colinian

Thanks, everyone. I had a great birthday and it's going to be even better Friday night when our folks and sisters take me and my brother Chris out for our family birthday. Chris's birthday is on November 17th, mine is on the 21st. He says that I have to take orders from him since he's my big brother and is 4 days older than me. Yeah, like that's not about to happen. Colin

Great chapter, a fun read. But Bridget is back in her game of Trevor-chasing. The tracking device is hard to find because it broadcasts so seldom. It's going to take some luck (and some clever plotting by our resident Goat) for it to be found. One way to end Circumnavigation is to have Bridget's demise clouded by failure to find her body (regardless of how she's done away with). Then the sequel to Circumnavigation can start with a vengeful and bankrupt Bridget (her funds all taken by the Cartel) trying to find a way to off Trevor and Shane. Michael (mg777) suggests, there are clever ways to get Trevor and Joel together, but I'm afraid that Joel is firmly in the straight-boy camp. So sad. But if Lisa and Shane aren't killed off, we still have a juicy plot of Trevor and Shane being chased by Bridget who is being chased by the Cartel which is being chased by the FBI and other U.S. agencies and Joel and Lisa are fumbling around putting Trevor and Shane in danger. Who knows? The Goat knows! Colin

What a great vid! The message is profound, and that's what they say is important, isn't it? Colin

It's about time that Bridget and her paid minions started to get screwed around. I don't feel sorry for Gray. I don't feel sorry for Bridget. CJ's maneuvering them into their own worst nightmares, I think. (I hope!) Great chapter. Looking forward to the next. Colin

I just keep reading late into the evening/morning and go to bed very late. Sleep is highly overrated. Colin

I also define my characters, and I include who they interface with and how their relationship works/doesn't work (friend/enemy, sort of). This is a living document. That means if there's something new or something that I missed or something that I want to change I update the character definitions. But only after I've saved the prior versions of everything! Sometimes I find that trying to make J a friend of T, there are a lot of things that have to be changed elsewhere in the story and it's not worth making that change. Or maybe it is worth the effort. But having saved versions of everything means if I decide to give up my brilliant new idea, I can go back to what I had before. Colin

Excellent advice, James. This applies to anyone who is in earthquake, flood, firestorm, snow, hurricane, or tornado country. You need one of these at home and in each car too. If you have a CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) where you live, take their training and become a CERT first-responder volunteer for your neighborhood and for where you go to school and go to work. Colin

Just as some women are beautiful and some aren't, some men are handsome and some aren't. If a guy is hot or cute then I think he's more aesthetically pleasing than any woman. Colin .

Okay, CJ, you've shamed me into writing a response, but not a review (that will come at the conclusion of the story). Circumnavigation is the single most frustrating story I've ever read. Why? Because when I get to the end of a chapter there's no other chapter to read. I have to wait an interminable amount of time, most often a whole week, sometimes even much longer, and be miserable wondering what's going to happen to Trev and Shane, what the Queen Bitch Bridget has up her sleeves, and most recently what new total idiocy that Joel and Lisa are getting themselves into. I can just imagine what it's going to be like if Bridget attends their wedding. On reflection, I certainly hope Bridget does attend the wedding. That increases the likelihood of someone dying. So far the body count in Circumnavigation has been sorely lacking. We want dead bodies! With Bridget on the top of the pile! Or maybe Bridget can take Joel and Lisa to the pier to throw them to the alligators, and Lisa trips her and the Queen Bitch slips on the wet dock (I picture it raining) and ends up in the water herself. That would be simply delicious. On the other hand, eating her would probably make the alligators sick. So here you have the best piracy and escape scenes of any story ever, Trevor surviving by using his wits, canned hot dogs, and some very good luck. Then Joel, who's the same age as Trevor and should be as smart as he is, and he and Lisa start spreading fliers around the Bahamas? With Bridget's picture on them? And claims she has Alzheimer's Disease? And that she's their relative? Has he reverted mentally to when he was twelve years old? I hope Robert locks them into separate rooms and feeds them nothing but toaster pastries and cheese curls and water until he gets his computers back. Oh, did I mention that I love Circumnavigation, with all of its frustrations and cliffhangers included. Keep it coming until it's finished, then stop. You will, at that point, be inundated with email commentary and reviews and offers for publication. Colin

I love to read and to write and mess around with my computers. I love to swim and play tennis and hike and backpack and crosscountry ski. I'm not more an athlete nor more an artist. I am what I am. Colin

Collie. I hated that nickname. It was pinned on me by a girl in the 7th grade. I kept telling her "I am NOT a dog!" but she ignored me. Now that I'm older I don't hear it anymore. Thank god! Colin

Uh... CJ... are you saying that you didn't invent Bridget? That you purloined her persona from some other author? That she's plagiarized? Colin

Hey! There's nothing wrong with PFLAG. Except the abbreviation, which of course should be PFFLAG for Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians And Gays. I guess you can decide with of the F words you want to include. Colin

What a wonderful tale as we approach Christmas. There is so much said and unsaid between Jamie and John that weaves this tale into something more than just a story. It's a fable about the forces of nature: the winter snow, Jamie, and John. Bravo, Libby! I'm going to email the link to my friends so they can enjoy and appreciate The Art of Walking in Snow as much as I have. Colin

I love this story. It is strange and surreal and frightening and uplifting. Reality is bent and is forced into a shape like a Mobius Loop for the protagonist. Much like life! Colin

Wow! Chapter 99 is amazing with its revelation about everything that happened. It's enough to take ones breath away. There were enough hints leading to the reveal at the end of chapter 98 that the woman approaching Kookaburra was Trev's mother. But that reveal faded into nothing compared to all of the other revelations. Now what do we have to look forward to? There's Lisa and Joel, in danger from Bridget and George; there's Bridget and George, in danger from Gonzalez and eventually the Feds; there's Trev and Shane, on their way to Perth in a Kookaburra (or should we say Ares?) that Basingstoke rigged a with transmitter that is supposed to let him track the boat from 160 miles away; there's Arnold Bellevue, possibly and perhaps probably murdered by Bridget though with no body who knows where he might be dead or alive; there's Sanchez, who won't want to leave any loose ends that might incriminate him. Good grief! All of that means there are more chapters coming, and they will be welcomed! Colin

Nice chapter, my favorite so far. The humor helps show the personalities of Michael, Katy, and Will. The Jason-in-the-locker bit is great. Where I went to high school you'd have to have been like 5 years old or younger to fit inside a locker. I also like the way you're developing the dialogue, and how it's changing as Michael finally comes out of his shell. Colin

Chapter 9: what a great chapter! Ken is a very weird person. He seems to be an aloof control freak who doesn't ask before he acts. Micah finally grew a pair and told Ken to take a hike. Well, it was Micah who took the hike, walking home from the AA meeting. Of course, Micah is a control freak about Joel. I loved Joel's boast in defense of his... uh... equipment. That was funny! I'll be looking for chapter 10 and I hope it's here soon. What's Patrick going to do with Micah? What's Elizabeth going to do to Ken?

Great chapter. So is Shane straight? Maybe. Maybe not. There's not enough evidence yet. That's what we need, more evidence about Shane's orientation! Yeah, yeah, I know, because it's the Southern Hemisphere his orientation is clockwise. But is he bent clockwise? Shane did a great job helping Trevor relieve a substantial bit of his PTSD. But the suggestion for Trevor to use Shane's Medicare card? That's flat-out stupid and could land both of them in a world of hurt. We haven't heard much from the reporters that were nosing around Carnarvon. It seems that's going to be a major factor at some point. Then there's Ned's wife's response to Trevor when he phoned. What is that all about? Too many questions. Not enough answers. Colin

Jason, in Fractured you take the reader on a journey through Justin's mind as he resists a resolution, preferring to hang onto his guilt. Yet his antagonists, Roy, the cousin who died in his arms (and perhaps, accidentally, at his hand) and his younger self, make it harder for Justin to avoid that resolution. I wasn't sure what to expect, what the climax of the story would reveal. You didn't disappoint; Justin was finally able to let go of his guilt and take the first step to recovery, the resolution he had been subconsciously seeking. Fractured is a story that is uncomfortable to read and impossible to stop reading, frightening and evocative, plaintive and impressive. Colin

Commuting lets us encounter a lot of different people Some of them you'd rather not encounter. Like a person who might be homeless.

We all are, or should be, familiar with the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It is a fairy tale, written as an object lesson for children so they won’t be tempted to take poisoned apples from strange ladies. Little Snow-White (the original title) was written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, A.K.A. the Brothers Grimm, and first published in 1812. The title Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was an invention of Walt Disney for his animated motion picture. What very few are familiar with is the

2006 Winter Anthology

Christmas Break by colinian I was on my way to my C++ programming class when my cell buzzed. “Hi.” “Hey, Curt, whatcha doin’?” “Walking to class, Greg. What do you think I’m doing?” “Oh, lounging round in the cafeteria, scarfin’ up donuts and coffee, as usual!” “No, I’m going to class, as usual, which is what you should be doing! Where are you? Don’t you have AmLit now?” “Yuck! AmLit with ol’ Miz Reynolds is like living in hell.” “So, where ar

Two comments about the show. The show equated femininity with being gay. In many cases it may be true, but in many cases it isn't. My friends at school who are gay are not fem, including me. We're into sports, go hiking and backpacking, go downtown and hang with our friends, play video games, go to movies, like action flicks, read, listen to music, watch TV, scour the internet for porn, eat junk food, go to school, spend too much time on our computers, go to bed too late every night, joke around, in other words, normal things any teenage guy would do. Except we are attracted to guys. The show said there is a significant propensity for boys with older brothers to be gay. They said that only 2% of first-born boys are gay. If they have the statistics, maybe that's right. But it's not the whole story. I'm gay, and I'm the oldest in a family of 3 kids. I have two younger sisters, no brothers, older or younger. My cousin is an only child and is gay. My boyfriend has an older brother and an older sister and is gay. One of the star players on our football team came out at school last year, and he's the oldest of 3 boys and 2 girls in his family. My best friend from elementary school is an only child and is gay. My cousin's boyfriend has a younger sister and no brothers and is gay. While this is statistically a very small sample, it doesn't match up to their conclusion, IMO. There's a problem in trying to determine how many gays and lesbians and bisexual people there are in the U.S. While things are improving for LGBT people in some (maybe most) parts of the country, I could be wrong but I'd guess that the majority of LGBT people in the U.S. are still in the closet, especially teens. There are just no statistics that can be trusted to identify what percentage of the population is not heterosexual. Including what percentage is out versus still closeted! Colin