W_L

Well Spain won, as expected. Oh well, I'll just eat my Fettuccine with homemade spicy Alfredo sauce in sadness.

Happy Birthday Canada, I love your forests, maple syrup, and hot guys Long live the Maple leaf!

After being to Europe and comparing the train systems between Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium with the US, I do wonder why the US train travel is so lackluster for travel beyond 2-3 hours. I mean, technologically speaking, it's not like the US can't do the same things and not all the European trains were running on the high speed rails that we all hear about. They were standard rail systems with electric or diesel engines. I also get that the US is more dependent on automobiles and buses for transport, but it becomes such a hassle to get from one place to another if you can't drive like me and biking is not an option. Buses are becoming overburdened with passengers due to the lack of auto access as well, probably due to the problem of auto financing and the general economic recovery issues. Even with the problems of passenger loads and congestion, we're still running a really inefficient internal infrastructure. Then, there's the airplane, it's gotten better in the last 4 years, but the mode of transportation is also getting more limited. I used to visit my cousins in Flint, Michigan with a major carrier, US Airways, but the route got discontinued. So I have to pay for a small passenger plane that looks like it was made in the 1950's to get to their airport. It's crowded and holds probably 30-40 people with no room for luggage. Carry-on options are limited already as you travel on long trips, it just forces you to sit down and have a 30 lb roller on your lap. Travel in the US is very inefficient and costly, but it doesn't need to be that way. It's not a political issue, nor economic one (Europe has state owned rail systems, running efficiently + huge profits like DB in Germany made 1.3 Billion Euros alone in net profits, and the US used to have better operational efficiency in the past). I am just unsatisfied with how the transportation system within the US is operating.

Forgot about wrestling, but why can't they do Greco-Roman Wrestling style without the singlets for authenticity

This is really sad, if I were in his place and lost the love of my life, then basically had my love non-existent by his parents, I wouldn't know what I'd do. In many ways, I am a conservative, but I am also a forward thinker, who sees the problems of tomorrow. I was researching this stuff almost a year ago for my anthology story about the "locked-in" syndrome gay guy and the issues involving the legal rights of partners. There's nothing fictional about the issues as even distant family members have more power over a person than their partner of many years. In death, the issues are even worse as the family may take half of the shared assets of the two, basically devastating the surviving partner in a legal coup. As there is no legal recognition of marriage, shared accounts and mortgages could be treated as joint business venture between two people. If you don't set up wills, then your family can perform a "succession of interest" in the estate depending on state law. Guys, if you and your partner have not set up wills or talked about death/end of life issues, I highly recommend you do it.

I don't know, I like all the events listed, but I sometimes catch the fencing, too. Something about swordplay, even though no one ever uses it anymore with the invention of the gun and the "Miracle blade" that can cut through steel and still chop vegetables (Made in China ) .

Darn, I cursed Germany with my statistical knowledge of futbol, shit! I am going to have to go into witness protection Spain v. Italy, It looks like Spain should win it all, but I am rooting for Italy, just because they're so cute and I like pasta.

Knew it would happen sooner or later, with the announcement of the first cybernetic implants with controls over machines, we will become one! http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303640104577436601227923924.html

The original and chain of memories, Sora and Riku are so cute together I liked having Goofy as a sidekick

I don't like to give bad reviews unless there is really a piece of the story that I find offensive or was so poorly written that you need to kill it before it eats your brain. Editors are usually the best critics in my opinion, they are fun to talk to and bounce ideas off. They don't hold anything back either as they have nothing to be worried about from open criticism. I know my stories are imperfect, but one thing that sets me out is that I don't like to stick to one style even if readers respond positively to a certain way of writing. I know the feeling is that if "they like it why change it" mentality probably covers a good portion of writers. We don't get many reviews to start with, so it becomes a grind to write for people, who are your fans as they demand one kind of story type with the same characters and same plots. .I'd personally rather write for the story rather than for sycophantic fans to be honest, because a writer, like an artist, must be true to their work, you can write a well reviewed and well received story, then keep writing the same thing over and over again to the delight of fans without criticism due to the lack of creative impulse from the base reader. However, there's no imagination in that type of writing, no creativity, and no real dynamic. You will not get boundary breaking writers, who can incorporate a third person narrative with stream of consciousness styles into new forms and style. About half the story here deal with similar topics of coming out,, if you read as many as I have you will probably identify all the key plot points from the "confused to exploration to love" genre story or the "I hate my life due to fear of exposition" story, just to name a few.

When I am in my really sad and self contemplating mood, usually during times when I write deep stories with existential themes. I think I get apathetic after a while of watching some sad movies, I used to cry every time I watch the notebook, but after like the hundredth time, I stopped. I still like it, but it has lost that magic. My current favorite is Dream boy, it's a gay themed movie set in the rural south (I understand Jamessavik a little better due to it), but the entire thing is emotional and the end becomes so sad.

Well, looks like a match up of Spain versus Germany. Actually, I heard from a friend that Germany for some reason usually has problems with Italy, whenever they are facing off. Is that true?

Wow, okay this is an economic discussion, so I am hoping and praying not get dragged into the Soapbox before my prohibited time Methodwriter, I agree with you on some points. The issue is a big one and statistically younger people around 18-35 are going on the unemployment rolls more often according to the BLS with the group also comprising a portion of the "not in workforce" population, people discouraged from work usually. It is a lot harder to find jobs that you were trained for than in the past as retirement is being pushed back with losses in investment saving accounts and issues with banks during the 2007-2008 Great Recession. Back in the 1980's, even with the S&L scandal, you never had so much money completely wiped out as you did during the recent economic turmoil. Gene Splicer has good points, too, the amount of community banks that defaulted made the government have to jump in to the rescue using the FDIC mechanism, which at that point only insured about $100K, a pittance for many retirees and near retirement age people. The true extent damage of the Great Recession was not only on the jobs lost, but on the jobs that cannot be lost as a result of lost savings. The trillions of dollars lost was not only in mortgages, but the hard working earnings of millions of Americans, who placed their money in savings accounts as well. While the lost on IRAs, 401Ks, and other retirement investment accounts are usually pointed to first, many people, who were scared of investment from the 1980's recession and 2000 dot com bust, lost their money just by saving it. As for opportunities in this dark age, I got several open positions right now, but you guys have to work long hours and handle a lot of crap at one of the Health Centers I oversee. When I tell people that I work in health care, most of them assume that I make big bucks; that's not true. Non-Profit health care is not supposed to be about making loads of cash if you're doing it right. Whatever money you make is meant to go into a reserve fund to weather financial storms. (There is a caveat, large health groups that use the non-profit exemption can make huge profits by leveraging their business on scale into price breaks and deals with insurers. It's why some non-profits can have multi-billion dollar balance sheets, while I am managing only several million. The IRS probably should enforce the provisions better, but they just don't have the manpower to do it.) I am not saying go work as a health care case worker, but those areas are open and require just minor certification and patience. You won't get bonuses, or get six figure salaries, it's probably around 35K a year at most, but you will at least be working. I offer people these jobs, hoping they understand that you must be realistic about the current environment and a degree in management or even finance means very little in the grand scheme of things. @Ash: I actually do go down to work with the guys below me and still sit at Board meetings Seriously, I know I am an exception to the rule, but I don't like sitting in an office all day having people give me numbers that hold no meaning. I like to go down the ground floor get in touch with supervisors to figure out where these numbers are coming from, how they're doing personally, and who they picked in the March madness pool. Probably, it's because I am a technical manager and not a "manager" manager with an MBA, I have a masters degree too, but I prefer wide specialization over control (My Myers-Briggs is ENTP, so accounting is already weird). Maybe, I'll be grumpier and meaner if I ever become a CFO, but as a Manager and Controller, I'm just your average geeky gay 25 year old.

Look out spidey, a zombie is after your ass!

Simple and direct, a story told throughout human history, but one that survives the ravages of time and generations as long as there is still reason to hide our true selves. You did it justice sid, be proud of your work.

Dark and intriguing, it makes you think about the potential of genetic science. Bill W., don't know if you follow my own take on this subject, but I think at the outset of this discovery, an underground movement will have to be formed. While gay, bisexuals, lesbians, and transgendered people are usually portrayed as inferior, we do have scientists and researchers as well. If genetic testing becomes rampant, Anyway, I like the ideas and wished you could expand into a full blown story.

Good story, you had the spirit of Robert Frost's "Road Not Taken" down to a science in this short story about one small choice of courage triumphing over a lifetime of despair. Truly beautiful!

I can't wait to see them in their positions....that sounded so wrong I started liking the Olympics more, when I first saw the Hamm twins together. Man, I love gymnasts, swimmers, and really any cute guy with a not too overly muscular steroid body.

This was a good story, short and insightful, a good combination of thought and action.

Seriously, nothing happened today. I woke up, checked my emails, thanked people for wishing me happy birthday, then I watched a movie. No special party, no drinking games, no surprise inside a cake (I'd love to have that happen with a hot male stripper), and no real thrills. It was just me by my lonesome. Everyone is busy with their own lives, careers, and stuff. I am grateful to get happy birthdays, but I miss the old birthdays with actual parties and games., I guess I have grown up

Good story, told with a strange frame of reference that is unique and original to many other writers. Only a handful of people have tried stream of consciousness writing, believe me, I know it is hard to do. Is being camp right or wrong, I can't tell you. It's a provocative question about individuality or social norms. I hope Jeremy and Toby can make up and eventually figure this out; I identify with Toby, because I am kind of the really direct type, when it comes to relationships. Plus, I am also attracted to masculine guys

Thanks for all the birthday wishes, I like the hippo song

Agreed, I do need an editor, but you have to promise not to disappear on me after one story One of my greatest problems with editors is when I find a good one, they mysterious vanish from the face of the internet, never to be heard of again.

I love kittens, I used to pet sit a few cats. Best advice, be tender and show them affection, they'll return the favor. If you were closer, I'd probably ask if you were willing to part with one as I'd love to have a cat.

Originally, I had conceived The Phoenix on the Dragon Chair as an entry into the Anthology, but I thought nope, it's too complex and not many people will get the gangland references or chinese idioms I am introducing, let alone the concept of customs. The idea was shelved for Which Do You Want To Die. I know most readers see my writing as cerebral and deep, which it is and I usually go into that direction. However, I do have other interests, including Chinese triad crime fiction. I think it has something to do with the romantic nature of the Chinese portrayal of gangsters. The "virtuous gangster" has been in existence in my culture for over 500 years, representing the rebellious attribute of the peasantry and scholars, who dislike the non-virtuous nature of the ruling group. Well, I thought I would not get back to that story, but as you guys have heard from the last two days of my status updates, I had the itch to write it. So in 2 days time, I created a 5700 word story into the Universe of the Chinese Triads with a gay leader. It's an audacious effort and the underlying contrast that I am drawing with them is probably even more disturbing as I am using an idea that came to my mind about finance. What if you can create another market of financing that is large enough to and diverse enough to help the common man without the problem of Corporate structure, but still remain enforceable? After 2008, almost all the major community based banks or "retail" banks, also known legally as "Thrifts", had been taken over by larger corporate Banks, i.e. JP Morgan Chase took over Washington Mutual with $1.88 billion dollars for $300 billion dollars in assets. Many people are struggling to pay mortgages, loans, and credit card bills that they cannot keep at interest rates that make loan shark feel like they were being copied. The US federal government and other world government are doing nothing to help the common man with their problems. So I imagined that a low rate lender with strong community ties and a need to spread out would need to take over the missing spot that retail or local banks held. (The figure in the story is real, at its peak in 2006 according to the US OTS department, there was about $2 trillion dollars worth of assets in this industry, so there is definitely a real need and market). Make no mistake, what I am discussing in the story is money laundering, but it is a positive form of money laundering. I bet this is going to happen, if not already happening. As long as capital is slow to unwind, liquid asset holders will have the strongest influence, and I can't imagine a stronger liquid asset group than organized crime. Anyway, between the Chinese history of romantic gangster and my idea on a new shadow financial system forming, I am pretty tired from writing this story. Well, I will be reading the rest of the anthologies now.