W_L

I know, it's rude to bump your own thread (no rules against it on GA, but I've heard the internet etiquette), I will try to limit this to a handful of times just to keep the list up and the thread visible Songs: 1. All I want for Christmas is You- Joann414 2. I Saw Daddy/Mommy Kissing Santa Claus 3. There's No Place Like Home For The Holiday - Sasha Distan 4. It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year- Winged_Wolf Literature 5. A Christmas Carol 6. Masters of the Winter Solstice 7. One Candle 8. The Night Before Christmas- Aditus TV/Movies 9. Elf- Scotty94 10. Black Christmas - Thorn Wilde 11. Charlie Brown's Christmas 12.It's A Wonderful Life- W.L I've described my concept in my blog for my story based on "It's a Wonderful Life" as a corollary to the central question of Capra's movie in inverse nature, "How much is a life worth, when it has affected others so negatively?". The story will center around a recently "outed" pastor, who many people might be happy to see die in our community and his "former" group.

On another note, Yang, your cynicism is sort of sexy Some days, you just wonder how screwed up the world is and realize that the world is not screwed up, but you are for thinking that it can be better. After the cold war, kids that grew up in the 90's enjoyed unparalleled freedom and hope. We had unlimited prospects in front of us with new technology like the Internet and new discoveries from the human genome project. Now look where we are, a new global war against an ideological and cultural foe that may never end, an economic recovery that is uneven and uncertain, and people acting crazier and crazier every day with their actions. You can die watching a movie, going to the mall, flying on a plane, or even just walking on the sidewalk. We are cynical today, because human life has dropped in value and meaning from where it was in the 1960's.

Kyle sounds like a good kid and I am glad you guys are paying attention to the bullying. As for those kids, someone should talk to them about their behavior.

My generation and by extension Yang's generation are cynical about life. We grew up with a lot of promises about technology and futures, then we were left out in the cold. The current generation of young adults are not less patriotic or sensitive than the generations of JFK and FDR, but we embrace our cynicism and disdain for realities much more than earlier generations. People in the past were shocked inhumanity; today, we are expecting the next the shoe to drop and merely laugh at it, because the world is a sad and horrific place where people die for no other reason than being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I know, it's been only two weeks, but I had to stop writing as I wanted to create a few degrees of separation between my fiction and my dream world. I have stopped dreaming about President Obama's assassination, which is a relief (Unless, it comes true, but I am not Christopher Walken ) Today marks the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination, so I will give the man his due and a moment of silence as a fellow New Englander... Writing As for my writing schedule, Causality will probably get another chapter next week, but I want to focus my work and energy on my interpretation of "It's a Wonderful Life", Frank Capra did a great job talking about average Americans trying their best during the Great Depression to get by. We are in another economic downturn with many people still unemployed or underemployed. I want to focus on an average man in a setting that Gay writers are usually one dimensional about,Religious services. I know I will be writing a tight rope between staunch believers, Atheists, Agnostics, and gay guys that give a damn about that subject. However, during great times of turmoil and trial, people turn towards religion for solace and seek for guidance from a higher being. One thing many gay writers forget at times is that faith is not an evil monster, but it can be an oasis in a desert. The character in question will be a recently outed gay clergyman, who's life is on the downturn. Abandoned by his church, his friends, and his family, he contemplates the same thing that the titular character of "It's a Wonderful life" did, suicide. This guy is not someone GA members will like and may even want dead for all the harm he has done to others through his years doing "good work". However, that is the point, how much is a single life actually worth despite its negative impact on others? (I consider this a corollary question to the one posed by Capra) For long time followers and readers, I have love of parallels and inversion. I could have written about a gay teen facing alienation, bullying, and contemplating suicide, but it is a road much traveled by writers on here and elsewhere and merely copies Capra's famous movie. I want to do an original based on his work.

You know technically southern new hampshire is a suburb of Boston

What do South African or Australians think about the word "Fag"? I've seen Canadians use it in the American derogatory manner, but I wonder if still holds the old meaning in other english speaking country as Cigarette?

I want it that way, too!!!!!

It is fast pace satire on american standards. Its humor spawned off an entire generation of irreverent american movies with sexual and cultural themes like Orange County and even Eurotrip

"10 things" is not representative of all rom com, "looks over to a classic of our generation" American pie was raunchy, racy, and funny for all the right reasons.

I have also picked mine, I am going Capra, "It's a Wonderful Life" with a few twists (No, I am not going to do a "Trevor" or "teen suicide" story, there is already a lot of awareness on that. I want to go in another direction less developed and even less written in the gay community about people some of us might want to see dead. I am an unconventional writer ) So Far: Songs: 1. All I want for Christmas is You- Joann414 2. I Saw Daddy/Mommy Kissing Santa Claus 3. There's No Place Like Home For The Holiday - Sasha Distan 4. It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year- Winged_Wolf Literature 5. A Christmas Carol 6. Masters of the Winter Solstice 7. One Candle 8. The Night Before Christmas- Aditus TV/Movies 9. Elf- Scotty94 10. Black Christmas - Thorn Wilde 11. Charlie Brown's Christmas 12.It's A Wonderful Life- W.L

I was kind of glad riordan didn't hide the gay greek myths from readers, he opened that side to western homosexuality with good sense and subtle honesty about human nature.

Awesome sound!!! Da Vinci came up with a lot of interesting things that most ascribe to military use like helicopters, submarines, and tanks. However, like any renaissance man, he was an artist and a scholar first.

Looks like there's some steam in this engine: So Far: Songs: 1. All I want for Christmas is You- Joann414 2. I Saw Daddy/Mommy Kissing Santa Claus 3. There's No Place Like Home For The Holiday - Sasha Distan 4. It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year Literature 5. A Christmas Carol 6. Masters of the Winter Solstice 7. One Candle 8. The Night Before Christmas TV/Movies 9. Elf- Scotty94 10. Black Christmas - Thorn Wilde 11. Charlie Brown's Christmas 12.It's A Wonderful Life

Graeme, I love the Percy Jackson series and the Heroes of Olympus series, too. Fyi, if you haven't done so, I would suggest bringing up sexuality as a topic with your boys after they finish house of Hades, since a character opens up a big can of worms (Personally, I thought he was gay before all the other fangirls There was something about the geeky emo type ) I got into the stories, because I learned about ancient mythology from their original sources. I can read classical Latin and a little ancient Greek, but unlike Frank Zhang, I am not a son of Mars

Language is different with different regions and people. Queer is used for a all encompassing title, but it is also in certain context just a word for strange/not ordinary. Nothing wrong with Queer. Another more interesting derogatory word that I personally find the most fun is Fag. For the UK members, I wonder if "Fag" is derogatory or just a cigarette in majority context (that divided meaning in UK English and American English is weird). Still, it would be fun for a while to hear more people say, "can I bum a fag?" and the reply is, "Yes, you can."

You can use the original story or title as inspiration for your story. As I said, this should be fun for you and the readers. Black Christmas, both versions, was a slasher movie set around Christmas, but if you want to do something less dark or even more dark, like an evil Santa who brainwashes kids to be his elves and force them to work in his factory with candy canes laced with addictive drugs, be my guest (Aren't you glad I don't write horror )

So Far: Songs: 1. All I want for Christmas is You- Joann414 2. I Saw Daddy/Mommy Kissing Santa Claus 3. There's No Place Like Home For The Holiday 4. It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year Literature 5. A Christmas Carol 6. Masters of the Winter Solstice 7. One Candle 8. The Night Before Christmas TV/Movies 9. Elf- Scotty94 10. Black Christmas 11. Charlie Brown's Christmas 12.It's A Wonderful Life

I think the art piece is meant to be "penetrating" For some odd reason, I think ancient Asian sculptors have more works to lesbians than gay men. Poetry on the other hand do more for gay men than lesbians in the far east

Zombie, I knew you'd be a connoisseur of "High" Art I prefer this:

Looks over at Asia, porn being sold on the street and hooking being standard practice does not make us less liberal Singapore is probably the harshest country on standards though, but it's small compared to the roaring sex trade of india and other asian nations. Carnal pleasure is disliked, but unlike western nations, it is part of the social fabric.

I agree, we cling to what we know and fear to what we do not know. Social structure is filled with different cultures, because we try to place a set of identities on people, in order to define their behaviors. For people who live near the edge of this framework or outside of it, we consider it an alien culture. Human beings are extremely caught up in our own identity crisis; not just based on sexuality, but on everything from skin tone to use of either right/left hand. Social liberalism cannot eliminate this trait; it is innate and imbedded in how our minds function and how perceptions actually work.

I am Starting it: Okay ladies and Gentlemen, I might be a little late, but I do want to try this again: Also, as advised, I must state this is an unofficial Holiday Contest done by authors outside of GA admin, it is not being administrated by GA admins. I am listing 12 Items for the Holiday Story Themes that writers can use. Songs: 1. All I want for Christmas is You 2. I Saw Daddy/Mommy Kissing Santa Claus 3. There's No Place Like Home For The Holiday 4. It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year Literature 5. A Christmas Carol 6. Masters of the Winter Solstice-the link is broken, so I will give a general summary of the story as I know it. The emperor of China was building a brilliant tower for the Taoists Immortals during the Winter Solstice. The tower was nearly complete, so the Emperor conferred the title of "Master" to the mason. However, the carpenters said their wood work was also equal to the work of masons, which the Emperor agreed, so he conferred titles of masters onto them. So forth, other artisans ask for conference of titles, until the wives began to clamor for title. The Emperor and many other men balked at conferring titles to women, so the wives angrily stopped cooking, weaving, and cleaning from the artisan's homes. Without their wives to cook, weave, or clean, they stopped working. The Emperor, feeling the growing tension both among his artisans and in the Imperial Households, obliged and understood that women are not merely "masters" of a craft; they are the foundation of the empire. Their title was greater than any mere master. 7. One Candle 8. The Night Before Christmas TV/Movies 9. Elf 10. Black Christmas 11. Charlie Brown's Christmas 12.It's A Wonderful Life Writers are limited to one theme each Summary: Basically, I think we should have fun with our story writing. I want readers to enjoy various perspectives on classic Holiday songs, stories, and media adaptations. You should enjoy this as much as the readers and just have fun with the different interpretations on what these holidays mean to you. The limitation on this type of writing is based on themes and how you alone interpret it. You are unique in writing this. Format: No limits on words, all interpretations of the subject are accepted, i.e. haiku, poetry, short story, long form novella, and novels as long as you convey the theme. All Stories need to have: "Holiday Story Themes 2013: (Theme)" as it's title for easy search Deadline: December 23nd Prize: Yes, this part I wanted to add in. I will give a $50.00 Amazon Gift card after the readers choose their favorite story on a separate thread. So who wants to write!!!!

Okay ladies and Gentlemen, I might be a little late, but I do want to try this again: Also, as advised, I must state this is an unofficial Holiday Contest done by authors outside of GA admin, it is not being administrated by GA admins. I am listing 12 Items for the Holiday Story Themes that writers can use. Songs: 1. All I want for Christmas is You 2. I Saw Daddy/Mommy Kissing Santa Claus 3. There's No Place Like Home For The Holiday 4. It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year Literature 5. A Christmas Carol 6. Masters of the Winter Solstice- the link is broken, so I will give a general summary of the story as I know it. The emperor of China was building a brilliant tower for the Taoists Immortals during the Winter Solstice. The tower was nearly complete, so the Emperor conferred the title of "Master" to the mason. However, the carpenters said their wood work was also equal to the work of masons, which the Emperor agreed, so he conferred titles of masters onto them. So forth, other artisans ask for conference of titles, until the wives began to clamor for title. The Emperor and many other men balked at conferring titles to women, so the wives angrily stopped cooking, weaving, and cleaning from the artisan's homes. Without their wives to cook, weave, or clean, they stopped working. The Emperor, feeling the growing tension both among his artisans and in the Imperial Households, obliged and understood that women are not merely "masters" of a craft; they are the foundation of the empire. Their title was greater than any mere master. 7. One Candle 8. The Night Before Christmas TV/Movies 9. Elf 10. Black Christmas 11. Charlie Brown's Christmas 12.It's A Wonderful Life Writers are limited to one theme each Summary: Basically, I think we should have fun with our story writing. I want readers to enjoy various perspectives on classic Holiday songs, stories, and media adaptations. You should enjoy this as much as the readers and just have fun with the different interpretations on what these holidays mean to you. The limitation on this type of writing is based on themes and how you alone interpret it. You are unique in writing this. Format: No limits on words, all interpretations of the subject are accepted, i.e. haiku, poetry, short story, long form novella, and novels as long as you convey the theme. All Stories need to have: "Holiday Story Themes 2013: (Theme)" as it's title for easy search Deadline: December 23nd Prize: Yes, this part I wanted to add in. I will give a $50.00 Amazon Gift card after the readers choose their favorite story on a separate thread. So who wants to write!!!!

It's accurate though why change it? My mac defines it the same, but it is not a real issue. Besides urban dictionary is far more offensive