sungod

I notice that there are two gods attending, Shadowgod and me. I'm sure you can count on us for an appropriate blessing. sungod :nuke:

There's a book by Roger Highfield, The Science of Harry Potter: How Magic Really Works that's amusing and interesting. It was written in 2002, so some of the magicks in the later HP books aren't covered, like the Patronus. sungod

I'm too old and crotchety to start spelling words differently than how I learned in elementary school. Color it is. sungod

Colin, I'm both flattered and a little embarrassed to be called one of your heroes. No one has ever called me a hero before. I'm not sure how I can live up to that title, I'm not sure what the duties of a hero are supposed to be. Good grief, I just realized that I don't even have a cape! How can I be a hero, a caped crusader, if I don't have a cape? sungod

Thank you for your correction! Apology accepted, and the cause of the error is understood. I know it must be difficult to type with those lovely hoofs of yours when those little keys are so... little, and are so... close together. sungod

Them's fightin' words, Mister James! Take 'em back, or suffer the consequences! sungod

When you get to be my age, birthdays become very important. Critical, in fact! sungod

Ah, but Michael could enable that in Brandon if necessary, can't he? sungod

Time for a bit of a contrarian position. Whether you are accepted, or at worst tolerated, as a LGBT person, depends on where you live in the U.S. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is a very accepting area for us. I am 100% in agreement with the problems that rknapp itemizes in his post above. Hopefully we'll have a change in the near future and we'll get beyond the war being perpetrated on non-heterosexuals by those with an anti-gay agenda of hate. In the meantime, we have to stand up in opposition of those who are the spawn of the devil (I love to use some of their rhetoric against that group -- we should do more of that, in my opinion.) sungod

This is a wonderful story. It's also wonderful that the world is changing, albeit slowly. The teens on this site should be finding that expressing their sexuality is not what it was for Loraine Barr and her partner of 44 years. Nor was it for me and my partner. We've known each other for 49 years, since we met in college. and we've been life partners living together for the past 36 years, since 1971. Are we out? Yes, to anyone who asks. We don't think that it's important to advertise our relationship. But all of our friends, who are almost all straight couples, know. It was easier for us than it was for Loraine Barr and her partner. We were born 20 years after Loraine, and that relatively short additional amount time is what made it easier. Imagine how much easier it is today! It might not seem so, but from our perspective it's like the difference between darkness and light. We're registered domestic partners in California. We have had productive working lives, in organizations that were and are accepting of whatever the sexuality that their employees might have. I was able to add my partner to my company medical plan when he was no longer able to work due to an illness. Now we're retired, and enjoying that part of our lives. The others who posted on this topic prior to this post are from 17 to 23 years old. Just think! When they are my age, 68 years old, from 45 to 51 years from now, they can anticipate something that we all aspire to have: acceptance. I think it will come for them! For YOU! Just continue to good fight, and press for your rights, and for acceptance, always. And good luck! sungod

Here are two additional suggestions: Shadow Puppets I think this one's sort of cute. We, Shadowgod's readers, are his puppets as he wiles us with his tales. (Wile is defined as: A stratagem or trick intended to deceive or ensnare. Right on, 'eh?) Shades Using all of these definitions: A slight difference or variation; a nuance: shades of meaning Dark shadows gathering at dusk A present reminder of a person or situation in the past: A disembodied spirit; a ghost All of which fit the stories that Shadowgod writes. sungod

I think the most important part of the editorial is this comment: He

We just saw "Hairspray." It's very, laugh-out-loud funny, and is a musical that makes it a better choice as a summer movie for us. Of the movies that I've seen, it would get my vote for the best of summer. I want to see Super Bad, it looks like it will be rude, crude, and hilarious. We try to avoid bad movies, and mostly we've been lucky. We haven't seen any bad summer movies, we use the negative opinions of friends who told us about quite a few of them they say were bad. The most disappointing move I've seen this summer was "Death at a Funeral." It had very positive reviews, but in my opinion didn't live up to them, it's just OK. Save your $$ and wait until it's on cable or DVD. As a rule we don't usually see many summer movies. This year there seem to be quite a few that are very good. "Harry Potter 5" and "The Bourne Ultimatum" are others that we enjoyed, but not quite as much as "Hairspray" My partner and I almost always go to the movies together. We've know each other for 49 years and have been living together as partners for 36 years, so I don't have to go looking for someone to take to the movies. [happy grin] We sometimes go to movies when we're on vacation, but that's usually in the fall and winter, not the summer. We usually stay around home in the summer. sungod

Hey, Old Bob, I visited Switzerland once and would love to go back some day. I was in Zurich and Lucerne on business, and had time to do some sightseeing in the Alps. Wonderful! One of the things I remember about Zurich is all of the palm trees growing along the avenues. It surprised me, I wouldn't have thought that palm trees would be able to survive the Zurich winters. There was an amusing incident that happened one evening in Zurich. My business host was showing me the old town section and we were walking on one of the streets that was closed to cars. There were a large number of people walking and riding bikes. Suddenly, I was bumped in the back of my leg by the tire of someone on a bike. I was a little pissed, with all of the room why did someone run into me? I turned, and there was a guy on a bike grinning at me. It was my next-door neighbor from Orinda, California. He was on vacation with his wife who was also on a bike next to him. They left after I had, so I never heard about their snap decision to take a trip to Switzerland. He said that he recognized me from the rear. Or the back. Or something like that. It was pretty funny. We all went bar-hopping with my business host being the tour guide, and had a great time. sungod

I'm definitely going, considering I live a relatively short BART ride from downtown SF. sungod

No, we're not considered a Yankee state. We're a Pacific Coast (or Left Coast, both work just fine) state. sungod

The proctologist: Damn! Did I leave something in there last time? sungod

In my home town, in the SF East Bay area, the highs are in the low to mid 90's this week. Not the 100+ that you two are having, though. Last year we had a couple of weeks of 100+ heat with record highs including 111, 113, and 115 during one week. That's too hot, but I'm still here so, I didn't melt! sungod

I didn't eat soy when I was little and growing up, soy products just weren't available. This was true through my high school years, including when I was in the 7th grade and determined that I was gay. Now that I'm older and wiser, I eat soy, both tofu (which I love) and endamame (salted soybeans in the pod), and probably a lot of soy in common products that include soy as a filler. I guess this helps keep me gay, which is just fine by me! sungod

I live in the USA, in California, in central Contra Costa County which is east of San Francisco. Our weather here is VERY different than San Francisco. It's a lot hotter here in the summer, and a lot colder here in the winter, even though we're only 23 miles from downtown San Francisco. I live in a small-to-medium size city of about 64,000 people, in a heavily populated suburban area where you can't tell where one city ends and the next starts. Our advantage is that we have a huge amount of open space and parks in the city and surrounding area. I'm an outdoors kind of person, and this is the perfect place for me to live. Unless it's raining, I try to walk and hike at least 30 to 50 miles each week. I can do that without having to get in a car or on public transit. I can walk directly from my home in almost any direction and be in open countryside in about a half hour. If I had to move to some other country, it would be to Canada, British Columbia specifically, preferably to North Vancouver, or perhaps to Vancouver itself. sungod

"Let the Music Play" is a great story. I love Brandon, he's such an innocent, he's so clueless. Gabe's about to get his, and I hope we learn why he has it in for Brandon in chapter 5. sungod

When Matt went to Jacob's room to paint the mural, and his conversation with Dan. Then when Matt led Jacob into his bedroom and he saw the mural. No way to pick between Jacob and Matt, so it's both of them. I'm not certain that I understand what you're asking here. If you mean which character I would rather be, it would be Matt. sungod

I should be in the "Yes, I'm coming" group. Someone asked about the weather. Here's what Wikipedia has to say about it in general: "Winters are mild, with daytime highs near 60

No, I've never even seen an mr game or watch, that's from a long way back... Do you own any or all of the volumes of the Myst PC game series? sungod

I've been reading and following "Living in Surreality" and loved all of the characters (except the villans). It's too bad that Steve precluded a sequel. It could have been "Living in Juxtaposition," the story of Jacob, Matt, and Val as they all go to different colleges, and Steve could compare and contrast what happens with them (the "juxtaposition" part). For example, why did Jacob become a firefighter? And lots more. Oh, well, I guess that's not going to happen. Or is it, Steve? sungod