Ron

Was it something on the order 'woke up like a douche and rolling in the night?'

Years ago when listening to this song on the radio in my car I always thought the background singers were singing 'requesting silence' on repeat, and I would sing along. I just now listened to this song with very good headphones and now I feel silly. It turns out the background singers are singing 'big boys don't cry' on repeat. I'm sure that I am not alone in making up my own words to songs, and not just this one, especially when the lyrics weren't clear.

If you're considering reading this story but find yourself put off by the sports aspect you will find this story is more about the people in it than baseball itself. This is more sport-light with baseball as a background setting than it is a heavy hitter (pun intended). This sets the stage for a grown man's realization that his world is full of contradiction and that is the main focus. How he comes to grip with the contradictions he grew up with and has been led to believe is sometimes a rollercoaster, but in the end we all come to a soft and meaningful landing. This is a good read and I highly recommend it.

Well, a happy third-time read for me. I know the author isn't responding to comments but just so you know I binge-read this today. Some say familiarity breads contempt but if you wait twelve years to read a story again ... Not so much. It would be nice to read something new from you. I'm going out on a limb and guessing you have more to offer. It's been a long time for me posting something new, but I feel I have it in me to do so. Fingers crossed for both of us.

I know you're not here anymore but that's a very good point being made.

I agree with 'Former Member' Cal's about face behavior was abrupt.

If you're into well done Sci-Fi where the science part appears as highly plausible and includes an Australia connection no-less, may I suggest reading @Palantir's writing -- begin with Attunga, I highly recommend it.

Authors are a creative people. Otherwise, we'd have no fiction to read. That creative nature isn't always limited to writing alone. In this world using your actual name on a piece of Gay literature could be used against you in a manner most people don't want to think about. So why not use that same creativity one uses to write in order to come up with a name for themselves. But, really, does any pen name actually affect an author's legitimacy. Perish the thought! History is rife with famous people using a pen name for their work. Could you be one of them one day Luca E.?

Can one wish themselves a special, happy day? I mean - come on - Daddy is right there in your name.

And, don't forget today is also Daddy's Day, I mean... er, Father's Day. I can honestly say that I am already sick of listening to soccer and tennis and golf. What's that, listening you say? Yes. I'm keeping company with a man more elderly than myself as a favor to a friend down on Cape Cod. (Everyone needs a break.) As it happens he is a big sports fan and since I can't give a rat's patootie about organized sports I sit in the dining room with my various electronic devises while sports programs do their thing in the background (all day long), and often more loudly than I would like. I head for home up on the North Shore today for a much needed respite.

Fun factoid of the day: If you've ever donated blood... It could be in someone's boner right now.

I must say thank you for all the love you've been giving my work. It's much appreciated. I'm quite proud of this particular story. I am also grateful for your commentary, as I am for all those who read and commented. This story was perhaps as difficult and emotional to write as it might be for the reader to digest.

Not bad for a Tuesday ...

Slang is often ephemeral, evolving much faster than is the norm and often manipulates existing words by assigning new meaning to them. Even professions have jargon/slang specific to their environments. Slang is also informal and Gay people have no exception to its usage. The Gay-accent is not an affectation, words are pronounced correctly when not using slang but not in what is considered normal cadence, so it's more of a social dialect that seeps into everyday speech for many, and not one that gets used for Gay interactions/environs only. I can assure you that I pronounce color as 'kuh-lr' in the Ohio way. And, yes the O N in monk is pronounced like in the word munch but that's not slang/or accent, as I'm sure you know. But if you said 'col-law' (which would be considered an accent) in context I would likely understand what you meant regardless of how I heard the word, therefore context matters a great deal in understanding accents. Although, I tried to watch The Wind That Shakes the Barley starring Cillian Murphy (a great actor Imo) and I couldn't understand a spoken word because of the heavy Irish accent. I gave up and the disc has just been sitting on the shelf collecting dust for the last nineteen years. A web search will give you more information about the differences between slang and accent if you'd like to further pursue the subject. I used it to more clearly make my own commentary.

I was born and raised about an hour's drive from Lake Erie in Ohio. I don't have any particular accent in my speech, and very few people would say I had any accent. I say our as in hour and not as in are, and my we're is clearly heard as wee-rrr and not wer. And, whenever I run into a word I'm unclear of how to pronounce I look it up to make sure I pronounce it correctly most of the time, sometimes I do guess which I get right about 70% of the time. But with non-American or non-English (British) languages my pronunciation guesswork is very poor. Sometime back in the 1930s and 1940s people from Ohio were sought out for radio, and later television broadcasts for their lack of an accent. It was called the 'broadcasters dialect' because our speech was highly intelligible (especially those from central Ohio), not triggering any regional biases. In my early twenties when I began going to Gay bars regularly the Gay-accent began creeping into my voice. When I realized it was happening I was very alarmed. I lived in a small area that was still considered a village because we didn't yet have the population to be considered a town. One didn't want to go around sounding like a 'fag' at the time, not with family and not in public. At the time I was also working in a steel plant finishing raw steel into a polished product. I achieved first-class setup operator status on the machines and even made tooling in the shop (bragging rights for that) and was once elected union president. Bringing the Gay-accent into those environs was not a good idea. The Gay-accent once learned is hard to get rid of even if you want to, especially when you're out in the bars with 'your kind' as much as possible, and for some the speech becomes part of their identity. I haven't been to a Gay bar in around eight years now. Even before that I was no longer part of any scene after age thirty-five or thereabouts. I'm now sixty-six and three-quarter years old and I sometimes hear the Gay-accent creep into the occasional word, I guess you could call it Gay-accent light on those occasions. If I don't explicitly tell someone I'm Gay they seem surprised if/when they find out. Is it a good thing, a bad thing? I don't know. I don't feel like I'm betraying 'my kind' in any way by not speaking the lingo. But, that does have its advantages.

Well, I almost rode a pony as a child. Almost you ask? Yes. I no sooner was sat on a pony's back by my uncle (the owner of said creature) and let get settled when it bucked. Gravity ensued quickly, my trip through the air over the pony's head was short-lived, and I found myself sitting on my backside on the ground in shock at how quickly it happened. Nothing was broken except for my hope of a pony ride. No way was I gonna get back on that thing. And that was the both the beginning and the end of my equine adventures.

4 is the only number that has the same number of letters as the number itself. That is all.

My CD collection has Classical (less than other genres), Jazz, Rock and Heavy Metal. I'm not a big fan of Folk music although I'll listen to something once in a while. I've found my taste in music has changed over time. It's now less about rip-roaring, head-banging music. I mostly listen to music on the Tidal Audio streaming service even when I already own the CD; I can find something for every mood; I can get access to better than CD quality. And, now that I've bought a pair of noise-canceling, wireless headphones from Bowers & Wilkens (30 hours on a full charge) I can take my streaming music everywhere with me without plugging in. I don't listen to music in the car. I find it a distraction from paying attention to the road and other Massachusetts drivers (absolutely unpredictable behavior), but I've also learned that those drivers from New Hampshire and Rhode Island are only marginally better behaved on the road.

Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles was the first video shown on MTV back when it launched on August 1, 1981. And, yes, I was watching MTV at its beginning. I was two months away from my 23rd birthday at the time.

Today is Boston Pride. This year's theme: Pride for the People. I thought this an appropriate song...

I lived in Toronto for three years. Does that count? Anyhoo, since you can't show dick you may as well show some ass which is fine for some reason.

I’m a diet Pepsi drinker. Have been for many years. I used to drink regular Coca Cola but then an article came out saying colas of any stripe decreased calcium absorption for the bones. Being over six-feet tall and gangly I decided that I needed all the calcium I could get. Years later I read a clarification on the study for that previous article and it stated the calcium concern was centered on women. By that time I was a bit older and there is a family trait (mom’s side) of being tall and slim but getting a belly. Now, as a Gay man out and about I had no interest in falling into the family trend. So when I started drinking cola again — Diet Pepsi filled the bill because it tasted better than Diet Coke. People would ask me why I drank diet pop when I was so skinny? I thought the answer was obvious: I wasn’t downing sugary drinks all day and risking the look of that rounded belly.

I’m happy to support GA with my premium membership (when I can afford to) and it’s absolutely amazing to see that support being utilized in these fairly frequent updates to the platform. I can only assume it’s all very complex behind the scenes. I will say that it is very much appreciated. I’m a fan! Even though it’s been a while (seriously too long) since I’ve contributed a story I do plan on sharing something(s) this year — another way to be supportive. Fingers crossed!

Perhaps, Thurston Howell III might be a better foil to the poor service worker. I have worked in both retail and food service, along with manufacturing and hospitality industries, and "shudders" phone sales (cold-calls being the worst part). Steve, to answer your second question I would have to say people were the best and worst parts of all of my jobs. Everything else could be worked around or fixed.

Good for you. I was in Australia just the once and after the second day in Sydney I spent the next four days in bed with food poisoning. Two days later I was in Melbourne. Luckily, Melbourne turned out to be a safe haven from food issues even if the city turned out to be a bit boring for me.