C James

Oops!!! That was in the feedback request, and so was added AFTER it was posted, and thus AFTER Emoe, my editor, had worked on it. Fixed now! Heh, I sometimes make minor changes after Emoe has edited, which is why I add the line in the editing credit "all remaining errors mine alone". BTW, everyone, as I mention in the credits, Emoe not only edited and advised, but thoguht up the title! (I'd been stumped). Thank you Emoe!!!

:king: :king: :king: Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :king: :king: :king:

I've often been told that "homosexuality is an abomination, because the Bible says so." My first response to that is that no one has any business forcing their religion on anyone else A man by the name of Bin Laden is a prime example of those who think otherwise, as he, like some extremist Christians, want the USA to follow his version of religion. Furthermore, I usually remind the person citing the "biblical homosexuality" issue that the word "homosexuality" cannot be in the bible, for there was no actual word for it in any of the classical languages in biblical times, and certainly not in Hebrew, Aramaic, or ancient Greek. (the original languages of the books of the Bible). The standard translations are slightly different: (American Standard Version, 1901) "And if a man lie with mankind, as with womankind, both of them have committed abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them." (English Standard Version): "If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them." (King James Version): "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them." Can the above passagges be interpreted as referring to homosexuality? Yes. They could also be interpreted as referring to sleeping (platonicly) in the same bed, and in the English translations it could also be interpreted as lieing: a Man should not Lie to another man the same way he would lie to a woman". Are my interpretations likly? No. However, just like the homosexuality issue, they are interpretations, and one of the tenets of most fundamentalist faiths is that they take the bible literally, they do not interpret it. It is often quite amusing to maneuver a fundamentalist into saying that they are interpreting, and then reminding them of their own prohibitions on doing so. I am also fond of quoting a different passage from Leviticus: Leviticus 11:9-12 (King James Version) These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat. And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you: They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination. Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you. Yes, shellfish. I love pointing this out whenever a homophobe fundamentalist quotes Leviticus. I think I can also make a fairly good case that the "whostsoever has fins and scales" passage is a directive to eat anything that does. This would include poisonous fish. Also, the control surfaces and anechoic tiles of a modern nuclear sub fit the "fins and scales" definition quite well. Slavery? The sermons in the 1850's and before in support of slavery are quite interesting reading. Leviticus 25:45

Well, you could get a Goat avatar. It's a growing movement, I tell ya! I must be the forum Goat, because trolls, unlike me, do post.

Uhoh! Hmmm, this reminds me of something in my "1000th post" thread. Let's see, it was only a short while ago that you had your 1000th post, and you are already at 1393! So, i don't think there is any danger of that happening! Hmmm! I certainly didn't think this would ever happen!! Ummm, OK, maybe I should admit (yes, this will probably shock a lot of people) that even though I'm well known as a shy and quiet lurker, I do post occasionally...

I thought all authors were evil? Isn't it some sort of prerequisite? WARNING! Spoiler Alert! Turning him over to the police would be... problematic. Perhaps I'd best explain a bit for the benefit of those here who aren't familiar with small towns. The Father of Eric and Steve is a Police Officer; in a small town, take a wild guess whose side he would likely be on if someone tried accusing his kid of anything? :nuke: Lets put it this way: Marching into the police station in a small Arizona redneck town, accusing the Deputy Sheriff's kid of a felony, and then announcing that you are gay is probably not the wisest choice of action <cough>. :2hands: When will chapter 2 be out? Hmmm. The original schedule was for Thursdays, so a week from today, but I posted Ch 1 a bit early. Tuesday I think. I promised weekly postings, so I'd best go with Tuesday.

Hi Red_A! ACK! That makes me look like I'm talkative! I'm not, really. I can show you hundreds and hundreds of my posts where I say, quite clearly, how quiet and shy I am (and thus never post). Maybe I should go back to claiming that my post counter is malfunctioning?

Eric is not normal, but I'm very curious why you say Chris is 2 sigma off the norm?? What strikes you as atypical about him (other than him being gay?). Thanks!!!

ACK!! That paragraph is terrible like that! This is what happens when the writer makes a change to one part of a sentance and not the rest. . OOPS! I'll go fix that tomorrow. I'll change it to "now that the day had finally arrived.". Glad you liked Beelzebub Seriously? I've always found that I get them like that if I'm holding them back. What? Me? Leave a cliffhanger? Would I do such a thing???? Thanks Graeme!!!!

I did know I was bending the rules a tad with that sentence, so I admit, I write it that way because I felt it important to the emotional aspects rather than paying strict attention to the rule book. I couldn't figure out a way to write it that didn't appear to be just standard verbiage. notice the 'seeing him naked'. Did you mean 'me' or did you forget to place an 'I' at the beginning of the clause? 'of' its own? By saying 'his kind' you are already saying that it is unique. I'd get rid of 'his kind' just because, although 'all of its own' seems a little cliche, it provides a much clearer contrast. I'm not quite sure what you mean regarding the "me". The "me" represents the narrator (the protagonist in this case). Where would the "I" go?

Indeed I did, and I am very thankful for it!

Thank you Kitty!! Maybe I would have been better off calling this Chapter one (and making it a bit longer) than a Prologue? There is a great deal I am not telling for a reason, but you are right, I was unclear in some places where I could have done better, and this is definitly something I'll pay more attention too. Thank you!!!

See? I was completely truthful! :ranger:

I had this eerie feeling that I was being... watched... Another stalker! Yes, 141 posts in a day would be a bit much!

Hi Steve!! Absolutely right on the problems there! Chris was in denial until he ran out of money, but I should have explained that. I do need to work on the showing rather than telling part. Thanks!! The bit about the car was to lure the readers into thinking it was a stereotypical "describe the love interest police-blotter style" scene. That was fun for me to write. :-) Sorry about forgetting the link! Work has been hell today so I've been trying to do six things at once, and doing none well. LoL! BTW everyone, Steve has been of enormous help in this story, including beta reading, and I owe him a huge amount of thanks. Thank you!!!!! Good catch on the tears! Oops!! Thank you!!!! The ending, though, well, there are reasons for that. (yep, I hate it when Authors do this! LoL!) BTW this isn;t a blackmail story, really. The Blackmail is not central to the story, it is more of a lead-in. things lighten up a good bit further on. This is more a slice-of life story than one centered on any one thing like blackmail. It isn't a dark story. Thank you Krista!!! And Thank you, too, for pushing me to get to work, or this wouldn't be here!

Hi Kitty! Yes, it's not easy being so shy and retiring.. Don't worry, you are nearly 30 posts ahead of me, and even if I did pass you, I'd deny it. Thanks Kitty!! Let's see: I joined on Feb 15th, so a year is a little over three months from now. No, I don't think i could manage to hit 3000 by then! Yipes! I think only Kevin could do that! (I've seen him do 46 posts a day, but shhh, it's a secret). Hi Jensen! I was, quite literally, a lurker here when I first arrived, but the forums are so much fun and, well, let us just say that my lurker status is perhaps becoming endangered. Hi Bardeara! Isn't it a tad premature to question my full lurker status? Thank you EVERYONE, for the warm wishes! However, I do have my long-promised explanation! It has all been a big publicity stunt! (yep, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!) so i am still, as always a lurker! So, what is the big publicity stunt all about, you ask? Well, I'll tell ya. I've finally taken the plunge and started posting my first multi-chapter story, "For The Love" So, am I a sufficiently obnoxious self-promoter to promote my story in a congratulations thread? Well, yes, I am! Seriously though, thank you everyone!!!

Thank you Graeme! However, I hate to tell you this, but it was all just a big publicity stunt, and I really am a lurker.. See the bottom of thei post for an explanation. Drat! I knew I should have put Kitty's name on that graphic! BTW the 8 posts a day is purely an artifact of the GA software upgrade. It used to give a decimal in your profile (1.2 for example) and now it merely rounds to the nearest whole number. In this case, it rounded me up! Thanks Matthew. Thanks Marty!! What? Me? A Blabbermouth? Nah, not possible! Though, if this keeps up my precious reputation as a shy and quiet lurker might become a tad tarnished. Thanks DarkShaddow!! I was looking to see if you were online when I madde the post! I figured that if you weren't online, I'd have a good chance of sneaking in under the radar, but both Matthew and Graeme got me! And what do you mean, December!!?!?! Of 2007, maybe! I'm not you, ya know! Thank you Steve!! Now, back to lurking I go.... Thank you Bob! Hi Greg! Thanks, but as I keep saying (and saying and saying and saying) it's Kevin who is our postahoilic! Honest, just go look up the term in a dictionary, and odds are that Kevin's avatar is shown as the picture! Thanks Kojaky!! Thanks Kurt!!! And it looks like I'll have to break this post in two here, becuase there is a limit on the number of quotes in a post.

Welcome to the "For the Love" Discussion thread. Chris grew up a loner in small-town Arizona, but things began to change for him when he started college. Sometimes for the better, but sometimes for the worse, and often with humor, the changes and challenges affect his life, as he sets for on the road of life, and towards finding the love of his life, with a lot of adventure along the way. The Story is complete and online! Please take a look and let me know what you think. I also want to invite all forms of criticism: Don't be shy. If you feel more comfortable doing so you can PM me, but feel free to criticize in the thread. Thanks! CJ

Well, Graeme, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I can, due to being a lurker, guarantee you that my post counter will not be reading "2000" at any point in the future.

Nick, that is not only true, but those are some of the wisest words I have ever seen.

I think your original post was great! You can never tell, no matter WHAT the topic, how a thread will change and drift. Thread drift deosn;t just run through the forums here, it stampedes.

I love to chime in on these sort of discussions too, but I agree with Marty: it is getting political, so better off on a blog. :ranger:

In that case I'm afraid you don't match... I mean lets face it, you actually have more posts then Kevin so it doesn't add up. Now I on the other hand am turning into one.... what I'm not certain yet so perhaps someone will help me out with that. Huh?? What? But Bardeara, there could be many perfectly innocent explanations! And really, if (I'm not admitting that I do, mind you) I did have a higher post total than Kevin, it wouldn't actually count because he has been at GA a lot longer than I have. Also, Kevin is our resident postaholic (hi, Kevin! ). Nope, I'm lurker, I tell ya...

I'm sorry, C James, I really am. We tried to legislate to have the sun rise in the west, as you suggested, but there was an outcry that the American tourists wouldn't be able to cope, and tourism is still an important part of the economy. But Graeme, the thing that gives Americans the most trouble is the fact that you have winter in July! We find that incredibly weird, as well as very inconvenient! And then there is the whole "Christmas in summer" thing, well, that is just too strange. I've been told that my blog makes more sense when the reader is drunk. Perhaps I'b best add that to the title? "Best viewed when drunk"? :wacko: Oh, and a minor note of irritation: how come Graeme gets to make more sense while he's drunk than I do when I'm sober? It's not fair, I tell ya! Thank you Birds!!

A CD you know he likes? Or make him one that is a compilation of songs you know he likes? Something for one of his hobbies? BTW, congrats on the BF!