alanb

I have too many computers. Some let me in, some don't. I'm not a computer nerd, but different browsers with different OS drive me NUTS> Anyhoo. I'll be writing and hopefully posting stories soon. Cheers.

As I've written before, "Ah, hell." I've been on the viewing end of guys who have been through similar stuff. In Iowa rather than Toronto, but it's still the same. Thrown out of the house because of bigotry/hate/intolerance like a piece of trash. But for F...k's sake, they are HUMAN BEINGS. And they hurt, and they suffer. But, in spite of it all, they do what they have to to survive. And then everyone else gets judgmental about what they do to survive. What a miserable cycle that is. And then, someone like you, Tim, seems to break through all that. Survive, thrive, and thankfully live to tell the tale. So, thanks. In graduate school, we took better care of our research specimens (in my case lobsters) than some people do to others. It confounds me how people, especially family, can be so wrapped up in their own biases that they can't see through and recognize that other folk might just be a little different. I call it the "yellow brick road." Follow it and all will be well. That may be for some, but sometimes that little dirt path off to the left looks better and more enticing and most importantly, more natural. But you are damned if you deviate. I'm a deviate. And proud of it. And reading stories like yours reinforces my choice to take the dirt road rather than the yellow brick one. Well done.

I've just started to connect with your writing. And as I said before, well done, well done. But I have brain farts, as I like to call them, and a rather stream of mindlessness writing style ( a weakness of mine I know - my fingers get faster than my brain) sometimes makes me merge some of the stuff I read and I can't tell fully the tales apart. The song would probably be much more appropriate for the Daniel story. But it was where the song hit me while I was writing after reading your latest. So, sorry for the transposition to your poem, where I agree, it's not a great fit. But, for some strange reason, this one song just "sings" out to me. And I wanted to share it. It's so damn good about relationships. And that's what I'm all about. To hell with the sex, it's the contact and connection that matters. And, I hope others discover it, turn up the volume, sit back, and contemplate the message behind the song. Keep up the good stuff, it's great. And I wish you all the happiness you deserve.

This might be a bit strange. but. if you have Spotify or something similar, go find the song by Sweetfire. "Love me like you do." an astoundingly similar sound to what you've written. A bit teary here, maybe I'm more sentimental that I'd rather to admit, being the logical control freak I've been all my life.

As a volunteer counselor at a crisis intervention center far too many years ago, rather untrained except for under the watchful eyes of John Jones (of Pfieffer and Jones fame) and Carl Rogers, it never ceases to amaze me how people, over time or through some incident in their lives, can become so much more self aware. Rogers theory was that if you wanted to change, the only person who could make that change was yourself. Someone telling you do something differently was never as effective as the discovery that "I need to change." This story tells that brilliantly, without out all the psycobabble, mumbo jumbo your hear from trained counselors. He needed to change. And, very luckily for him, the other person was willing to accept that. There's the brilliance in the story. If only all of us could be so fortunate. Again, well done, well done.

ah hell. It's amazing that so many of us had similar, not identical, stories growing up. I still think of a guy I met about 40 years ago who was living the life of the Amish. But he was gay. Talk about conflicted. Well done. Well done.

hey............was trying to figure out a way to contact you. GFD is a great read. I've written a story similar to Billy Chase (only 2 chapters so far) but would love your feedback on it. set back in time.....the 70s..........but for me a very emotional tale and before i try to publish it, I'd like an author's critique. and since we do write in the same genre.......figured you might be just the guy to do it. Interested? my email is a.burleson@verizon.net. can forward the story from there