B1ue

That sounds close to the mix of continents that spawned me, except that my European ancestors were farther back, and there was some Chinese thrown in on the Mexican side for flavor (mostly around the eyes). I look Middle Eastern, enough that people ask if I am Iranian. I would imagine Chris might be a few shades lighter than I am, but not a lot, and he might catch some flack from anti-Hispanic prejudices. It also depends on what kind of Italian Chris's father is. Southern Italian any and every mob movie or television show has made people familiar with, but Northern Italian tends to be both thinner, lighter, and "prettier." If you wanted to soften Chris up a bit, and make a true mix of spiritual heritages, I'd suggest that mysterious Grandmother be half or quarter Asian. Anyways, I really like the job you are doing with this. I like the theme you came up with, "certainty without correctness."

Hey. Thanks all. I did have a happy birthday, and today's looking up as well. -B1ue (with a 1)

Yeah, where is that last chapter of Marek and Jackson?

I think my favorite line in this was: "Stupid pockets." Nicely done.

But buttons are FUN to rip off Lucy, and fairly easy to repair if you get lucky enough that the shirt itself doesn't rip. And hell, even if it does rip, the shirt might still work for a barfly like Alex. I've been following this story from the first bit, and I have to say I like it, and I like watching your creative process even more. I'm also eager for 18.

Down with writer's block. Fight it to the last ditch. Never surrender! Hey, that might work as a title. I was going to suggest, "Fantasy and the Fantastic" but "Never Surrender" might work better, considering what (admittedly little) we have seen of their characters. And, er, excuse my opening paragraph. I've been reading military sci-fi in my spare moments all week.

Wouldn't work. Anyone that has already decided you are dishonest enough to change a sotry to thwart people from guessing what's coming next would never believe you'd actually plotted it out in advance, or if you ahd, would show him the real outline. But about the rest of your life, well, shopping can be helpful. For me, it isn't the actually spending of money that I enjoy, but the moment when they open the gift and realize that you were really thinking of them. Making someone else's day always makes mine. It might sound self-congratulatory the way I'm saying it, but it is just how I feel. I hope you are succesful tonight, and that you feel better soon. Gabe

Pretty cool. Where did you find this? I particularly like the line about steering hurricanes. Pedro

**Note: I do realize that your post was not meant to be offensive. I am not taking it as such.** Wow. Just wow. I actually hate the rallies and everything they stand for (in a knee-jerk emotional reaction), but not even I use that vehement language. The point behind the rallies and strikes is that most immigrant workers in California and the Southwest, whether they come here legally or not, either don't or barely earn a living wage. Actually, illegal immigrants aren't affected too badly by that, because a lot just send all their money back home anyways, so making anything is better than nothing, which is what they have to look forward to at home. It is those who came here legally, like, you know, my dad's family, and the illegals who have decided to stay (and want to become citizens, which up till about 10-15 years ago was very rare for Hispanic immigrants, people (for example, me) were called race traitors and eveything), that have trouble finding a job that pays enough so that they can feed their family and have some semblence of a lifestyle and hope for a future. Like I said, I hate the very principle of the rallies, so I am the wrong person to defend them, but I feel that others should actually know what the Day without Immigrants is in some way about.

Do you literally do nothing, or are their mindless tasks to do in the meantime? As hectic as my first job out of college is, I am having a hard time seeing the problem of being paid for nothing, especially since you also have access to a computer into which to type. But hey, it's not my life. About SOOTB, when I saw your name attached to the announcement that With Trust 11 was up, I was very excited, and then disapointed that it wasn't the next chapter of your story. That you could, even for a moment, steal thunder form Domluka speaks volumes about your own talent, I think.

That happens to me all the time. I managed to spin out entire story-arcs based on throw-away lines. In fact, when I am revising, I look for all those little spots that i missed, and either eliminate them entirely, or expand upon them if they haven't taken over already. Can't wait to see the revisions and chapters, and the continuing adventures of Kung-Fu.

Like Modesto's any different. Look at this group that I am a member of on Facebook.com: You belong to this group because: orchard parties are fun cruising down McHenry is what you do when you get your license 99 is the only freeway Vintage Faire Mall...it is the "best" and closest place to shop it's not unusual to see motorized wheelchairs in the driving lanes you wake up to the fresh smell of fertilizer Southside Modesto is little TJ half your high school attends MJC or Stan State or did they even graduate? you know all about the Laci Peterson trial you hate Gary Condit the smoking and drinking habits start by the age of 14...or if not already Concert in the Park is the place to go in the summer iceblocking is fun curfew at midnight is enforced by the police drunk driving checkpoints are everywhere Riverbank is THE city of action you or most of your friends played water polo or soccer rice rockets are everywhere...damn noisy cars... confederate flags are flown on trucks taco trucks are good it is not norcal, it is called the central valley bitch scurfing aka canal surfing is the coolest the lake is our beach Hella/Hecka...yeah we say it.... IF YOU LIVE/LIVED IN THE 209 aka Modesto or surrounding areas, JOIN! I mean, CANAL SURFING?

I took a couple classes on writing when I was in college, just so I could actually claim credit for something I would have done anyways, and let me tell you, I got the best awkward silences when I took my turns at reading. It was some of the best experiences reading through everybodies comments, some clearly unnerved to be analyzing young gay male characters. But then it turned back on me when they got used to it, and everybody (including several of the straight guys) asked me why I wasn't letting my characters have sex, "what, with all the tension you've built up between these characters." I had not the slightest thing to say in response.

Sometimes I'm like that, where I can't really begin unless I have a title to live up to. More often, I just pick a title at random, and as I get into it and towards finishing it, I go through several more titles trying to find a better one. I wrote a short story a month ago, about fourty pages long, and its various titles have been: "Faulkner's Bastard," "Finals Week Recovery," "Passing the Love of Women," "Photograph," "Every Memory," and the final one, "We re," which is a slight joke, harkening back to the orginal influence of William Faulkner. Carde Diem does sound pretty spiffy, and fits into where, yeah, I still can't remember his name off hand, Kung-Fu is growing as a character.

Would this be the same elf as the Story-that-might-languish-eternally, part 2? If so, see, Domluka was right about using characters over an over. As a rule, I don't generally make up new characters, except on accident (this person needs to meet someone, let's see...Oops, there's a new character), as it is satisfying to me to reuse the ones I have over and over. Plots aren't hard to come up with for me, but a fully rendered character takes work, particularly because I want to avoid virtual duplicates with previous characters. Actually, I think plot should come easy for you, too. You are already pretty fantastic at writing a beginning, so just think about how you want it to end, and what it would take to get the characters in the situation you want them to end up in. You might even write an outline, or the entire closing, though I don't suggest that, because you will have to rewrite it. In the example of the first undeveloped story, say you want the character to wind up with a boyfriend whose family all but adopts him, but at the same time has to come to grips with the fact that their real son is gay. Christian charity trumping family values, sort of "The Ordinary Us" from Jude's p.o.v.. With that as a goal, you can connect to it, with a couple basic steps: 1-main character (see, I'm terrible at remembering all first person character names, not just Kung Fu's) sees to own survival, gets a construction job, apartment, that sort of thing. ATsame time, meets potential love. 2-Love potential becomes love actually, though slowly, as main character (MC) is trying to hide as much of his life from love as possible. Also, love is closeted, and doesn't want to give into his sexuality. 3-Love does give in, but a series of disaster makes MC's life less stable. He loses his apartment. Love gets wind of it, tells his family, who intervene, and force MC into their home and love's bedroom, which is nicely awkward for both. 4-they of course get over it, knock boots, and are discovered. MC is outted at work (the family tries, but is unable to get him to not work, as he is over 16 and legally able to drop out, he says he'll save up a bit and continue school maybe next fall), but Boss sees potential in MC and moves him to office work, whihc he is obivously well suited. However, the family also gets wind of it all, and...react. 5-Love and MC are seperated, Love is chastised. By this time, MC is quite attached to the idea of a family, and they are attached to him, but not crazy about their two sons having sex. They don't kick either one to the curb, but one parent makes it clear they would be happier if MC was no longer in their home. ANd like Mana from the sky, Dad shows up, and MC is dragged kicking and screaming away, to Love's and one parent's dismay. 6-Finale. MC is unhappy, Dad is unhappy, and one day Love shows up at his door, having run away to look for him. It can't last though, but Dad surprises both by agreeing to move to Love's hometown, for the first time doing something for the MC's benefit. All is righted with world. MC even works at construction place's office afternoons, doing paperwork. That is, of course, one option, and not a particularly original one at that. I just wanted to show you how easy it can be. But, if you do any of them, do the Elf story first. B1ue.

That I believe. Your blog worries me. None of the things mentioned bother me a bit in stories. They're stories. My creative writing classes think I'm obsessed with sex, but really only my characters are, because the situations that surround sex are hilarious to me. But alas, many of my friends who read my writing ask if I plan on being a romance novelist, and the scary thing is I'm actually starting to take them seriously. And if the stuff does remind me of high school it is because I am a small town kid, and there was little else for most people to do, though I didn't do mcuh of it myself. It is weird, but when I was younger and not as religious, drug and alcohol use bothered me a lot, as did the thought of unprotected sex. Now that I have survived UC Santa Barbara (a.k.a. the University of Casual Sex and Beer), and more religious, that stuff doesn't bother me so much any more. I mention this, because I talked to a friend of mine who is straight edge, and she mentioned that she was a virgin, completely abstained from alcohol, cigarettes, and other drugs, and was atheist. And I, well, I don't do drugs, but aminly because I am related to too many addicts, and I don't want to risk it. Shows how much stereotypes know. Cheers, B1ue

My sister, who is in the army and has to spend weeks and months away from her husband, says it isn't absense that makes the heart grow fonder...it's abstinence. I wanted to claw my eyes out to get rid of that mental image, but it still strikes me as true.

I liked the latest chapter of "Mr. Black..." that was posted to Nifty, though it made me a bit sad. I hope you all have a happy holiday celebration. -Blue

I have finals this week too, so here I am, instead of writing my paper and studying. Good Luck with yours, Green. -Blue

When I was about 11 or so, my cat (actually, my older sister's cat, but the cat herself made her choice of favorite clear) was pregnant, and about fit to burst. We were going down to Los Angeles to visit relatives for Easter, packing, and at some point in the process my cat had waddled up into the back of the Blazer we were taking, and proceeded to settle down for the trip. We just barely discovered her in time to take her out. The cat was an outdoor cat, not feral, but definetly self-sufficient and willing to take on the wilderness that we lived in, just outside of Yosemite National Park. Travel didn't bother her none, but my mom decided that the trip would be too much stress on a cat in her condition. My mom hates cats, so I didn't believe her, but I couldn't argue. Three days later, we came back, and there were four kittens mewing in our garage. Boo-Boo (my sister named her) looked annoyed at us, and I wondered at the time if she had planned on having our assistance at crucial moment. But whatever, we cheered, and as soon as we had unpacked, she began moving the kittens one by one into my bedroom, in fact my sock drawer, where they remained until Boo-Boo saw fit to take them back outside. It was at this time that I discovered my mild allergy for cats. I think Boo-Boo knew about the allergy all along, and that is why she had adopted me in the first place. At least the kittens learned to use the litter box almost instantly.

This afternoon I was talking to my coworkers about a party I went to a couple weeks ago with a lot of them. AT the party I not only told my manager that I thought she was hot, but I think I kissed her cheek. Since it was mostly her fault I got as drunk as I did (you have to take another shot!), I don't feel bad about that. I also danced with several girls, and blew off a guy that was making his interest in me pretty freakin obvious. This sort of behavior has gone on for quite some time, but it was the first time they had witnessed it. The consensus reached is that I am secretly straight, but only when drunk, sort of like how straight girls will make out with each other when sufficiently sloshed. And yes, someone made that exact comparison. I know the parallel isn't exact, but your story reminded me of mine.

Your life makes me happpy that mine is boring. I don't think I'd survive a mile in your shoes. I don't know if I feel sorry for a confused boy like Chaz (who was straight, what, three weeks ago?), or if I'm vicariously angry at his not letting you know he had feelings before he planted a kiss on you. I know I'm always tempted to deck people who pull that stuff on me, though the only person I did hit tried to cop a feel while he kissed me. Your restraint and retreat is something I congratulate you for. I feel evil saying it, but I cna't wait to see what develops next.

I feel ya. Actually, I don't know if you simply don't like sunshine (which is a foreign concept to me), or hate what I hate: rapidly changing weather conditions. I've been whining basically since LAST October that the weather needed to pick a season and stick with it for at least two weeks. Instead, in Santa Barbara we've had rapid patterns that fizzle out after about 8 days and change again. First it will be cool. Then sunny as hell. Then it will rain. Then back to sunshine (I do live in California). The next day it will be raining, foggy, AND sunny just before sunset. My theory is that some sorority or another did a drunken rain dance for Columbus day last year, and the climate has been reeling ever since. But in any case, I hope your weatherman is wrong as much as you do. Best wishes-Pedro

Very cool story. I've walked into situations like that before, and it is always embarrassing. I hope you took him up on the dinner idea, he sounds like someone good to know. I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but whatever happened to "No Matter How Far?" I've seen a couple incarnations of it, and I'd like to know what happens next. Or was chapter four the last? I'd like to know what happens, I really really do.