C James

Naper Vic just made his 999th post, so he should hit 1000 any minute now!! Congratulations, Vic!!!

I didn't quite do that (and I very rarely drink, these days). Congratulations on the staying sober, James! That's a darn hard road to follow (I've helped friends get sober, so I've seen firsthand what a daily battle it is).

From what I hear, the first thing is to avoid some of the damage when drinking by drinking decent quality alcohol: It's supposedly less likely to cause hangovers than the cheep stuff (and this applies to bear, wine, and liquor). Secondly: drink water, both while drinking and after you wake up. OJ is good too as it addresses the electrolyte issues somewhat. I have zero personal experience regarding the effectiveness of remedies, as I've never actually had a hangover, ever. I do drink too much on occasion, and during college the "occasion" was several times a week. I developed a rather high tolerance during college, and I could (back then) get through a fifth a whiskey in a night if I was in the mood, so I wasn't exactly a light drinker. The worst effect I'd get would be feeling thirsty and little tired the next morning. Drinking water took care of the thirst, and a cup of coffee took care of any tiredness. So, why don't I get hangovers? Wish I knew, but I have no idea. So far, the most popular theory among my friends is this: "A hangover is mainly in the brain, so someone who doesn't have a brain wouldn't get a hangover." (Nice, aren't they? )

Well, That's stereotypical Arizona, but most people don't know that over half of the state isn't like that. Much of Arizona is high-altitude, which drastically affects the climate. For example, I live at just over 7000 ft, on a mountainside covered by a Ponderosa Pine forest. In winter, I get snowed in a lot, often with drifts in excess of 10ft. It's presently 4pm, and 68 degrees outside. As for Phoenix, I couldn't agree more! I lived there for a few years, and 110 is not even a hot day! Also, that bit about "It's a dry heat"? That's a lie! Once you get past July 1st, it gets humid. So, yes, you can get it 120 degrees and very humid. (I had to go to Phoenix a couple of weeks ago, and it did exactly that in some parts of the city, even though the official temp was only 118.) I will say this, though: the scenery in Phoenix can be spectacular. (plenty of hot looking guys who decide to take off their shirts. ). But, other than that, I couldn't wait to get out of that oven! I love the desert in winter, though. I'm into 4-wheeling, and there are some truly spectacular trails.

Hi, Jack! Thanks for reading, even if it took ya a few days.. I think I can forgive ya.. Seriously, thanks for reading and commenting. I had to go with somewhere I was familiar with, and I grew up in that area. I could have set it in Florida (the only Eastern-seaboard state that I have spent enough time in), but that would have made the sea-side cliff-climbing a bit problematic. I don't disagree at all about California being over-rated: I moved to Arizona because I no longer wanted to live there any longer. The "jumping in bed" part was kinda quick, I agree. I didn't plan it that way. I originally had them just making out a little, but I couldn't get the scene to work. I had a deep-seated fear of trying to write a sex scene, but the story just seemed to keep pushing that way, so I said "what the heck" and wrote it.

CONGRATULATIONS!!! Nick, I'm very happy for you on the new hosting at RCWP, but I'm not surprised: you write great stories! Thank you for the Award, too! That surprised me!! Time for me to get caught up on WTDBYM! I'm a few chapters behind.

I have an older version of Mathematica, and love it!! I highly reccomend it. Schroedinger might not be so reviled by feline-lovers?

Conner, those are hilarious!! I laughed so hard my side hurts!!

Bob, thank you!! I will be re-writing the story, turning it into a multi-chapter with the present story re-written (to include some things I had to delete for size) as the first two chapters. I'll be posting a different multi-chapter story before that, though.

Thank you! Your advice on letting the story unfold on it's own was instrumental, and it's very unlikely that I'd have ever been able to write this story without it. I did allude to why Jason was traveling with so little: he had lied about traveling (in order to stay with Trevor that first night), and was only minutes from home. (at UCSB). Hence, he had nothing with him, and due to being from close by avoided mentioning his past, both of which Trevor noticed and wondered about. I did originally have that as part of the "discovery" conversation at the end, but I deleted it when i was looking for things to reduce the word count. At one point I was pushing 15,000 words and as it was I was I still ended up a hundred over the 10,000 guideline. There was also, originally, an entire second day before their "discovery", where they went on a surfing safari. That was the biggest thing I cut. But, I'm going to do a re-write, probably multi-chapter, and expand on a lot of this and fix a few errors too. I'm also very curious as to what happens at college: where exactly does Jason live? Will he and Trevor move in together? How do Trevor's parents react? I also think it would be a good lead-in for a college-themed situation I had in mind as a story plot, and Trevor and Jason would make great characters for it. So, I think I'm set for a second multi-chapter story, after I finish the one I have underway. Actually, I'll probably work on both as I like taking a break from one thing to work on another. Thank you so much!! One thing I need to mention about the sex scene: Part of one line (the part in parenthesis) was NOT mine. It's my favorite line of the story, too;

Great news! I hope things continue to go your way! I really hope the new romance works out, he sounds adorable! Way to go LB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Krista, thank you! I found it very difficult to stick to the short story format, but it was a challenge that I really enjoyed. I do have an upbeat personality most of the time, good call! I had no idea that any of me would show through like that. I'd have never made the connection! Howdy, Goat! Krista, Connor and I both have Goats for avatars, and tease each other incessantly about them. That, plus at least one of us is insane (and no one has ever accused me of being sane!). Thanks, Matt!! I've been perplexed on the commas issue, as I've been getting feedback both ways on that. You live in Hawaii and hate surfing? I guess I can admit this here on GA: One of my prime reasons for starting to surf was to check out all the hot surfers! I grew to love surfing after a while, but it sure wasn't my main motive at first. And that in itself is really rather weird, when one considers the fact that I was even in the closet to myself at that time! (In denial). Yet, there I was, Mr. can't be gay, taking up a sport so I could hang around hot guys!

James, what a fantastic collection! Your astrophysics collection alone makes me SOOOOO Jealous!! Some of those books aren't exactly easy to find! I love your database idea. I made something similar in microsoft access the last time I moved, for inventorying the boxes. That way I knew which box contained what. I printed out data forms so I'd just write down everything by box number as I packed, then enter it later. Worked great, and I know which box something is in if I need it. (I moved seven years ago, and still haven't unpacked everything). I could very easily adapt my database template to be one for books, so I'll give that a try. I have a half-dozen floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, completely organized (Miscilanous is organized, isn't it?) 2/3 of it is paperbacks, some so bad that I should have given them away years ago. My taste in books is rather weird: I have everything from General McAuthor's autobiography to travel guides to, well, you name it. I don't have a good collection in any one area, unfortunately. Several shelves are full of National Geographic, which was my favorite as a small child, and those suckers are heavy! I had to drill out my shelves and add steel bars to stop them from sagging. Thanks for motivating me to go do something about my disorganized mess! As for your book collection... Any chance you would like a house guest for a few months? I wouldn't be very good company though, I'd be too busy reading!

DK pegged a main source of allergens (and allergens are a major source as asthmatic problems): Mold. You mentioned that this was in a basement: Basements are notorious for this, as well as other environmental contaminants. My father had asthmatic attacks which were bought on due to chemical allergies combined with panic attacks. He was very, very sensitive to any sort of solvent, and stress made him much worse. Insect or rodent droppings can be a major source, too. So too can food allergies.

I'd ask myself out, but I just don't meet my standards...

Happy Birthday James!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Many happy returns!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you, Krista! I've been hoping that someone would comment on the make out and sex scene in my story. I still have no clue if it's ok, really stinks, or somewhere in between. It's not something I plan on writing a lot of (I'm not a fan of lots of sex in a story, once in a multi-chapter is fine for me) but I'm wondering if I should avoid it completely. I can't take much credit for that one: Irritability is one of the symptoms of a concussion. There are others that I didn't list, but I left irritability in for the humor: Yeah, fall off a cliff and dislocate your shoulder, and you just might be irritable! ROFL!

Uhoh! What happened? Knives? Hmmm.. I thought it was only during the first half of the month that we allowed knifing newbies? Welcome, Lugnutz!!! Very glad to see you here! If you have any questions regarding getting started, feel free to ask here or PM me and I'll be happy to help.

Thank you both, Kitty and Luigi, for all your hard work! For those that don't know, a project of this size is VERY difficult, and far harder than writing the stories IMHO. Absolutely! Kevin, congratulations! That was a wonderful thing for you to do!!!!

Standard Vs. Automatic does seem to be a matter of taste. It also takes quite a bit of getting used to if you didn't learn to drive on a stick. One advantage is that overseas, they often charge one doozy of a premium to rent an automatic. I have a cousin who works at a car rental agency in the UK, and she says that they refer to in in their office as "the Yankee tax". I've also been in quite a few places where renting an Automatic just wasn't an option. As for preferences, I prefer a standard on a high-performance car. Often, especially for European imports, the Automatic is a real performance drain. I also like the control you get when racing: the downshift is so much better then braking, and you can wind up the torque and kick it in just as you come out of a curve. For everyday driving, I prefer automatics. I do a lot of driving on "Jeep Trails", and I prefer an automatic in 4WD vehicles too. I find it easier for crawling over rocks.

I'll never tell! Welcome, Objectivist! Cool handle BTW! Thank you for joining us! If you (or anyone) have any questions, feel free to ask them here, or PM me..

Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments! Y'all have made my day!!! LB, Krista, Kurt, Conner, and Dezlboi, THANK YOU!!! I do intend writing more, and in fact have a multi-chapter story well underway. I'll begin posting chapters in eFiction fairly soon. I like critiques! I'm always looking to improve. I do see your point about the over-use of commas. I'll keep that in mind in the future. Thanks!! ROFL! You are kidding, I hope? Or should I have included a description of the sport? Good point on the phrasing.. I'll keep that in mind, too. As for the sex scene, it's ironic that it's there at all! I'm the guy who often says "I usually just skip over that part"! I had no intention whatsoever of writing a sex scene when I started this story. In fact, I was afraid to, as I've never tried before. (In one of the stories I'm working on, the draft version has a sex scene denoted as <sex scene> because I had no clue how to write one.) But, the original ending had Trevor and Jason discussing things and making the "discovery" of going to the same college during their initial making-out, but that didn't seem to work. Two teens making out with each other for the first time probably wouldn't be chatting in that much detail! So, I decided that this way might work, and as I'd never written a sex scene before, I decided to give it a try. My sincere thanks to everyone!!! CJ

This is the first thing I've ever written in the gay fiction genre to go online, so I've got a full-blown case of the newbie jitters right now. I was awestruck by the background and formatting that Luigi added. It GREAT, THANK YOU Luigi!! So, anyone have any comments? Good, bad, or otherwise? WARNING: Spoilers below!!!!

Hi, Chay! That's a cool name (I like unusual names). Thanks for joining us in the forums... It's a lot of fun once you get started. Hi, Brent! Glad you decided to join us! I think you will love the forums here, once you get used to them (and also once you know a few people).