Mikie

That's very purdy, Tiger. Kevin, I don't know why but it seems like you're browser doesn't let you get up to date with everyone's avatars... Mine currently is a dance avatar that I made with photoshop, because, well, dance is my life. It's kinda poorly made and I wish I had done a better job, but I'll try to make a better one when I get the time.

Yeah. This is me at a lake in Italy during my trip to Europe over the summer.

This is currently the song of my life... I just got into Jewel's old music and this song is just my life as of yesterday... You took my hand You showed me how You promised me you'd be around Uh huh That's right I took your words And I believed In everything You said to me Yeah huh That's right If someone said three years from now You'd be long gone I'd stand up and punch them up Cause they're all wrong I know better Cause you said forever And ever Who knew Remember when we were such fools And so convinced and just too cool Oh no No no I wish I could touch you again I wish I could still call you friend I'd give anything When someone said count your blessings now For they're long gone I guess I just didn't know how I was all wrong They knew better Still you said forever And ever Who knew Yeah yeah I'll keep you locked in my head Until we meet again Until we Until we meet again And I won't forget you my friend What happened If someone said three years from now You'd be long gone I'd stand up and punch them out Cause they're all wrong and That last kiss I'll cherish Until we meet again And time makes It harder I wish I could remember But I keep Your memory You visit me in my sleep My darling Who knew My darling My darling Who knew My darling I miss you My darling Who knew Who knew "Who Knew" by Pink

Happy Birthday & Feliz Cumpleanos Hope you have a fantastic time for your birthday!

I love the song. I think it's fantastic. It's a favourite among many lesbians I know too. It's very catchy musically, that many would sing along no matter what she was singing about. And rich_e, I agree that she has better songs on her album as well. I think that my favourite is "Hot 'n' Cold"... which is also quite catchy. ~Mikie

Happy Birthday, Ian! Hope you have a good birthday today!

It's about time someone stopped the Chinese diving sweep, and what a great way to do it!

This thing is kinda cool... Chapter 1 of The Clasp of Requiem (or what's written of it so far)- female by little more than a thousand points... I only used the word 'is' once in the entire thing... and it's already getting up there in word count. a lot of points came from the words 'with' and 'not' on the female side, 'the' on the male side. Falling Slowly- male by less than a hundred points, big points coming from the three same words... Of course, if the words 'he' 'his', 'him' etc. were used, then it'd be a totally different story. Then they would probably both be male by huge margins... but then that's probably true for a lot of y'all. ~Mikie

Michael Phelps is the ultimate Olympian. The only thing he hasn't managed to do is pass the Olympic record for most medals, which is held by Laryssa Latynina, an artistic gymnast from the USSR, who has a total of seventeen medals. Of course, if he goes to London in 2012, then he'll most certainly have her beat. Assuming USA medals in the race tomorrow, he'll have a total of sixteen medals. My current avatar is of Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson, who went 1-2 in the women's all around. It's the first time ever the United States has two women on the medal podium in the all around. ~Mikie

Breaking Dawn was definitely a fantastic novel. When I finally have time, I intend to read The Host, which is Stephenie Meyer's attempt at an adult novel. Right now I'm reading The Awakening by Kate Chopin, for my AP English class, and then I'll be reading Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Wolfe and write an essay comparing the two novels. It pretty much sucks, but I'm going to do whatever it takes to get a good score on my AP exam come next May. I have quite a few books on my "to-read" list... like probably more than twenty... plus Brisingr, third book in Inheritance, comes out next month. ~Mikie

His Dark Materials is pretty great. I just finished reading the new book in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga titled Breaking Dawn and it was a fantastic book, just like the others. It threw in some very unexpected twists I never would've imagined, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Mine is the movie cover from Moulin Rouge!, which is where I got my username from... I then edited it in photoshop to include a heart and the words "Come What May"... It's not my best photoshop work, but a long shot, but it's fitting... I actually sort of looks like a tee shirt I made in Art Class. And Tiger, your tigers are really adorable...

Haha yeah actually it is. How'd you guess? And yes, anyone and everyone can (and does) call me that, but I like it spelled my extra special way that nobody spells it, haha. To Celia, it does suck that you got your handbag stolen, but I totally agree about La Sagrada de Familia (I'm assuming that's what you're referring to, since it is the most amazing piece of art I have ever laid eyes on, next to the Mona Lisa and Starry Night.), it is absolutely amazing. Unfortunately I never had the chance to go inside, but just being in its presence was amazing. I did get to go into another building designed by Gaudi (the guy who designed La Sagrada de Familia), and he's a brilliant brilliant architect. ~Mikie

The perfect guy for me is my boyfriend, whom I have been dating for 1 year, 3 months and 21 days (22 in 18 minutes). Haha that probably sounds really pathetic that I know that... but I remember tiny insignificant things like this. But yeah, he's definitely not perfect, because well, nobody is. But I love him, so he fits in the category for me I think.

It sounds like you had quite the lovely trip. I actually just got back from Europe myself, only my trip wasn't nearly as long as yours, haha. It only lasted two weeks. I wish that I could go for two months. Sorry to hear that it got cut short, but at least it sounds like you had a good time. I was lucky when I went to Spain two years ago with a tour group because the tour director got some sort of fast pass for Alhambra. But yeah, it was pretty crazy packed, but still beautiful. I must ask if you had the chance to go to Barcelona? Celia, sounds like you'll have quite the time on your trip. Hope that you have a good time! ~Mikie

My Spring Anthology piece "Falling Slowly" was in fact inspired by the song "Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansaard and Marketa Irglova. Lyrics: I don't know you But I want you All the more for that Words fall through me Always fool me And I can't react Games that never amount To more than their meant Will play themselves out Take this sinking boat And point it home We've still got time Raise your hopeful voice You had the choice You've made it now Falling Slowly Eyes that know me I can't go back Moods that take me And erase me And I'm painted black You have suffered enough And warred with yourself It's time that you won Take this sinking boat And point it home We've still got time Raise your hopeful voice You had the choice You've made it now Falling Slowly Sing your melody I'll sing along

Congrats!!! I'm very happy for both you guys and the state of California in general! Maybe more states might follow in suit? We can only hope... This is great news in the gay community. ~Mikie

Leona Lewis also has an amazing cover of "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", and her song "Here I Am" is also very romantic... When you need a place where you can run, When you need a shoulder to cry on I'll always be your friend When you need a shelter from the rain When you need a healer for the pain I will be there time and time again When you need someone to love you here I am "Killing Me Softly" happens to be the song on which I am basing on Summer Anthology entry (If I ever get it finished). It happens to be one of my favourite songs, but my favourite version I think is Eva Cassidy's. I wouldn't necessarily say that the song is romantic though... Some others: "Everything" by Michael Buble "Alone" by Heart, or any other reasonably good artist who covered it... "Your Song" by Elton John "Come What May" by Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor (not sure if I already mentioned it or not) "Now You Know" by Hillary Duff "I Drove All Night" by Celine Dion (I know Cindy Lauper did the original, but it's not as good to me)

I am currently reading the book in the Vampire Chronicles that comes before Queen of the Damned, aka The Vampire Lestat, as I finished reading Interview With The Vampire, which was a pretty amazing read in my opinion. I also appreciate Rice's so very interesting take on vampire life, including sexuality. I agree with any critic who claimed the book was "erotic" because that it was, and not in a dirty or bad way.

I totally agree with all three of those, especially "Crash and Burn", as I noted in my earlier post . Also by Lonestar is "Amazed" which is also a pretty romantic song. Not as powerfully romantic as "I'm Already There", but still pretty good romantic song. Even though for personal reasons I'm sick of the song, "Collide" by Howie Day is also pretty romantic, as is my current favourite song, "Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. I could go on, seriously. One thing I'm a sucker for is a good love song, so naturally I know way too many ~Mikie

So I have a lot of these... but I'll just name a few. "I Could Not Ask For More" by Edwin McCain "When You Say Nothing At All" by Alison Krauss "Come What May" by Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor Those songs by Savage Garden are pretty amazing too, even if they did break up, as is their song "Crash and Burn".

So without repeating everything that was said, all I'll say is AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Thank you to all who worked on the anthology!!! A big thanks to all who did the reviews and summaries!!! And an additional thank you to the editors and beta-readers!!! Last but certainly not least, thanks to all of the authors who submitted a story!!! ~Mikie

Congrats, Tiger!! Keep up the lurking

I will admit that I'm a little OCD, but at the same time I embrace organized chaos... Like my room is completely organized chaos... But when I was helping my friend move into her new apartment is was so funny because me and another friend were in charge of putting clothes in the closet... so we had to do it where long sleeved shirts were together, tank tops, short sleeves, &c... it's pretty funny. So yeah, a little bit of both... ~Mikie