C James

I too was stunned by Mr. Harris' reaction at the hospital when Cameron told him off! And here I was so nice and comfortable hating the guy, right up until that point... I keep forgetting that Cameron has been a friend of the Harris family for many years, so he knows them well. I'm most curious about how both Mr. Harris, and Kyle (Cameron's best friend) react to finding out Cameron is gay. I'm betting it won't go smoothly, at least at first! Well, I still say that it will be more than just sitting around eating movies and watching Pizza! Slow doesn't mean totally platonic... Who knows... They might have a lot of work to do with the painting, end up all hot, sweaty, and shirtless, and at least kiss. Repeatedly. All over.

What would an angry Buddha do to his characters in SOOTB? Considering what a non-angry Buddha has already done.. EEEEK! OK, you have scared me into replying TWICE!! I really do love Vance's stories though!!!

I love it! hehe Glad you enjoyed the chapter! I was so tired when I posted that, that I said it was 2am Sunday, when it was actually 2am Monday! So, LB, do y'all still think that we were being pessimistic when we thought Toby's early symptoms meant Leukemia?

This just may be my favorite chapter of the entire series! I saw the announcement on Friday, but the DNS changeover made all of the story pages inaccessible to me. So, I knew it was there, but wasn't able to get in and read it until early (3am!) Monday morning! The way they kept skipping ahead in time really moved the story at a lightning pace. It saddened me to lose so much of the detail of the intervening time, but it certainly made a lot happen in this chapter, WOW! I nearly had a fit of hysterics, though, when it turned out that Davey had Bill Clinton, of all people, enforcing UMJ 125 (against oral sex) as part of the maneuvering! ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OK, one part, though, really made me scratch my head...

What a poignant chapter!!! I saw the announcement Friday, but due to the DNS change couldn't view it until now, or get into GA at all Saturday. It's now 2am Sunday, so I'll come back with more comments tomorrow, but for now just wanted to say that this was a great chapter, even though I keep saying "Oh, no, not Toby!". The first thing I'd like to say is, THANK YOU (and Kitty too) for the AIDS parts. In an earlier chapter when Maggie told Connor he was OK because he had been given a fast HIV test, I nearly choked, so I'm delighted to see it clarified like this. Aids is nothing to take chances with. IMHO, Ryan is in denial, and pulling away from Toby. This will come back to bite him BIGTIME if Toby gets worse, or doesn't make it, and/or if Ryan lets it drive a wedge between him and Connor. The reason for my hunch here is that I've seen plenty of people react just that way (taking the "oh, everything's ok, no big deal" denial route when a family member is gravely ill, and becoming distant from them. My Mother reacted this very way when she was told (against my wishes) late last year that I had a less then 50% chance of living through that week. It didn't bother me because I understood why she was reacting that way (this was WAY out of character for her, so it was obviously denial) but I can certainly understand how it would look to a lot of people, especially someone on the "sidelines" such as Connor is. As for Toby having leukemia... OK, LB (B for Beelzebub! ), do you remember the following comments and replies in the Chapter 16 thread? Y'all are so pessimistic! Sheesh ... You do realize that this quote shall appear frequently if Toby becomes gravely ill? Well, LB, don't say I didn't warn ya... So, what do you think of my new sig file?

I'm not quite sure what you mean, but I for one rather like a rural setting. I live, by choice, 30 miles from the nearest town (unless you count ghost towns). I like a rural setting for a story as there is so much more to do, such as interesting places for the characters to visit (swimming holes, forests, hiking, etc, etc). It's also nice seeing normal things such neighbors you actually know and not having to lock your doors instead of the city equivalent of pervasive crime and anonymity. I may be a bit biased here because what you describe regarding the urban protagonist is part of my own history. I spent most of my life in cities, until I finally discovered that life really is better (for me) even though it certainly does have some drawbacks. In my case, I'm gay, mainly out, and living in a very homophobic area, but like everything in life, it's a trade-off, and I highly doubt I'll ever want to live in a city again. As for the location of the "heart of America", I'd certainly say it's more apt to be found in small towns than in big cities. But to each, their own.

Hmmmm.... You might be almost as crazy as me!

Talk about turning things on their head! (spoilers below, just highlight the black area to see the text) A great chapter! Things seem to be looking up for Cameron!

Count me in! I love your stories!

Ahhh, well, that makes sense... :wacko: But, er, Ratatosk.. I see that you have a new avatar? A Goat! Egads, I've started a trend! EDIT: While I was typing the above, you changed your avatar again, to a different Goat!

ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, I found that part of the story very hard to believe.. Perhaps it could have been written so that Corey is reading something online, then does the whole crazed internet stalker routine by asking the writer out for coffee, then a movie, and next thing you know, they have been together as a couple for a year.. Nah, that's way too far-fetched... (J/k!!)

I hope the next Taiwanese Presidential election goes more smoothly than the last one did. What will you do once you have packed all your boxes? That must make living difficult? At least you can bring your electrical appliances (Except the TV) back, as the voltage is the same.

I like it!! I hope you continue! I loved the line about the Mace... Speculation: Jackson is gay, and the "fun" he has in mind probably does not involve fishing.

Whatever do you mean, Connor? BTW, I have no personal experience with it, but I consider sanity to be highly over rated.. and perhaps dangerous.

I have never claimed to be sane... (a good thing, too, as no one would believe me...)

No one has commented about Trevor getting married?? I am not sure why, but Trevor is one of my favorite characters, maybe even my favorite. I especially got a chuckle when it was said that he ended up with a different wife in each timeline. My reaction was "yep, he's definitely staying in character."

Not natural looking? There ya go again, maligning my avatar! What, pray tell, is unnatural about wearing sunglasses? It's what all the fashionable and health-conscious goats are doing these days! I have no idea what you could possibly be implying.. You certainly did (and great stories, like Adam and Evan! ) with your analysis of Mr. Harris! I'd have never thought of that, but I think you have it right. If so, I suspect he really is not going to take Cameron being gay well at all.

Well, in a word, yes. I chalked it up, though, to the attack plus all the other things that had happened to him. For me, the jury is still out on that, because there are conflicting situations: are the changes due to living with the McCormacks, or the attack, or, more likely, some combination? Connor certainly seems IMHO far different from when he met (as opposed to moving in with) the McCormacks... His self-esteem has vastly improved. IMHO, it might be easier to like Ryan (or any other favorite character) than the protagonist (Connor) in a first-person story precisely because we don't see all that goes on in their head.

Moving is indeed hell, and international moves are the worst. I hope you life calms down a bit in the near future. As for the insomnia... This is going to sound nuts, but I had similar trouble for years, and sleeping pills were ineffective. However, I stumbled upon a cure, purely by accident, that seems to work great for me. I drink a protein shake (the meal replacement type), usually the canned ones from the supermarket. I have no idea why, but it works great, far better than any sleeping pill (for me anyway). The Navy? Wow. That is a big step, if you take it. I was guessing that you would head more towards NSA, DIA, CIA, etc, given your language skills. This is just an anecdote, but your post bought it to mind. A friend of mine back in high school studied Korean, and became an expert in the language. He chose the Army, and was promised a posting that made good use of his linguistic skills. Of course, they sent him to Germany, as a mechanic. I certainly hope that the Military has improved since then in this regard!

You do realize that this quote shall appear frequently if Toby becomes gravely ill?

Virtual reality? HArumph! How dare you defame my avatar! That's not a VL goat, that's a real photo of a real goat! Check my profile for the full-sized pic. That's a very interesting point! That all fits... Hmmmm...

As a former Governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton could very easily IMHO claim Arkansas as his home state, while Hillary, as a Senator from NY, can claim NY. A bit dubious, yes, but it's not unusual these days for married couples to live in separate states. Heck, some prefer it that way.

Those are some very good points! My own opinion is that the strictness may indeed be explainable. However, there is a line between strictness and cruelty, and Mr' Harris' actions at the funeral (that poor lady) went WAY over the line. That was detestable behavior IMHO, and I can see no good explanation for it. BTW, I still think that anyone who uses a Goat as an avatar is weird.

From my point of view, the presentation of the symptoms, especially the intermittent nature, does not fit with a cold. Just a hunch on my part, though. I hope I'm wrong. Then again, perhaps it is just something minor and temporary, and LBTW just threw it in there to make some of us go crazy(er)???

Not exactly... My theory is that Bill Clinton, like any two-term president, is specifically prohibited (by the 22nd amendment) only from being elected president. It does not say in any way that he is ineligible to serve as president if he attains the office by means other than election. Of course, I might be quite wrong here, but I think there is certainly enough wiggle room for a lawyer to make use of. My hunch, though, is that such a move would be seen (rightly IMHO) as doing an end run around the 22nd amendment, so it would be a exceedingly controversial on the political side. As for Dan trying to give us heart attacks... I'd have to agree! My theory is that he knows darn well that he has us conditioned to expect disaster, so he's intentionally mentioning car travel, airplane flights, etc. I had the same feeling as you regarding the "why" of the drive! I was expecting all sorts of things, including something to do with time-travel (maybe a new coup?).