MikeL

Hypocritical or not, there is some merit in the suggestion. They've told you about their families and dating, etc. Have they not asked about you? Perhaps they don't need to ask. Their gaydar may be better than yours. Have they made any disparaging remarks, told any jokes about gays? There's no reason from your side of the relationship that they can't be good friends.

True. Age and time are artificial concepts...a man made measure that exists only for the sake of convenience. Listen to your heart.

That's shorthand for "Luke and Rory in the end". It refers to a popular sentiment that arose during the serial release of Dom Luka's story Desert Dropping. It would not be fair to those who haven't read the story to reveal the ending. If you haven't read it, you should. Desert Dropping

The Latin motto Sic Semper Tyrannis (literally "Thus Always with Tyrants") is the state motto of Virginia. John Willkes Booth shouted "Sic Semper Tyrannis" after he shot President Lincoln, rather than something more appropriate like "$@%#, I broke my ankle". His meaning was that tyrants should always be killed, thus referring to the deed he had just done. The phrase Sic Semper Caprinae literally means "Thus Always with Goats", not "Death to Goats". The implication here is that cliff-dwelling goats should strive to redeem themselves and be recognized for their success...not shot or barbecued. Sic Semper Caprinae goat and good health.

When it rains it pours, Vic. Your LRITE thing works...I could read it.

It was a long night but the committee finally sobered up and finished it's work. We are pleased to present an Amphibian Certification to Cliff James in recognition of his attaining a cliffhanger free conclusion to his most recent story Changing Lanes.

Please click on above thumbnail.

It was a long night but the committee finally sobered up and finished its work. We are pleased to present an Amphibian Certification to Cliff James in recognition of his attaining a cliffhanger free conclusion to his most recent story Changing Lanes.

Grrrr! This makes me mad! We've had to suspend our deliberations for a while. Someone spiked the pond with tequila. Who would do such a thing? Probably some goat or some dude from Vegas. I'll get back to you later.

Just an update... This thing may go well into the night. We've hit a little bit of a snag. Will keep you informed.

A most satisfying conclusion to an often raucous story. I loved every minute of reading every chapter, but is always my favorite part. The committee are currently reading and rereading the last chapter and epilogue. We will gather at the pond later this evening for our final deliberations. In the interim, does anyone see any unresolved cliffhangers in Changing Lanes?

You and Robbie make a handsome couple. It's about time for another picture of the two of you together. Are you as tall as he is?

Wow! this topic has received a lot of comments since I started it just 6 days ago. My purpose was simply to point out that gays do not have to eschew religion just because some religious people turn their backs on gays. There are a number of churches which are "gay friendly". If you didn't read the first post, please do, or at least look at the website http://www.gaychurch.org/ which contains a directory of such churches. I realize there are a lot of questions about the definition of "gay friendly" and questions about non-Christian religions which aren't answered there. There will always be some shortcomings in such sources of information. Perhaps another GA member can find it for us. That said, those members who consider themselves Christian may be able to find a place of worship which they consider appropriate for them through the above site.

Are you one of those people who doesn't know how to walk? Good luck to you on your decision about school. I think English Lit makes a lot of sense for you with your obvious writing talent. I wouldn't think a German University would be high on your list for that. You can always travel there during the summer...but you knew that. Best wishes, Chase.

Robert, it's good to hear you are progressing well. I understand the desire to get back to work. It feels like you really have accomplished something when you return. It's also reassuring that the boss hasn't figured out they can do without you. I returned to work three weeks after my prostate cancer surgery. The doctor had suggested half days initially, but I worked full days from day one and felt great the whole time. I realize your treatments affect your stamina considerably more than my experience did. Take care of yourself. Your day will be here soon enough.

The bullies should be arrested and charged with assault and battery at the very least. There's no indication in the story of a hate crime.

A tip of the hat to Benji for a great post (redactions and all).

That's what I see and I must disagree.

Recently, in the GA chatroom, a discussion arose about religion. That's unusual. Many gays have no religious affiliation and do not want to discuss it. Many don't want to talk about religion or politics; if there were a contest to see which topic is discussed less, religion would win hands down. It's understandable that gays who have been embarrassed or angered by something they heard - or expect to hear - from the pulpit or in a Bible class, are turned off by organized religion. Being told you are going to hell isn't uplifting. Many gays, however, do not consider themselves atheists. They believe in God, not in religion. They may long for the association with a church that they had during their childhood, but they don't feel comfortable venturing into a place of worship on Sunday morning. During the chat, we came across a website that provides information on gay friendly congregations. If you are so inclined, take a look at gaychurch.org. Among other things, it provides a list of accepting congregations by city grouped by state in the US and in many countries around the world. I was surprised to find how many such places there were in my home town. The churches include not only the Metropolitan Christian churches and Unitarian churches that many are familiar with, but also mainstream Protestant churches, Quaker, nondenominational, and even Baptist and Catholic congregations. There's another option. If you can't find a suitable church home, consider joining or starting a home church. In the early years, Christians met in members' homes rather than in big auditoriums. The idea of home churches has become popular in recent years with many organized congregations meeting in small groups at members' homes at times other than the Sunday morning service. You need not be excluded from a religious life if you desire one. I wish you peace and love.

I agree on open primaries. The only reason state laws require voters to "join" a party is to give party bosses (either party) control over "their people". An open primary enables representative government and gives the people a measure of control over the bosses. It makes a candidate think twice about changing from liberal or conservative to moderate as soon as the primary has been won. It forces them to show their true colors during the primaries. The presidential elections are an exception, the closed primary states outnumbering the open primary states 33 to 17, thereby diluting the effectiveness of the open primaries.

You could be right, Steve, but I'm not so sure. I could see Cliff being a little tired of Jerry...not that any weariness was apparent in his writing. But an author can carry a bad guy only so far. When you get right down to it, the Scar was a one trick pony. Nuclear detonations for fun and profit...that's it. That's all that Jerry ever did. Anything and everything revealed in the two stories that Jerry did...charity fundraisers, motorized wheelchair for a critically ill boy, logistics management for Instinct...all that was to further his acquisition of nuclear weapons and extortion of the US government. I say good riddance and suspect CJ may feel the same way. Why don't you take a couple of pills and get back with us in the morning. Just kidding; hope you are feeling better.

Carl, Glad to hear you are doing so well at your advanced age. I've never had to contend with your ailment, but I think I might prefer pissy to angry. Hope you find better days ahead. Let's grow old gracefully. Mike

Happy Birthday, Carl! This is so much more fun than turning 30, don't you think?

Here's a related question. What can an author or editor (or anyone who transfers a Word document to someone else) do to ensure that the file is not transferred as a read only file? And another question: Does a file sent as an attachment via GA's PM system get converted to a read only file? Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts.

TS, Jerry.