Dio

yeah, and blonds are dumb and people with big feet have big cojones. I can't make an intelligent comment, really, since I've never experienced any of what you're talking about...but doesn't discriminating within a minority that's already discriminated against seem hypocritical in some...teeeeeeny itsy bitsy kind of way? People need to mind their own business and focus on living their own lives the way they want to--not judging others because their lifestyles and sexual preferences clash. -db-

That's not so bad. I once lived in a suburb where it was forbidden to paint your garage purple. Now THATS criminal.

I stole my former roomate's luffa once but I had to give it back or have a toilet flushed every time I took a shower...does that count? Do you own a Tim Hortons mug?

The great thing about open-ended questions--you've nailed it! laff. -db-

Sounds awesome!! Was the PT still worth a decent amount? What's the depreciation like?

Happy B-Day napster vic

In a writer? I look for the ability to construct words and phrases in a logical manner. A person who can also apply the rules of grammar successfully. In a novelist, however, I'd look for the above plus extra. He'd need to be well-read and intelligent. I'd want him to be creative with his plot, characters, and situations. I'd want him to understand human nature, and write about something relevant to my interests. ...and he must also be impeccably groomed, cute, kind, and enjoy cuddles. Oh! And he should have freckles too. -db-

Krista: Avatar: Oddly enough, I have no idea that that is. Rain? 7.0 Your sig: Functional. Big blue block letter!? HELL YES! 7.0 Your Screenname: yeahh I'll give that a ten because I have a cousin named Krista. Overall: errr 7+7+10 = 24? divided by three thats uhh 8? Yay for eight! I love after eight mints.

Make a scrapbook? I have one word document I use to toss memorable but ultimately cut scenes and pieces of dialogue. I open it once a month and relive/relaugh some of my more memorable travesties. It's therapeutic. -db-

Would you believe I read this thread twice? And both times I thought you declared yourself as an orgasmic pantser? Any-y-ways. I eat organic vegetables, I drive a hybrid civic, and my writing is done in orgasmic fits. Tah dah. This utterly useless post has been brought to you by Dio. For the record: I'm an organic pantser too. I'll be writing one scene and suddenly have an idea for a chapter down the road and open a new document and just keep typing, then I'll randomly pick up a completely different story and start writing. Sometimes I'll be writing one story while thinking about another. Surprisingly, I only plan plot out in very vague terms where a story will go, because I hate giving a story limits. There are always brainwaves that crash my plotters beach while I write, and trying to stick to an outline, I have found, is like trying to wash my face with sandpaper. Anyone here ever type with their eyes closed while day-dreaming a scene? Although...the first time I tried it I had shifted all my fingers one key to the right and ended up with two pages of gibberish. Still, it's a fun excercise to do at least once to see if you like it. -db-

Dear James, I was fooled! I liked Pokemon when it first came out. Now I deny all connections. Does this make me an asshat? Sincerely, Dio

I was hoping someone would say that before I did. When I hear the term "Grow up", it's usually used as an exclamatory emoting a certain situational exasperation. I certainly don't relate maturity to age. If that were true, the whole phrase would just be ordering us all to go through puberty again. Once was enough, thank you. Sure, taken by itself that sounds rather arrogant, but it fit nicely into the point he was making. You appear to have associated the lowering as bad. I, as a representative of the five-foot-short community, appreciate any and all who would like to lower themselves to my level. Low is just a different perspective. The connotation that he was 'being purposefully dumb' (or something similar), is entirely based on interpretation. I suppose this entire side-bar would have been averted had Graeme said 'modified', instead of 'lowered'. But then I might get the impression that low is somehow inferior to high. We wouldn't want THAT would we? -db-

Personally, I was a big fan of your 'fight not war but love all toilets' art picture. But I suppose the one you posted will do. Myr is too busy waxing his bikini line to post a picture.

hahahaha ... hahahaha

I'm of the opinion that we reach a plateau of maturity around thirty, and like those wonderful bell-curves I'm sure you can picture from statistics, it's all downhill again from there. Case and point, my grandfather enjoyed throwing an old broken pair of dentures at the fridge when strangers were visiting, or into their glass at dinner...just to see what they'd do. Be wary of Camy. If you leave any smelly cheese lying about, he's sure to steal it. Please refer to the 'Betsy, my Brie', incident. Oh, the small things. Welcome to GA! -dio

The one that's interesting. I object to your objectional use of a long paragraph to objectify your simple answer by obfuscating! Long or short. Ten font or sixteen font. TNR or Verdana. Dialogue or narrative. Third person or first person. Good grammar, bad grammar. Clever or funny. Lack-witted or cliche. It's all about how a piece is written, not the length. Do people honestly start reading a story, flip to the end of the chapter, say: "Well duhr. The chapter is 18.5 pages. That's 3.5 pages past my attention span no matter HOW interesting the content of the chapter is." Well, I suppose such an occurrence is certainly possible. I won't disregard anything in this day and age. In my own experience I base my decision on reading a story (and buying a book) on two simple things. Usually as simple as: Can the author write prose that catches my attention. And: Is the premise at all interesting? Later, as often happens, my opinion might change--but that's entirely irrelevant of how LONG a chapter is. Which leads to my next point, Empathy. You might notice the longer chapter stories seem to be less well read--and I won't argue with that. But length is only one of many factors that should be considered. A lot of stories like that are usually written poorly. Sometimes it's the fault of rampant narrative with little drive. Others, it may be as simple as being boring, uninspiring, unrealistic, or uneventful. Whatever the reason, the author has made a fault in his craft (assuming of course, he so wishes to have readers). On the flip side, it's not that long chapters are boring 100% of the time, but rather, require a heavy investment of time on the reader's part--which by necessity speaks to their expectations. If the reader is expected to read a lot (a large time investment), the story very well had better be worth reading. Often, as I've found online, the longer stories are as poorly written as some short that have gained larger readership than the former. That said, I feel less annoyed wasting my time reading a small amount of a so-so story that was good for a chuckle, then wading through the rushes of a long-winded piece of drivel when I certainly have better things to do. I certainly have less qualms sitting down with a long book than I do sitting down with a mediocre story on the internet--though the former can sometimes be just as disappointing. In a consumer driven world, our thoughts revolve around 'bang for our buck'. And hey, time is money. A movie is ~ two hours in length. I pay 12 bucks to go see it. If every author can honestly say that their work (two hours of reading equivalent, slow or fast) is worth at least twelve dollars of my time, I would certainly think about reading it. Dio

Happy b-day cuddle monster

Yay! A birthday thread!! Thanks for all the well wishes folks! Letsee...wasn't as big a party as I had on my 19th (mostly because of the different drinking ages) but it was a heck of a lot of fun. Not as fun as it would have been however, if I hadn't dislocated my shoulder last week...but...yeah. Again, thanks a bunch. Well...must be off to purchase dentures and a rocket propelled wheelchair. hugz and kisses, -db-

You've obviously neglected to use fantastic words like: 'cantankerously', and 'obdurate', then. Honestly. But let's be honest lughey, how many times can someone possibly tell you that you're the best writer on the planet? People just get tired of stating the obvious. lub D

I was too lazy to read the rest of this topic, so maybe someone already mentioned this but, its probably just due to your putting a lot of thought and effort into your writing and reaping the just rewards. lub D

Graeme appears to have shown me up with logic and complex thought, so I decided to reconsider my position: After thinking about this seriously...no really, I can be serious sometimes, I swear...*ahem*...I have decided that it is an excellent idea! In fact, I have several titular suggestions: The Utah Chainsaw Massacre The Texas Toothpick Stabber The Movie where everyone makes funny big eyes and screams a lot The 'no' before was accidental acid reflux. smootches, db

No. sincerely, Dio the Antagonist.

I totally relate. I constantly run google searches using my name! :wacko:

Yeeeeaaaahhhhhh... I'm with blue on this one. Inserting gay characters into a cliche soap opera setup is asking for trouble. And before you say it, you don't have to be sorry that I feel that way because then I'd start feeling sorry that you're sorry and one of my new years resolutions was not to say sorry this year so yeah! It all makes sense in my head. On another completely irrelevant tangent; what is the 'L' word? Good luck! -db-

Raise your hand if you find yourself terrified even thinking about checking your inbox. Yeahhhhhh...Fangirls are scary yo.