rustle

Howlin' For You by The Black Keys

I didn't quit, but I slowed down enough to know better. Got a haircut on Halloween, and they tried to pass me the mic in the salon. NUH UH.

Cjay, if you're think it's a virtue to betray another's most intimate trust in the most underhanded way possible, repeatedly, I feel sorry for you. But when your girlfriend finds out, and she will, I hope you feel twice the pain she does, and more. You will have earned it. You aren't a free agent. You need to take a good, long look in a mirror, dude.

I lost track of how many times I've heard people say things like this, and mean it. The catty comments and society's rush to judgment put extra pressure on the relationship. Not having a common frame of reference can leave a couple with less to talk about. It takes a special couple to make this work, long-term. I couldn't do it, then or now.

Yes, they are. Wasn't John McCain born in the Panama Canal Zone, when it was "owned" by the U.S.?

That's the key, isn't it? Maybe, instead of looking for a label that fits, your friend should just determine what he likes and needs, and go from there.

Thanks, James. I'll be thinking about this.

Don't fight it; revel in it!

OK, so it's not a joke, and really happened. A friend of mine worked as a midwife in Appalachia. (For those of you not from around these parts, Appalachia is an economically-depressed area in the Appalachian Mountains. The term hillbilly comes from there.) One day, she's at somebody's home, delivering a baby, and hears a commotion outside. The sister of the mother-to-be is in the room, assisting, so the midwife asks her to find out what all the noise is about, so the young lady leaves the room and goes outside. A few minutes later, she comes back in and tells the midwife it's nothing to be concerned about. The midwife asks, "Why, what's going on?" The ruckus was the brother and father of the mother-to-be, out in the front yard,fighting, arguing over which of them was the father.

Medium dark forest green

Austin, TX March Madness St. Patrick's Day South by Southwest all at the same time Tonight's amateur night, and I'm stayin' off the streets. But a happy St. Paddy's day to you all, and may ya find yourselves in heaven an hour before the devil knows you're gone.

I try hard to keep an open mind with music, but I think I'll make an exception this time.

Sorry, not interested in any guy 20 years older than me. We'd both be farting dust.

Damn straight!

Become? Very tough to do. An alpha male is self-aware without being self-conscious, comfortable in his own skin, with nothing to prove. He competes for the love of it. He's confident, not self-conscious, honest with himself. Every alpha male I've known exemplified the renaissance man - interested in many things, not prepared to stop short of excellence. Self-confident because he knows how to work to succeed. Curious, always growing. Never known an alpha male to strive to be an alpha male. Most just strive for authenticity in their lives, and to be the best they can be. In sex, they give freely of themselves - they don't take from their partner. Instead, they accept what's given. Graciously.

Lacey, you're lucky. Razors are hell on the skin. I started shaving every day when I was 12.

You were late grading my last paper, so I figured I could take an extra day to get my assignment to you.

Three things make a good story for me - plot is the framework, and has to hang together to hold the reader's interest; strong character development to identify with; style and technique to give it flavor. With these three things present, any story becomes enjoyable. One real buzz kill, though, is bad grammar.

Online, I'm out. My family and friends know I'm gay. At work, I keep my personal life to myself, although they offer same-sex partner benefits. Texas is not liberal, and if I went to work someplace else, well, once you're out, there's no going back in. My partner and I live just outside a small town, and keep our relationship quiet, although a few people around know about us. Anyone who knows both of us knows about us.

What they said. Welcome.

Define "resist." Also, is there whipped cream involved?

Trim what I want to keep, and Nair the rest. It's easier on the skin than a razor, and lasts longer. Just don't leave it on too long or it can burn and ruin your fun for a bit , and use it the night BEFORE your date, or there might be some aftertaste .

Sex can be quite clinical to downright filthy if it's all "down there." A kiss, though, is always an intimate act. My first kiss is the one I'll always remember. No teeth, no tongue, just a loving caress of the lips that had my toes tingling. It didn't hurt that it lasted for several minutes before we came up for air.

Someone on this site challenges us to write a review for each story we read. That's a lofty goal. I'm not there, but have tried to leave a few, and email the authors in some cases. A word of thanks or encouragement goes a long way; a thoughtful critique or analysis in some depth for something really good isn't much to do for someone who has provided you with a bit of entertainment, or perhaps had an impact on you. It impresses me that so many of the authors reply, and only encourages me to comment on their work more, and to read more attentively. Some day, I hope to live up to that challenge.

I've never thrown the first punch, but I've thrown the last a couple of times. Man or woman doesn't matter, but I'd have a tough time unloading on somebody smaller or weaker. Joint locks are very useful to control a person, though. off topic: Courtesy is courtesy. I hold the door for others of either gender, and accept the same courtesy with good grace, but I won't knock somebody down to do it. off-off-topic: Then there's courtesy to the point of stupidity. The elevator opens, and 2-3 people are so obsessed with courtesy, they hold everyone back until the elevator door closes with no one getting on, and we all get to wait for 5 more minutes for the next one.