Irritable1

I cried like a baby throughout the last two. That thing with the pearl!

Thought it might be fun to discuss off-site reading. I'm changing my diet to include more "standard" reading. I've indulged in too much paperback pulp over the last year and need to train my literary eye a bit. Finishing up: Tiger Heron, by my old prof Robin Becker. Spare, lovely meditations on aging. Currently stalled in: Stay: A History of Suicide and the Philosophies Against It by Jennifer Michael Hecht. It's a discussion of how to form an ethical standard for suicide prevention that's not anchored in religion. I got a bit bored by the classical grounding but am going back. Listening to: Death at the Bar, by awesome Ngaio Marsh. British Golden Age-style mystery. Cyanide in a Devon hamlet! I have Audible, but I only use my monthly credit and make it last the whole month by only listening when I'm cooking or exercising. Blasted through: a Clara Benson mystery I forget. These were discovered in an attic by the author's descendants and they're cleanly written, with no real impossibilities beyond the standard ones for the genre, but they're a bit dull. Edit---Was completely shattered by: The Normal Heart and The Destiny of Me: Two Plays by Larry Kramer. The Normal Heart is being released on HBO Memorial Day weekend. I knew I wasn't going to have the emotional whatnot to watch, so I read the play instead. How about you?

Happy birthday!

I could understand the emotion. Days of anticipation and building tension, his prospects looking less and less promising... Poor kids.

I dont watch ESPN. Is it usual to film reactions from the people being drafted? I've heard of post-draft interviews.

Happy quarter century Thorne!!

But how does he know it works? He only knows David disappeared! What does the camera observe, before or after? Answers! I must have them! It's like a zen story in reverse... The only one who remains is he who is happy being himself in the forest...

But that's the beauty...you can slap one together from a kit if you really need it.

This feels like a finale, which makes me sad, because I so want Reagan to break free from Derek! And I want more of the library clerks!!

No USE for a SMARTPHONE??? I was initially very resistant, but now I know it's the greatest toy ever made! I can text my husband for the grocery list, harass a friend in Berlin via facebook, check my email, confirm it's Jupiter that's so bright in the sky, check that I'm driving in the right direction, play "Let It Go" for my kid on the car radio (for the umpteenth time), time our next visit to the tide pools for low tide, get the mileage for my cycle ride, prove to a fellow birder that we're looking at a blue-winged teal, and read all my Kindle books! When I get the right attachment, I'm going to use it to take pics down the birding scope! And that's before I talk about video games and taking pics of sunsets! Also it lets coworkers reach me, which is why I have it

Adorable. No one writes boy-meets-horsie-boy-outdoors like you do. I cackled a bit that the Western frontier started in NJ. Still, if that's where the cowboys begin...

TV and radio are just a means to deliver commercials to me. The smartphone can do it all, plus give me directions. And eyestrain, but oh well.

I can't wait! Though all my questions are really demands....

Deeply, convincingly sad. As poetry though I like the two prior ones better... Better structure to channel the emotion. The metaphor in this one is nice but it doesn't stay consistent throughout.

Boys Don't Cry came out when I was a teen. I loved it...

Having said that, congrats on getting the letter published ;-)

Hey now. It's not that easy to reconcile social liberalism and devout Islam but my auntie's doing fine with it. Don't make us your boogeyman.

!!!!HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Happy birthday, Wolfy!!

Not a guy, but Matt Bomer. Not really a crush either since I can't quite believe he's real...

Well, THAT escalated quickly.... And I was enjoying the nice guy with the cat riding on his shoulder so much...

I'm very sorry for the loss of your friend. I hope maybe talking to her family can be some comfort to you.

I never get invited to that kind of party so I have not had the opportunity to form a definitive opinion :-( But I believe I would reach conclusions about the host's sexuality if I saw gilded naked people, yes. If it were a mixed group I suppose one would have to count and go by percentage. Edit the story is about Tiberius I think.

Oh gosh... that is heart-rending. Poor Brian!

I'm interested in people's views on whether the greater context is established by gay subject matter or a "gay sensibility," to the extent that something like that can be defined. I mean, would you call Joss Whedon a gay artist? Or rather, a Gay Artist? Edit: er, if it's not totally hijacking your thread, hh5..