Yettie One

Oh brother. Blake is falling head over heals ain't he!!!! I am green with envy that they have such a perfect job. I guess fretting after people on holiday, and running around after rich people enjoying themselves can be a pain in the bum, but let's be honest, it is a wonderful way to enjoy your work. Well I think so at least. So how long before Blake is caught ooogaling Blaze? And what is Nats going to do when she realises Blake is off the radar? Interesting net being woven here.

Bloody hell mate. Talk about ramping the drama up! So Blake is infatuated, Blaze is a complete mystery, and Nats is drunk and got a crush. Complications arise, and things begin to take shape. Men can be so damn stubborn. Wonderful way you've captured the angst and tensions of the situation, relating it to us in a satisfying flow of information, never quite enough, but just the right amount to make it tantalisingly interesting. Great chapter Acedias.

And so the characters come alive. I love the simple construction you have given to each person. Nothing overly descriptive, or detailed about who they are or what they look like, just enough to paint a picture in your minds eye and develop the character mentally by the suggestion of who they are. That is a great trick in writing style and you've really used it well. I am so enjoying getting to know these guys and gals.

I've not come across many authentic Aussie stories in the world of gay fiction, so when I saw that it is an Aussie theme in the notes, I promptly decided to give it a whirl. Glad I did now. I got a suspicion that Blake is dealing with weight loss issues, something you don't get much in gay fiction either, but I'm intrigued to find out if this is the case. Kate scared me a little, but I think she's just a genuine country lass that means well, but is tough by nature. I would imagine that surviving in the outback is pretty hard at the easiest of times. I was also fascinated by the little tid bits of information like the issues local government would have with keeping an isolated outback town alive.

Stunning What a brilliant end to a really wonderful story. Cassie I found that completely remarkable and totally entertaining, I am really glad I got to read it. More so thanks for sharing. xx

Oh friken heck at last! Phew, men are so damn stubborn. One of the joys of reading work with a feminine touch is the way in which the capture the finer things in life. The cutest fear from Jessa worrying about the sea getting too big and swallowing them all up was priceless. Those are the little things in a work that make it so worth reading, and part of this story that I have totally loved reading. I'm glad that they have worked out their differences, and while in some ways I can understand Tib's reluctance to give Chad another chance, it's about time he did. As for Chad, he best not be a bloody fool again or I'ma going to giving the writer a damn good spanking! Chad can consider himself warned!

OMG The Stubborn Loon!!!!!!!!! Argh Someone smack Tib upside the head for crying out loud. So Mia's walked out, I'd guessed she'd died or something, never thought a mom would leave her kids, but to live and not be loved must be bloody hard. And now he's driven god knows how bloody far, found him, made love to him, and now he's off! Oh the fool. Tib needs to wake up!

Ok Pretty confused at this stage. Grrrrrrrrrrr Must move to next chapter and figure out what the bloomin hell is going on!!!!!!!!!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

In a dream world they would have worked it out and all stayed together, but it is impossible. Love, need, lust and jealousy. It just makes it impossible. Chad needs a bloody boot up his arse! Argh how very frustrating.

Oh the stark reality of a love triangle. Mia has given up so much for Tib, and it is so selfish of him to expect her to try to understand. Time will work it out, but I think that each of them has to work out what they really want before they can begin to figure out how that will work out for each of them. What a wickedly confusing thing you have woven here Cassey. Very clever indeed.

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL A boy who is soooo defensive about being called gay now having to dress up as a woman! Hahaha Oh the irony I love it. Well I must admit I didn't expect that one Cassie. Mia is a lot more than I gave her credit for. And that was a lovely twist to the story.

Well here is a novel idea. Let's argue about who's going to be put to death. Good chapter, although for me, it was missing a bit of the emotion I think something like that would have evoked in the two boys. But then again I suppose that it is hard to portray that easily.

You know, I admire the way you have shaped and created this wonderful character in Tib. In so many ways he is human. A person capable of getting it wrong, yet when it came to the crunch, strong and wise well beyond his years. Maybe some would not consider it wise to be so honest, but I think it is a trait that I wish we saw more of. It would be so easy to lie and save one's own skin, yet Tib has chosen to be honest to himself, and love. I am ashamed to say I am not certain I would have had his strength. I love this chapter. Well done Cassie.

Oh hell!

So they have finally woken up enough to be honest with themselves on one thing, only to be foolings themselves on another. LOL Oh this weird world of theirs and ours. Prejudice will never accept that which is different, that which does not conform with what is perceived as normal, and that which is laid out in law. Reminds me of living in Africa. It becomes a risk just to fall in love, and the dirty secret you carry becomes a fire within your soul, raging and wanting to break free, be allowed to be seen, accepted and allowed. Yet something you have to struggle to keep hidden, feeling the flames burn you as your struggle to keep them locked in. Quandary. I suspect these boys have much pain before them, yet much joy in each other. I can but hope.

Yikes Cassie That love scene was written with pure mastery. Painted with a fine brush, and subtle colours, a piece of artistic perfection. I love the way you managed to bring the inflamed passion of the situation alive in the narrative. So many emotions coming together in one moment, it was amazing. I've read a lot of gay fiction, and tend to be very fussy about love scenes, but in this case, I got lost in the words and really loved it. Wow. Poor Tib. Poor Chase. Laws suck!

"And defiantly too male!" LOL. That did make me chuckle. Ok, so reality come to each of them, and here in begins the quandary for Tib has just committed himself to something his heart will never be in. Even if nothing comes between him and Chad, he will always wonder, always question and never fully allow his desires to dull. In the long run that will only hurt him, and Mia ultimately will feel the brunt of the betryal when it all gets too much to bare. I know a guy, he's married, got two young kids, yet is the most gay man I know, and sleeps around all over the place. His family don't deserve that coz he's too damn afraid to admit the truth. Wrong. I hope the boys, (yes boys, as Chad is but a teenager himself poor lad) can figure this out for the best.

Oh how right you are in that sometimes the pleasure of sex can be so welcome to abate the frustrations of emotion. Clearly Chad has issues. And there is a hint of Tib hiding secrets, it would seem even from himself. Yet as the powers of attraction and sexual lust battle it out, I have a feeling there is a whole lot more to come to each as they realise that a temporary fix will not quench the thirst of desire. How much of a bitter struggle will each have to travel before this realisation dawns on them? Enjoying things so far Cassie, I have a feeling some powerful stuff is on its way in this one.

Why do I have a sneaky suspicion that this new painting is going to be Tib? Well I wondered if you were going to explore the impact this odd ritual would have on the men of this world, and I'm really glad you did. It makes for interesting reading. Good chapter Cassie

I've heard it said that once you've tried gay, there is no other way! haha Well, a different way to open the whole coming of age idea, the concept of it being part of a ritual in this way is something original and interesting, but if in this world that Chad and Tib inhabit, it must play hell on anyone that has confused emotional feelings about their sexuality or gay tendencies. I mean, teach them what gay sex is really like, then expect them to go straight. Damn. I'm really interested to see where the story goes and if it explores this whole idea a bit more.

So, Space is the last real place that mankind is engaged in real pioneering exploration right. So does the idea of space inspire you enough to want to get involved in this exploration? Does the idea of being involved in the discovery of something new, unique and completely unknown make your juices flow enough to make you excited enough to want to take part in making some amazing discovery? Meh That all sounds too expensive, difficult, time consuming, and frankly Mr Yettie, I have no intention of joining the space program I hear you muttering. No Fear, I'm not asking you to expand on that childhood dream of becoming an astronaut or going out and buying some really expensive kit to explore the skies. No way Hosea! What I am talking about is taking part in a project that was started a few months ago, and promises to make 2013 a pretty special year in the exploration of the Red Planet, our next door neighbour Mars. This is an image of fan like structures that have been observed on the face of Mars by a satellite in orbit of the Red Planet that has for the last few years been photographing every square foot of the planet over and over again. This has resulted in the production of literally millions of photographic images of the planet in various stages of the season, and it is now known that these fans appear every year in the Martian Spring, what scientists suspect are gaseous eruptions much like geysers here on earth. It is believed that there is a warming of ice below the surface in the spring as the planet warms, and this is what leads to the formation of these structures that can be seen on the planet. The thing I found amazing about this discovery is that it was made by a Joe Blogs like you or me, who had registered on a website to take part in a project to help map and explore the pictures taken from the surface of the Martian surface. And this, spurred me to go and have a look, and suddenly become really enthused about taking part. It is simple really. You visit www.planet4.org where you can join over 55,000 other every day explorers who are given a piece of Mars to explore and classify to help scientists catalogue abnormalities on the surface and discover new and interesting formations on the surface. In this way, over 2 million images have now been classified, helping scientists to zone in and focus on findings that are leading to new and exciting ideas, theories and discoveries about our next door neighbour. The amazing thing. You could be a part of all that, and from the comfort of your over stuffed chair. It is not just Mars that these guys are exploring either. The main program, Zooinverse, located at www.zooniverse.org/projects has all manner of projects on the go, from exploring the moon, to helping to classify cyclones or explore the ocean floor. If you really want to, you can even help to classify cancer samples. It's nice to feel that in some small way, maybe something I did to help will be used to make some sort of breakthrough or fascinating discovery, and while maybe that is me being just a little bit delusional it is still a good feeling to be a part of something that is charting the exploration of parts of our universe we know nothing about. It also felt pretty amazing in that while I was working on the pictures I helped to classify, I couldn't help but think to myself that just maybe I was looking close at a portion of the Red Planet that had never been studies or looked at in such detail before. That is quite a remarkable feeling. I guess it'd be even better to be the first man to stand on the same spot and see it visually, but for now, this small effort on my part is as much as we can do, and yes, I can say that a Yettie was a part of that. 2013 will in many ways be a pretty remarkable year as spacial events go. On the 15th February 2013, the largest object of recent history will pass a mere 35,000 miles from our surface, the asteroid 2012 DA14 a chunk of rock 45 metres wide. Make sure your valentines day is a special one this year. And then, come November December 2013 the mega comet Ison will come within 800,000 km of the surface of our sun, meaning we could have a feature in the sky that could be even brighter than a full moon in daylight hours. If that does indeed happen, surely it will be one of the most dazzlingly spectacular astronomical features of our night sky in our time. No wonder they are coining the term Comet of the Century for Ison's pass through our system. Two big events in a great year for star gazing if you are so inclined. Anyway, enough of me babbling on about something I've really enjoyed checking out, and I hope that in some ways, just maybe you'll be able to get as much interest out of it as I did. Hugs to you all and hope January is not treating you too badly. Thought for today - "Dream as if you will live forever, Live as if you will die today." - James Dean Song for today - Fill My Little World by the Feeling

I quite like your sappy romanticism

The guy in No 2 looks like he fell in the create the stuff was shipped to the show in before he came on stage! And crumbs, none of them look happy they gotta be wearing that stuff. I say stuff as I just can't see any of it as fashion!!! Not sure I'd wanna be seen out with a guy wearing the blue hoody thing hanging off my arm!!! If he was in jeans and a T, then hell yeah!

Well It's been a pretty hellish week really. We've recently had a cold snap, which has really affected mom recently. For a long time now she has been struggling with pain caused by arthritis and a shoulder replacement joint where the muscle has withered and the joint has reduced movement causing a constant throb for her right down her left arm. Add to that the swings that weather changes has on her peripheral nueropathy and then of course factor in the Alzheimers, and she's in a pretty bad way right now. Her doctors have tried to put her on a stronger pain killer and increase her pain management regime, but this in itself has caused all manner of complications. From one drug to the next, from dizziness and fainting spells to hallucinations and vomiting, its all been going on. We finally seem to have found one that she seems ok on, other than she struggled to sleep at night, and is convinced I am her dad at times, but the doctor has warned that we are fast running out of option in terms of pain killers. Eating is a mission, and I've got to carefully watch to make sure she is eating right. She's lost weight like a joke, and at her time of life, this scares the hell out of me. But more than anything, is the fact that since well before christmas even, mom has looked so haggard, worn out and old. She's slow on her feet, gets lost in the house, struggles with stuff she'd normally have no issues doing. It is like watching a woman I've always known to be strong and able to wager through anything unwind and slowly fade. It kills man. I can't really express it well enough in words. She said something to me the other night that cut through me like a knife. She asked me why I don't chatter so much anymore. I couldn't answer her. Thing is it shocked the hell out of me that she'd even noticed, but then again it is not so hard to notice someone withdrawing into them self right? There are two reasons I don't chatter any more. 1. It is so damn hard to have a conversation with mom these days. and that is no fault of her own bless her. Communication is now a careful art of guess work and assumption and hope that I get it right, coz she really struggles to get stuff out now. The other reason? 2. Simple really. I don't have the courage to face her. When I watch her struggling and fussing over her frustration at her inability to get things out, I just want to cry. Fact is I damn well do cry, and it is for this reason I hide myself away. I don't want her to know how friken hard this is for me. It is hard enough for her. I am really struggling at the moment. In so many ways I feel that part of me is dying here. I am shutting down in so many ways and I don't know what the hell to do. Talking is getting harder and harder. But then to be really honest I don't really feel like I can talk to anyone about it all anyway. It is easier to just keep quiet and get on with it. One day I'll have time to sort it all out and try make sense of it all, but right now, every day and often much of the night is filled with new and different challenges. I get a sense that this is coming into the end game now, and it scares the living hell out of me. Days like these are not easy. Life is no picnic. Hope you guys are all going ok, and don't mind me venting, Yettie out. x