W_L

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.

The Phoenix on the Dragon Chair By W.L It was beautiful bright sunny day: birds were singing and children were running around the schoolyard waiting to return to their homes to the X-BOX in the living room. Yet beyond this Hallmark image of an ideal world, there lurks something beneath. Behind the schoolyard, a solitary building, a small wooden bungalow, sat awaiting guests. Shrouded men with various bags and suitcases would come and go throughout the day, but this place was no ordinary place

A story about the Chinese Triads, including traditions, customs, and power struggles. This was originally an idea for the Anthology "Choices".

Video games are definitely art, the best video games have great stories, music, and scenery that combines the best of written, audio, and visual art into a higher form of interactive art. The first game I associate with art is Homeworld: Especially, this mission was the saddest thing I have played in any video game:

Actually, the posting thing to me seemed pretty natural. Whether it's facebook or youtube, kids just like putting their lives on display to get other people's attentions. (The kid, who posted this video, probably will make a good marketing executive or political campaigner. It's not really right or wrong to them, it's about acknowledgement from the world.) If you want a talking solution, without any threat or punishment associated (you can't stop the kid from going online or grounding them to their rooms as teenager, they'll just run off to their friends house), then you really got to first know your kids and acknowledge their problems, no matter how trivial or insignificant it is in reality. I don't think a talking solution will be effective for everyone as the concept of reason is still new to these kids and their rebellious instincts make it rather difficult to hold onto. A bit of discipline and reason should be used. or...you can use this approach: Brave New World, isn't it? I've seen a few parents take their kids out for walks like this.

"Two guys and a whip", sounds classy Whip it good boys! $578K is good amount of money, she should be able to retire properly with that. My family also has history of teaching, my grandmother and grandfather were both teachers during the Cultural revolution of China, so I do understand the bigger issue of over-relaxed tendencies against tighter discipline and rules. Respect can be earned, but a threat is also necessary to enforce it. The strength of threats from adults in today's society is no longer as strong as it used to be. Back in your parent's days Tim, a teacher using a ruler to student's forearm was not out of order. Today, it's a multimillion dollar lawsuit and a media circus. I am not saying that teachers should be allowed to discipline the kids in that manner, but I would relax the restriction against parents from doing it in their own homes without fear of Social Services deeming it child abuse; there are real cases of abuse and there are cases of overreaction due to society's heightened fears. You should not be beating your kids to the point of death, nor can you let them get away with behavior that would be destructive to others. Teachers can send letters and notices home for disciplinary action, but as long as there is no enforcement rules other than a mark or two on these kids' permanent record, which almost no one looks at outside of school systems, what enforcement provision do you really have? Also, I do wonder about the differences between inner city public schools, suburban public school, magnet public schools, and other divisions. I come from a magnet school background, so I have different experience than a kid from an inner city school. My best friend from elementary school went through the system as well, but he did not end up at a magnet school, he ended up never graduating and just took a job at CVS, been trying to get him to at least go back to community college.

Myr made my point for me a few post up, I think there's a serious problem with the policies that a school district establishes and the enforcement of rules. I can understand that teachers and bus monitors in particular cannot seriously enforce discipline on kids with the huge legal battles and bias in the media. Even parents are now on a short watch, when I was a kid, my dad had whacked me on my hands for stealing some candy, a girl called the police. Seriously, I did something wrong, but if I were punished, then it is the adults at fault. If adults cannot enforce the discipline, then what is holding back kid's from bullying them or bullying each other? If there is a logic to human actions, it is that cruelty is essentially part of our basic nature. There is no such thing as "true" Tabula Rasa or the "blank slate", all human beings are born with innate desires along with innate potential. We can rise above it through education, effort, and effective management, but unless some one can enforce discipline, then chaos will ensue. I feel bad for the woman and disagree with Tim on enforcement grounds; she can't forcefully discipline a child without raising hell in today's society, where "think of the Children" mantra from the 1970's has become a living message. (Funny thing, since the same woman, who made that stance was advocating it against gay people as evil and perverting youths.) Well Cia, I hope you're right and this will not get pushed into the Soapbox with me joining the fray.

Ooh! Which one do you use?

No one shall survive my infinitely spawning swarms of zergs I wish the protoss had a time dilation unit that freeze an area of the map as a super weapon, but there is still one more expansion.

Yes, we're only in the mid 90's, Lacey come back home, Boston misses you.

Seriously, what is you favorite app of the moment? I am getting hooked to Magic Piano right now: Anyone else?

Believe me, I had three cups of coffee and a shot of espresso at the Watergate coffee shop before I met up with Cassie. I am not usually that discombobulated, unless it's tax season. As Cassie can tell you, the first thought, when we met was me correcting her about the floor and levels of the hotels on the elevator. PS: thanks Cassie for not thinking I was too weird with my number crunching; it's just due to the lack of sleep and coffee.

Y_B don't pull a Sandusky (that will be probably adopted as a phrase knowing how media hype has made it) GA though still has standards and controls from its founders and leaders. I think Cia's kids, once they are old enough, could join and meet her crazy fellow GA writers and readers. Most of us are decent people, we have our fights and disagreements, but at the heart of it, we are sort of a hybrid between social network and a support group, like an AA for gay writers and readers I hate to say bad things about other people's sites, but another "alternative story site" had relaxed its rules in the past and unleashed a huge deluge of issues. They used to have a lot of good stories and authors with a good support system youths, too. I think most GA authors know the site I am talking about and their chat rooms.

I feel old, now. I never heard of Habbo either. Back in my teenage years, I was most active on Neopets (if there are other neotopians around can you check if my pet is dead yet, I stopped feeding him in college like 4 years ago ) I think in any community, there will be a risk, but there is only so much we can do. In the end, once a kid has hit the age of curiosity, you probably should sit them down and tell them about some facts of life, before they discover it from a website with a flash video.

Weeps... I have a soft spot for gay thinkers, from Da Vinci to Turing, the world we know today was born of great minds, who had seen decades and even centuries beyond their time. Maybe one day, we will create an AI, but I don't think human beings will treat them any better than their creative father .

Stupid Microsoft is trying to steal a unique feature of my Asus Transformer Prime, where's the lawyers in the room Although, I hear that a Microsoft 8 version of my Transformer Prime will be out soon (NO!!!!!!!!!!).

Yeah, she's way tougher than me and I like the heat. I think we hit 95 in Boston, probably more with humidity today.

Mortal Kombat !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also, might have been Street Fighters without the secret fatalities

This is unfair....He didn't do a seductive strip dance after the goal, when he showed off the underwear, for sex appeal :

I think they're either really neat Crypts or poorly layed out escape exists for the Capitol that we found Great trip

I realized something today, everyone that argues, whether liberal, conservative, or libertarian. Rich, middle, or poor. We are all arguing about the same point. One or Many? It can't that simple, but it really is that simple. On a side, you have people advocating for individuals defining themselves, their actions, behaviors, and even destinies as they choose. On the other side, you have people advocating for groups whether it is a society, a state, a subset of human beings (gay, black, or whatever) defining their actions, behaviors, and fates as a collective based on whatever measure they choose (majority, minority with power, or even a singular dictatorial will). We are stuck in that argument, but I want to add a breakthrough point. To the one's arguing the individual points or "One" point, like Libertarians, tell me, Can a person make a pure individual choice without any input from the outside world or other individuals? If you say Yes, because everyone has free will and can make their own choices, I have a big revelation for everyone. Each choice is made with conscious effort of other people's actions, direct and indirect, around you; thus, there is never a choice based on "One". A simple choice like Cereal brand you eat during the morning is made possible by a million other choices from the farmer in the fields, the factory worker on the line, the trucker on a deadline, and the super-market choices of supplier. I can point to the same factors based on any example you can pick, even choosing going right or left on a road is made possible by a million choices from others. Causality nullifies choice. As for the people arguing the point of the society or "Many" point, tell me, Can a group make a decision without a single person making their own choice? Each person has many choices in how they interact, some desire many things, others desire simplicity. However, each person can only hold to certain choices; thus, without individuals, no group can be created. If a group of politicians need to make a law on increasing taxes of stuffed animals, how does each arrive at their own vote? Each must think about their own experiences with stuffed animals, how fluffy they were as kids or even as adults keeping their childhood toys right next to them. Maybe some have a strong hatred for stuffed animals due to working in a assembly line stuffing these fur balls. That might be an outlandish idea, but it highlights how individual experience affects the group. All these experiences occured to produce a result. Causality nullifies goals. So what does my breakthrough points mean: I think whether you are trying to seek an individual solution or a group solution, one cannot deny that both sides co-exist on many levels; there can never be an ideal Libertarian solution as long as everyone affects each other in how their choices work, nor can groups effectively create lasting laws if each individual can determine their own choices based on experience. The problem between the two is a paradox, neither can be ideal and neither are truly achievable in reality. I have been thinking in terms of Causality a lot lately.