Ron

According to Neal deGrasse Tyson in one centimeter slice of your lower colon lives and works more microbes than the total number of humans who have ever been born. That's both astonishing and cool to know. But is it ice-breaker information suitable for parties?!

That looked wrong to me but I couldn't quite place why at first. It turns out that it is incorrect. Astronomical Fall begins on the 22nd of September and Meteorological Fall begins on the 1st of September (this applies just like @Graeme says on the first day of the month that the Astronomical season date lands in wherever you live on the map).

Congratulations on your promotion @lawfulneutralmage.

Can you guess the song? Last night I dreamt of some bagels ... Just like I knew the thought I never thought. Young girls with eyes like potatoes ...

She's nine-years younger than me. Does that help? Otherwise, an iPhone is not in her budget and she's happy to get a phone that works remarkably well and continues to get security updates.

I've had iPhones only since the 4s. Every few years I trade up (planned for in my budgeting) and I hand my old phone down to my sister which is currently an iPhone X, the first OLED iPhone. This year it was time to trade up from a 14 Pro Max to the new 18 Pro Max. I've already pre-ordered the phone which arrives on Friday the 18th (I've read if you didn't pre-order on the day of release you can expect a delivery day some time in October now). I'll replace the battery in my current phone and send it along in 'like new condition' to my sister.

Here's a forty-year throwback...

I've checked in everyday for the last few years (I have the badges to prove it ) and most days I'm looking around, if only briefly. So GA is and has been a stopping place in my daily routine for some time. I enjoy interacting with the other members and commenting on the various site blogs whenever I have something to say that adds to the conversation (aside from those few times when I've been a little stroppy ). GA is the only place that I've posted what I've written as an author, so there's that exclusive content here. I enjoy commenting on other author's stories when I actually have time to read as well. I guess what I'm saying is that GA has become a sort of home for this wandering gay author who has plenty of ideas and occasionally comes up with a story now and again. Thank you for the place and the space to roam freely.

Kasabian's new album ACT III is right on. Here's a preview...

It seems that grade schools start their year all over the calendar. Some have been in school a couple of weeks already (planning for those snow-days) and some don't begin until this coming Wednesday (making up for snow-days at the end of the school year). So, those kiddos unlucky enough to not have air-con are in hot school rooms in August or June.

My father was the last child and so both of his older sister's daughters were right around his age. The younger one hurt a foot by stepping on something sharp which later developed gangrene. Even though the infection was thought to have been arrested, over time it lead to the amputation of her leg above the knee. My father was quite fond of his niece and she had a gaggle of kids that were just a little bit younger than my brother and I so we saw the family quite often. Seeing her lack of a lower limb was just a normal part of growing up. As a consequence I never felt the need to stare at anyone missing body parts. I understood that it can happen to anyone.

I leave comments for stories (when I feel I have something to add) where the author is either not publishing anymore, disappeared or has died. My comment may be read by a new reader, and possibly offer something they hadn't considered. This could change a reader's perspective. Comments are good.

I remember talking my uncle and his female partner (later married) into going to the Oberlin, Ohio Apollo movie theater to see Rocky Horror Picture Show. Being virgins (ha!) we didn't know the half of what the audience was going to get up to. After the spectacle of the parade of characters and then rice was tossed around and the squirt guns they could take no more and we left. It was a few years later that I sat through the movie on DVD. I have watched Tim Curry prance around a few times since then. I particularly liked Mr. Curry's portrayal of Darkness in the movie Legend with Tom Cruise and Mia Sara. The movie was one of the last to play at the local mall movie theater before it closed. I went to a matinee showing not really knowing what the movie was about and ended up thoroughly enjoying it. Being a big fantasy fan I've watched the movie several times over the years since.

Yes, that part works. Myr gets a rainbow and a crown on his badge. I have a plain magenta one. And yours is broken.

I do have a nice magenta colored badge, thank you. Even if it has no identifier on it.

A word of advice, if you're going to reply to comments do so individually and not in batches. Those that comment may again add an emoji of some type in response to your reply to their comment, thereby increasing the content in your profile which also increases your standing. To add, I learned about this the hard way. I remain worried about Kevin.

I hadn't a clue, Bill and I didn't go into reading the stories with the intent of trying to figure out who wrote what. Much too complicated and I'm not so familiar with the varying author's works to make educated guesses either.

I see that the rank symbol is broken again. For some of us but not all of us.

Well, that took a turn didn't it! Disaster in the kitchen, what a concept. I say that with confidence knowing most of us have probably had our share of disasters if we are inclined to experiment in the kitchen. But this experiment takes a flight of fancy wholly unexpected. I have to say this was unusually fun. Yet, it begs a question. Poor Kevin, what's to become of him? Thanks for writing this.

Excellent! I readily admit my reluctance to read alternate history stories but this one caught my attention with the prologue, and I decided to 'push on' as it were. Not that I remember a significant amount of the history of the civil war in the first place, I decided to read as if it was all new to me. I'm glad that I did, doing so allowed me to come at the history from a fresh perspective. The author is to be applauded for creating such an interesting work: The opening salvo of the funeral; Mysterious characters; The intrigue that follows; and the more dangerous elements. And let's us not forget the locals of Rocky Harbor who share a starring role along with the main characters. Well done you. Thanks for writing this.

At first I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy this story, there was so many small snippets of dialogue. Then after the intermission in the middle there was a good mix of dialogue and exposition. At that point the story became much more enjoyable to read. The reveal about Aunt Millie was interesting and unexpected. Well done. Overall this was a good tale. Thanks for writing it.

Heart of the Tree by @Graeme is one of my favorite stories by this author. You most definitely will become invested in his characters if you read the story. Steve has been reacting to some of the comments readers left for this, including my own comments, and the notifications of those reactions reminded me of just how much I enjoyed reading this story. I may have to go back and read it again. I say, "Well done, Graeme!"

This just in The Boston Globe about William Shatner showing up at Fan Expo Boston August 7-9, a free to read article: Still Trekking.

@Zombie Thanks for the video. But I'm not sure I have 21 minutes to kill.

Goodness! I haven't even begun to read anything and there's optional 'games' to deal with? I'll pass.