KJames

James, I don't think any of them caught your definition of "Redneck Hell"...shame on you, you're all reading but not paying attention! It's not a place you'd FIND 'em! It's a place where they'd be tortuously uncomfortable! NO College Football, NO BASSPRO shops, NO NASCAR to drive to in 2 hours or less, and where people will USE BIG WORDS AND PAY $5 for a cup of coffee--HELLO!!!!!!! Anybody home?!?!?

Yeah, page 47, but did you see the time gap on it?!?

Did you find the remains of the bullet inside the house, if so, what kind?

He's just been too busy capturing those luscious lips...

And that is also why a lot of ISPs will watch a chat-room, but will never do anything to moderate them--they just don't have the time or resources, often one person is monitoring several chat rooms simply to keep an eye on any possible criminal activity, which wouldn't surprise me in today's world, and then when they do step in and do something it's like using a flamethrower where a flyswatter would be adequate to the task. Having received a warning here in the past, and I'm sure several of you have, I think they handle things fairly well and with a certain level of discretion and diplomacy that isn't really found anywhere else anymore. BTW, for those of you who were reading at the time, they've used or discarded those suggestions and are having a great time and enjoying themselves now. That Myr, James, Krista and all the other moderators take a hand, now and then, in keeping an eye on chat shows more responsibility than most places even try for anymore--that problems still occur is due to human nature, and that is something we have to self-correct for. If newbies are causing the problems, then the answer might be a higher message count before they can enter chat, 5 seems a little low and is easily attainable, and they might need to have their postings 'vetted' for content. For example, if they're teens, examine their posts looking for advice in the teen advice section to see if they're 'coherent' messages, rather than 'full of drama' or 'all over the place'. I realize this sounds like more work, but you can look up 'topics' from each new user's page and go from there, or tie it to a number of posts AND reaching a certain level of 'reputation points'...and established users should be encouraged to view those posts and (+) or (-) appropriately, and fairly. I don't really know if this would solve the problems, but it would keep people from joining chat with 5 messages to various forums and then just jumping in with, as someone said it, "all their teen angst and drama." Just a thought... (Ain't technology grand?)

My grandmother sent this to me; now undestand that before she was given her computer she fought tooth-and-nail against needing to have one... (and forget explaining to her how DSL works ) A Dark and Stormy Night Bob Hill and his new wife Betty were vacationing in Europe... as it happens, near Transylvania . They were driving in a rental car along a rather deserted highway. It was late and raining very hard. Bob could barely see the road in front of the car. Suddenly the car skids out of control! Bob attempts to control the car, but to no avail! The car swerves and smashes into a tree. Moments later, Bob shakes his head to clear the fog Dazed, he looks over at the passenger seat and sees his wife unconscious, with her head bleeding! Despite the rain and unfamiliar countryside, Bob knows he has to get her medical assistance. Bob carefully picks his wife up and begins trudging down the road. After a short while, he sees a light. He heads towards the light, which is coming from a large, old house. He approaches the door and knocks. A minute passes. A small, hunched man opens the door. Bob immediately blurts, "Hello, my name is Bob Hill, and this is my wife Betty. We've been in a terrible accident, and my wife has been seriously hurt. Can I please use your phone?" "I'm sorry," replied the hunchback, "but we don't have a phone. My master is a doctor; come in and I will get him!" Bob brings his wife in. An older man comes down the stairs. "I'm afraid my assistant may have misled you. I am not a medical doctor; I am a scientist. However, it is many miles to the nearest clinic, and I have had a basic medical training. I will see what I can do. Igor, bring them down to the laboratory." With that, Igor picks up Betty and carries her downstairs, with Bob following closely. Igor places Betty on a table in the lab. Bob collapses from exhaustion and his own injuries, so Igor places Bob on an adjoining table. After a brief examination, Igor's master looks worried. Things are serious, Igor. Prepare a transfusion." Igor and his master work feverishly, but to no avail. Bob and Betty Hill are no more. The Hills' deaths upset Igor's master greatly. Wearily, he climbs the steps to his conservatory, which houses his grand piano. For it is here that he has always found solace. He begins to play, and a stirring, almost haunting melody fills the house. Meanwhile, Igor is still in the lab tidying up. His eyes catch movement, and he notices the fingers on Betty's hand twitch, keeping time to the haunting piano music. Stunned, he watches as Bob's arm begins to rise, marking the beat! He is further amazed as Betty and Bob both sit up straight! Unable to contain himself, he dashes up the stairs to the conservatory. He bursts in and shouts to his master: "Master, Master! .. The Hills are alive with the sound of music!" I am soooooo sorry...... But you really should've seen that one coming! What did you expect...it's free from a demented old friend on the Internet.

The cat with the head in the can must be one of the ugly ones from Oklahoma! Usually 2 paper bags works, why 2, you ask--in case one breaks.

I'll take the "Night of Hot Sex" option, but only if it's really "all night"...

Nor, more importantly, warranted, Eric. I take his post as somewhat tongue-in-cheek, although he's got a lot of cheek for making the suggestion considering how serious this must be to shut Chat down for days. Look, everyone, everytime I popped in to Chat, everyone was sitting in the Chat Lobby, none of the categorized rooms was being used--these categories can be age protected so that those of us who are adults discussing highly erotic fiction (read 'close enough to be called porn by prudes') will not be accused of compromising the 'tender' intelligence of minors. Likewise, those who are 'under' legal age in their jurisdictions can have the lobby, and/or other rooms for 'underage seeking advice' which adults can visit, or 'underage chat room' which only moderators can visit/monitor, for obvious purposes. Let's face it, if they're intelligent enough to use a computer to search for a place like this, they're going to find out stuff whether or not we tell them. Yes, cliques develop. Yes, that can be problematic. Should we have to put up with a clique getting down on anyone? No, it's not reasonable, and it's uncalled for. Can we handle ourselves as trustable and able to deal with minors who are searching for the answers their (and our) lifestyles are demanding they find? I should hope so. Come on, people, buck up and get it together! These kids come here looking for help! What are you doing, pretending you're still in Middle School?!? If you haven't got it together then don't give them advice, but don't try to scare them away, either--that's not what this place is for. I think a certain amount of teasing among Chat users is expected, but some may not be aware of how others tease--it's hard to put inflection into the printed word, especially in an electronic medium like our Chat. I am not bad at it, but it's an imperfect skill, and unless someone knows you personally, is difficult to interpret in an online medium; those who come here and are still closeted and seeking answers may be very put off by even the slightest of teasing--consider how much some of us got while we were in school. A guideline on this: Mine started when I was 5, I had no idea what "Gay", "Homosexual" or "Puberty" meant, no idea of what sex was, and was being teased mercilessly because of my name--don't forget, kids can be more cruel than adults--it wasn't until High School that I researched the name's origins: It means Lion Heart, which really helped me resolve that issue, too bad it took 12 years and was too late to really change anything. We have a chance, here, to help others understand what we're all about--don't blow it!

You do, of course, notice that he used the word 'implausible', rather than 'improbable'; which means that a complex family such as JP's hierarchy is quite possible in today's world. As further nudging to that effect, do you remember the Tom Hanks movie "You've Got Mail"? He played the grandson of a bookstore chain founder, the grandfather had remarried and had a son by a wife 50 years his junior, so Hanks' character, roughly portrayed as a 28 year old, had an uncle of 5-7 years old.

Oh, Mark, you're being much too hard on (now that was not intended ) yourself...I did not mean to imply that there wasn't eroticism in your stories, only that it was the right amount. Hoskins, you can bend over and wax my floors, anytime...

James, now that's funny!

The other thing a soap opera needs is a fan base made up, primarily of middle aged housewives, who like organ music to accent the scenes... There's no organ music for any of Mark's work, it's all contemporary to the time period of the story chapters...no housewives, no organ music, just a nice, gay, reader base...it's Gay Erotic (Well, maybe not too much erotica) Literature--not a soap opera. Thank God for that...soap operas bore to tears...

I'll PM it back to you later.

Neph', I'll be sending a response to your daughter's survey, albeit from a US perspective...hopefully she'll be able to gain something from it.

I think I found that doodle...

While it rained here today, it only got down to about 52 by 3:00pm...around 45 by 5:00pm. No snow...not enough flooding to stop our 'fair' city...

Jack, my brother-in-law used to visit Hungary about every 6 or 7 years...he would stay at the Hotel Gellert. From what I recall, it's moderately pricey, but it's all up to your taste and budget. There are thermal baths in the hotel, and the restaurant used to get good reviews in the Hotel & Travel Index (a travel-industry index of hotels worldwide). It's also near the "Gay" part of town, while still being in a nice part of town--the brother-in-law's primary reasons for staying there.

Can't be as bad as a pink sweater...

Good thing that Chris isn't dating a black gal with swingin' ass and a kid guarding a bowl of Doritos on the coffee table!

I'd second that suggestion, Canuk, especially since Mark makes it a point to be quite detailed in pointing out that most of his characters have big dicks(!) but I don't think he likes the idea of living without a food budget, or without a car that can outpace a Buick doing 20 miles an hour under the posted speed.

At least now I know where to go catch up with it...I've been waiting for more chapters!

Yeah, me too...Seth was acting like a real jerk...once his reasoning came out in later chapters it made sense.

Wait a minute! I'm one of your readers, too, you know! Congrats on your final scores...