Mark Arbour

Wow. Sharon was simply hoping he got hit by a bus.

Thanks! It was a pretty scary time! This was, and is, one of my favorite CAP stories.

Drastically wrong: probably. Besides, as I mentioned before, just because he gets a girl pregnant ( a big assumption there) doesn't mean the girl has to have the baby. To be honest, I have thought that Will may have a heterosexual moment or two. To me, that seems pretty realistic. But I didn't really contemplate that a pregnancy would ensue. That just seems to contrived. Then again...

That's because I'm no longer allowed to smite people at regular intervals.

I'm on the other side of the table, so I'll give you my perspective. You should get valid feedback from your prof, because you're supposed to be able to use that to improve. That's not optional, and it's not negotiable. However, hearing someone whine about their grade is entirely different. In her opinion, you did C- work, and that's what she gave you. The discussion is about what you do to improve, not that you deserved a better grade. You have another twist on this, since it's an online course, so I don't know if that means a face-to-face meeting is even possible. You'd probably get more info from her via e-mail. I'm assuming she uses turnitin? If so, didn't she give you feedback on your paper? Comments and the like. Two other thoughts. First, I don't know which school you go to, but going up the ladder is most likely going to be useless at most institutions, especially if it's a Research 1 university. What you can do is nail her on her evaluations at the end of the term (you do get to do those, I'm assuming). That gives her feedback, gives her bosses feedback, and if she's up for tenure, it goes in her file. The second thing is that before you take a class, you may want to look up your future profs on ratemyprofessors.com. It's incredibly invalid, because anyone can post anything on there, yet it seems to be remarkably accurate nonetheless. Do your fellow students a favor, and go there and post a review of this woman. They'll know to dodge her classes.

You know, one way to broach the topic is to tell him what you heard him say while he was sleeping. If you hit him square off with "Hey, are you gay?" he's probably going to freak out. But, if you warm him up to the topic first, maybe he'll react better. What he'll probably do is blow it off, and say that it had something to do with a dream and he doesn't remember any of it, but he'll know that you have your suspicions now, and it may just give him a nudge into opening up to you. If you want, you can even embellish and throw the other guy's name in there. "You said 'Hey Bill, I just want your dick. I love to suck it'." I don't know. Maybe a dumb idea. The line itself has me curious. It almost sounds like he's asking this guy (who I named Bill) for something he may not want to give up. He "just" wants to suck his dick. I'm wondering if that means that "Bill" doesn't want to do more than that, he's just trying to sound all sexy and romantic, or "Bill" thinks he wants more than to 'just' suck his dick?

Only if Sharon has her way.

I have nieces and nephews that are under 5...and I love them, but damn, they are a lot of work. There's a reason young people have babies.

Sorry. The muse has taken me to CAP lately. My time frees up a little bit in a week or so, and I'll try to bring George back to us.

Is there some reason it's a secret? (It's February 22). This icon looks more "birthday party" than "wizard".

Just because a girl gets pregnant doesn't mean she has to have the baby.

Didn't I tell you that we'd met Tiffany's father before? If not, I'll refer you to Be Rad.

That Pink song was a really good pick. It has that "bitchy lesbian" feel to it. *ducks*

I hear you. I can see that.

You like them warm and fuzzy? You're going to be an unhappy camper for at least a while. I think that Brad will have a challenge with Elizabeth Danfield.

What a fascinating analysis of how these guys think. I think, though, that unlike these other guys, Wade is less dependent on a partner for his strength. I think Brad is the most dependent, as if without Robbie (or someone else there) he's floundering about like a ship without a rudder. JP, I think, needs a partner to provide that physical love and support that he transforms psychologically into a foundation. Wade really does seem independent; the kind of guy who could be on his own and be fine without a partner. I think that's become more apparent since he was able to work through the situation with his father. One of the reasons for that is that Wade is not willing to trust very freely. It would be easier for him to have multiple people in his life, while keeping them at a distance. Matt would, I think, be a huge exception for him in that regard. I think it would take a long time for him to trust someone at that level, and I don't think that he would have trusted Matt as much as he did if it weren't for the molestation issues they worked through.

Thanks. I think those lines sum up a lot of the issues we're dealing with. The report comes out in Chapter 3.

Glad you liked it! I think the Danfields (excluding Wade) have only one thing in mind: themselves (and power).

Not explosive...yet. ;-)

Thinking from Tiffany's perspective, she's probably in her room, slapping her forehead, and wondering what the fuck she got herself into.

I agree with pretty much everything you said, but especially about Westie being a genius. And we do know one thing about Tiffany's family.

A preview: Tiffany's past comes out in Chapter 3.

September 16, 2000 Malibu, CA Wade “Hungry?” Rosa asked me as I walked in the door. “Always,” I answered with a smile. I paused to look out the massive windows and take in the sight of the magnificent Malibu coast. There was no denying the beauty of this place, but the LA culture that came with it wasn’t really my thing. I guess I felt more comfortable in the Bay Area, with San Francisco as its crown jewel, than here in LA, with its glitzy plastic-surgery-modified people. I

Hope your mouth gets better! It's interesting that you mention Wade and Matt, and their relative attitudes toward their relationship. They have an agreement that they can mess around with other people, so "faithful" isn't really a good way to describe it. Matt needs other men, and Wade doesn't. I think that's starting to bother Wade more than it used to. "Wryly amused." I loved that.

Well put, Jeremy.