Former Member

Here in California, we just want more snow in the eastern and far northern parts of the state. We need the snowpack in the Sierras as a bank for our reservoirs. And for the ski resorts. It’s 54°F (12°C) right now and it’ll be in the low 60s (16°C) tomorrow with some rain. ;-)

Hetero women get annoyed (for good reason) when straight men just stare at their breasts instead of looking at their faces. Gay men aren’t typically drawn to stare at women’s breasts. The conundrum for hetero women is that they’re attracted to men who aren’t obsessed with their secondary sexual characteristics, but many of those men aren’t interested in women! ;-) I know how frustrating it is when someone is attracted to you for the characteristics they associate with your appearance! Many people have weird ideas about Asian-Americans. Many are shocked that I did not just get off a boat or plane from Asia. Many white Gay men assume that I’m going to be passive and submissive based on old stereotypes about Asian women. Many African-Americans that I met when I was homeless thought that I would be able to fix all their electronic products even if I’d never seen the item before in my life – just based on my appearance. Many people are shocked that I do not speak with an accent (unless you count California English as an accent). Some people think I’ll be complimented if they call me ‘Jackie Chan’. Some people insist on finding out where my ancestors were from (even though I do not speak that language and I’ve never been there) and will try to tell me all about some sex worker that works in a sleazy brothel on the other side of the Pacific Ocean – as if that’s something I want to know. End rant. Note: I am not attracted to blond men because they aren’t intelligent. I am not attracted to redheaded men because of their fiery tempers. I just like the way they look, but personality trumps appearance and there are many men with blond or red hair who are repulsive to me. ;-)

Yes, but Teddy was pretty evil himself! We finally found out the horrible thing that Teddy, Mike, and Blake did. And it was worse than I expected! ;-) Will Teddy ever apologize to Abe? Does Teddy really feel bad about what he did? Will Abe ever get closure? Everybody is a whole lot darker than they seemed to be when the story first began. @Aceinthehole, are you depressed? Did you stop taking your medication? When was the last time you saw your therapist? ;-)

Happy Birthday!

Thanks, Tim

Happy New Year, GA! @Carlos Hazdaythanks for doing this, and for featuring poetry on the site. For anyone interested in investigating the Poetry Prompts, there a page in the Poetry Club with all the links in a single, handy-dandy spot. The Poetry Club is an open one, so feel free to come and explore. I mentioned I'd provide a larger, Sonnet-specific, reply on Live-Poets and here it is.

I was reading Reactions to Comments and new Comments to chapters I’d already read. I accidentally skipped down to the bottom of this chapter and saw @Wesley8890’s mention of the ‘graveside scene’! Combined with the title ’Goodbye Ryder Sullivan’, my first thought was that this was the final chapter and that Ryder had died. It was such a relief to get to the end of the chapter without a death! It was so ironic that your own afterword discusses the exact issue! It was almost as if you knew what I was going to experience! ;-) As soon as I read that Ryder’s grandmother could only afford half of the required tour money, I wondered how Teddy and his family would be able to convince Ryder to accept a contribution. Teddy’s family is clearly more than just ‘comfortable’ financially. What seems like a large amount of money to Ryder is just pocket money to Teddy’s family. Growing up, my family was very much like Ryder & his grandmother with finances very, very tight. I dated a man who, while not unusually wealthy, was much more used to expensive things than I am – his parents, brothers and he regularly went on family vacations to relatively exotic locations like Costa Rica and he often goes on cruises or trips to Asia. He and his brothers bought their father a Miata when he retired. His world is very unlike mine – and he’s nowhere near a One Percenter! ;-)

Too many people have such extravagant weddings that they’re too busy to enjoy the day! I’m not a tuxedo kind of guy – I hate even having to wear a tie (too many years if forced tie-wearing while working in cheap, discount retail stores). I don’t even want to be buried in a suit and tie – cremation makes more sense anyway! ;-)

Is George a bit autistic (ie very high functioning)? I was tested for autism, but didn’t meet the requirements. I asked if my intelligence level might compensate for and disguise the symptoms and the tester agreed that it was possible. Since George is even more intelligent than I am, it’s possible that most of the signs aren’t apparent – except for Flow, being unaware of things happening when he is so engrossed in a task like his medical research! ;-) Perhaps if John really grasped that George isn’t doing this on purpose, he might find it easier to deal with. It’s also not clear what John does with his time. If he were busier, he might not get as upset when George gets distracted. John doesn’t seem like the ‘housewife’-type who lives only to take care of his husband. John needs to find his own interests to pursue. ;-) But this isn’t to let George off the hook. He needs to be reminded to take breaks when he gets obsessed. He’s not single anymore and he needs to be more aware of his surroundings. ;-)

Oh to be young again! ;-)

Between just Charlie, William’s Love’s Liam, and @Wesley8890, there’s enough love for every orphaned or foster child in the world! ;-)

So you just needed a little stroking – and this just spewed out? ;-)

One guy I dated for a short time called me Rocker Boy when he saw a stack of some of my CDs (he worked at late lamented Tower Records in Berkeley). But I’m at the other end of the Rock spectrum from Ryder. I grew up on Soft Rock (Stephen Bishop, America, Beach Boys, Eagles, Doobie Brothers, Chicago, James Taylor, Elton John, Earth Wind and Fire, Moody Blues, and others). Since I was a teenager in the ‘70s, Disco was another favorite. In the ‘80s, it was New Wave and later Alternative Rock. Of course living in the Bay Area, I listened to Bay Area groups like Huey Lewis, Pointer Sisters, Journey, and more too. Throughout that period, Aussie and British groups were favorites too (Little River Band, Bee Gees, Men at Work, Crowded House, Tears for Fears, New Order, The Beatles, Alan Parsons Project, etc). And then there are the LGBTQ groups (Erasure, Pet Shop Boys, Melissa Etheridge, kd lang, Tom Robinson, Bronski Beats, Romanovski & Phillips, and many others). I like to think my think my taste is fairly eclectic, but I’m sure others would disagree. ;-) When I first started listening to music in the ‘70s, radio was not quite as segregated as music is now. Top Forty stations used to play some country, some Soul, and some harder Rock along with Pop. I remember hearing a wide range of music on the stations I listened to. Obviously, different stations focused more heavily on certain genres of music than others, but things weren’t as walled off. Music was a reflection of the more integrated world we thought we lived in back then. That having been said, I’m sure there are songs that were mentioned that I might enjoy, but I’m an old man (much older than Harry) and I don’t enjoy having my ears ringing for hours after the concert. I’d probably like the music better if they played an acoustic set! I used to love the MTV Unplugged series when I used to have cable. ;-)

I loved the 1994 British film Priest, which features Linus Roache as the titular character along with Tom Wilkinson and Robert Carlyle from The Full Monty! One funny scene has young Father Pilkington (Roache) and the more cynical Father Thomas (Wilkinson) doing door-to-door outreach in a Council Estate (government housing project). Father Thomas is convinced the effort is pointless and Father Pilkington is feeling superior when, after having the door slammed in their faces several times, they are invited in. They are seated in the living room when one of the residents informs them, “We're Jehovah’s Witnesses and…” ;-) There are several different sexual secrets revealed, but Father Pilkington was arrested with Graham (Carlyle) for having sex in a parked car.

Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, 'It will be happier.' Alfred Lord Tennyson This was tweeted out by my local bus district just before midnight on New Year’s Eve! ;-)

But the Dutch tradition was the origin of the US Santa Claus. With lots of modifications and distortions courtesy of Madison Avenue (where much of the US advertising industry is clustered/cloistered) and Hollywood. We did not inherit the British Father Christmas since many of the early settlers were religious fundamentalists who wanted to eradicate anything they deemed against their brand of religion – sound familiar?

At the time that I started the threads for Frameline40 and Frameline41, The Pit was not a closed Club (which I believe you can ask to join). It was, however, a place where politics was allowed to be discussed – and many LGBTQ films are political. I did not want to have my thoughts censored by that restriction. Even though it will still have that issue, I will probably do the same again this year for Frameline42 in June! ;-)

Yossi is the sequel to Yossi and Jagger. It takes place 10 years (and many pounds) later. ;-) Free Fall is German. ;-) I wasn’t as enamored of Querelle as you were, but Brad Davis (more famous for Midnight Express) was extremely hot. And you did mention most of my favorites too! But speaking of Tom of Finland, were you aware of the movie of that same name that came out in 2017? I recommended that movie in my thoughts on Frameline41 in The Pit. ;-)

A beautiful story! But I have a small complaint. We still haven’t found out why Ricky is embarrassed to tell the boys how he gained his makeup skills! He said to ask again at Christmas, but the boys forgot to ask! ;-) So I guess that means at least one or two more stories in the Charlie Boone Saga! ;-) And you certainly had a unique take on Santa Claus! Around here, Black Santa is still a big deal. But we don’t want to mention all the Gay Santa pretenders that popped up on Tumblr and elsewhere… ;-)

I’m glad I haven’t gotten to Charlie Boone 4 yet! I got to read them in order. I had wondered why Charlie 1, 2, and 4 were posted, but not 3! But now I get to enjoy the holiday season just a little longer! ;-) I noticed (Boris) Karloff and (Lon) Chaney in the first story. But I don’t understand Westmore. I’m guessing it’s part of the theme along with 1313 Mockingbird Lane (The Munsters’ address) and looking up the name now on Wikipedia brings up an entire family of makeup artists, including Michael who worked on the Star Trek franchise. Ricky reminds me of the protagonist from Closet Monster – I posted my thought on it in The Pit.

I’ve forgotten most of what happens in this story since I first read it so long ago. I always wish Joey had remembered more of what Gene said while he stayed with him overnight. But that would have shortened this story more than I’d like since, like all your stories, I want them to go on forever! ;-)

Aw! I was looking forward to a Beef and Pizza joint reception! But Nan will be extremely disappointed if a certain RA isn’t invited to the wedding – she’s have to suppress her disappointment by groping more sexy college boys! ;-)

Well, if that’s true, somebody better call the Feds on GM! I’m sure they’re violating plenty of employment laws if that elementary school-aged child is working for Chevy! Child Labor Laws have prohibited that sort of thing in the US for decades! ;-)

Well now. The medical field will be buzzing with all the newly released information from George! ;-) Both Devon and Dragon can calm down Repetate & Austin, but Devon is the only one, other than George, who can find out what happened with John. Maybe one of the new Vampires has similar skills that just have come to light yet. Could it be the college student whose roommate/buddy kept denying that he was Gay? ;-)

I think it’s his obsession with The Church. And all the preparations for Saturday night. I don’t think he’s as mature as he thinks he is. ;-)