Dio

James, did I mention you're my favorite person from mississippi? I bet you're a trivia KING! hehe

I don't know much about computers, but of the three people I've known who've bought gateways, all three of them sold them off within two months of purchase for various reasons(the first and foremost being lack of quality). I have a dell d410(yup...a little pricey, but worth it imo being lightweight and long battery life) and my roommate runs a toshiba satellite. She got her toshiba for a good price, and from what I understand, she hasn't had a problem with it yet and recommends it highly. I guess it kinda depends what you're planning on using the laptop for. I use this laptop in lecture halls, library, coffee shops etc. so I needed something light and easy to fit into my backpack. My roommate on the other hand, uses her laptop almost like a desktop, and only occasionally brings it to class. Anyhoooooooo, good luck in your search! -db-

Revived not once...but twice no less... Not that I'm complaining!

Gratuitous ego stroking is good, but constructive critisism is much more valuable! Many authors can't take ANY kind of critisism, so be aware of that fact if you get a negative reply. I know most of the authors here aren't like that though...right!? And we all looooooooove to hear from readers. So whatever you have to say, don't be stingy and keep it to yourself, k? -db-

Have y'all heard about the massive laptop battery recall Dell has issued? I've never had a problem in the world with my Latitude d410, then all of a sudden my boss at work tells me my laptop might suddenly explode if it gets too hot and I need to return my battery!! Now I'm batteryless until my replacement arrives in somewhere from 20-75 business days...just...friggen... great. I need to be mobile for both my job AND school which is about to start. What a piss off. I hate being stuck to a plug >_> I'm not sure whether I should be laughing or crying. Anyone else affected here? lub angrydio

Happy b-day buddy. Haven't seen you around for a while!

I'm up a little later than that...but if I don't do some excercise before I head off to work I'm jittery all day. Then again...I'm not 40 either . I'm sure I'll eventually slow down. I figure, the healthier I am now...the more time I'll have to enjoy slowing down later in life! welcome btw -db-

Only got one on my lower back. I cried when I got it done. Ouchy. Thanks Van, for being a moron. What is 'polite' society anyways? Aren't you just proving you don't belong by posting something rude and undeserving? I like your inks YouwithoutMe!

I eat lurkers for breakfast. yuum Someone should make an avatar thread so people can post requests on it!

I don't want to ruffle any feathers with this post, I just wanted to point out that you probably haven't received any reviews due to the length of your chapters. It's hard for members to give you constructive feedback when your 10 chapters only comes to about 8000 words, the size of one decent chapter. That makes for ~800 words per chapter. Take your time thinking up plot events and characters. Remember to put some description in between your dialogue. Craft a quality story and you'll naturally start getting more reviews. Try starting a discussion in the 'efiction discussion' portion of this forum. Post in the 'non-hosted story announcements' when you post a new chapter. You might get new readers that way. Good luck! -db-

I like it. It was getting tiresome scrolling down to the bottom of the forums page. my poor index finger

"seperate but equal", now where have I heard that before... Any specific reason? Or just for aesthetics?

GA wasn't the same without you dude!! *sniffle* I hope you're around more often You know I'm rootin' for yahs! -db-

Thanks everybody! Gah...where to begin? Kat and Mike set up a rather elaborate prank that involved at least fifteen people that I'm aware of, that includes my coach and this random guy who works for a local radio station. After my last exam, she and Mike had me driving all the way to frickin' Shawinigan on the 25th where they surprised me with a party... Total driving time: 'kill me now.' I will never live this one down Long story short...I surrendered to Kat's mastermind in our prank war. I wouldn't have the energy to even attempt to top this one. But yeah, I love my friends. If I wasn't so paranoid about sharing stuff online I'd show you some of the pictures. hehe Fun fun. And I don't remember who sent me the e-mail informing me I was 1/5th of the way dead...but thanks! lol hugz! Dio

My firefox works fine. Maybe you have to mess around with the security settings or something.

Yeah, thats what I meant. I knew I liked you for a reason...

Flesh tones. Uniforms? optional.

Ok, so maybe you're not the best person to write description in the world...so what. What was neat about Yankee and your other stories is how you conveyed pictures through your character dialogue.That's what I think anyways. I don't know many authors who can do that who aren't professionals hugz, db

Lets beat the dead horse with a stick why don't we? The GA comitee wasn't infringing on your right to express yourself Greg, or anyone else who feels the same way. In fact a couple topics carried over into the General Discussion (I seem to remember a suicide thread migrating across). No one has said that you aren't allowed to express your personal opinions, or spark some controversy either. Denying ourselves by denying controversy? Closing a forum isn't the end of the world. If you're denying yourself, it's no ones fault but your own. You have blog don't you? Go nuts. Make it into your own personal soapbox. Get members to submit ideas for topics, and have at each other. Rawr! Anyways, I fail to really see how controversy applies to the topic in question. If we need to make users hot and bothered to get them to post, then I think we're doing something wrong. As to special guest's comments, um, I'm not really sure what you're getting at. I don't think GA is supposed to be a politically active tool to accuse governments of such and such, or society in general. For the lazy folks, here's the fabled mission statement: edit: BLAH! Vic beat me to it. hugz, -db

I think a month is good, especially since Comsie seems to be enamorous of lengthy chapters (as am I). Some people might get it done faster, but that just gives the editor team (and I do believe comsie mentioned he has three in the wing--I think I read that somewhere) more time to make sure it's a damn good addition to the story. Collision seems to be based on the idea of a lot of short chapters, from a ton of different authors. The Lost in Shadows story format, in my opinion, wouldn't really go over so well with short chapters. I mean, ~3K words and you have time for one short wham bam thank you mam fight scene and its already time for the next author. Since most of us have other projects as well, the lengthy periods between writing one chapter and another is good, and it makes it all that much more special when your turn does come around. hugz, db

I think boundaries are essential for a good driving story, like you mentioned earlier. What made GFD so great was not only the development of unique characters and their relationships--but that they had some far-off goal of achieving thats in the back of every reader's mind. 'How is Justin going to deal with the vampire dawn', 'is that evil beast thinger going to kill him?'. Even from your sneak preview, I think that you've already established a good base for authors to build off without going on some crazy tangents. 1) Exile has lost his memory, this is obviously the main event that is the foundation of the story. There are so many possibilities by doing something like this, I kept asking myself: what sort of stuff in he going to remember? What is the real relationships he had with others characters? How did he end up working for this sketchy organisation in the first place? And what sort of extras is Exile gonna pull out of his freakin' hat when the shit starts pouring? 2)One of Comsie's characters mentions something about the 'Exile under the elder's protection' for the moment. Whoa now! What's the relationship between them? For that matter, how has this organisation of assassins escaped the counsel's eyes for so long. Shady backdoor dealings? humm!! Mafia princess wants him dead! Lots more possibilities there. 3)And then of course there's the love interest or lust interest as it were... hehehe There's more obviously, I was just trying to pick out examples of stuff I remember off the top of my head. I think that it shouldn't be too hard to build off what you've set up, as there's so much to explore. I think maybe it would make sense for a brief plot summ. to be sent off to you, Comsie, so you can clear it before they start to write. I don't mean something in depth, just a note that just lays out any major plot twists, so you can check to make sure the author/authors aren't digging the rest of their compadres into a hole, while leaving everyone else in drooling suspence. I think basically the point of this long-winded post is the 'what needs to be dealt with' should be regulated to a certain extent, not necessarily the 'how'. Like, sudden finding out Exile has two long lost children and his wife is on his case for alimony is definitely something this story doesn't need. So, be serious, but have fun doing it! And a list of acceptable cameos from GFD is also a must! hugz, -dio <<<excited for more exile

There must be almost 40 people online at any given time all throughout the day regardless of the record... I think that's fairly impressive all on its own.

The Father's expression is absolutely priceless...hehehe. Thanks for sharing

Did you find someone to help? If you didn't my roomy mentioned she could make something up quick for ya

Having a female roomate obsessed with gay fiction, it's not so strange a concept for me. Anyways, this is one the conversations I've had over e-mail regarding the subject...everyone's explanation is different.