AFriendlyFace

I feel like such an idiot! I knew you had a monkey, and I figured that's why you had the pic, but it didn't occur to me it was an actual pic of your monkey.

I recall you mentioning this once a couple of years ago and amazingly I've remembered ever since. LOL, I read that as "studying plagiarism" the first time I figured you had a respect and fondness of nature based on your posts in the soapbox AND adults

That's wonderful news Drew!! (that he's better that is!) That's awesome, Celia!!! Congrats!! Let us know how it goes -Kevin

I rarely type mine out. I just sign "Kevin" most of the time. I never knew that!

You just got it today right? (or am I really that unobservant that I didn't notice till now?!) Yeah I like it, it's adorable. The water polo picture is my favourite of Greg as well. So mine, well first off it's really my second avatar. Actually, technically speaking it's my 3rd or 4th (can't remember which for sure, but I know I had at least one other early one, but I didn't have it/them very long). My other main one was of course the pirate avatar that I had for around two years. There aren't many 'pirates' left on the site nowadays, but there were quite a few at one point! I finally just decided it was time for an update several months ago. I picked it because I thought it suited my personality. Mostly it looks like the avatar guy is laid back and peaceful (at least that's the vibe I get from it), but also 'fun', friendly, and out-going. I feel like I have those qualities most of the time. Plus I thought the avatar was cute and roughly matched my looks: dirty blond/ash hair - I've been going for a more subdued colour recently - fairly light skin tone, and most notably an odd necklace/pendant around his neck. I'm known for wearing odd things like that around my neck and usually over an exposed collarbone/upper chest like the avatar. So I feel like it suits my style pretty well. Good question, Eric! Take care all, Kevin

Hi everyone! Old Bob actually suggested this thread in reference to something I said in another thread (Thanks, Old Bob! ). So I thought it would be fun for us to describe our hypothetical, ideal wedding. Please refrain from mixing in politics or legal issues in this thread. Also, if you're against getting married, then that's fine, but please feel welcome to post your 'wedding ideas' if you feel so inclined anyway. Regardless, I don't mean for this to be a discussion of gay marriage only gay weddings. Although straight people, please chime in with your thoughts and comments as well! So I'll probably add more later, but roughly my perfect wedding would be something like the following: It would be a big affair attended by all our friends, family members, and co-workers. Obviously no one would have anything negative to say. I expect that most of the people at my 'ideal wedding' would be GLBT anyway since the majority of my friends are. There wouldn't be any 'groomsmen' or 'bridesmaids', whether the wedding party would be completely mixed with people of all genders and orientations, based purely on how close they are with the groom for whom they're standing. I would like a very large wedding party, probably 5-10 people for each of us, plus of course a 'best man/woman' for each of us, and any family/friends doing the 'giving away', 'ringbearing', or 'flower childing'. I want to be formally dressed, but I don't like traditional suits/tuxes. So I'd probably opt for some tailored slacks, probably gray, very nice shoes with a matching belt - I think I'd like the belt buckle to stand out a bit without being gaudy or over-done - I'm thinking either a light blue or dark red shirt that's well-tailored and fits snuggly but doesn't make me look like hustle. Probably a nice vest as well either gray to match the slacks or black to match the shoes and belt (I'd have to see the outfit to decide). I would not wear a jacket or tie because I really don't like the way the look guys. Also, I primarily want to stand out from the other men in the wedding party (thus the fact that I would likely wear gray slacks versus the more common black). If I could get away with it without looking like a pimp I'd quite like a sort of 'ceremonial' walking cane and a gold chain and watch. I wouldn't want to go too far though so I might opt against that. I'd probably wear the shirt with a couple of buttons open (but again, not enough to make me look like a slut) and with the collar flared forward a bit (again, not over-done). I would of course have just come from having my hair done and getting a manicure, pedicure, facial, and message. I wouldn't care what my fiance wore as long as it expressed his personality and made him happy. I think I'd like to get married in a nice, big church. It would be ideal if I could do it in the church I currently attend. It's BEAUTIFUL, very large, and done in the classic church style with plush carpet, stone walls, a massive alter area, VERY high ceilings, and arches and chandeliers everywhere. It's unlikely my church could do it though because it's against the rules of the broader denomination (although my particular church, congregation, and minister are very gay affirming and I know they would do it if they could. Either way I'd probably invite a lot of them). So failing my own church I'd probably look around for an elegant looking church of a different denomination that did have gay marriage. I briefly attended an all-gay church (MCC) so I know I could use their church if I had to, and it's a nice enough church, but it's a bit more modern than I had in mind. If I absolutely couldn't find a traditional looking church that would do it (but I think I can), I'd probably opt for a formal hall of some kind. The reception I would want to take place in a large, formal hall (thus why I wouldn't want to have the actual wedding there) that attached to a fancy and beautiful garden. That way it would sort of be like a 'garden party' but people could go in and out as they pleased. There would of course be some excellent vegetarian choices, but naturally I'd also have quite a few meaty selections for the carnivores. I haven't actually properly planned out a menu just yet, but that's something I'll delight in doing later. I'm thinking I'll have fish for my wedding. I mean me personally, naturally there would be fish available anyway. I quit eating fish last year (prior to that I was a pesci, lacto, ovo vegetarian), and occasionally I still miss them, plus I've always really loved fish (whereas I never liked other meats much), so for the occasion I'd probably personally have fish. Of course we'd also have a lot of champaign and wine, and I'd want an open bar as well. Despite the fact that I usually like to mingle freely, and also the fact that I'm not at all clingy I'd probably want and expect my new husband and I to remain side by side throughout the reception. So I'd mostly leave 'making the rounds' to our wedding party and immediate, close friends and family. I'd probably just want us to position ourselves somewhere fairly central and if people wanted to come and wish us well they could come up to us (and be most welcomed of course!), but just for the night I wouldn't want to have to worry about being the ideal host (as I said, for this that's what the wedding party, close friends and family would be for). Naturally we'd dance the first dance together at the center of the floor and kiss gently but deeply as the song closed. I haven't selected the song yet, but that's another delight which lays in store for me! I'd want the honeymoon to be somewhere gorgeous and naturey but with EXCELLENT accommodations and amenities. We wouldn't even bring our cell phones, computers, or anything else with us (remember this is an ideal wedding, so naturally there'd be no risk of us getting lost or finding ourselves in any other kind of danger ). I think I would primarily want four things for my honeymoon activities: -Lots of great sex (hey that's a given right ) -Lots of great scenic and beautiful walks with my husbands -Lots of great food -Lots of great conversation (before, during, and after each of the before mentioned activities) Notice I didn't even say shopping! No, I'd want a pretty secluded and non-commercial honeymoon (but I do want the great accommodations, amenities, and food). The major point would be for it to be emotionally intense and very relaxing and peaceful. So that's a rough overview of mine What would you guys and gals want? Take care all and may the wedding of your dreams come true! -Kevin

That does sound like a good suggestion! Thanks Old Bob I think I'll thoroughly enjoy planning my own wedding. I've helped plan a lesbian wedding before, but I was mostly in the role of supportive best friend, so while I was involved I mostly just agreed with and supported the brides! I'd really prefer the more active role of planning my own. I think that when it comes to weddings there's no wrong way to do it as long as it makes the couple happy! So, if someday my son or daughter wants to get married on the side of sand dune or something else I might not personally appreciate it, I shall do my best to smile and be supportive and remember that as long as he/she and his/her partner is happy that's all that matters. I think it might be fun to have that wedding thread! I might just start one! Thank you so much for providing us with a good opportunity to discuss this Benji! Once again, Happy Anniversary! 25 years is quite an accomplishment and I'm really happy for you -Kevin

Hey Vike Welcome to the forum. For the most part i would readily agree with everything you said! Except for the part about dealing with an emotional woman. I don't think that's necessarily accurate. Perhaps you 'lucked out' and your partner is pretty stable and calm emotionally, but believe me there are quite a few highly emotional gay guys out there! On the other hand given the choice between a stereotypical overly emotional gay male or straight woman, or an emotionally repressed straight male, I'd take the emotional gay male/straight woman any time! Please note, I'm not saying I believe these stereotypes, only giving my preference assuming the stereotypes are true. I'd rather deal with someone who is open and honest about their emotions, albeit vociferously, than someone with whom I could never tell what he was thinking and feeling, and who, worse yet, might not know himself! (I'm definitely not implying that your partner is like latter! I'm just taking extreme examples and expressing my personal preference ) Of course I admit that I'm a bit turned off and bored with straight males. I feel very prejudiced saying that, but I just find that I usually have the most difficulty empathizing with them (I can roughly understand them in most cases, but it's usually hard to identify), and I'm often bored in conversations with them. I don't think it actually has that much to do with the subject matter either. I suspect I could talk about the same things with straight women or gay males and enjoy the conversation more. I think it has to do with how they express themselves and communicate in general versus just simple interests. Naturally the perfect balance is lesbians! Anyway, as I said, I don't believe those things about all demographics in every case. I'm just expressing my opinion about the stereotypes that abound and what I've experienced in a slight majority of cases. Take care all, Kevin

Marry his co-widower Chase? LOL, I was going to call you on this one too, Robbie I don't think Steve survived. I give Brandon even odds either way. Can't wait to see what's next! -Kevin

Welcome Welcome!

Thanks you guys! I really appreciate it

I was going to suggest "Man of Honor" too. After all if it's an older, married lady they call it a "matron" of Honor. I don't see why they can't modify it still further for a gay best friend!

Chapter 6: The Truth Hurts “What’s my nickname, Aaron?” Ben asks, repeating his question as he looks at me expectantly. I should lie. I know I should lie. I should say ‘it’s Hottie’ and kiss him. Or maybe ‘it’s Sexy Ass’ and wink at him or something. But I know he’d see through that. He already seems to have developed a very disconcerting habit of calling me on my bull shit. Anyway, I guess when you think about it ‘Hottie’ doesn’t really fit with ‘Cosmo’, ‘Daisy’, and ‘Giorgio’. “Well…umm, you know how you…I mean sometimes…Well,” I really can’t figure out a way say this. “Aar, com’on. Just tell me” He says as he puts his hand on my arm and appropriates Jake’s nickname for me. Damn! I already like it better when he says it than when Jake does. Why couldn’t his nickname be something cute and affectionate? “Benji is a good nickname for Ben,” I offer. Okay, it’s not exactly the truth, but it’s no lie either! “Yeah, and my mom calls me that sometimes, but what do YOU call me?” See! See! I told you he wasn’t going to fall for lying! Oh well, I’m interested in the guy, and after all they do say that honesty is the cornerstone of any good relationship. “Bmad,” I mumble in a very low voice as I avert my eyes and admire his taste in shoes. Hmm, I wonder if that would change the subject effectively. “Cool, shoes man!” I say quickly in a much louder, more enthusiastic voice. Hey, it’s worth a shot right? “Thanks…but I didn’t hear what you said before that.” WRONG! I look up at him and briefly establish eye contact, pleading with him not to get angry, when I tell him. Suddenly I lose myself in the moment. I mean it’s funny really, I knew he had green eyes, but until now I’d never really noticed just how deep and expressive they were. “You have beautiful eyes,” I say with a slight sigh. I seriously wasn’t stalling there. His eyes are just so beautiful, I couldn’t not tell him when I noticed. “Thanks. I have beautiful eyes, cool shoes, and a nickname. Now what was that nickname again?” Tenacious isn’t he? *gulp* Time to take the plunge. “Bmad,” I say much more loudly this time, steeling my resolve. “Be mad? What? I’m not mad but why won’t you tell me?” He questions haltingly as if none of this made sense. Oh wait it doesn’t. “No, um, your nickname. It’s Bmad. Not ‘be’ as in ‘Be, being, been’,” Do you know your linking verbs, boys and girls? “but ‘B’ as in ‘A, B, C, D…’ ya know, and ‘mad’ is just like how you say it…it’s not mad like ‘angry’” I hope! “It’s really like ‘b, m, a, d’.” “Okkaaayyyy?” Perfect! I knew he wouldn’t be angry! Back to staring into his eyes now. “But what does that mean? Like what’s it stand for?” CRAP! What is this an interrogation? “Buy me a drink,” I say quickly. It’s like ripping off a band-aid. One quick motion, one quick motion. He starts to say something, probably something to the effect of ‘I don’t buy people drinks, they buy me drinks’, then understanding flashes into his deep green, very beautiful eyes, and suddenly they’re glaring at me as though I’d just remarked that he was wearing last year’s color. “That’s all you think I am isn’t it? Some stupid joke?! Some drunken slut who can’t keep his pants on!” Actually it’s your shirt you seem to have that problem with, but now isn’t the time for that. “I didn’t say that? I mean that’s…” “But that’s what you think, isn’t it? You just sit here every goddamn night scribbling in your notes. Jotting down, ‘Oh look, Bmad caught another one’!” f**K! Did he read that? No, he couldn’t have, it wasn’t written anywhere on the page he was looking at. “I…Umm…Sorry?” I offer weakly. “Prick!” he shouts as he puts his cigarette out – thankfully not on my arm – and then storms back inside. You know why fish all swim in the same direction when they’re in one of those ‘school’ things? It’s because if one of them turned around and tried to swim in the opposite direction he would crash into all the other fish. Duh. “Ben, wait!” I shout as I take off after him. Unfortunately it’s getting later and the club is starting to fill up. I guess none of the smokers want to try their luck at dancing until they’ve reduced their lung capacity a little farther, and eight of them all seem intent on coming outside just as I’m attempting to do the opposite. By the time I finally make it back inside – I swear they would have lit up and smoked the damn things in the doorway if I hadn’t glared at them – Ben is nowhere to be found. Desperately scanning the club, the first set of eyes I make contact with are Jake’s. He looks concerned and nods his head toward the front. There are fewer people in the front and clearly none of them are Ben, so I rush outside…and right into a line of people queuing up to get in. After I swim err ‘walk’ a bit further I pause, out of breath, and ask the nearest group of guys, “Did anyone see a really hot guy go past?” “Just one,” one of them responds with a leer. Whoa! Did I just get hit on? “Dark blond hair? Having a ‘Joan Collins’ moment?” Another member of the group inquires. “He went that way,” the guy says pointing toward Hollywood Caf

*sigh* So I had some 'problems' with eFiction and instead of adding the new chapter I accidentally deleted the whole story It's a bit late and I'm very tired so I don't have time to try to re-post everything tonight. Instead then I'm just going to post chapter 6 in a separate thread (which I'll merge back into this one in a couple of days). Sorry about the inconvenience everyone. At least I stuck to updating by the end of the 23rd (I still have almost a half an hour! )....I never promised I'd leave the other chapters up, only that I'd post a new one ( :wacko: ) (so not happy about this ) Once again apologies all and I hope you like the new chapter, -Kevin (who is not on the tech team)

Greatly over-posted huh? Hmmm, I have a few suspect in mind then! Was the culprit a quadraped wearing dark glasses? Perhaps a spiny little guy with an Australian accent? Might he have been an intimidating young beast? Did he resemble a very large house cat? (...you see the kind of zoo they have me watching?! :wacko: ) Alternatively I suspect he may have hailed from the Florida area, or perhaps he was an all around nice guy who happens to hang out near cliffs. Rest assured we'll catch the over-posting fiend and make him apologize (probably four or five times ) -Kevin

*pulls the cocktail out of W.L.'s hand and drags him away from the black jack table* Shouldn't have fessed up, dude I hope your day is strikingly pleasant, and may the coming year bring you exactly what you need and most of the things you wanted. Happy Birthday! -Kevin

This is a song I like! "Please Don't Stop The Music" - Rhianna

*waves and smiles* Happy birthday, dude

WOO HOOO! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GREG!!!! May all your dreams become a reality and may the joy of the day engulf you in transcendent happiness and peace! -Kevin

Nice pic, Eric! Oh no you don't! You're not getting out of that easily, Niels! I've already begun work on my secret confidence building potion! Before you know it we'll have you singing I'm Too Sexy and dancing on the catwalk! Even I didn't notice the belt and I'm known for such things!

An interesting and rich tradition! But what if there are two grooms? Or even no grooms at all? I realize of course that this ritual wasn't created with gay marriage in mind, but I'm not being completely facetious though, I think figuring out a way to incorporate old traditions into new ceremonies is an important thing for gay people to consider. For example I think my solution to the whole groom carrying the bride over the threshold thing will be for one of us to carry the other over as we enter our honeymoon suite for the first time, and then other to carry the first over as we leave to embark on our new life together. I would similarly try to come up with a new twist on other old practices. Just my queries, -Kevin

A nice thought, but it may not be best for their relationship to start with a bunch of hot air

Blink 182 - Untitled

"Lithium" - Evanescence

How sad Ironically perhaps my thoughts and prayers shall be with him and his family.