GaryK

I am OC about my coffee. I buy small quantities of freshly roasted beans and keep them in an airtight container. I grind only as much as I need for three scoops. I have a Krups espresso maker. I use a measuring cup and only allow 150ml of water to flow before shutting of the machine. Two cups of finely granulated sugar gets added to the mix. I use a small electric mixer to stir the sugar so it completely dissolves. The foam always comes out perfect. I do this 4-5 times per day. In the morning caffeine invigorates me. After dark it calms me down. As for other beverages. I get spring water delivered in three gallon bottles that fit a standard water cooler. Except mine is not a cooler. It's ceramic and keeps the water at room temperature. I always have a small refillable bottle of water with me. My medical conditions require that I stay well hydrated. It's a pain cause I have to urinate about every two hours.

Please pardon my ignorance. How and why do you write male/male stories? I mean, what's your point of reference for male/male stories?

CJ and I have talked about possible sequels. I guessed what it might involve and I was right. I sure hope he follows through cause that was one hell of an action/adventure series and there's room for so much more.

Thankfully GA offers equal-opportunity relief.

Oh wow, I know the one you're thinking about. I can't remember the title either. I remember liking it a lot. I'll see what I can do to help you find it.

I would never even dream of doing something so disrespectful.

OK, the fist five make sense. But how do you expect me to sleep when I'm thinking about that hot and hung baseball player? I love baseball. Thinking about one of my favs waiting for me in my dreams would keep my mind so active I'd never get to sleep. I'd just be humping the sheets until something naughty happened. Maybe then I could get some sleep.

It was submitted for the anthology contest. Hopefully it will be published. I think it's safe to say I'll be working with Tim for as long as he can tolerate me.

I cannot comment on the specifics of the story. The best I can do is tell you it dealt with a subject matter I was intimately familiar with and parts of it hit way too close to home. At first I cursed Tim for putting me through that. Then I sought advice from Kevin and he was a huge help. Once I realized the story had the exact impact Tim intended I was able to ask his forgiveness, discuss it, offered to continue with my assignment, and completed it quickly. I hope that's what you were looking for.

Plead all you want. It'll do you as much good as as pleading innocent to writing evil cliffhangers.

Beta-reading is part of the process at GA. It helps give the author feedback as each chapter or each story is developing. It hopefully provides continuity, consistency and adherence to the plot. The editor's job is equally important and in many ways editing and beta-reading duties overlap. I like to think of us as a team that makes sure the author turns out the best possible stories. Stories that not only make for a great read but also have the professional polish only an editor can provide. ADDED: Rose, just start by writing about your coffee habits. You'll have a popular thread in no time at all.

We've been through this too many times Tim. The dismay was well worth it in the end. This is a story people need to read no matter how difficult the subject matter might be. You'll enlighten a lot of people and you will kick ass in the contest. I know it's not easy to lie awake at night. But you have so much to say I think it's worth it as long as you keep your stress levels under control.

I think it would make for a great topic. I'm so fussy about how I prepare my coffee people will probably think I'm weird. To your beta-reader's dismay too. According to the timestamp my last beta-read of your upcoming short story was well after midnight. And it was one hell of stressful read too due to the subject matter!

Would that be the delightful 21 year old?

Here in Miami I can watch the Haitian channels in Kreyol. I don't have a clue what they're saying so I usually mute the volume and turn up the iPod. Works better than any sleeping pill, LOL.

It's not OT Rose. Not IMO anyway. Benji, there is always something boring to watch on TV. Just try and infomercial, LOL. Tris, too may years of fun stuff like rock climbing (and falling) have taken it's toll on my body. I have to stick to brisk walks. Usually just before bedtime. It works wonders to get of most of the stress from a day of sitting at a keyboard. I'm glad you can still run.

I hope you've got sugar. I once tried an espresso aka Cuban Coffee here in Miami with no sugar. Man was it awful. My brother-in-law actually prefers it that way. The office manager has to pour off some coffee just for Mitch before she adds massive amounts of sugar for everyone else. Down here we live on caffeine and sugar. Except for my weird bro-in-law/best friend/financial adviser. Did your headache arrive before or after your brief sleep? I ask that because I get migraines, and my neurologist suggests some Cuban Coffee if I catch the migraine in enough time to keep the coffee down. Otherwise it's Maxalt, a migraine medication that dissolves under your tongue.

This wasn't really fitful sleeping. It was basically no sleeping. The brain never shut down long enough for true sleep. I go through the fitful sleeping thing occasionally too. It's a bitch the next day. What usually causes your fitful nights? Stressing over something? I'm fairly wide awake and full of energy right now. Who knows though. Maybe I'll crash around lunchtime and wake up in time for supper.

I stayed up way past my bedtime last night. Well, this morning actually. It's all BK's fault! Somewhere around 4:30 AM Eastern US. When I finally made it to bed I had to listen to my favorite tech podcast of the week, TWiT, which comes out around 3:00 AM Eastern Time US. I fell asleep somewhere in the middle of it but woke up quickly cause my brain noticed the lack of sound. So I rolled the iPod back to where I thought I'd left off and listened to the rest of it. Then I caught up on two episodes of The Daily Giz Wiz. By that time it was around 8:00 AM and I was awake for the day. Rolled out of bed in my pre-coffee haze, ground some beans, made a double-espresso, and now here I am posting when I should be sleeping. Has anyone else ever been there and done that?

SEO is one of the things I do for a living so I know how to tickle Ms. Google to get her to give up her secrets. I spent nearly 30 minutes trying all kinds of keyword combos to no avail. Maybe you can provide some more pertinent details?

I like Joe a lot. Same with Myr. Hell, same with everyone I've met here so far. You do know your continues replies are keeping me awake.

By radio do you mean something like what AD does? Whatever you decide my programming talents might be of some help. I've already written software for one online radio station where u could listen and/or buy. That was for Badpuppy. And it was so successful the bandwidth costs killed the project. Not enough people made purchases to make the ROI worth it. Count me in on this project if you go ahead with it. I'm sure I can find something useful to contribute.

Tristan, I love listening to audiobooks. I subscribe to audible.com and listen to several books a month. I know their stuff has DRM on it, but my subscription also helps benefit my favorite podcasting network so I'm alright with it. Anyway, a lot depends on what type of story I'm listening to. Murder on the Orient Express was an awful listen even though the narrator was superb. The book was much better. A Brief History of Nearly Everything was a wonderful listen. Same thing for The Night Listener. Both were perfect for listening to and the narration was superb. Armistead Maupin himself did the narration for The Night Listener. Graeme, I'm going to try listening to one of your stories on my iPod and see how it goes. Thanks for making this possible. Tris, what you're proposing would indeed be a huge undertaking. If not done well it would be a failure. To do it right would be expensive what with the professional recording studio, good quality narrator(s), and mostly lots of time and even more bandwidth. I don't see how something like this could be done without charging for it.

I have a feeling Myr would want me to contact Joe. I'll find out when he'll be back and take care of it then. Hopefully he'll be agreeable to it. Thanks again guys.

Tristan, thanks for taking the time and giving of your bandwidth so we could hear this moving message with a bit more clarity. Sure wish he'd done a mic level check first. Still, I was able to understand enough of what he said to appreciate that this was a very smart young man who spoke up in a way we can all be proud of.