming soon and I hope you all are prepared. Read on people, and enjoy.

Don't let it get to you. For one of my stories, someone left a comment that he or she did not like my story because they saw it too manipulative. I just shrugged it and thought to myself that the person did not understand the circumstances my narrators were in. People either get the sotry or they don't. They formulate whatever they want about the story and you have no control over that so don't worry too much over it.

Heh, for me it's gotten to a point where the people who exhibits those stereotypes kind of annoy me. Please don't add to the already skewed picture. High voice pitch and walk with the swinging hips, but somehow drag queens are alright with me... I'm a complicated person. >.< But yes it is annoying that people correlate things with a sexuality or aspect of a person as if those qualities don't exist if it was otherwise. Like he's only good at math because he's Asian or he's good at basketball because he's black, etc. It's the same with being gay. Dressing good and knowing how to mix drinks, cook, sew, etc isn't due to the fact that a person is gay. It's a hobby or interest and like any interests of a person, they're gonna know what they'll be doing.

NOt a Supernatural fan though I'm a Jensen Ackles fan. I'll take him to go please. MMMMMMM.

I want to address this portion specifically. There is no "way" to write well. Again like I have stated before 1st or 3rd absolutely does not matter. If you write and execute the story well point of view is nothing. POV is a tool to enhance the structure of your story. You have so many options to do what under each category (1st or 3rd). It helps mold your story but it does NOT make your story. As an author you make POV do what you want, POV should not tell your story, but help enhance the story telling. There's a difference. There is... if you don't get it ... I'm sorry I'm a crappy explainer. But back to the write well part... I want to say there is NO way to write well (well there's only ONE way). What I mean is there is no tricks, no tips, no secret, or dust from a fairy that will make you a better writer. The only thing that can make your writing better is to read and write earnestly and and do the two often. Read, read, read, write, write, and write. All the great writers out there don't crap out perfection. They spend years and years at it. Yeah there may be one or two in history who can crap out a good book, but guess what... they have been writing and reading for a long time before that one special golden egg. So with that being said and off my chest... write and read more. What I do is read the stories here and "correct" them. Be harsh (though don't be a jerk and be mean... be consrtuctive and critical). It helps you get better at detecting the wrong things in your story. If a certain one of your story is lagging, take a break from it. The story will come together at one point.

Oh I was just going to go on my artistic prose monologue and then realized people may take it the wrong way if I only made comments about the photogrpahy and not of the person. Kinda like avoiding the white elephant in the room only there wasn't one in this case. But I said it anyway to make sure is wasn't AWKWARD or mistaken that way. Heh.

This is an amazing picture. Photograph wise... and of course person too (heh I was gonna keep writing and then realized my comment would have sounded mean). But I love the lighting and color.

And that is what I agree with. They are a waste of money. I understand they were order not to do anything and i respect that. I would just like their titles to be something other than security guard. Because in that state... they are offering no security. Security guard is someone who brings security or protects security, what they are doing is nothing like that. I'd like Observationist. That's a more appropriate title.

For me it makes no difference whatsoever if a story is told in first or third. You just have to write the story well and the execution should be good. The thing is... is this person 's , the one you are trying to write in, POV important. Will it relay any new information? If it's just a retelling of a situation then I say skip it. Personally I don't think the same story should be told twice if we don't get a significant detail out of it. If you are trying to protray an emotion from that other character you can have the cahtacters meet and have a conversation about the meeting. For me, there has to be point and value to having a change in 1st person point of view. and I have to disagree with hh5's comment about not being in someone's head in 3rd person. You can write a 3rd person POV and know everything there is to know about a character. You can be in their minds and tell their thoughts. (But I do know the implications you were trying to imply... ) Really POV doesn't matter. The creative writing department at my uni agrees also. If you write well and your story has a point and is well driven, point of view doesn't matter. You can be personal in boths 1st and 3rd. You can be distant in both 1st and 3rd. The thing that matters is how you write the story... how you utilize the tools of POV... there's a purpose in POV. To go along the lines of hh5's implication, 3rd person usually distances the story from the reader but again I must say a 3rd person story can be very intimate and close. to summarize, If you truely want to add this character's view I would recommend 3rd. As it's easier for most writers.

Girl gets beaten while security guards, and yes that is with an"s" watches. I understand why they watched but shit they should change the job description/title to Hall Observer and make the title known then people won't misunderstand. That girl went to the guards for a sense of security and she got none. Security Guard my ass. Where's the security in that situation? Ahem excuse the langauge.

I missed the opening ceremonies! But I did hear about the luge athlete. And NBC actually ran the video which in my opinion was very thoughtless and without tact. They also showed the paramedics doing CPR on the guy when everyone knew the guy didn't make it. I mean really? I hate it when coporate heads make a decision to up ratings than think about the people they are exploting. They were thinking about themselves and not of others. Which reminds me of the Congressional interview of I believe Google (on Google's censorship in China... if I remember the right documentary)... I want to ask the person in charge who okayed the video what the congressmen asked the Google executives... if you were housing Ann Frank and the Nazis came knocking at your door demanding for her would you hand her over? Eh and sorry I'm not trying to make this post political... Yes I want to see the opening ceremonies!!! To revert the subject back!

Okay so Nephy made a comment that I feel like I have to address here. I know she was speaking relatively and I know she's not taking the subject lightly. It's depressing for those so many in Kan's shoes as I am still in his shoes. Love vs. Honor and respect. As a American and an American with an Asian cultural background (first generation born in the US) I know the issue well. When it comes to the two love is most always rated second and the others come first. What are your thoughts on this subject? Anyone wanna share their experience? Or your opinions? I did make a reply to Nephy's comment and you guys can read the comment here. Read the two comments (and the others if you like ) and bring your thoughts here. What say you?

Apollo Anton Ohno, I'll get female parts so I'll have your kids!!! Man speed skating was instense. Anyone watch it? I thought for sure the Koreans was gonna sweep the metals. Woooo. Intense!

Dun dun da dun dun duuuuuuun.... Woot. Any kind of skating: speed, figure, dance. I also like the snowboard/ski freestyles.

Hells yes. Thanks.

White is a bright color. Sitting at the computer at lengths of time, I set my computer's brightness to lowest setting to aviod eye fatigue. And yes such a thing does exist. Your pupils are continiously expanding and contracting and your eyes are made of nerves and could be consider a "muscle." Plus white reflects the most light thus is the most "harmful" to your eyes. Maybe harmful shouldn't be in quotes as it does harm your eyes. As I lost my 20/10 vision from six years ago and I had to get stronger prescriptions this past year. It's all due to the brightness of computer screens. White is a bad color for eyes. The black background and white lettering is an optical trip out so it bugs some people.... kinda like there are folks out there who can't watch 3-d movies because their visions can't adjust to the visual spectrum of 3-d screens.