LittleBuddhaTW

I think you know why ... But I think Centaur has volunteered, so you should be all set now. Best of luck.

A little birdie told me that a certain guest author has contributed a chapter to dkstories's ongoing epic vampire serial, "Service: Vampire Jarred 2," which should be coming out in the near future ... it's supposed to be Chapter 13. So, if you haven't read the story yet, I'd highly recommend that you do so. It's definitely not for the faint of heart, but if you can look beyond the blood, gore, and rape scenes, there is definitely an underlying message/theme there. http://dkstories.gayauthors.org/vampire/index.php http://dkstories.gayauthors.org/vampire2/index.php And for discussion of the "Vampire Jarred" series, as well as the "special guest chapter," be sure to visit DK's message board: https://www.gayauthors.org/forums/index.php?showforum=18 ENJOY!

Cameron needs to perfect his drop-kicking skills so he can take Mr. Harris out when the time is right ... although if his hind quarters end up getting serviced too much by Cole, I'm not sure if he'll be able to get enough height on those drop kicks. Maybe he should learn some other form of self-defense ... the Israeli martial art, Krav Maga, is supposed to be both extremely brutal and effective. *Waves at Vancey-pooh and blows him little kisses* Buddha-pest President & #1 Fan, Official VLista Fan Club

Congratulations to Lugh on becoming the newest hosted author at GA! His page can be found at: http://lugh.gayauthors.org It's good to see that he's finally agreed to have his stories "officially" hosted here! *Courteous Bow* Buddha Former President, Official Lugh Fan Club

What do you mean "idealizing" the other character? Are you suggesting that what Connor sees is not the "real" Ryan???

Does anyone think the gifts that Connor got for his birthday were a bit too much? Also, there hasn't been much mention of whether or not there is a noticeable difference in Connor's personality, whether or not it's evolved or changed at all since he came to live with the McCormacks. A lot of people seem to prefer Ryan over Connor, yet Connor is supposed to be the "hero" or protagonist of the story? We don't really know much about what's going on in Ryan's head, only Connor's perception of that. But maybe that's just because I have a soft spot for Connor ... *Hugz* Buddha

Just a reminder ... if you haven't read my short story "Seeking Nirvana" yet, go check it out ... http://members.gayauthors.org/littlebuddha...ng_nirvana.html And if you like it, stop by the Story Archive and post a rating! I'd also love to see some more comments/thoughts from people who've read it ... I know you're out there! Lots of feedback from readers is what encourages me to write!

You definitely don't blog enough, Vancey-pooh! I have some ideas on how to occupy yourself during your four-day weekend, at least while Sam isn't around ... you'll need to get a few yards of plastic hose, some duct tape, and spackel from your local hardware store ... I'll fill you in on the rest on MSN! And I hope your evening work doesn't cut into our chat time ... I'd cry if that happened! *Hugz & SMOOCHES* Buddha

Is "Plunger Boy" cute and currently over the age of 18? If so, he sounds like my kind of guy! lol

Y'all are so pessimistic! Sheesh ... As for the dream analysis, what the doctor told Connor is just one possible interpretation. If anyone else has any thoughts as to what it may have meant, I suggest posting your ideas in the thread on "The Dream." There is definitely lots of room for interpretation and analysis there. *Hugz* Buddha

I can't really remember the last time I've had so much to do ... I've gotten so used to being bored, but now that my big move is looming closer and closer, I've got tons to get done. This week is going to be a killer, and I'm not off to a good start, since I got ZERO hours of sleep last night. I have the worst case of insomnia, and even the sleeping pills my doctor gave me don't do a damn thing except make me feel woozy and a little groggy ... but not enough to put me to sleep. Anyway, I have to work three days this week instead of two, so that's gonna suck, although I do need the money, since the move (mostly shipping stuff) is costing me much more than I had anticipated. After work on Monday, I need to mail the revised copy of my thesis back to my graduate advisor so she can take one final look at it before I send it to the printer. Then on Monday afternoon, provided I don't collapse from exhaustion by then, I'm taking all three cats to the vet for their final check-up and shots. That'll be pretty expensive, too, but once that's done, I just have to get the one final check-up from the government the week before I leave. I've also got several boxes of stuff to ship home this week, and need to finish getting my CDs organized. Once these boxes are shipped, that should be the last of them (hopefully). Then comes the time to start pitching the last of the stuff I can throw away, and try to sell the rest. I'd like to get all of this stuff done this week so that when my professor is done with the final check of my thesis, I can concentrate on getting all of that mess taken care of. I finally finished Chapter 18 of SOOTB and sent it off to Kitty. I've also started working on Chapter 19 and am about a third of the way finished. After Chapter 20 is posted, I may take a short break for a couple of weeks to deal with some of this moving stuff, as well as try to finish my entry for the Summer Anthology. Also, I'm happy to announce that CRVBOY and AwesomeDude have both asked to host my story. Chapter 1 is now up on CRVBOY, and it should be posted on AwesomeDude next weekend. GA, however, will always remain my official site, and will have new chapters and stories posted before anyone else. I'm glad that other sites are interested in my story, and I want as many people to have the chance to read it as possible, but I also owe a big debt of gratitude to Myr for hosting my stories here first, letting me have my own "official" web site, as well as the discussion forum. So, for me, GA is my home, and that won't change.

I really enjoyed this chapter. I'm glad to see that Cole and Cameron decided to be upfront about their feelings for each other, and I get the feelings that things could be heating up between them very, very soon ... I hope! I was starting to find a few redeeming characteristics about Mr. Harris, and started thinking that maybe he wasn't all that bad ... but he was really an ass in this chapter, and I think he's over-stepping his boundaries with Cameron. Yes, he's the legal guardian and the "parent" ... but Cameron has been a good boy so far, and deserves a little slack. Cameron made the decision (conscious or not) to get his act together ... he could have run away or put up a fight about going to live with the Harris family, but he didn't. He should be given credit for that, and a little more leeway from Mr. Harris. Anyway, great chapter, Vance! *HUGZ* Buddha President & #1 Fan, VLista Fan Club

Hmmm ... I thought you'd like the description of Ryan in his baseball uniform ...

Ch. 16 is up ... http://members.gayauthors.org/littlebuddhatw/SOOTB16.html As usual, many thanks to Kitty for editing! Enjoy!!! *Hugz* Buddha

Josh, the author of fantastic coming-of-age stories like "Sea Change" and "The Least of These," now has a new story out called "Sealing Our Fate." The first two chapters are already up. So far, it's excellent! http://www.awesomedude.com/stories/SOF/sea..._fate_title.htm

I can't get the page numbers in the PDF file to match up with the original ... the PDF file ends up having more pages than the original .doc file, and that's not allowed. I also just found out that I have to stick the "National Taiwan University" watermark into the background of each page ... being the computer idiot that I am, none of this is going to be pleasant ... and I have to have an ID number and password to get into the system to upload it ... hello?!?! No one ever gave me one! So now I have to find out how to get that ... it's all a huge nightmare ... and after having put all of my separate files into one big file, I have to go back and manually reset all of the footnotes so each chapter begins at "1" ... again, not fun. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MYR! One more year to go until you hit the big 3-0 ... Oh, and by the way ... will you marry me??? *Hugz* Buddha

So, I got to the Chinese department office about a half hour early and chatted with one of the secretaries for a while, and she gave me all of the information I need to get through the gazillions of procedures I have to follow once the final draft of my thesis is completed, which includes converting my MS Word document into PDF format (which I have no clue how to do), get three hardcover and one softcover copies of my thesis made, upload the PDF file of my thesis to the library's electronic thesis system, wait 2-3 days for them to send me a e-mail confirmation that it has been successfully uploaded, then go and hand in the copies of my thesis to the library and Chinese department, go to four different places to get "official" stamps on some form, and finally, go to pick up my final transcript and diploma. Why does it have to be so complicated, you ask? Answer: this is Taiwan. *sigh* Anyway, so the test was ... interesting. It lasted about two hours, starting out with me giving about a 15 minute presentation on what my thesis topic is about, my main points/theories, how I went about collecting my materials, etc. Then all three professors gave me their opinions, suggested some points that I might want to revise, etc. The atmosphere was very friendly and cordial, even though discussion on a couple of points got slightly heated, although always polite. So, it wasn't bad at all. So, how did I do? ::drum roll:: I got a 91% on my thesis, which counts for 50% of my final grade. The other 50% is the average grade from my coursework, which was 89.12% ... so my final grade at graduation is 90.06%, the equivalent of an "A" in the American system. Needless to say, I was quite happy, since I expected to only get 80+% on my thesis. So, I'm very happy with that, but not happy with all the crap I still have left to do, especially converting all of my MS Word files into one big ass PDF file, upload it, and then have to wait 2-3 days to find out if it even worked ... ugh. Taiwan is definitely the world capital of "red tape." But anyway ... I am now officially "LittleBuddhaTW, M.A.," with a 90% average from the top university in the Republic of China, and a top tier international school. Oh ... and Chapter 16 of SOOTB should be posted sometime on Saturday morning (US Eastern time).

I think it's very likely that we'll see an edited and revised version of "Shane" at some point this year, and I'll do my best to coax its brilliant author to add some extra scenes to make it that much more worthwhile to go and re-read. I've already read it twice, and will certainly read it again for a third time when the "new" version comes out. In the meantime, "Cameron" is also a very good story, not to mention "Tyler."

I wonder how many people would really make that connection, though. I think the average movie-goer isn't going to spend a lot of time "thinking" about any sort of social message in an X-Men movie ... I think most of them are just going to see a good action movie. In that respect, I don't see it as having more of an impact than "Brokeback Mountain."

Hmmm ... that comment could end up delaying Ch. 16 for a couple more weeks ...

Just got back from clothes shopping ... definitely not fun. First of all, it's hard enough to shop for clothes here since Chinese are built very differently from Westerners, with us 'big noses' (that's what they call us foreigners) having bigger frames ... not to mention that I've put on a little extra weight over the past couple of years, so it ended up being a case of buying what would fit me rather than what I actually liked the best. Even though I'm not "fat," I'm still a pretty big guy (6 feet, 180 lbs., although ten of that is coming off before I go home, Buddha willing). *sigh* But at least I have something to wear tomorrow for my exam!

There's a big ass typhoon that's hitting Hong Kong and southern China now, and we're getting hit by the outer bands of rain. It's nothing serious, but it's raining hard enough to keep me from going clothes shopping ... not that I wouldn't have found another excuse not to get off my lazy butt ... but I've definitely got to go tomorrow, because I have to have something nice to wear (that fits!) for my exam on Friday. Good news on the landlord front! I just spent two hours helping her to file her taxes online, since she doesn't have a computer, and her friend that was helping her didn't have a floppy disk drive on her computer. So ... after going through that nightmare and helping her add things up, figuring out how the system works, etc., there's no way she can't return my deposit ... and she also said that any furniture that I can't sell, she'll take care of it. That's a good thing, since I wasn't sure how I was gonna handle that. She's also letting me stay the first week of July for free, and we worked out the utility payments and stuff, too. So, that's another load off my mind, unless she goes back on what we agreed on ... although after helping her with this tax mess, she'd better not! Chapter 16 has already been through the first edit ... lots of red "ink" on this one ... but I think it'll be pretty good. I'm almost halfway finished with Chapter 18. And my exam is this Friday afternoon at 2 o'clock. It'll be just me and the three professors who are grading my exam (one of which is my graduate advisor) sitting in the massive conference room in the Chinese department. The good thing is that I'll get my score right away, so I can report back on Friday evening (Friday morning US time) on my score ... not that anyone really cares ... lol And last but not least, BIG *hugz* to Kitty, Vance, and Benny for all being such wonderful friends ... and Joey, because his nose is just so gosh darned cute! And also to Nicko, who I hope is feeling better after his surgery!

I'm glad that Nicky reappeared ... but Brandon needs to get over his little thing for Alex so he can realize that he really has a crush on Nicky ... *sigh*

I'm kind of having trouble getting my mind around the fact that you don't know what is best to play for your amp's first trial run ... HELLO?!?!?! BOB DYLAN!!! THE MESSIAH OF ROCK!!!