NaperVic

Happy 24th Birthday Greg!!!!!! I hope you and your hot self have a great day!

You're scaring the poor boy away. I was attempting to show that in matters of relationships, it's usually the GA member who is in the right and the BF who's side we haven't heard from is in the wrong. Take Care®, Vic (Who is not turning over every stone in search of a new BF)

I'd suggest getting a third person to do a sniff test to verify. We had a friend who swore he didn't smell anything except his deodorant when he'd sniff under his arm, but we all smelled body odor . For some people, they are so used to their own scent (better yet immune to their own scent) that they don't realize that others smell B.O. Take Care® & smell fresh, Vic

Welcome to GA Joel! Hopefully you'll find some good advise and definitely some good stories here. One thing I really like is that we have a wide range of ages and perspectives. I'm always pleasantly surprised about some of the good advice our teens and younger set provide. BTW, you're right and your BF is wrong . Take Care, Vic

Hi Gary, This strikes me as odd. Are you saying that you rate stories and whether you'd continue to read them based off of how and whether an author replies to your feedback? I guess I see the stories and how an author interacts with their readers as two separate entities. Like Jan, if a story is good, I'll continue to read it. It doesn't matter to me if the author is an engaging one or not. Heck, the author could be a conceited SOB but if the story is good, it's good If an author is a nice guy and one of his/her stories isn't interesting to me, I won't continue to read it. Regards, Vic

What The...? You know, when I see someone do something stupid I think 'Natural Selection will get them', but these bozo's are breeding!

Happy 31st Birthday Viv!!! Hope you have a great day and a great year!

I could have sworn Robbie said he was going to be single forever! huh! Congrats to you both

It's Robbie?

Thanks for the added insight and thank you for your story. It was very moving We can only hope that Cassidy is able to move on and find some peace after all these years.

I have to agree with old bob. Not all authors appreciate/need the thanks for your story notes. The reader feedback issue is an age old story . I think this thread gives suggestions for a few types of authors, but some of the suggestions are simplistic and don't address the feedback needs of the varied spectrum of authors we have here (as well as all over the net). As readers, we must be cautious and try to understand the feedback needs of the particular author before we proceed to give feedback. For some authors, I don't want to bother them because I know that they're good about responding to every email and don't want them to waste their writing time on responding to me. For others, it's difficult to put into words what might be considered a criticism. I don't want to offend an author, piss them off, or discourage them. Some authors like public feedback (posts in threads/yahoo groups/discussion forums) and some like private emails. But anyhow, each author has a different type of feedback need. Just shooting from the hip, you have these types of authors: [tongue planted in cheek] - No Feedback

I haven't read his recent offerings, but I bought this first book (Hardcover) just about when it came out. Initially I purchased it because he was a gay author and I wanted to support him, but like Jamie, I read it in one sitting.

Happy 18th Birthday!!!!! Welcome to adulthood

Not all of us turn into sex addicts!

Ohhh, I voted for Ross Perot when he ran for President. Perot's two greatest impacts on the 1992 election were 1) Siphoning enough votes away from Bush I to allow Clinton to win, and 2) Making the budget deficit such an important issue.

I either go rollerblading or biking. I find it helps to go as far as you can physically go, and then you have to turn around and make the return trip. Having to focus on breathing and muscle pain makes me forget what was bringing me down.

Though my experience is no where near as dramatic as Menzo's tale, I can draw enough parallels to my own to make it hit home. For me this story elicited such a strong reaction because I've been in Rob's shoes. And I have zero sympathy for Sam because I'm channeling all the anger I have towards my Ex to Sam. Thanks again Menzo for sharing.

If both parties enter into the relationship with that expectation, then I don't see a problem with it. However, if you enter into a relationship with this expectation, knowing that you might bail out when something better comes along, how fair is it to the other party who fully committed? You my friend scare the bajesus out of many of us looking for relationships Vic (who uses the word friend sincerely )

Agreed, Sam did love Rob, but he didn't love Rob. Love in the passionate sense that Sam felt for Jonah....Rob was a 'Seth'...loyal, dependable, comfortable, nuturing...But Sam's passion was for Jonah.

You're in good company. Many of us are still holding out hope...it's the only thing we have left :wacko: . Take Care®, Vic

Apparently, you are While I can sympathize with Sam for being torn and wanting things to work with Jonah, it was extremely selfish of him to expect Rob to be there for him. Sam didn't love Rob, Sam used Rob to try to fill the emptyness that Jonah left in Sam. It wouldn't have been fair to Rob for Sam to return and take him back...luckily Rob new that too and made the right decision for both of them. Sam deserved what he got. Hopefully he'll live a lonely life regretting his mistakes. P.S. - Good story, I really enjoyed it.

I noticed it and enjoyed it very much!

When did birthday's start to suck? I don't know what year it was, maybe when I turned 30? Well, they definitely suck now at 40 . It didn't help when a good friend of mine said "Honey, I hate to tell you this but 40 was the worst. I went through a six month depression." Luckily he seemed to survive pretty well because he's 64 now. I figure I just have to make it through this year by doing my best to fight aging. I started by going on a 50 mile bike ride on the day after my birthday. I finally broke down and bought some cycle shoes and new pedals to snap them into (SPDI I think). I usually only ride about 16-20 miles, but with the new shoes, and my consistent attendance at Spin class, I figured I could push myself to do 50. Although my ass, palms, & calves hurt, I managed to complete the 50 miles in about 3 hours of riding time with 3 10 minute breaks. I rode from about 9:00am until 12:30 while it wasn't terrible hot, but I still managed a decent tan. I was pretty proud of myself for completing the ride and while I was still in the mood to fight aging, I ended up going to Spin class at the gym for another hour of cycling. That in hindsight was stupid (but who said I was being smart ). My calves were killing me throughout the class and I sweated up a storm from the first couple of minutes. 1 hour of spin class probably added up to about 16 miles of riding, so I ended up doing the equivalent of about 66 miles of riding that day. Oh about those cycle shoes. Scary little f*ckers they are. I managed not to fall the first 3 or 4 rides, but today I fell...twice. The first time, I was trying to turn off the path onto a sidewalk (I've done this dozens of times) and I used to use my left foot for balance. Well, I 'forgot' that my foot was locked into the pedal. By the time I realized it, I was already going down...instinctively, I put my left had out and managed to land on my left palm. Ouch. I got back on my bike and started riding home (about 1 block away). I decided to get my shoes out of the pedals ahead of time (to prepare), but it seems that while resting my left foot on the pedal, it snapped in again. So by the time I got to my garage and tried putting my left foot out, once again it was stuck and I panicked and fell on the same left palm. Double ouch. My left palm is all sore and starting to turn blue/purple. It's going to look a nasty color by tomorrow morning. Who knew cycling would be so hard on the palms. Anywho, despite my palm injury, my goal by the end of this season is to do 100 miles so that I could do one of those century rides (maybe next year). I'm sure I'll find other ways to fight the 40s . Take Care®, Vic P.S. - I ended up not buying a truck. I think the way gas prices are running, it would be silly to have a gas guzzler like that.

Wow, the ultimate attention getter. Very interesting story, I liked.

Now I know why there hasn't been an update to Cross Currents in a while . I'll have to add that Cross Currents is one of my all time favourites (I think I've shamelessly promoted it in a couple other threads). Now I'll have to start reading It Started with Brian. Take Care®, Vic