LittleBuddhaTW

Very good chapter. My guess is that Milo thought Nelson was just baiting him, afraid that he was just trying to admit he was gay so that he could use it against him or something. Perhaps he had that experience before? Perhaps that was a reason he transferred schools? I also agree with what hi_college_guy said about this being a lot like looking at Quinn from Jude's perspective, except that I think Milo knows he's gay more so than Quinn did at the time ... he'd have to be seriously weird to be drawing pictures of naked boys with extremely large reproductive organs and not realize that he was a poofter. I can't wait to see what happens in the next chapter when/if Milo shows up at Nelson's house. Either something big will happen, or nothing at all ... just more subtle hints and more confusion (which is my guess ... Dom likes torturing his readers ... must be the goth side of him). I think there's definitely something going on with that goat, though. I think it could end up playing as pivotal a roll in WT as Aaron did in DD. Watch out for the goat!!!

My prediction is that after the moving, tear-filled bedside scene between Rory and Eddie, Luke will decide that seeing Rory and Seth together is too much for him to take. So he signs up for an overseas exchange program and goes to spend his senior year studying in England. One lonely night, as he's walking to the local chippy to get dinner, he accidentally bumps into a stunningly beautiful boy ... let's just call him "Ben," for now. It's love at first sight, and Luke decides to stay in England, doing odd jobs, while "Ben" finishes at university. "Ben"'s love for Luke is confirmed when Luke beats up a strange man (who we'll just call "Vic") who keeps trying to sell "Ben" into prostitution. Finally, Luke and "Ben" take advantage of the Civil Union Act, and live happily ever after (even though Luke occasionally wishes "Ben" was more versatile in bed). THE END

I've had a horrible stomach bug for the past few days ... I won't go into details, but it hasn't been pleasant. Needless to say, I've spent most of the past several days in bed (or in the bathroom), and haven't gotten anything done. Not that I have the motivation to do anything, but I still need to at least finish what needs to be finished. Hopefully tomorrow I can make a little headway on my Ph.D. research proposal, and finish up with Ch. 9 of SOOTB. Speaking of which, Ch. 4 should already be up at Nifty now, and is on my website, too. Kitty has already finished editing Ch. 5, so everything is on schedule for the weekly update for next week as well. She's done a really terrific job, and if the story is any good at all, it's probably mostly because of her. As my English writing has started to improve again, though, my Chinese writing is going to hell, because I haven't written anything lately ... it's strange to have writer's block in one language (Chinese) and not the other (English) ... I didn't think it worked like that. Maybe I'll go write an entry in my Chinese-language blog, but I don't really have anything to say other than bitching about my life recently here in Taiwan, and that's not usually a very polite thing to do when you're a guest in a foreign country, and said country's residents are the ones reading your blog ... so I might wait until I'm in a better mood. Anyway, drop me a line if you're enjoying the story, or if you happen to know of a cute Taiwanese guy I could date ... hehe

It won't end until Rory calls Eddie "Dad" ... Rory's got his driver's license, he's staying in Arizona, now we're just missing that one last little bit ...

WOW! That was definitely a plot twist that I wasn't expecting ... I was just numb after I read that last line. The whole chapter was fantastic, and the whole time I was expecting things to be winding down to the end where Rory would finally decide he would stay, and it would have been a good ending. I had been thinking that DD was sort of losing steam, and as I was reading Ch 35, I was happy that it was going to end on such a good note, one last final oomph ... and then it didn't ... it's still going ... and I have no idea where it's heading now ... **sigh** Dom got ALL of us with that one ... I don't think anyone of us ever considered the possibility of that happening. Anyway, EXCELLENT chapter, Dom ...

That's definitely a very interesting theory. I don't think they'd necessarily end it, but it would certainly cause a lot of drama. Kind of like a different take on "West Side Story" ... in a weird sort of way ... hehe

I'm sure whatever Milo's reaction is, it will probably be something none of us were expecting. Dom has a way with that kind of thing ... And I don't think the issue will be resolved either in Ch. 5, or even in the next few chapters ... Milo's got too many issues.

It's up ... and finally I'm the first one this time! ha Excellent chapter ... I'm loving this story more and more ...

I've started a Yahoo group for anyone who wants to receive notification of new chapter postings and/or discuss "Someday Out Of the Blue" (and my other stories when I get around to them ... hehe): http://groups.yahoo.com/group/littlebuddhatw_stories The academic conference yesterday was ... interesting. When I went up to the table at the front and sat down where the "discussers" (people who critique the presenters' papers) sit, everyone in the room just stared at me ... obviously shocked that a "foreigner" was there to critique a paper in CHINESE by a Taiwanese grad student. I was obviously a little nervous speaking Chinese in front of so many people, but it went well, and the presenter accepted and agreed with all of my criticisms, which hopefully will help her, since the paper she presented is a portion of her M.A. thesis. The main problems I found with her paper had to do with research methodology, which is something they don't teach here. Taiwanese are VERY good at taking tests, but when it comes to doing independent research, creative thinking, etc., they can't do it ... the education system here (heavily influenced by Confucianism) not only doesn't teach that kind of thing, but they actually discourage it. Apparently, having your own thoughts, questioning authority, and things like that are a no-no ... it's better to have 24 million little robots who all think the same ... and with that kind of attitude, how do they expect to have a successful democracy here? I've got three days off in a row now. Tuesday is a national holiday here, "228 Peace Day," to commemorate the "February 28th Incident," when, apparently, the Nationalist government (transplanted from mainland China after they lost the civil war to the Communists) massacred thousands of protesting Taiwanese (who are ethnically Chinese, but are now having an identity crisis ... it's complicated). Anyway, I really need to spend these three days making some ground on my research proposal, because I have to finish before my thesis editor leaves for Japan in April, so she can help me make corrections. By the way, if you read this, go immediately to your nearest CD store (or Amazon.com) and buy Elton John's latest CD, "Peachtree Road" ... you just have to, no arguing ... thank you ...

I've now set up a Yahoo Group for those of you who want to discuss the story more and/or receive notifications of new chapters: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/littlebuddhatw_stories

Ch. 3 is now up ... http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/highschool/...the-blue-3.html I can't say thank you enough to Kitty for the excellent job she has been doing editing!

Congrats!!! You're lucky you live in an area that tends to be pretty "gay-friendly" as it is, so that's definitely in your favor. I wish I had come out at your age.

If his personality is anything to go by, then he's cute ... and he loves his BF ... that's all that matters!

I'm really glad to see all of the positive comments, and am pleased that everyone's enjoying the story so far. Ch. 3 should be posted by this weekend (hopefully) ... I'm just waiting for Kitty to send me the final revised draft (second check for any last mistakes), and then I'll send it in to Nifty. It should be on my web site about 12-24 hours prior to showing up on Nifty in case anyone's really anxious. As for Klonopin, you do need to be very careful with that. It's very good for what it does (anti-anxiety), but should only be taken as a short-term solution. Oftentimes what doctors will do for a patient that is suffering from serious anxiety is that they will prescribe something like Paxil as the longer-term solution, but since Paxil takes at least three weeks to kick in, they'll prescribe something like Klonopin or Xanax for the short-term, which has immediate results (kicks in after about 15-20 minutes). If taken too long, however, they are highly addictive. A good example is Stevie Nicks of the band Fleetwood Mac, who was addicted to Klonopin for many years. Why do I know all this? hehe My mom's a pharmacist, so I did my research.

I've finally forced myself to sit down and start writing my research proposal for the Ph.D. program. I'm so burned out from writing, though, so it's hard to sit down and keep on writing even more. My thesis editor has finally gotten her act together (I think) and is working on the final stage of revisions, although I have to re-write a part of my conclusion, which is annoying. It also seems as though competition for getting into the Ph.D. program this year will be more difficult than I had expected (there are only two places available for foreign students per academic year). Tomorrow (Sunday) I have to attend an academic conference on Chinese literature studies and critique a paper by a grad student from National Central University (in Chung-li, Taiwan ... not that anyone reading this would know where that is ... hehe). I really don't feel like doing it, but it is kind of an honor for a foreigner to be invited to critique a Taiwanese student's research, and something that the other foreigners who are applying to the Ph.D. program haven't done. I've already had some of my research published already, which they haven't ... so, I'm hoping that these things will all help me to get into the program. Otherwise, I'm not sure what I'm going to do ... stay here and look for work, try again next year, or go back to the States and get a job as a translator/interpreter or something like that. **Sigh** Decisions, decisions ... needless to say, this is going to be a very stressful few months. I'm hoping to have Chapter 3 of "Someday Out of the Blue" posted sometime this weekend. It will be up on my website about 12-24 hours before it's posted to Nifty. I've been writing very fast, but I'm gonna have to slow down now that I really need to get to work on my academic stuff. Also, I managed to get rid of about 2/3 of that translation job I was given, so it shouldn't cut into my time too much now. My boss wasn't thrilled, but I explained to her that my school work right now was much more important, which it is ... getting into the Ph.D. program is my future ... I just hope I can get serious enough and be as prepared as I need to be.

**hugz** (and a quick peck on the cheek and tousle of the hair) to Nick. Hang in there buddy!

Here's another one ... Q: Who is the hottest Domaholic? A: BoyNeedsTherapy (aka Ben)

While I agree that Seth's response was quite "blah" (and for the people who want to say he's just trying to be strong, supportive, and mature for Rory ... he's 16/17, if he was really, really into Rory, I think he *should* have reacted more strongly, especially considering Rory's issues with self-esteem). However, I don't think "love" is an issue between them ... neither of them have mentioned it, and I don't even think Rory has considered it. There's almost certainly "love" between Rory & Luke (what kind of "love" that is, I don't know), but Rory & Seth just have a typical teenage romance, they're not lifemates or soulmates or anything.

I can see it ending at 35 too, although there are still a few loose ends ... but I get the feeling that Dom's heart is with WT now ... and I'm already enjoying that one perhaps more than DD, so I'm not complaining.

That was an awfully evil cliffhanger .....

Chapter 2 is now up ... many thanks again to Kitty for her help with editing! http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/highschool/...the-blue-2.html Any comments? Suggestions?

My whole take on it is that two stories are better than one!

I personally love the name Rory ... never heard it before DD ... but now I'm thinking if I have a son someday (hopefully), I'll probably name him Rory ... hehe

Speaking of left-handed ... I read an article in Time magazine back when I was in high school (sometime during the Dark Ages), which said that studies showed that people who were left-handed were more likely to be gay than right-handed people ... I'm left-handed too ... although I use scissors with my right hand ... very odd ...

Then I'll just have to write him into one of my stories ... hehe I'll be sure to make it reeeaaaaallllly graphic just for you, Vic! Maybe something like a certain cute English boy gets kidnapped and sold to a rich Taiwanese businessman as a "house boy," but is then rescued by a daring, heroic, and handsome foreign translator who works for the Taiwanese Ministry of Education. The cute English boy then falls in love with the handsome translator, they win the lottery so they never have to work, and spend the rest of their days happily in bed together ... how's that? David