LittleBuddhaTW

Lunch was a lot of fun. It was great to see Dan and Trebs again, as well as Rigel, and it was nice to finally meet Sharon, SonoLuminus and her husband ("The Other Joe" lol), and Robbie (who's quite the cutie, I must say ...). I hope we can all get together again soon! Have fun at the festivities over the next few days for those of you still in DC, and try to stay warm!

Thanks guys (and gals)! I'll try to enjoy it! *Hugz* Buddha

Hahaha ... there are actually a couple of nice bars/restaurants up in Rockville if you have any extra time to come up this way and hang out, or I can swing down to DC another evening while you're here and hit a bar (or two).

Hey all! You can count me in for Sunday! I'm only a couple metro stops away from Dupont Circle (I'll be coming from the Rockville metro station). Unfortunately, I don't get down to DC too often, so I'm not sure about a good place to eat, but I can ask around work on Monday. A good place to meet up would probably be at the Dupont metro station, and then we can all walk from there. I haven't been able to get onto GA much lately because work's been crazy, but please send me a PM when everything is confirmed, and I'll make sure to carve a few hours out of my schedule to come hang out. It'll be nice to see Dan, Trebs and Rigel again, and I'm just dying to finally meet the fabulous Sharon! *Hugs* Buddha

In my last blog, I mentioned my frustration at getting my company's ownership to hire additional staff that I think we need, particularly this really, REALLY hot boy (we'll just call him "Ben" for now) that I interviewed at the end of August. Anyway, things have been happening very fast over the past few days, much to the surprise of our management team. We've realized that we have to let an employee go (which is going to be very difficult -- she's been with the company for 6 years and everyone really likes her -- but, her skill set just doesn't match up with where we are heading now) ... so, I've been given the green light to go ahead and hire Ben. I'll be making an offer to him today. Since becoming a manager, this will be the first hiring and firing that I've done. It's also going to be a bit of a tumultuous 4th Quarter of the year, as we'll also be completely re-organizing our staff, in addition to the personnel changes. So, I expect it to be a very busy next few months. We're not really sure how several of the other employees are going to react to the release (we'll have a buffer of about a month of overlap, so that will give us some much needed transition time), so managing their expectations and reactions is going to be rough. We also might be letting our IT guy go in favor of hiring a third-party company to manage our entire network and IT development. That is going to be a challenge to manage as well, plus our IT guy is well-liked by most of the staff. Two releases in such a short period of time, plus all of the other major re-organization, is going to cause a lot of waves. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep last night. It's never a pleasant thing to have to release someone, especially someone you like. I think it is the best decision for the company, though, so it has to be done. Anyway, Chapter 6 of WISYA is almost done. I'm going to try and have it ready for Sharon to review by the end of the weekend.

I actually like the chest hair and stubble ... very sexy. I never really thought he was cute as Harry Potter, but he sure has gotten sexy as he's matured.

For any of you who haven't heard about the recent article on Daniel Radcliffe in "Details" magazine (including his confessions of losing his virginity at age 16 to an "older woman" and his desire to play a drag queen), here is the link: http://men.style.com/details/blogs/thegada...cliff.html#more

I'm really glad we've got a long weekend coming up. This past week has been crazy busy, and one of my project managers has been on vacation all week, so I've had to pick up about half of her workload, in addition to my own. To make matters worse, on Wednesday, our whole network went down, and I was stuck at the office until after 9 PM supervising our IT guy as he troubleshooted the issue. We finally figured out that it was a problem with the firewall. It's never pleasant when our network goes down, because it affects our internet connection, internal network, phones ... everything. Basically, we can't do any work, and since we're a transactional business, the work piles up FAST. Our Chief Operating Officer and I have come to realize that we really need more manpower to handle the volume and complexity of work we've been receiving. Unfortunately, convincing our Ownership to bring on new employees is like pulling teeth from an angry wolverine. We're shooting for a hire in the next 60 days or so, so hopefully it will happen. I've started interviewing prospects, and yesterday interviewed probably the hottest guy I've ever met. We all like him a lot and would love to bring him on immediately ... it's now up to Ownership to decide if we can pull the trigger. I currently manage a team of 7 employees (plus hundreds of sub-contractors), but the new guy would be my own personal assistant, therefore working VERY closely with me ... *sigh* And did I mention that he's REALLY hot??? I mean really, really, really HOT ... Anywho, Chapter 5 of WISYA is now posted. As usual, Sharon did a wonderful editing job! Please stop by the discussion forum and let me know your thoughts. Feedback is what keeps me inspired to write, so please don't be shy ... *nudge nudge*

I just finished watching the last of the semi-finals in the Little League World Series tournament. I was really pulling for the Florida and Maryland teams, but they both got defeated by Louisiana, and Louisiana will now be going to the U.S. championship game on Saturday, facing the team from Hawaii. The Louisiana team is very impressive, and their ace pitcher reminds me a lot of Grady, mainly in that he throws over 80 mph. That's very impressive for a 12 year old kid, and is the equivalent of 100-104 mph at the Major League level. When I was that age, I could throw around 70 mph, and that's still really hard, so 80 mph is just unbelievable. I've watched more of the tournament than I did last year, because the Detroit Tigers have been sucking so bad, and there's no other good sports to watch until college football starts a week from Saturday. I can't wait for that, when Coach Urban Meyer unleashes Tim Tebow on the SEC. It'll be a very interesting season, and I think Florida has a chance at the national championship, if they can get past Georgia. Anyway, on to more important things ... I just sent Chapter 5 of WISYA to Sharon for editing. It ended up being longer than I'd originally planned, because I wanted to get all of the LLWS stuff wrapped up in this chapter. Starting with Chapter 6, we'll get to find out what happens next in Grady's life, who he meets, and how he deals with his growing awareness of how he's different from the other boys. There should be a few interesting twists and turns along the way -- some adversity, some new friends, and some continuing relationships ... It should be ready to post by the end of next week, so please keep checking back ...

It wasn't much different than the Arirang festival in North Korea. There's an old saying in Chinese, "Even when you take a cow to Beijing, it's still a cow." (niu qian dao beijing, haishi niu) In other words, a leopard never changes its spots -- or, to be more clear, Communist China can throw around all the money and pomp it wants, but underneath, the regime, at heart, is no better than North Korea. It was a huge mistake to give the Chinese government the legitimacy that the Olympics brings. I've lived there and saw the repressive regime first hand, hence the reason I decided to live long-term in Taiwan instead of China. Peace, LB

I'm slightly adverse to watching the Olympics because of where it's being held and how they've treated Taiwan, in particular. With that said, I'll try to tune in for the diving, and I'll be rooting for GB's Tom Daley ... quite the impressive little athlete. I'll probably watch baseball, too.

It's been a long time coming (almost a whole year!), but Chapter 4 of "When I See You Again" has finally been posted. Many, many thanks to Sharon for a wonderful editing job. Chapter 5 is under way ... not sure when it'll be ready, but I'm shooting for at least one chapter per month, maybe a little more for a while, since I'll have some extra time to write during my vacation, which starts next week. Please be sure to stop by my discussion forum and leave your comments on the new chapter. Readers' feedback is what keeps me inspired to write, so keep it coming! Take care, and have a great weekend! *Hugz* Buddha

Yeah, I'm much more of a college football fan than pro, but that may because my team, the Detroit Lions, absolutely suck. My college team, however, the Florida Gators, is going to spank every other team in the SEC this year. Tim Tebow is the greatest college quarterback ever to have played the game ... and he's H-O-T!!!

Yeah yeah, I know it's been a long time ... but, the good news is that I've just finished writing Chapter 4 of "When I See You Again" and sent it to Sharon. Hopefully it will be ready to post by next weekend. I plan on starting Chapter 5 tonight, and hopefully can make some good progress tomorrow, since I have a day off from work. Over the past couple of months, I've gone back and re-read almost all of the stories listed on my "favorite stories" page, and that helped motivate me, in addition to being in the heart of the baseball season. I've got another vacation from August 15-24, so I should get a lot written then, and that just so happens to be when the Little League World Series is on! Anyway ... I went to Seattle for the 4th of July to visit my aunt and uncle, and we had a GREAT time. I got to see all the sights, enjoyed the AMAZING view of Lake Washington from my aunt's deck, and even went to Safeco Field to watch the Seattle Mariners play the Detroit Tigers (unfortunately, my Tigers lost! ) One really cool thing, though ... my uncle is best friends with the actor who plays 'Dr. Anspaugh' on the show "E.R.", and he went to the game with us ... VERY interesting guy! One last thing ... I still get quite a bit of email about SOOTB. I just checked my mail tonight, and a woman (or girl -- I'm not sure) had found the story while searching for Elton John lyrics, and she wrote to tell me how much she loved it. Kinda makes me wonder how many people have come across my story that way! lol Well, I don't want to take up too much time writing this, and I should get back to working on Chapter 5! *Hugz* Buddha

Hey guys, sorry I've been out of touch for so long ... things have been really hectic since I got my promotion at work, and I'm doing a lot of translation work in addition to that, so I haven't had much time for anything other than working. But, I'm still here, and I still plan on writing ... I just need a little time for things to get settled down! *Hug*

Happy 25th Birthday, Sharon!!!!!! I'm VERY lucky to have you as an editor (and friend), and I appreciate everything you've done for me over the past couple of years, not just editing my stories, but your excellent advice and support as well!

Dan, you just had to take a picture of my ass at the beach, didn't you? Or was that Trebs? lol

Well, I made it back from San Francisco safe and sound late last night, and was back to work bright and early this morning. First of all, the business part of the trip was a big success, and although I worked long hours the whole time, it was well worth it. The hotel we stayed at was VERY nice, and I met lots of cool people in the industry. I also got to do some interpreting, as there were some representatives from Chinese companies there, and it worked out well since they didn't speak English very well ... MAJOR brownie points for me with my boss! Now, on to the other stuff ... first off, Dan and Trebs were amazing. I wasn't expecting too much, especially since I had to work a lot and wouldn't have a whole lot of time to hang out. Fortunately, I tweaked my schedule so that I had Friday evening and Saturday afternoon/evening to hang out with them. They were excellent hosts, extremely good to me, and showed me all around the city (pictures to follow later when I have a chance to upload them). Trebs was as friendly and kind as I expected, and Dan and I were like two peas in a pod. As for the specifics, we went to the Castro district on Friday night, and while Trebs occupied Joey, Dezlboi, and ShadowGod at Starbucks, my new best buddy Dan and I made several trips to the bar next door to do shots of tequila. And yes, we were pretty sloshed by the end of the evening, especially considering I had a few drinks before I went out (part of the whole business trip thing, doing deals and stuff, ya know). On Saturday, Trebs and Dan picked me up from my hotel and showed me the sights. We drove all around town, walked around Fisherman's Wharf, went to see the bay and the Golden Gate bridge, got some great Ghirardelli (sp?) chocolate, drove around some more to see the city, went to dinner (excellent restaurant choice, Trebs!), then drove up to Twin Peaks to see the city at night. The highlight of the afternoon, though, was going out to the beach and watching the sunset. It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen, and I don't know how I could possibly describe in words how moving it was. THANK YOU SO MUCH, TREBS AND DAN! And I'm sure many of you are wondering ... yes, Joe is VERY HOT in person. Unfortunately, I think I scared him a bit on Friday night since I was so drunk and obviously staring at his (cute) butt the whole time (but Dan was, too!). However, being a little more sober on Saturday, I found out that Joe is a very sweet guy, and it was a real pleasure to finally meet him. I also got a great good-bye hug from him that made my knees buckle ... And, not to leave anyone out, Viv, Snowy, ShadowGod, SunGod, and the rest were also very nice and friendly, and I really enjoyed talking with them and getting to know them. Anyway, thanks again to Trebs and Dan for their AMAZING hospitality. They really spoiled me while I was with them, and made the trip that much better. Thanks to Joe as well for the hugs and for putting up with me on Friday night. I can't wait for the next get-together!

The title of this blog says it all ... I'm exhausted! I've been working at least 50-60 hours/week for the past couple months, and it's really wearing me down. For those of you who are wondering when the next chapter of "When I See You Again" will be posted, it's probably not going to be until I get back from San Francisco in early November. It's about halfway done, but I've just been too exhausted to do much writing over the past few weeks. I'm definitely looking forward to going to San Francisco next week. Even though it's a business trip, it will be pretty laid back, and my boss has some fun activities planned for us while we're there. I just found out yesterday, though, that our flight leaves from Dulles at 8 AM next Wednesday, and since my boss and I live so far apart, and he's closer to the airport, I'm probably going to spend the night at his house the night before, and we'll leave from there at around 5 AM (which is gonna suck, but at least he's driving, so I can sleep in the car). He lives waaaay out in the boondocks, so maybe I'll get some target practice in on Tuesday evening. I'm also really looking forward to meeting those of you who will be out there next weekend. I've already given my cell phone # to some of you, so feel free to call me when you get into town. I'll be "working," but I can take calls anytime, and we might even be able to get together for drinks or something before our originally planned Saturday evening get-together. Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still alive and haven't stopped writing.

I'd just be thrilled to have a kid to begin with; I wouldn't worry about something so trivial as their sexuality.

So, I had my annual performance review and salary review at work. I got "Above Average" on my rating, which I think I definitely deserve, since I work my butt off for them, and the salary isn't as competitive as other companies in the translation & localization industry. They did give me an 8% pay raise, and I should be getting between $1,500 - $2,500 for a bonus at Christmas time, which will help. They also want to move me into middle management within the next 6 months to a year, which will increase my salary, benefits package, and bonus package. Hopefully that will happen, because my plan is to start looking for a house this time next year, and once I have that, I would really like to explore the possibility of adopting a child. My parents aren't really keen on that idea, but I've been feeling my biological clock really ticking for a while now. I've sent Chapter 3 of the new story to Sharon for editing. She's been doing a great job so far, and we're lucky to have editors here at GA like Sharon who are willing to donate their time to read through the messes some of us authors send them, to hopefully make our stories better. I know I've been saying since the beginning that it would probably be two weeks between chapters, and so far it's been once a week. But, after Chapter 3, I think it will actually be two weeks before I post Chapter 4, since I haven't even started writing it yet (the outline is done, though) ... but, we'll see. I'm also going to be releasing the first chapter to Nifty this weekend. I always keep the chapters at GA ahead of Nifty, but posting to Nifty has its benefits, mostly in bringing more people over here. The Detroit Tigers are pretty much out of the hunt for the wild card spot now, which is really disappointing. They were the best team in the Majors before the All-Star break, and then they just fell apart. Hopefully, their GM will do some stuff in the off-season to get their starting pitching in better shape (I'd really like to see the Tigers go after Johan Santana, who will be a free agent -- and they have the money to do so now). Fortunately, they have a good GM/CEO, so I think next season will be a good one. The Florida Gators are also off to a great start, but they're going to have a few big tests in the next couple weeks, namely Auburn and LSU. Tim Tebow, the Gators' star quarterback, has been absolutely phenomenal and has almost single-handedly carried their offense so far this year. He's only a sophomore, but is #1 in contention for the Heisman trophy. Anyway, we'll see what happens.

I admit it, I'm a fairly heavy smoker (about a pack or so a day). I didn't smoke at all in high school, and only started when I first went to China when I was 20, and it seemed like everyone there smoked (I smoked this horrible non-filtered local brand called "Golden Monkey" ... they were pretty nasty). When I was living in Taiwan, I was up to two packs a day, but am now down to about one per day, and I smoke Ultra Lights (I know, I know, they're still just as bad for me, but it helps me feel less guilty). There have been a number of VERY heavy smokers in my family (my grandmother smoked 3 packs a day), and not a one has had any problems from it. So, I guess I'm hedging my bets on the side of genetics ... again, bad idea, I know. I will quit one of these days ... maybe Sharon and I can do it together ...

As I've mentioned before, I think Shia LaBeouf (the cutie from "Transformers" and "Disturbia") is TOTALLY HOT!!! TMZ posted an AMAZING picture of him today, so if you wanna see it, click on the link below: http://www.tmz.com/2007/09/17/labeouf-in-labuff/ How that can be the same kid from "Even Stevens," I'll never figure out ... *fans self*

So, the first chapter of the new story is up, so check it out! http://littlebuddhatw.gayauthors.org/WISYA/WISYA1.php Many thanks to Sharon for editing. Don't forget to stop by the discussion forum to post your thoughts! ENJOY!

Well ... some good news ... Chapter 1 of the new story is ready to go (it's called "When I See You Again" -- same title as a previous effort I made, but totally different story, characters, etc. ... I just liked the title ... hehe). Sharon has finished editing, and I'll be sending it to Joe at the end of this week once I have all of the pages for my site updated. Chapter 2 has also just been sent to Sharon for the first edit, then I'll revise it some more and send it back one more time for a final look-through. I doubt I'll be able to keep up the pace I did last year with SOOTB, since I don't have as much time to write as I did back then ... but, I'll try to get two new chapters posted per month. Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know that everything is on track. I'm pretty nervous about this one, trying to catch lightning in a bottle for a second time isn't easy, so I hope the story isn't a total flop. *sigh*