Gearoid

Dom asks: If there was a pill you could take that would make you not-gay, would you take it? My reply: Well an honest question and I think the honest answer is absolutely never as in not ever. I have always thought of the old Tom Robinson number "sing if you're glad to be gay" and he always looked so damned miserable when he did it. It hasn't all be "gladness" but I think of it as karma and not a bad one either. :2hands: regards G.

Glad you had a good day. As for 2007, who knows? I don't believe that it will be what we make it. That is so American!! Will you people never learn about structural determination? Still we have agency and we can endure and as Dr Johnson said, 'cheerfulness keeps breaking out.' So no talk of quitting. As for the bible, well first what can one say when one's mother does that? Best to maintain a silence. As for the bible itself, I was reared in the Catholic tradition and thankfully we never went in for that literal bs, but there is poetry in the bible and people have gotten comfort from it. My own favorite bit is Corinthians 1 V 13. Few Christians that I know act on these lines but they have a remarkable beauty nevertheless. Apart from Corinthians I recommend the original Q gospel as interpreted by the members of the Jesus seminar. They construct Jesus as a radical philospher in the Greek cynic tradition rather than as a traditional Jewish rabbi. Serious biblical scholars are a good source of one way to counter the fundamentalists who would have to be about the stupidiest people on this planet. My own favorite is John Dominic Crossan. His books are so wickedly subversive. I highly recommend them. ae Gearoid

All my sympathy but these things just have their own momentum. I always think to myself of the line "A fool in the service of others can be wise" if I am ever tempted to smugness when I contemplate the wreck of the lives of my friends. Contemplating my own life is not so easy. Re TOSOM I am pleased to hear it might be finished soon. Am afraid to mention that I would love to see WT kick started again. But there I have done it. BTW Rick I am loving your story. regards Gearoid

Of course you must take a break if you feel you need to. However let me say that yours is a great talent and it will call you again of that I am sure. You have given so much pleasure to us. It is true that we are also greedy and needy but we are your 'adoring public' and the cliche for once is totally true. Best wishes Gearoid

This was a beautifully written blog. So skillful. The subject matter though was quite painful. Been there of course. Yet that you were able to weave this experience so well into the cool web of language might show that you are on your way to being over it. He is almost certainly unaware of the damage he has done. So sad... Gearoid

Yes I'm happy too. Wasn't really worried-just beginning to get a little :wacko: :wacko: without my fix. Gearoid

I just wanted to say thank you for chapter 9. I loved it. G

Now that's a lot better advice than my own post. A lot lot better. So truly practical BTW Dan I am incubating an essay on one of your stories. I am just so damned busy at present, but I feel I will burst if I do not put down what I think about your work. G.

I came close to promising my self I wouldn't read your blog anymore, because you sound so depressed all the time and there is nothing I can do about it. I love your writing and the three emails you sent are a treasure for me. But you sound so damnably down. I myself am really getting dragged into the pit by thinking of all the suffering that is around at the moment. A friend's daughter is going slowly and painfully insane and again I cannot help. And then I read that you are worse than fed up and David says he feels the same everyday. Ah well maybe as Dr Johnson said Cheerfulness will break out again, somewhere sometime soon. :wacko: G.

Kitty I can't believe you wrote this. Didn't you see the episode of the Myth Busters where they tested food that had been lying on the floor for a few seconds and the food was like totally covered in 'orrible germs. :nuke: :nuke: What if our favourite net author got sick? As for sex, when Dom wrote about it being easier to have than to write about, I am tempted to repeat I can't believe he wrote that, but then he is 22 . Gearoid

[Glad you are feeling better LB. Loved your Chapter 5. I also thought your comment in the forum on DD Ch 36 was very shrewd. Still DD was a staggering achievement and parts of it I love more than anything else I have read. Hope your future plans work out. There is no way that I personally know of to stop worrying and with regard to age, the line from Simon & Garfunkel about older than you were but younger than you will be sort of helps me Gearoid

I too hope you are feeling better. I once got terrible stomach trouble in Nigeria - nearly vanished down you know where. Being far away from home made it no fun at all. I am enjoying the story. I like the social class element a lot- trailer park boy with problems. It just has a sharp sense of place for me that I really like. The cliff hanger? Well of course it was cruel, but what can one expect from an author I ask. I don't know how you are going to resolve the triangle though without someone getting really hurt. Take care & get better & what is the PhD going to be on? regards Gearoid