Former Member

I’ve mentioned it here on GA before, but I once saw a woman shopping with her two sons. She never said a word to them, but they silently emptied their cart. Then when everything was bagged (this was before California banned grocery stores from giving away free bags to encourage using reusable bags), they silently loaded them into the cart. It was very efficient, but just a little scary.

But if you’re Torchwood, a ‘secret’, non-governmental agency, you drive around in a customized black Range Rover with your agency name emblazoned on it! ;–)

It’s pathetic that so many religious fanatics know less about their own religion than an Agnostic like me! ;–)

It’s next door – by California standards! ;–) There are people who commute 3 hours by freeway each way, every day, from outside Sacramento to Silicon Valley. ;–) California is physically more than three times as large as England with roughly 70% of the population, but Greater Los Angeles Area has close to double the population of Greater London Built-up Area (18.8 vs 9.7 million). The San Francisco Bay Area is more than three times as populous as the Greater Manchester Built-up Area (7.68 vs 2.55 million). California’s economy is now the 5th largest in the world. Ex-Governor Jerry Brown operated on and new Governor Gavin Newsom operates on an international level, not quite commensurate with our economic power. ;–)

I hope Jeff is on the low end of the Kinsey Scale as far as attractions are concerned. It would be much more difficult to shut off the same-sex attraction aspect of his sexuality if he’s at the higher end of the Scale. However most married men manage to curb their attractions to people outside their marriages, regardless of the gender(s) they are attracted to. ;–) As far as I’m concerned, looking isn’t cheating. The harm isn’t looking, it’s doing something about it that’s the problems. Looking can even spice up a relationship, in some cases. ;–)

Instead of Ewoks on Endor, I’d rather find Vulcans, Hobbits, or Elves. A planet like Pern (although I’d prefer not to have to deal with Thread), Pandora, or Gethen would be more interesting. I’m not really interested in a planet full of Teddy Bears that looks suspiciously like Northern California! ;–)

Is there a reason why Jerry Creed is so nice to Gary? Is it possible that Jerry like likes Gary? Will Gary get lucky too? ;–)

Well, you’re the author! Of course he could! He could be as young as 50 or so! ;–)

I’ve heard similar arguments about why authors don’t include characters of color (even by writers that I respect and like). But most of us aren’t as different as many people seem to think. I think one approach might be for the character to be just like any of your other characters – except that some others perceive the character as being different. Many people of color, especially when they live in suburbs, are very assimilated and are relatively indistinguishable from their neighbors except for their skin color. Many disabled people have been mainstreamed and are not weird, alien strangers. Disabled people know they sometimes have limitations, but don’t want to be treated differently. ;–) I definitely have limitations. I have clinical depression and anxiety. I am very un-athletic. I am unable to learn more than a few words in languages other than English. I am a terrible author (so don’t suggest that I write a story, nobody wants that!). ;–)

Hey @Ronyx! How did you manage to convince Fox to keep playing Seasons of Love during their promotions for Rent Live!? Every time I hear the ad, I think about Lucas (and @Page Scrawler)! ;–)

So somewhat near Cardiff (aka Torchwood headquarters). ;–)

Would that be your way of Coming Out without actually saying the words? ;–)

I was just imagining on behalf of @bubby1234! I have a difficult enough time trying to remember one set of details and would be too confused to deal with two (or more) at the same time! I do have a well-known weakness for redheads – does Gary have an available Gay Uncle or much older cousin? (Okay, great-uncle or grandfather would probably be more appropriate for me…) ;–)

So no sweaty Benny/Griffin/Gary three-way in the towel closet then? ;–)

I just love this line! ;–)

Gary Spain would have been pulling on Griffin’s pigtails if Griffin had pigtails! Gary’s counterproductive attempts at flirting were amusing (since I wasn’t the target of his clumsiness). And Benny’s quick thinking threat to expose Gary’s towel closet activities was hilarious! ;–)

It’s good that Jon finally came around and became the older brother to Woody that he was always supposed to be. No mention of how Glenn reacted, but I’m guessing he followed Jon’s lead like he usually did. I’m also guessing that when Jon went off to college, Glenn was moved into Woody’s room – he and Glenda are getting a little old to be sharing a room, twins or not! Having a snoopy younger brother in his room will probably also reassure mom that Woody won’t be cruising chatrooms again. ;–) Woody should try to be a better older brother to Glenn too. Instead of shutting him out of his life, Woody should make an effort to spend time with Glenn. Maybe if they play some of those computer games together, Glenn will start to respect him a little more. At least some of the disrespect from Glenn was because Woody (and Jon) ignore him. ;–)

Just wait until he finds GA. He’ll have hours and hours of interesting new things to learn about. But I’m sure all the were-stories will confuse him. ;–)

He’s had to be very careful with his money because they weren’t paying him the proper amount until Andy & Adam started working with him. I remember one funny story that techs used to laugh about. It seems a Customer Service rep got a call from a new computer user who couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t working. It turns out that she had placed the mouse on the floor and was stepping on it, attempting to get it to function. Just like she was used to with her sewing machine! ;–)

Apparently Robert decided that he should attempt to build a ‘crystal cathedral.’

On the one hand I don’t want this to turn into a wish fulfillment tale where CEO daddy tries to buy Artie’s love with stuff to assuage his guilt over not having been in Artie’s life all this time, but on the other hand, I’m afraid of what wealth can do in some [Texas] courts against a Gay bio-son and his Gay uncle. But it also depends on kind of company daddy is CEO of – the ‘company’ could consist of just a couple employees struggling to turn a profit! Or it could be a scam – I could have business cards made that listed me CEO of a fake company, it only takes a little money and a bit of creativity. I trust @Aceinthehole will surprise us with something worthy of his talents! ;–)

I agree with @Page Scrawler, especially Birds Don’t Sing, but I also really enjoyed Other Sinful Things, Reggie’s Journal, and Brittle As a Bird/A Bridge to Yesterday too. Hey, it’s difficult to pick just one or two of Ronyx’s stories! I just wish his muse would inspire him to write more stories…

I don’t know why Adam was surprised that Artie took him seriously, Strict Adam had already demanded that Dizzy not sneak in again at night! So from Artie’s point of view Adam's getting tough speech just continued on that same trajectory. Adam can’t always be the fun uncle/big brother. ;–)

Woody’s sperm donor really should be facing child neglect and emotional abuse charges. At a minimum, he should be seeing a therapist about his attitude. But he’d refuse to get therapy because he doesn’t see himself as a problem. Rev Sparks is the hero for making sure that Dr Chavers demand that Calloway do his job protecting Woody from harassment from other students.

I did do Beta Reading for a non-GA author recently. I liked being able to catch misspellings and offer suggestions on adjustments to the story. But it was slightly stressful in that I knew I had to read the chapters quickly and respond promptly. It’s not like reading for pleasure. If the same author asks again, I’ll probably do it, but I’m uncomfortable with expanding the responsibility. You’re not the first one to suggest that to me.