Former Member

But we don’t know how much of what we’ve seen is attributable to Liz becoming an adult and how much to her pregnancy. Was she bitchy in her senior year in high school? Did she start getting bitchy in college? Is her job making her bitchy? Has she always bitch since she got married to Blake? Did her bitchiness start when she got pregnant or did the pregnancy exasperate existing bitchiness? We don’t know because we never got to see Liz (or any of the others) during that 13 year gap… ;-)

Welcome @cobalt106! No need to remain silent! I hereby give you specific permission to express your opinion on GA! ;-)

Which is precisely the point. Liz is not a teenager anymore! She’s a woman, a pregnant woman! ;-) Which is not to say that all women are ‘ice cubes’ or bitchy.

@Bndmetl probably has an idea when… ;-)

It seems as though most Jocks are kind of narcissistic! ;-)

It’s interesting to see how each character has a distorted image of the others. Ryder idealizes Teddy. Teddy idealizes the Rock Star Ryder. Sibling-colored glasses makes Oli see Teddy as a bully! And Liz sees everybody’s faults through a pregnancy-exaggerated filter! ;-)

With all the sleepless nights a newborn baby brings? I doubt it! Maybe in a year or two! ;-)

Eric is lucky that he has access to the much maligned NHS, in some other countries, he’d also need to worry about the possibility that illness could cause a financial disaster that would make him homeless!

As if you weren’t already doing that! Dustin has, at times, been #3. And there’s at least one reader who thinks he fits better with Billy… ;-)

@Parker Owenssent me a couple of motets, and this video popped up as a recommendation. The music is from 1921, and it seems to be a blend of established church traditions in American music, and the places the composer wanted to take them in the future. Of Arron Copeland, my copy of Queers in History says: "Copeland was one of the first prominent [out] composers to live openly with a romantic partner, photographer Victor Kraft." It also informs me: "In 1931, Copeland and young writer Paul Bowles took a house overlooking Tangier Bay in Morocco. There they laid the foundation for the scene that made Tangiers a Gay Literary nexus in the 1950s and '60s." Four Motets, Arrron Copeland

I think I’d like to hear the opinions of some of your fans who rarely let us know what they are thinking! I’d like to know what other people notice when they are reading your stories. I’d even like to know when they think I’ve said something stupid or nonsensical! ;-) Nobody ever sent me an authorization notice allowing me to tell everybody what I think. But if that’s you’re waiting for, then this is your authorization! Don’t be shy! No one can see you typing… ;-) And if you’re worried because English is not your first language, have you noticed all the typos and grammatical errors in the stories and comments written by those of us who only speak English? ;-)

What a sad childhood Mike had! What a horrible incubator he grew up with! It’s terrible that things like that actually happen to children. And are still happening. But somehow Mike survived all that to grow into the loving husband and father that he is now. ;-)

Oops! ;-) Link is very observant!

Do you remember your history? Just two names, names of two homophobes who were on the high end of the Kinsey Scale themselves: J Edgar Hoover and Roy Cohn. Two self-hating men who ruined the lives of many LGBTQ people. Just two of many who fear us!

My ex-boyfriend used to give his dog Milkbone brand ‘cookies’…

It sounds like someone always gets stuff when they go shopping. The boys all need to learn how to say ‘No’ and be consistent. My parents didn’t have much money so it was easy for them to consistently say, ‘It’s too expensive. We can’t afford it.’ I mentioned that to a fellow bus rider (a young mother) once and she genuinely seemed shocked, asking me, ‘You can do that?’ If you’re consistent, you’ll minimize the times that your kid will have a meltdown because you won’t buy him or her a toy or candy. But you have to work as a team – it doesn’t work if one of you gives in! ;-)

I’m always shocked by all the people in my city (which is low-income compared with the rest of the Bay Area) who appear to be on limited incomes who do not bring their own bags and pay the California 10¢ per bag fee. Part of that is that CalFresh (aka SNAP or ‘food stamps’) recipients do not pay the fee. But a large part of it is that many of the low-income people around me have never learned how to grocery shop properly (buy things that are on sale, avoid prepared convenience foods, stick to a shopping list, etc) and may not ever have learned how to cook from scratch. ;-) Most of the reusable grocery bags sold in stores are too small – smaller than the paper bags grocery stores used to use. That’s not much of a problem if you are unloading your bags into your car, truck, or SUV, but it makes it very difficult if you’re forced to struggle with numerous small bags and transit! I found huge reusable bags at The Container Store and put them on a wheeled, collapsable luggage rack to carry my groceries home. ;-)

We know the DJ has the beginnings of a playlist already! ;-)

It was always clear that Bella loves her brothers and mothered them due to the negligence of their parents. But it hadn’t been as obvious that Levi, in particular, was as aware of Bella’s interests and preferences. Levi has mostly been the defender of the trio, but hasn’t appeared to be one who pays attention to little things. ;-) Kaleb and Levi share personality traits, but Levi also seems to share Kasey’s love of cash! ;-)

That's why I resisted so hard yesterday even when someone tried to get me to be bad. I’ll try to be better. But I know I won’t always be good…

Yes, but who is parenting whom? ;-)

I feel so lucky compared with Eric! I’m on disability and I’m way below the poverty line and my rent takes more than two-thirds of my income, but it’s warm enough from the business below to never need to turn on the heater. I’m also lucky enough to have a bus stop across the street and two others just a couple blocks away (for other bus routes). I spend more than I need to on food, but less on prepackaged meals than many other shoppers I see. I even have enough to spend on frivolous purchases. ;-) Of course I’m also not as old as Eric, so while I wasn’t Out until my mid-20s, I was aware that there was a Gay community out there even if I wasn’t sure how to get involved. ;-) I’m very fortunate that the San Francisco PBS station regularly runs LGBTQ programming, even outside its special LGBTQ Pride Month programming. Many documentaries about LGBTQ history. Even some intersectionality programming during other Heritage/History Month celebrations. ;-) These days even the commercial stations have LGBTQ coverage. One independent station has a weekly primetime half-hour show hosted by an Asian-American Lesbian. They also broadcast the SF Pride Parade every year (even though it’s not a live broadcast anymore). ;-) Nearby Berkeley Public Library has tons of LGBTQ DVDs available. Oakland also has a good selection, although not quite as large. My local library system isn’t as well funded since this is a significantly smaller city. ;-) I know that there is content available online for audio streaming or downloading through the various library systems I have cards for. I’ve never explored them, but there must be some LGBTQ content there too. Unfortunately, they’d still be out of reach for someone like Eric who doesn’t have a computer or internet access… ;-)

Oh boy! Nathan, Tom, and Alex all in one room together! Nathan can occasionally be oblivious, although nothing like Robbie! Tom is very observant. Alex isn’t usually discreet, but he already knows about both Nathan and Tom. ;-) Will Nathan figure it all out – and how will he react? Will Tom figure out why ‘one of the popular kids’ is friends with Robbie? Will we find out why Nathan reacts the way he does around Alex? And how will Robbie deal with Tom leaving to return to London? ;-) Has Robbie forgotten about the old man he met when he ran away? Will telling Tom the whole(?) story of Alex trigger his memory? And I think Robbie’s an idiot for not talking to the old man before the adoption procedure! ;-)

Must. Resist… Resistance is futile! Resist…

No, Andy’s not going to fall in love. No, really, he won’t. No, he can’t fall in love with Vic. Because love is something you can bargain with! ;-)