dkstories

I still like a shirt I bought so many years ago and rarely wear: So Many Right Wing Christians So few lions

Someone has been spending too much time in the Authoritarian section of Nifty.

I think the loose/lose is my biggest pet peeve. Occasionally I'll spot it as a misspelling (which is fairly easy to do, and editors don't always catch it), but when I see loose substituted for lose over and over again in the same chapter or story (I set my boyfriend loose. vs. I don't want to lose my boyfriend) I will usually stop reading said story. For a while I wondered if it was a british vs. american thing going on, however I have come to realize it's just a problem with poor grammar skills. Sadly it is a problem that is occurring more often these days and it's costing me enjoyment on a few stories. Oh well...

Is there anyone who would be surprised by me saying I am a die-hard sci-fi fan? I grew up on the original Star Trek (in repeats! I'm not that old!). ST: TNG was a little preachy for me at first, but you know, I enjoyed it too. Then came ST:DS9 and I LOVED that show. I loved the Dominion War story arcs the best, especially some very good episodes that were about more than things blowing up. ST: Voyager was...bland to say the least. But, Star Trek is not the only sci-fi I love. I remember watching Star Wars (the first movie made), in the theater, during the original release. I was a little boy, but 90% of my toys up to teenage hood came from Star Wars (and my 9-year old nephew plays with my original 1977 Luke Skywalker, Tie Fighter Pilot, C-3PO and a few others that I still have). Oh, and don't complain about me letting him play with them. They are TOYS. NOT playing with them is a sin. Our house has a lot of books, and a great many of them are sci-fi. I've read all the original Dune books by Frank Herbert, and even many of the prequels written by others since then. I can quote parts of those books, and many others to this day (I used to be able to quote every line from the Star Wars movie, but let's not go there). Battlestar Galactica (original and new) hold special places in my heart. Isaac Asimov spun yarns that I enjoy to this day while Robert Heinlein makes me wish to write a gay version of a certain irrascible old man. Funny thing is, I recently found DVDs ov a series that I LOVED as a kid. It was called the Tomorrow People (original british version from the early 1970's). It's as hokey and campy as I remembered, and as I watch it I think it was the gay kid in me that was most attracted to the show. I almost feel guilty watching it as an adult...but you know, those boys were so cuuuuuuuute. Poor Trebs, my nephew likes them too and I just bought another box of the show so we can keep watching...

It's been about 4 weeks now since I quit. Had a little fight two weeks ago where I went and bought a pack. Smoked two cigarrettes, and then gave the pack away (of which I am proud). My sister and brother-in-law (who live in the house) still smoke, which makes it very difficult on occasion. Things making it easier include getting up every morning for a walk/jog with my nephew. I can now make it a good distance without wheezing or running short of breath. Another thing making it easier is when my niece gets in my lap, sniffs and says I smell good because I don't smell like cigarrette smoke. Using patches has made it easier (but it is still not easy). tomorrow I go from Step 1 patches to Step 2 (a drop of 7mg of nicotine per day). After smoking for 17 years, let's just say it's really nice breaking the habit. (Yes, there are times I still want a smoke, and I suspect there will always be those moments, but they are fewer and further between now). It's also nice going to bed at night and not hearing a wheezing sound from constricted alveoli in the lungs.

Regarding the Sword of Gryffindor and the Sorting Hat...well as soon as I read the part about Voldemort summoning the Sorting Hat and placing it on Neville's head, I knew it was going to be Neville destroying the last Horcrux in Nagini, using the Sword of Gryffindor. Re-reading the second book, Dumbledore says that the Sword will always appear for a 'true Gryffindor', and Neville is as true a Gryffindor as Harry. In fact, so was Seamus even though we really didn't see much of him. (Remember Neville's line about Seamus looking worse, and story about what Seamus did? He was as much a Gryffindor as anyone). Oh, and Colin Creevey's death, well I like it a lot. It's always the eager ones, the bright-eyed kids who are rushing into places they shouldn't go that die, and that was Colin Creevey. I shudder every time I see someone like that join the military, because well, they'll be lucky to come back from combat alive. As for the epilogue, well it wasn't Harry and Draco at the end so I was a little disappointed, but the Albus Severus/Scorpius slash stories are just dying to be written!!!!

JK Rowling did a post-DH interview where she answered a bunch of the questions posed here. You can find it at mugglenet. Some points she clarified: Colin Creevey, like others with muggle parentage was in hiding until he felt his DA coin heat up with the new message. Like many others, he returned to the school and was part of the massive group that went down to the Great Hall. McGonagall tried to send him back, but he stayed (as a Gryffindor is likely to do), and he died in the battle. Voldemort intended to split his shoul seven ways (six horcruxes plus himself). When he attacked Harry that first time, after killing Lily and James, he accidentally made a new Horcrux. He did not know Harry was a horcrux, and so when he killed Harry, he killed the Horcrux (I think about it like this: Avada Kedavra kills without leaving a mark, so maybe what it really strikes is NOT so much the body as the SOUL of the person. Thus, Harry was able to go back to his body because only ONE Avada Kedavra was cast, and only ONE soul had to be taken by the spell. That soul ended up being the Horcrux soul of Voldemort, allowing Harry to return - oh and Harry is no longer a parselmouth according to JKR). Thus, Voldemort had unwittingly split his soul into eight parts, not seven. Dolohov killed Lupin Bellatrix killed Tonks Crabbe started the fire which destroyed the diadem (and killed himself in the process).

I reread the last few chapters again last night and realized I had missed something. Molly Weasely. In book 5, she was crushed by a bogart appearing to be the dead bodies of her family, but in Book 7, we see her true strength. From the moment she said "Out of my way, girls." and stepped in for Hermione, Ginny, and Luna against Bellatrix, I knew this was going to be a spectacular fight. Everything from Bellatrix's taunts, to the description of the ground cracking from heat underneath their feet while they fought was just perfect, and Molly's killing of Bellatrix just could not be better. This is one thing that JK Rowling has done exceptionally well. She takes people who seem to be ordinary, nothing special, and brings them to levels of heroism that are almost indescribable. Molly Weasely has always been that happy, frumpy woman who cooks a good meal, worries about her family, and putters around the house being a busybody mother. How many people have ever saw her as being truly dangerous? Then, in the middle of the Battle for Hogwarts, she takes up her wand and proves that hell hath no fury like a mother protecting her children. It was well done, and I loved that every bit as much as Harry's facing down Voldemort.

The death count was FAR higher than I actually expected, but you know, every death meant something and so, it just felt right. (beware spoilers because I'm too lazy to inviso text). I LOVED Kreacher in this one, and I giggled, yes, I giggled when Kreacher led the Hogwarts House Elves to fight on behalf of his Master. What really made me like the Kreacher storyline was how it showed that Harry REALLY was learning from the mistakes of the past (and yes, this made him better than Dumbledore as a person). Harry's little bits of kindness to the House Elf showed he could overcome past hatred and anger. Severus Snape was every bit a hero as Harry Potter, Ron Weasely, Hermione Granger, or any other character in the books. It was great for that finally to be revealed, but what really hit me, and not until after I was done reading the entire book, was that I think he died happy. Yes, I think Snape was happy when he died, because he died looking into the eyes of Lily Evans, the love of his life, through her son Harry. (there were a lot about eyes in this book, an important sub-theme). What was also great was the way that it was Severus Snape that was Petunia's "Awful Boy" and not James. Narcissa Malfoy was also a wonderful character in these last two books, and I actually let out a growl and a "Yes" when she whispered her question to Harry as he was lying in the forest. She had one priority, and one alone, and that was what saved Harry and made his victory possible. Sure, he'd just finished saving Draco's life, and he was rewarded for doing the right thing by gaining her assistance, even though he had no way of knowing that it would be needed down the road. Dear Merlin, I can't wait to the see the movie of this one. I don't care if it's four hours long, I want to see Neville Longbottom wielding the Sword of Gryiffindor and cutting off Nagini's head! I want to see Tonks and Lupin risking everything for what they know to be right, and I want to see Minerva McGonagall showing us what exactly she can really do if given time to prepare. I want to see Percy appearing through the tunnel, and admitting that he was wrong and being welcomed back into the family, and see him fighting beside his brother in that horrible little battle, and through its aftermath. More than any of that though, I want to see Harry Potter standing with his family at his back as he prepares to take that walk into the Forbidden Forest, and I want to see him in the 'King's Cross' station talking with Dumbledore, and learning the full truth of his fate. I want to see him standing against Voldemort, and showing that it is more than sheer power alone that brings about victory. Because, well, it's true. Sheer might, sheer power alone will not bring victory. You must have the inner spirit, the inner drive to be a better person, to look on your enemies and to know that they too are human, and that throwing an Adava Kedavra at Draco Malfoy is not the path to victory. Rather it is through kindness, mercy, and willingness to sacrifice that we truly make the world a better place, and in the end, that was what Harry Potter was all about.

Trebs was hoping I'd not go in this thread and see the picture of a cute red-head (nice pic Andy!). Hmmm, maybe we should make the October dinner a GA get-together for the West Coast? Two hosted authors at the event? Now there's a thought... I'm going to give two pics to this thread. The first one...it's from my Grandmother's funeral. We all looked SO good dressed up for it and it was the first time us four cousins had all been together in the past 15 years (we've had three of us in the same location before in different combinations for different funerals, but not all four.) In order, this is my cousin Bryan, my sister April, my cousin Michele, and yours truly.

A real man has nowhere near that many pairs of shoes: 1. Pair of every-day/casual shoeware (usually sneakers) 2. Gym shoes 3. dress shoes 4. Boots/hiking shoes 5. casual flip-flops/sandals Any more than that, unless very specialized (ie cleats for football, cleats for baseball, cleats for soccer - when you DO play those sports) mean that you're a shoe whore. Either that, or you're gay. I come damn close to that more than five limit, but then I'm a butch gay guy so I'm forgiving. Then again, until I met Robert, I usually had three pairs of shoes (casual, dress, sandals/flipflops).

Well, the season pretty much ended with "Hi Lee, it really is me. I've been to Earth and I'm here to show us all the way there..." The last episode of 2007, well I LOVED it. My reaction to finding out that there won't be a new episode until 2008...well it wasn't pretty.

We must kill Coming Undone. He dared profane the holiest of holies, Battlestar Galactica. Oh, and James, seeing as how we saw this thread before we saw the episode, you're on my and Trebs's crap list. Better be careful.... As for this episode. I just loved the ending, and I'm hoping, I'm praying that in Season 4, if not this season, we will learn the white light at the end for Starbuck means the same thing the white light meant for Apollo in the original series.

Thanks everyone. We're in Southern California now and having a blast. Manuel (my best friend) came down here with us. Yesterday we tooled around Burbank a bit and then went to Magic Mountain (we have season passes to the Six Flags in Vallejo and they work down here too). Manuel got me on the roaring rapids ride and I walked off soaked to the bone, but enjoyed seeing the really cute guy next to us with his soaked pants... Then we went to a REALLY nice dinner at Obar in West Hollywood. We were joined by Cindy and Glen, two of Robert's friends who live down here. Cindy's birthday is the same day as mine, and this is the second year now we've all celebrated our birthdays this way. Following that we took manuel to Hollywood Blvd since he's never been there. This morning we're heading back out to Magic Mountain for six or seven hours of fun before we fly back to Sacramento (or the bay area for Manuel). Thanks for the birthday wishes. I've posted another chapter of Rider's Pride, so enjoy!

Ha! I'm a balanced 4. Now THAT is scary. (dom, ain't nothing to worry about here...)

What Trebs means is that he can't wait to BUY the ingredients and then have ME bake the cookies.

Unless you want to be closeted (ie marry a woman), the fact that you're gay, live with a partner, and have a kid is going to be an issue if you run for office in this hypothetical situation. If you live in a Republican-leaning district, the right-wing of that party is going to jump all over the fact that the opposing candidate is gay, and they're going to do everything they can (more than likely not directly - they'll let supporters who are vigorously anti-gay take the lead) to use your sexuality and home life to motivate their voters against you. It's all part of winning an election. The key to minimizing the impact on your campaign would be to have a strategy in dealing with that when it comes up in the campaign. That strategy would be based on your district, what kind of voters you have there, and what they care about. An effective strategy will nullify their efforts to make it an issue. An example would be that when they send out an attack mailer to their constituents you respond by expressing confusion as to why your partner and child are more important than dealing with the real issue of how the state is going to help repair that high school in your district where the roof currently leaks every time it rains. You're never going to get the religious right-vote when you're openly gay. On the other hand, you might not need them to win (again depending on your district). A good moderate approach, controlling the discussion/arguments in the campaign to your strong points, and forcing your opponent to react to your campaign can catapult you into office. Now, if you're serious about wanting to run for office, you better be ready to press a lot of flesh (as in handshakes), and raise a lot of money. How much cash you have in the bank (from your pocket and from the pockets of others) is going to really determine if you have a chance in hell of winning. A good consultant and a good pile of cash in the bank will be more important in the long run than the fact that you're openly gay. (and that's it for the free advice - don't ever mention to the boss I gave any)

Hehe. I got a Roller coaster calendar for Christmas I need to put up at work...Trebs knows how much I LOVE roller coasters.

Dom, I got what you were doing in that chapter and I just loved how you left so many things open-ended there. The surprise that came over me when they found Frank in the boat instead of in the water was just wonderful. My mind had already leaped forward to the others either finding him dead, dead, dead in the water, or pulling him up in time to save his life. I wasn't expecting that David had already pulled him out of the water. What was even nicer was that we were left able to imagine our own reasons for WHY David did that. It's like as soon as I read that Frank wanted to see his brother alone, and I realized they were really alone, not being watched at all, that my brain started screaming NO! Still, though, we were left with just enough doubts that it COULD have been innocent. In my opinion, those are the kinds of elements that make for great stories. The Other Side of Me has been fantastic in that regard. There was a lot for readers to guess about, argue about, and really get involved with the story because so many facets of it were left up to the imagination of the reader. Thanks for a really great story!

You might be happy to know that the problem you're describing is something I've had happen to me several times in the past. In fact, I started writing chapter 8 of Bully about two months ago, long before Thanksgiving, but I haven't been able to finish it because it just didn't work right for me. Part of that has been because with Bully I didn't flesh out a story line beforehand. Even if I don't put it down on paper, I usually 'imagine out' the story progression in my head before I sit down and write more than one chapter. This helps me keep the flow of the story, and even if I add or subtract major things, I know where I'm working towards and roughly the steps I have to take to get there. Sometimes I get impatient to reach the end, and try to leave out things I believe are just 'filler'. Yet, most of the time it is those 'filler' things that readers tell me they enjoy the most. In many ways they are absolutely correct, because it is the filler stuff that gives the characters more flesh, more reality. I mean, what does it matter if our main character hates cheese when he's going to be saving the world at the end of the story? Still, the fact that the main character hates cheese is one of those neat little items that make the character more real for most readers, and helps then 'connect' with the character easier as well. When looked at from that way, these things tend to go from being 'filler' to being vital parts of the story we are telling.

I've only ever made day trips to the Grand Canyon, but it's been wonderful every time (even the time I almost fell in the canyon itself...long story short, I found an area without safety bars, sat on rock ledge and took a picture of my snow-covered boots hanging over the edge. When I stood up, I slipped on some ice and nearly fell backwards to enjoy a thousand foot drop. Luckily I was with a friend who pulled me back from the edge). You need a permit to camp there...and a lot of good information is on the official grand canyon web page... http://www.nps.gov/archive/grca/backcountry/index.htm Enjoy!

James, A couple of years ago I faced a similar situation with my grandparents. Both of my mother's parents were facing stage two and three Alzheimers. With my mother dead, I stepped up to the plate and cared for them as long as I could. It wasn't easy, in fact it was damn rough, and time after time I had to remind myself that it was the right thing to do. Indeed, it was the right thing to do, and I will forever know in my heart that I did my best. No matter the problems, no matter the history, when we do the right thing, we will at the very least be able to know that when the time came, we did our best. Keep the faith.

Twist my arm, Dom. I've got this entire story, fifteen chapters long that has been edited already, totally complete, and will be posted for public consumption early in the year...

Okay, stop the snickering. I don't need THAT kind of help, no matter what Treb says. What I do need though, is help with some graphics. The person who did the story button graphics for my site hasn't been seen for several months. I've got two stories that I'm going to be posting fairly soon here, but no graphic buttons for them. I'd appreciate some help if there's someone who knows how to put a simple graphic together and make it look nice. Also, I'd appreciate someone who can keep the exact nature of the stories confidential. One of them has become slightly known, but the other remains highly secret at this time. If you're interested, please PM me, or e-mail. Thank you. (there won't be monetary payment for this, but I might just share a few chapters with you, probably one from each story) Thanks!

This is a common reaction in churches rocked by scandal...actually it's a common reaction in any human organization (except maybe Congress). By the way, Reaper, I think you mean 'accept' instead of 'except'. Everyone 'except' John went to the mall. John has learned to accept his sexuality. (Not meant to razz you, but I see many younger people making this mistake in posts and in stories. These two words sound very similar but have wildly different meanings. )