Formosa

I guess my life isn't too interesting...going to uni, working, and going home again. But then again there are so many things that happen everyday that we seem to take for granted, and I guess I'm content with the fact I have my health, a few close friends, and can enjoy many things that others can't even dream of doing. I think people won't be really content with what they have, because you tend to think or believe that out there there's something more, something better. Exactly what I mean! Well, Buddhism teaches not to like or dislike what you have or haven't got. Just take and be content with everything as they are, and you'll see life is interesting enough already as it is Hmm...not quite....actually it's the Chinese for 'crisis' which is a combination of the characters for 'danger' and 'opportunity'. There's something to 'interest-ify' the day for us all today

Oh...so sweet! I wish you both a long, peaceful and loving life together! David

Hm, people can be so mean... My heart goes out to Tim and CJ and all those people out there suffering from discriminationg and oppression because of who they are. Thanks for showing this. I'm going to circulate this so more people can know about it. As much as the vid is 'closer' to home, there are others that are worth watching. All of them centre around human intolerance and suffering, but showing that there's some kind of hope: "Blood Brothers"-- a documentary about a gay, homeless teen trying to (re)build his life after a homophobic attack. The "Making of a girl", about youth sexual exploitation and abuse. "Darfur Rising" is also worth watching too, for obvious reasons...yet another example how the worst excesses of hatred and -phobias can do to people.

Oooh! Fascinating...must stay/wake up to watch it on Sunday~ Seeing these heavenly phenomenon always makes me feel so small and somehow connected to it all... Shame I live in one of the most light polluted places in the world. Hope I can see something!

Oh...sorry! didn't see this would take a political turn (but then again what in the world isn't?) I just thought it was something funny to see and hear the highest ranking member of our legal system doing the rap. Obviously the campaign was a flop and he sort of made a complete fool of himself. Anyways, if people are interested, I've written more about this on my blog. David

Well, the Netherlands being the only country in the world where cannabis is

Hm, something personal is always good, and can show how much you care/love your boyfriend. By personal I mean something that has some kind of meaning to him or the two of you...like a movie with a meaniful plot or title, something to keep and remember by. I once got 'A beautiful mind' from my ex, and in return I got 'Moulin Rouge', because that's the first one we saw together. and don't forget to give a sweet, little handwritten card...it's these little things that really count! Good luck! (aaah... I don't know why I'm not in a relationship...)

Hi! I voted for feelings/emotions , because they're what makes people human, and stories are all about the way these feelings/emotions interact, conflict, and come together. It's feelings/emotions that explain what makes people act and think in a particular way, and why. To me, 'interesting characters' is sort of an extension of this aspect, because people can't be interesting if they don't have some kind of feelings/emotions that make them who they are. And you can have an interesting plot, but again without the characters and the unique way that their feelings/emotions make them respond to the situation, there really is just a bare bone. But I agree with 'other' too...a story is more than just one aspect which makes it good/great, just as people (I mean people's character) are more than just black or white. The atmosphere, surroundings, circumstances, histories and little details makes a story complete, and you can't really take one bit away without considering the rest. It's the way the story is written, developed, and eventually concluded that makes it a whole. Interesting though, so far nobody voted for 'sex'. Which sort of shows the high level of (intellectual?) standard people here at GA have have a great day~ David

Hm, I'm sorry to read this. Didn't the Israeli candidate just win the International Mr Gay pageant a few days ago? News of the protest was also reported here in the papers, and apparently it's not just any gay pride, but the World Pride, held under the motto: The last World Pride event was successfully held in Rome six years ago, despite protests from devout Catholics and othe right wing extremists. Just to respond to this guy... Jerusalem is not just Judaism's holiest city, but a sacred place for Christianity and Islam as well. If this city, which for centuries has been so free , tolerant and allowed all these different world views and religions to coexist peacefully, why should gays be treated any different? take care, David

Now I'm laughing Thanks for telling me and sharing those websites Yeah, if you can read other languages, that translation tool makes it all the more hilarious. The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster in German is: 'Church of Flying-Isolationtube Monsters'...in Mandarin it's: 'Church of Flying Flour Monster' I guess a lot of Dutchies aren't aware of the fact it's supposed to be a spoof. But then again, every joke has some grain of truth to it, even twisted truth that some will believe...I mean some of the other reactions to the discussion were pretty much the same fundamentalist mumble-jumble. take care~ David

Came across a report on a local gay news website, and I

Hm, can't remember how exactly, but I think it was through Nifty and a link of one of the hosted authors. I know there are other posts thanking individuals at GA who make it all possible, and all of them deserve every bit of thanks they get, but I want to thank GA itself for having this place we call 'home' for all of us like-minded people to meet and mingle

Just wanted to add my appreciation as well. Kitty was the one who offered to make me a shared-hosted author...something I'm still grateful and really can't thank enough for. And she seems so keen to always lend people a helping hand or listening ear here and there. Sort of like the caring 'mother' of this community Thank you~ Hartelijk dank!

Hi! Congratulations to New Jersey, and I guess the US in general for this small, but significant step forward! This development actually hit the headlines in the Netherlands. Just to share with you guys the situation of same-sex marriage in the first country in the world to legalise it. (Guess where!) Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as same-sex marriage. When the Dutch Parliament allowed homosexuals to marry in 2001, they didn

That's just what happened (in Dutch)! Apparently at this zoo there are two gay couples and one lesbian couple. Obviously the gay couples can't breed, but what the zoo suspects happened was that the two chased the (biological) mother away from the nest, and 'adopted' the egg as their own. They suspect one of the lesbian storks was impregnated by a male. All three couples successfully bred healthy chicks. Interesting thing to note is that the zoo has 16 storks (9 male, 7 female). Three homo-couples (6 storks) suggests that 37.5 % of the storks there are homosexual....a very high proportion! Fascinating stuff. I wonder what the other storks make of all this...

Well, Article 275(a) of the Animal Criminal Law Code (amended 1998) says:

Came across this strange scientific reserach into "homosexual necrophilia in the mallard"...

yeah! no more last-minute sleeplessness the night-before the dealine! ...but I wonder if the generator can produce something with a 20.000 word count

You're right about this lady. Her name is Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and was outspokenly critical of the way Muslim women are treated in Islamic cultures. According to Time she ranks as one of the top 100 most influential people of the century. Yeah, beacause some twisted asylum law and media frenzy she was basically chased out of the country this summer, and now working for the American Enterprise Institute in NYC. It's true the Netherlands has been under a lot of bad press lately because of the way this country treats its immigrants and asylum seekers. All thanks to a lovely clique of self-proclaimed 'liberals' who form the government and a very hard-line, 'rules-are-rules' Minister of Immigration. Sometime ago the same minister said it was safe to deport homosexuals back to Iran--a country which hangs peoples for being gay!! Just yesterday it was revealed that an eight year old boy has been locked up and awaiting deportation for months because he and his mother were illegal in the country. The case of this gay couple is just one of many in a line of inhumane cases in which having the right papers and complying to laws are raised above respect for basic human rights. Laws are supposed to serve people, not the other way around. Yeah, Lugh is right...sign the petition on the site, not my blog! There's now 291 signatures already within one day! Thanks for the support those of you who've signed it. I'm sure the couple appreciate every show of support they can get. Today an MP asked questions in Parliament about the issue, which captured some media attention... but it seems like the deportation order is sitll in place.

Just as some of us were praising the how progressive the Netherlands is in terms of the acceptance of ho-le-bis, the country suffered a terrible set back today. I just got news that a gay man is apart to be forcibly deported out of the country and separated from his married partner of 8 years because he lost his right to stay in the country. The story is a little more complicated than that, but the bottom line is the government and courts place having proper papers and legal status to stay over and above the rights of two individuals to private and family life. For the full story, please go to my blog. Here's a [translated] excerpt from the appeal letter: I know these things probably happen all the time in many places without us knowing...but now that we know, we can do something to make a difference, even if it's only a small one. If you can, please help by signing the petition. It's in Dutch, but it's not that difficult: Under "1. Steun de actie!" [support the appeal] you see "Uw naam" [Your name, fill in box] and "Uw email-adres" [Your email adress, fill in box] David Solidarity...

Wow, that's the first time I hear anyone described Dutch as a "pretty language"! I guess any language sounds nice when put to music, and the song is pretty and sweet Typical of Dutch is the strong gutteral "g" (HARD and throaty like in BaHRain), and the rolling "r" (like in RRRotteRRRdam). The way it's spoken you'd think it's some kind of vulgar boorish German dialect...and the way it's written you'd think it's someone's trying to write English and French at the same time after a bit too much to drink There are certain words in Dutch that sound the same as English, but have a completely different meaning (and vice versa)...so you can see the potential for hilarious moments there. For example, to 'fok' is to 'breed', and is pronounced like 'f*ck'. A joke is when an British lady asks a Dutch lady at a social even what she does for living: "Oh, I fok dogs". But hey, it's pretty in it's own way

I guess homework is kind of difficult to juggle when you're young, want to explore all sorts of others things, and want to have a (social) life too. I think teachers give homework not to deliberately make you feel miserable, but to see how much you've absorbed. So it's good for you, in a way, but like all things should be in moderation. I could say I've 'been there and done that', but to be honest I'm still doing it now! Uni is a lot different than high school. I guess it was 'easier' before since teachers spoonfeed you information and the homework they set is basically a repetition of what you've been doing in class so that you can work the ideas/methods into your brain. It's true, you've got a lot more homework and assignments to do at high school in terms of the quantity, but once you're done, you're done. At uni there aren't so many assignments, probably maximum three papers per term, and only a few hours of lectures you need to attend....but the rest of the time is not (supposed to be) free time. You're really supposed to do your own study, find your own readings and fill in gaps in your knowledge. Lecturers just give you a skeleton of what you're expected to know, whereas you've got to flesh it up with our study and research. Recommended self-study time per week: at least 25hours. Of course you can do nothing and party all day or whatever, like some of my friends, but you'll be out before you know it. I'm working on a paper now, and it's taking almost three weeks of reading, writings, reading, re-writing...and there's a 1500word limit too! Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say high school students have it much easier....believe me when I was in high school I used to complain and think it was all too much and impossible. But afterwards you'll look back and think it wasn't that bad after all. I used to think that working people have it so much easier without homework, but with all the other stresses and pressures you've to deal with was I wrong when I started working! Part of the reason I went back to studying The grass is always greener elsewhere. A number of people mentioned this already: planning, management, and working with others really does help. Worse thing is to be up in the middle of the night doing something you don't want but must and failing because you couldn't put in as much quality and time as you could. Good luck~ "Home-workers of the world unite"

Amazing... I wonder if that's what dyslexics see when they read. Though I'm not sure if this applies to other non-roman languages.

Hello everyone, Hehe, not Slavic, but it's definitely Dutch. It's true some words are and sound very similar to English, like 'fijn' (fine), 'vader' (father). And believe me it does rhyme, if you listen carefully! Pretty sweet song! Refrein: Ik heb twee vaders Twee echte vaders Soms stoer en ook wel streng Maar we hebben het heel fijn Ik heb twee vaders Twee echte vaders Die als het moet ook allebei Mijn moeder kunnen zijn [Chorus I have two fathers Two real fathers Sometimes cool and also sometimes strict But we're doing great I have two fathers Two real fathers Who if they must be Could also be my mother] It's on a show for children called "Kinderen voor Kinderen" (Children for Children), on the Dutch public network VARA. To be honest I've never actually watched the show until that clip, but I do know it's very popular among children. The show is based on a children's choir group of 8-12yrs olds who sing and produce CDs to raise money for children in the developing world (hence the name!). A number of famous Dutch song-writers are involved in the project, and the children can suggest themes and ideas for songs. The song 'Twee Vaders' (Two Fathers) was in the 2005 album, and it raised a lot of money for the tsunami last year. Actually the public network is not specifically gay-orientated, and like I said it's a show for kids. But it does show how progressive this country is in terms of the openness and acceptance of gays. I mean where else would you see children singing and clapping along during the day on a public TV network? After all, this is the first country to legalise same-sex partnership. If anyone's interested, there's a blog entry by me on a report in the local paper sometime ago on children growing up in same-sex relationships groetjes, David *Thanks Old Bob for drawing my attention to this~ PS: If anyone is interested in the original Dutch text, and want to sing along at the next GA karaoke event , here it is: TWEE VADERS Wij wonen in een rijtjeshuis We hebben mooie spullen thuis We leven heel normaal daar met z

A man walks into the office and looks a little lost. "May I help you?" the secretary asks. "Yes, please. Do you mind showing me the way to your BUM?"