Westie

Only if she can time travel to 1819 :-) when Piccadilly Circus came into being.... Perhaps a haberdashery at Chelsea? :-)

Well, the good news first I suppose. I resigned this week from my job - and nothing has ever felt so good!! I am most definitely leaving my employer in a difficult position, but there is an extent to which they just need to "get over it" and there is an even greater extent to which I really do not care. I am of course fulfilling my contractual and legal obligations to the letter. It's not as if they didn't get warning... they have seen the signs of my unhappiness for months. Through a couple of meetings with management and HR, I have made known my frustrations and issues. Nobody listened. I am a great believer that one should take control of a situation where those currently in control are screwing things up royally. In this situation, the only way to regain control was to resign. So a few months ago I started to look for new opportunities, and after some (at times painful) interview processes, I finally received a great offer. Not only much better money, but a better position with a specific specialism that will not only allow me to earn more now, but also increase my potential for the future. It was also my mums birthday this weekend - so we postponed my job celebration from earlier in the week and had one big joint Birthday/New job celebration last night - it was awesome. It was at a little French brasserie Paya and I know quite well. We started with Champagne Cocktails (a Kir Royale in this case), and moved on to foie gras for me, Avocado salad for Paya and Crab in Garlic for mum. We followed up with a rare T-Bone steak for me and Paya and a lamb shoulder for mum. All washed down with a bottle of Chablis (my favourite style of French wine), a nice desert, and after dinner liqueurs. The next few months will be hard work. I have a complex job and I would imagine that the handover process will be arduous and painful. But in the midst of that I have a holiday in Central Europe to look forward to, and then the start of my new adventure. Even as the dread of the "transition" approaches, I cannot hide my excitement :-) West

Those reading the CAP story might have noticed one small amount of crossover....

I think the question is better phrased, "what can be so bad to a man like Granger", because of course, there is a difference to how you or I might react :-)

No more ancient than many venerable members here.... it was written in 1986

So, recently, to fit in with a little project of my own, I have been doing a little light reading on a few little items. One of the things I have come across only today is a book called "the wooden world" by N. A. M Rodger. While not nearly as scholarly as Anson's thorough (though not entirely accurate) work on the Royal Navy, "The Wooden World" is has just the right balance of readability and detail for me to recommend it as a thoroughly good read for anyone interested in the anatomy of the Georgian Royal Navy. Just a little thought on this glorious sunshine-y day.... West

I always love this time of the year. Coming into summer, it brings some very happy memories (as opposed to January-April, which generally has many sad memories for me). The Ninth of May was our anniversary. FOUR YEARS we have been together, and for those of you who weren't at GA back then to remember, I'm gonna do a little recap. We met right here on this very site. If you go back and read my old blog entries you will see that I was trying to act straight in real life, scared of my family and what they might think. Paya had been a member of GA much longer than me, and we met in chat. HE had read something I had written in a blog that just spoke to him. I think its fair to say that he chased me while I was frozen like a terrified cat. We sort of danced over the course of a few weeks, trying not to fall for each other too fast and failing completely. We were entirely obvious - we both wrote blog entries and it was clear to everyone that we were talking about each other. Over the past four years, we have overcome long distance - he was in the Czech Republic, and I was in the UK. Fast forward to two years ago this week, and Paya was getting off a plane, and I was meeting him at Liverpool street with flowers and keys to our new home. I never imagined this is how my life would play out, but now my mum treats Paya like a second son, my Dad and his soon-to-be-wife adore him and my deeply religious 85-year-old grandmother prefers Paya to me by a considerable measure At the End of June is the anniversary of when we first met "in person", although by that point it really was too late At the End of August is the first time I went to the Czech Republic. You can see why these next few months are filled with happy memories for me :-D I'm writing this for two reasons. The first is that I have never felt as happy as I do right now, and so when many of us spend so much time sharing the dark side of life in our blogs, it's nice once in a while to be positive. The second reason I'm writing this is because a relationship - especially long distance and started in the "online" world - is hard. It takes effort, and courage. You will have so many challenges, and at times it will seem like the whole world wants you to be miserable. But if there's anyone else out there finding - well, LOVE - on this site, I'm not saying that to put them off. I'm saying that because despite all those things... IT'S TOTALLY WORTH IT. Have a great day West

In fairness, Mark did give forewarning in the blurb of the last chapter that this might be delayed.

Actually yes. In real life, I'm a 50 year old German trucker called Hans.

With the glorious anonymity of the internet.... you never know who you might be talking to!

Quite frankly, now I think the best thing that could happen for Will's relationship, and for Zach's long term psychological well-being would be for Zach to blow out his knee or something. it might ruin his career, but I think the mental strain of living a double life, and the eventual resentment, will do far more damage than a lost career.

Taken to its endpoint.... You want to fuck all your characters? (... that's some kink when you consider Tonto)

I completely agree with this. I don't post reviews (because being part of the Beta process makes it inappropriate. If I think something is bad, then I should have raised it before posting. If Mark rejects something I say, then I should be classy enough not to mention it in public). However it really does make the appreciation more "real". And more reviews would be a great way to combat the thought that "bridgemont" is the poorer sibling of CAP. I happen to think that Bridgemont is a better read than CAP (not that CAP isn't excellent). I think sometimes I might scare people off in this forum by concentrating too much on history and technicality rather than story - character motives, plot, intrigue etc. Maybe we need to be more pro-active in "promoting" the story we enjoy so much. That can be done with reviews, but also by getting involved in the community. How many reviewers have sent a longer review into the site daily blog for example? At the same time, I think we have said before how much research goes into this story. The work of producing a single chapter is incredibly in depth. An example of this is in Chapter 5, when Granger and Hornblower go to the theatre at Drury Lane. Note that Hornblower calls it "Drury lane theatre" because that was the common name for it. But the narrative calls it the theatre royal, which is it's technical name. Granger and Hornblower were met by the theatre owner - Mr. Sheridan. Can you guess who the real historical owner of the theatre was? That's right - Mr Sheridan. This detail all sits in 2 paragraphs in the story, and would more than likely pass by the reader without a second thought. But it's there anyway. So, even without the reviews, you can expect this story to move at a slower pace than usual. Note though that we are now up to chapter 7 and the author is still on track with his 1 post per week, which is an exceptional achievement. I don't think you're wrong when you say a couple of extra reviews might help him keep the pace up for a while

In this very narrow instance, I think it would be believable and even healthy for these two to hook up. My reasons are as follows. Firstly, they are not technically brothers, and so this is not "true" incest. Even if it was, I don't think that would be too out of the way in this family. Secondly, both these characters use sex to express affection, and as a form of bond. I think there is a sense in which it might cement their new relationship and bring them closer together as brothers. I also think that the story is heading for a role reversal, so Will is going to lean on Matt more than Wade, and JJ will lean on Wade more than Matt, Thirdly, in a threesome context, I think it broadens Zach's experience and probably gives a better grounding for a healthier relationship with Will in the longer term. Especially with Matt, who is not a threat to the overall viability of the relationship.

Wait... We don't get paid? I thought we had an "understanding"

Give it time. A new crew operating in sight of the Fleet, on it's way to pick up an admiral. How lively can such a ship really be?

I don't miss the point at all Tim. I completely get what you are saying. And to an extent I agree with you in that I think people in this forum are too quick to pile on about how "wrong" it all is. What I'm saying is that even if all that is correct, love and emotion aren't argued in a model way. So Matt is a guy who is messed up emotionally and his head is totally screwed up. He has some serious issues to deal with. Until he is emotionally capable of dealing with this, your argument still wont make any sense. That said, here is where you are RIGHT. Because while I understand these issues from a character point of view as if Matt really exists, I don't understand why people in this forum - with no emotional trauma to deal with, no issues, no death - cannot accept that the logic of your argument is fair in the cold light of day.

Firstly, this is my first real post in a while, but my absence was unavoidable. See, Tim's logical and reasoned argument is quite right (if in fact you do ignore the issues in paternity that Brad and Wade sleeping together did cause - in fact it caused at the time some major damage to Matt's Psyche). However, those arguments make two fundamental errors. The first is that logic and reasoning play any part whatsoever in Matt's mind in matters of emotion and feeling. NOBODY who is in love sits down and thinks "Hmmm, I might be unreasonable here, let's think logically". With someone who has desperation, Love, Jealousy and probably a little bit of shame for the way he acted before cannot possibly be expected to look dispassionately at the situation causing those emotions and think like a lawyer. The second error is thinking that an event pre- breakup and pre- 9/11 and pre- Brad's partner/Matt's father's death should have a fixed bearing on events that happen afterwards, even if they appear to be broadly similar. Events do not occur in a bubble, and lives are not lived there. If we were playing chess here, I would tell you to focus on the full board, and not just on the relationship between two queens and a bishop. Your play changes as key pieces in play fall. West

Ditto

Seems like 32-year-old's (according to your profile) might be quick to make sweeping generalisations....

Nelson didn't really join until 1801 (Well, November/December 1800). Throughout most 1800 he was engaged in intrigue at the Neopolitan Court and a delightful scandal with the Ambassador's wife....

Let me know how you get on!

You're right. It was always that I liked the Ragú and Bechamel version that's best known and hs a fairly traditional following. Unfortunately, eggplant (which we know as Aubergine) is another trigger food I have to avoid, but shredded chicken sounds like something I might have to try. W

Tonight is experimentation night. As many of you know, I have a few health complaints that are vastly improved by changes in diet. One of those changes involves cutting out certain foods altogether, and two of those foods are beef and tomatoes. This means that one of my favourite dishes - Lasagne - is well out of bounds. Anyway, tonight, I have set myself a challenge - is it possible to make a Lasagne, without minced/ground beef and more challengingly, without tomatoes? Stick with me here, I know those of you with Italian heritage are going to be going nuts right about now.... but it turns out you CAN. Firstly, you need a tomato sauce substitute. Actually, there are a number of good ones out there that call themselves "No-Mato Sauce" and they are actually very good. Basically, you get Six carrots, one beet, an onion, a leek, celery and a bay leaf, and boil them for twenty minutes with two cups of water (and a vegetable stock cube for additional flavour). After 20 minutes, you bend the ingredients roughly and Hey! Presto! - you get something that really does look like tomato sauce. Unfortunately, it doesn't taste like it, so I add basil, oregano, lots of garlic and a little paprika. It now tastes nice (especially with a little pepper) but is missing the kick of a tomato. My recommendation to fix this is to add some balsamic vinegar. It gives you the sharp background you are looking for in a tomato sauce. As for the substitute for beef, you could go the vegetarian route and make courgette lasagne, but I happen to believe that nothing good can come from a meatless meal, and so I plump for Minced turkey. It's lower in fat and full of flavour. Anyway, as experiments go - it actually turned out pretty awesome. It was of course a different flavour, but there was a tomato-like note to it, and the meat was superb. I thoroughly recommend it West

Well, this was unexpected.... But thanks so much I'm not sure I would quite wear the badge "used by Mark Arbour"...