C James

It's horrible that is needed, but it, like keeping one's sexuality to one's self, is a very real need in some areas.

But Steve, how can you abdicate from a Title bestowed for life?? There's only one way, and it's kinda drastic, and very final... And I see a contradiction above... You previously claimed that this WASN'T a public forum, but rather an author's private forum. Yey, here you are claiming that a poll held here was open to all? I do wish you'd make up you mind. Been as you seem so determined on this issue (though I can't imagine why) I'll remind you that you, unlike me, were awarded your title by BOTH a public vote and a unanimous committee. And if anyone has any doubts as to the merit of this decision, I have but one answer: go read LiS 26 again...

But.. that is the truth! There really were one or two chapter endings in FTL that were slightly tense.

ACK!! Nooo!!! It will likly be Graeme or Kevin who gets to 5k first... Surely they will do so by this Thursday at their posting rates.. Besides, if it's me, I'm hoping to lurk on by with no one noticing... So shhhhh...

Thanks... It was over ten years ago, but I'm still steamed. A little background; it was our second date, and there had been no hand holding (or anything else) in private. So, when he tried to reach for my hand in public, I was a little surprised, and told him why it wasn't a good idea (We were in a redneck bar, which I thought would be obvious...) He isnsited that you "couldn't hide who you were" and "should always be out, and I make a point of it" and latched onto my hand over the table. When the guys at the bar took notice moments later, he said to them "Yes, we're dating." I guess my main point here is the guy has every right to be out, but he sure as hell doesn't have the right to expose others at will like that, and he especially doesn't have the right to stir up a fight by being stupid and then cower while someone else gets to fight it out. (I was lucky and did ok, but it was a near-run thing, and I don't like barroom brawls anyway.) Hrmmm, I'm also wondering what defines "closeted". I've mentioned that I'm in the closet at work; I consider myself to be so becuase I don't tell them I'm gay. However, I also don't tell them that I like horseback riding, or any number of other things that are equally irrelevant in a work context. I doubt I'd deny it if anyone asked, though I'd likly not confirm it either (there would be financial ramifications for me, and I'm rather protective of my wallet) but I sure as heck don't need to broadcast it either. In much the same way, I'm closeted when I pull into a gas station to buy gas. I don't make a habit of saying "twenty bucks on pump #3, and I'm GAY!"

Me neither... My ISP went down on Saturday and I've had only intermittent access since.

??? But Graeme, I am quite logical... ACK! But Mike, I never use cliffhangers!!! Well, ok, I will admit to one or two chapter endings in FTL that were, perhaps, slightly tense. But not cliffhangers... That's Shadowgod's domain.

Thanks FrenchCanadian!! Seriously; thank you for participating here,too. I have no idea what you mean by 4961.

Oh, no!! Echidna, what have you done?!?!?! Shadowgod, he's put you on the spot... If you embrace your title, then you can hang the title of queen of evil cliffies on me. But, if you don't, then you can't. The Echidna is evil, no? The voting was, of course, speedy. You've just gotten slow in your old age... Would the WST deputy lead like to add his vote to those of the committee? Always room for one more... Well, ummm, I can assure you that the anonymous committee Chairgoat presided in a fair and impartial way during the deliberations.

Very well; In order to lay this issue to rest, once and forever, I have arranged for the committee members to step forward and ratify their votesw here, in this public forum, as the :king: King of Eeeeevil Cliffhangers :king: Shadowgod has ordered. Shadowgod did not ask that the committee members divulge their identity, merely that they certify their votes publicly. Therefor, it is with great fanfare that I do hereby invoke and convene this roll call of the committee, where each member shall acclaim and attest to his vote. (thankfully, every member of the committee has the ability to edit posts within this forum, making this possible). The vote shall be by roll call; The Writer Support Team Lead, how do you vote? I vote yes, Shadowgod is the :king: King of Eeeeevil Cliffhangers :king: Gay Authors Forum Moderator, how do you vote? I vote yes, Shadowgod is the :king: King of Eeeeevil Cliffhangers :king: Gay Authors Admin, how do you vote? I vote yes, Shadowgod is the :king: King of Eeeeevil Cliffhangers :king: The GA Anthology Coordinator, how do you vote? I vote yes, Shadowgod is the :king: King of Eeeeevil Cliffhangers :king: Hosted Author, how do you vote? I vote yes, Shadowgod is the :king: King of Eeeeevil Cliffhangers :king: Be it so noted, and hereby recorded, the committee has spoken!!

But your Majesty, the comittee's decision and the election are not nulified! That is a logical impossibility! Allow me to explain, your Highness; Were you not the :king: King of Eeevil Cliffhangers :king: you could not nullify an election nor our august committee's decision. Therefor, by the mere fact that you attempted to do so, you have embraced your title, proving its veracity and deservedness, and thus certifying, for all time, the results of said election and said committee's decision. Were you not the :king: King of Eeevil Cliffhangers :king: , you would, of course, be unable to nullify anything. Therefor, all hail the once and forever :king: King of Eeevil Cliffhangers :king: Shadowgod! :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship:

Just an update.... The title of the next chapter is Secrets and Lies. Fear not; there are no cliffhangers (unless, of course, :king: Shadowgod has added some,). The chapter is likely to be late; it is still being worked on by our team. It was delivered late due to me having a lot of work to do upon my return, and also due to me being sick for several days. CJ

But Graeme, I never use cliffhangers, so how can I haver any sort of a title relating to cliffhangers?!?!

Are you claiming to be the only postwhore, Ieshwar??? Well, I certainly agree that you are one, but Graeme, Kevin, Jan, and BK certainly merit the title too. However, I myself prefer to call y'all Postaholics, as it sounds a little nicer.

Suspiciously I know one goat capable of filling all of the rolls mentioned, while casting a singular "yes" vote? How is this Representative of GA as a whole? Now, now, your Majesty, that impartial and fair committee did bequeath your honored and lifelong title by secret ballot. All I can say (and I believe I can do so without fear of contradiction) is that the vote was unanimous. But your Majesty, those signatures could hardly be a factor, appearing as they did in the sig of a lurker, and thus hardly ever being seen. I am at a loss to explain why LiS did not find overwhelming recognition as the eeevilist of cliffhangers. LiS 26 was, after all, the Mother of All Cliffhangers, and no less than two GA administrators weighed in and acclaimed it's cliffhangery excellence. I do however fully understand why the voters did not believe that you use excessive cliffhangers; that would after all be akin to saying that you use excessive skill, and the word excessive implies, in this context, that there is some negative here. That, of course, is not the case, as you are indeed the master of the cliffhanger. I know you cannot be referring to me, otherwise you would have said one goat propaganda machine. And have I ever been known to be misleading? Ever? But your Majesty (and I do see that you, above, acknowledge and embrace your title) I fear that Eeevil plots from the Great White North and the Land Down Under have poisoned your mind... Surely none can dispute that you are the unrivaled master of the Eeevil cliffhanger (It will suffice to mention LiS 26 here as unquestionable proof, though that chapter is far from alone.)? The committee must, alas, be identified only by the offices held by it's membership. Otherwise, were their identities known, the members could (and likely would) be targeted by pressure, and worse, emanating from the antipodes as certain spiney writers campaigned and cajoled in their quest to acquire your honored title. As proof, I offer the fact that the Echidna will not post to deny this plot, thus acknowledging it's veracity. All hail the once and forever :king: King of Eeevil Cliffhangers :king: Shadowgod!

Thanks!!! That means all I need is a new graphics card if I get the new monitor! Edit to add: Just looked, and my card supports widescreen formats like 1280 X 768 and 1600 x 900. I don't even need a new card. Thanks! I don't know where I got the idea that you needed XP or later to do widescreen.

If the counter is fine, it's just the date of my registering that's off a little... Hrmm, doing the math, it looks like I registered around Jan 26th, 1602.

BK must agree with me; he quoted what I said and added nothing to it.

Don't delete the thread! Those are great links Graeme dug up.

I learned the hard way once that formatting the drive and using an older OS might not be a good idea; I did that with a desktop and found I couldn't get win2k drivers for some of the newer hardware it had. I use win2k on my main system. I have XP disks, but I don't much like it compared to 2k; the "look and feel" is differend, and its sure different in system overhead from what I can see. I'm not a gamer (of the few games I have, the newest is Microsoft's Age of Empires, circa 1998.) so gaming is not a concern in my case. What is a concern is file processing and throughput, and I find 2k blows XP away in that regard. I have a good MB and CPU, plus 4 gigs of RAM, and I find it runs my five physical hard drives far better than the XP I have on the same box (I have multiple boot). For a laptop, I'd have to check and see if it had drivers for 2k (or worst case, XP) becuase I refuse to use Vista. Vista is buggy, and it's also full of DRM garbage. For those who like Vista, fine, you're welcome to it, but I sure don't want to have anything to do with Vista. About the only thing I like about XP over 2k is the ability to use the new wide-screen monitors. I currently use a 16 inch CRT monitor, and once that fails I'll be looking at the flatscreens (I have yet to see one that is as good at color and tone as CRT, but I can't find large CRT's at decent prices anymore). In that case, if I can't find a software fix to run a widescreen on 2k, I might change to XP, but I'll so so only as a last resort. For one thing, I've made dozens of hacks and tweeks to my 2k, and I like it like it is.

??? But, but, I have no idea what could possibly give you that impression?

I'll set aside the fact that I'm utterly shocked that a poll could so harm my precious reputation as a shy and quiet forum lurker, as I'm overwhelmed by the astonishing logical inconsistencies above! It was claimed that there was a poll declaring me the most prolific poster. This is in fact manifestly untrue. As for my number pof posts per day, that can be explained... There's an error in my listed date of membership. In fact, I post about one post a month, so the date I registered at GA can easily be deduced by dividing my post count by 12 to derive the number of years I've actually been registered at GA... I do indeed! Look at the anthology alone; I have to make many posts there... So, I agree with you; due to my admin job, I'm ineligable to be considered a prolific poster.

Well, yes, I guess I can agree with that! It's an understatement to say you are all postaholics. Wow, Never thought you'd take my side in this BK, thanks!

Because, compared to a lurker like me, you all are postaholics. Totally agreed!

ROFL!!! I can see it now: Novels by CJ: A sure cure for insomnia!