C James

Hmmmmm. I hope I'm wrong, but I have my doubts about it. It sounds a bit formulaic, and from my point of view it's troubling that it's being compared to "Lost", a show I found to be unwatchable.

:king: Happy Birthday!!! :king: Many Happy Returns!

Thanks Joe!! How about a quote from the Colonoscopy Doc ? "IF you like Golf, become a Doctor, they told me! 18 holes a day, they said! If only I'd have thought to ask what kind of holes..."

Hey, where did everybody go? Just because SOOTB is over is no reason to jump ship! This was one heck of a roller-coaster ride. Can't wait for the next one!

I'm going to try and be there. I almost never chat (I've never liked chatting online) but for this, I'm going to try and be there.

I couldn't agree more. Mr. Harris (in Cameron) had at least some good points, but this Pastor and his wife (I refuse to refer to them as parents) are utterly irredeemable. They are also all too believable, as things like that do walk this Earth. I would enjoy it very much if, in some later chapter, said Pastor meets an exquisite and lingering demise. The part about Ian having tried to get help certainly does explain a lot. Unfortunately, even without such a failed attempt, the children of abuse all too often suffer in silence. I was pleased to see Ian open up to Nathan a little, and so now Nathan has no doubt that it is an ongoing situation. I feel that he will be the key to all of this, but I suspect it will be a long and bitter road. In many ways, this reminds me of the early part of "Shane", one of my favorite stories, though this is even darker.

GREAT NEWS!!! I'm really looking forward to reading it!! Now, if only I had enough posts (you need five) to get into that forum....

I've long wondered that myself, though I think there is an aspect of interpreting subtle clues, such as rainbow stickers on cars, and noticing how other guys react to them. Some people are just better at it than others. I'm unfortunately one of the "not too good at it". The most shining example that my gaydar is slightly out-of-tune occurred while I was in college. I ended up splitting a trailer with a friend of my some of my friends. It was great, bot man, was he distracting! He was very hot, and almost never wore more than shorts (this was in Phoenix, during late spring and summer). We became good friends, partied a lot, the usual college stuff. Long story short, something happened that actually gave me a "ping" on my gaydar: We'd had sex, and he had started it. We had a long and funny conversation after that. As it turned out, he was gay, and out, and thought I knew! Our mutual freinds knew we were both gay, and never bothered to mention it! I'd even asked on of them if she thought he would be "OK with it" if I came out to him, and she said "yeah, probably." As it turned out, he said he'd been flirting with me for a while (something else I have trouble detecting) and I'd mised subtle clues such as the rainbow sticker on his car (I'd seen it, just had no idea what it was). So, that was how I ended up with my first real boyfriend: we dated (and lived together) for about half a year after that, until he moved out of state. He's one of several people from college that I'm still in touch with, and he was one of the friends I went on the houseboat trip with a couple of weeks ago. So, yes, I'm not kidding when I say my gaydar is a little in need of fine-tuning! Now that I can do, no problem! Ahhhh! Thank you DK! So, I'm not completely oblivious (just 99% or so.. ). That was very cleverly done, very subtle. At the very start of the story I was thinking that Eddie was gay, but hadn't admitted it to himself yet, and that was very well done too. So, did anyone besides me think Danny was straight? And if so, when did you start thinking he was gay? (for me, it was the hand job).

I have to do both! The person below me regrets ever buying a bagless vacuum cleaner!

Loved the chapter! I'll post in detail later, but that was very well done, and left a lot of questions!!!! One thing really caught my eye though: the use of the term "Grand Treason". That alteration of the more familiar "High Treason" certainly, for me, helped re-enforce the feel of difference between Garret's society and this one. Just one word, but it had a lot of impact.

So Danny had me guessing earlier. I never gave much thought to Joel. I think it's the romantic in you that insists that someone handy to Eddie be gay, so if not Danny, then Joel. I had a hunch that somebody in the story had to be gay (being gay fiction and all ) but as for Danny and Joel, I drew my conclusions from their actions. Danny I thought to be straight due to his "gay act" at school: I couldn't imagine any gay-and-not-out person doing that. As for Joel, it was his questions to Danny about whether Homosexuality could be cured: sounded to me as if he was asking for himself, so I pegged him as gay. Have you ever read Dom Luka's "Desert Dropping"? In case you haven't, I'll be vague here: I missed all the clues regarding who turned out to be gay. But, when i went back and read the old forum threads (I read DD before I registered here at GA) it turned out that most of the forum members had figured it out in advance, and many felt it was obvious. The scariest thing here is that in real life, my gaydar is nowhere near as good as it is online!

The above is why I now make it a point to remove any beverages from the vicinity prior to reading posts here! I've spent far too much on keyboard replacement already! Hmmmm, a question: Did anyone else here (besides me) believe that Danny was straight, and that Joel was gay? I'm wondering if it's just my perhaps-not-quite-perfect gaydar, or whether DK was intentionally going for that impression?

Dinner is served!!! Nettles, though? Hmmm... I not-so-fondly remember getting stung by those as a kidd. How not to impress a guy: Throw up on him! I loved that too!! I'm very curious about Valerian myself! Maybe it's a play on words, just a dream? Valarian is the name of a herbal soporific.

James, thank you for another extremely interesting article! I wonder, though, how other aspects of stellar density impacts the oxygen/iron ratio? In more conventional cosmic conditions, it's true that supernovae account for the vast majority or iron and oxygen, but that's only because it would otherwise remain in the cores of suns. Iron and Oxygen are produced in stars not much more massive than our sun, and normally would remain trapped within the star unless a supernovae occurs. However, the a region of high stellar density, other methods increase in probability. Stellar collisions or the gravitational disruption (including via a close encounter with the event horizon of a black hole) of a star would also release iron and oxygen into the interstellar medium. In a more crowded environment such as in the galactic core, these events would occur more frequently. Also, it is presently assumed by many astronomers that a super-massive black hole exists at the core of this (and other) galaxies, and that (stars crossing it's Roche limit and being torn apart) would also be a factor (in my opinion) for releasing Iron and Oxygen into the interstellar medium in the core. I wonder if any of this was taken into account for this study?

Graeme, THANK YOU! To be honest, I don't think I gave conscious thought to avoiding cliches. I hadn't done enough research, then, to realize that there were so many "gay writing cliches". Due to the nature of a short story (in needs to be, well, short. ) I didn't have a lot of room for extra characters. I knew I wanted them to meet at the beach, and I was writing "freestyle" (just making it up as I went, mainly) and it just came out that way. I had a blast with it, and I've been overwhelmed by the response. I'm now 100% hooked on writing, and have several stories underway (and soon to be in e-fiction here at GA) including a continuation of this one. Thanks Graeme, you made my day. CJ

I miss him too, and hope he comes back soon.

Wow!!!!!!!!! Well, I'll take a wild shot at this and predict: Brian Martin is a murderer. He's also a liar (regarding what is happening with Oliver). I'm definitely wondering what is going on regarding Jay's claim of the two people he saw together. Wow, this is one of the best mysteries I've ever seen, anywhere. Also, did anyone notice Jay's comment about the twins being lookers?

Yes, it is getting a bit big, isn't it? I'll be trimming it down on Friday, never fear. YAY hehee I'm glad that this shy, quiet lurker could oblige. Aaron, that's nice pic! And I'd like to see a pic of Kevin's new hairdo, too! Don't be shy, Kevin! After all, even a shy, quiet lurker like me has his personal pic in his profile.

I think this would look great somewhere inconspicuous, like, say, my siggy? Oh my gosh!!! You wouldn't!!! hehehe, yikes, I'd die of embarrassment, even if it were in the sig. of a shy, quiet lurker like you ***Starts looking for ways to pay off the goat*** hmmm, new shades perhaps? Would sweet, innocent me really do such a thing? -------------------- The Great GA Scavenger Hunt is now underway! play here! RHawes has Ch. 22 of Replay up! Author Chat with Viv! My first story No Shirt? No Problem!. Please rate it :-) my favorite quote; "God! I look so HOTT"~AFriendlyFace, 9/19/06 Psyche!!!!!!!!!!! Nah, as you say, there would be any point in putting it in the siggy of a shy, quiet lurker like me, because no one would ever see it due to me never posting... As for paying off the Goat, I think the "shy, quiet lurker like you" statement will be plenty! I'm just so happy that someone finally admits it.

Well, I got 100% on my predictions! (100% wrong, but gotta have some spin! ) I also just realized that I forgot to include something in my original post: Now we know what happened between Eddie and the last Preacher's son. I wonder: Did Eddie's dad suspect what was going on, and drive the Preacher and his family out of town?

From an economics point of view, I think it will be very interesting to track the economy of the area over the next few years. South Florida seemed to come back better than ever (economically) after Andrew, and I'm wondering if Katrina will end up causing a permanent economic upswing in the areas it hit. I'm not saying it would make Katrina a positive thing by any means (far too many lost their lives, and even more lost everything but their lives) just looking for a silver lining, plus feeding my curiosity regarding economic theory. I am glad to hear your relatives are doing well, and that their home rode out Katrina largely intact. The Katrina storm surge, if I recall, is the largest ever recorded, anywhere, from a Hurricane or Typhoon. Camille was a stronger storm (Cat 5) than Katrina, but Katrina was much larger and had been Cat5 until shortly before landfall, so it had a monster surge. It's good to have you back, James! CJ

Could be! The room might get smelly though, forcing Ada, ever so reluctantly, to helpfully open a window to let in some fresh, uh, Space...

Kevin, you raised some great points!!! This was one heck of a blog entry! You have a unique talent for portraying a negative thing (the claim of self-loathing) in a happy and up-beat way, which also makes you a shining example of the fallacy of said claim. I'm happy you found a hairstyle you like! Hope you cant get it to look at least close to that way again without the two hours in the barber's chair. BTW, apropos of nothing, I've been looking for a quote. I think I've found one. I think this would look great somewhere inconspicuous, like, say, my siggy?

Welcome to the endangered species list, Conner! Hmmmm... I could have sworn I saw a recipe for "Grilled Nick" over in the Goat forum?

GREAT chapter!! Well, it looks like my Gaydar is up to it's usual high precision! I predicted that Danny was straight, and that Joel was gay. When Danny started giving Eddie a hand job, I started to have an inkling of doubt about my "Danny is Straight" theory. Hmmm, Danny, a preacher's kid, and planning on joining the Navy. Do I see shades of DK there? I loved the way they handled the blackmailer!! But, I suspect that we haven't heard the last of that problem! And of course, the big question: Why is Joel Reynolds back, and what is his story? Thank you DK and Emoe!