Former Member

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S, P A R K E R Your elevation is well-deserved, Well-placed, And well-appreciated, my friend. We poets do get some respect

Congratulations Parker!

Alcoholics willingly endure astonishingly great discomfort and inconvenience to get drunk and delude themselves into thinking their problem isn’t a big deal. It doesn’t surprise me that the withdrawal symptoms are so serious. The legality of alcohol tricks people into thinking it’s not as addictive or dangerous as it truly is.

Carlos Hazday is an author who does not shy away from hot topics. 'Hunting Season' is a story that deals with the reality of racism, and how one young man took a stand against it. CJ is a shining example of a hero. I highly recommend this story to anyone who believes that one person can make a difference.

With Anthony’s horrible influence gone, is there any hope for rehabilitation for Tyrone? And will Jayden’s Aunt and cousins ever reconcile? (I know what your answer will be about a sequel.) ;-)

Exactly why Michael would want Liam to sleep with him! (Platonically.) To have what his older brother, Seth, wants! ;-)

But it’s so much more fun to suggest Michael wanted to sleep with Liam! ;-)

Such an offer: Why would Liam want to sleep with Michael if he’s going to be farting all night? ;-)

Tyrone is just as annoying as his Canadian inspiration. I would have thought there was a back gate so the trades folk wouldn’t be seen by the neighbo(u)rs… Is Amy a fan of Tyrone’s or is he too immature for her tastes?

Pea Soup Andersen’s is a famous restaurant with locations just off both US-101 (Buellton) and I-5 (Santa Nella) midway between LA and SF. They were famous for their Split Pea Soup. It was founded by Anton Andersen (born in Denmark) and his wife Juliette (born in France, the soup was from her family recipe) and was family-owned until 1980. The soup is now canned and marketed in grocery stores nationally. Buellton and nearby Solvang (founded 1911) were the focus of a Danish colony of Danish-Americans and recent immigrants. Solvang is basically a town disguised as a Danish-themed tourist trap. Split Pea soup looks disgusting, but tastes surprisingly good. It’s extremely unlikely that Pie Floaters are served at Pea Soup Andersen’s. It’s not a very California-type combination.

I was wondering how long it would take for Ben to cancel Chicago. There always seemed to be too much that needed to be finished and not enough time left. The tabloids will be going insane with speculation and innuendo! ;-)

One of the things I enjoy about Steely Dan’s music is their often sardonic lyrics (what a shock, right?). And I’m sure I’m in the minority who sees parallels with the Pet Shop Boys’ technique of contrasting the mood of their lyrics with the tone of the melody. I love the delicious contrasts.

Walter Becker died today. He was most famous for his collaborations with Donald Fagen as Steely Dan. No cause of death has been announced. Some of Steely Dan’s most famous songs are Reelin’ in the Years, Rikki Don’t Lose That Number, Peg, Deacon Blues, FM (No Static at All), and Hey Nineteen. Rikki Don’t Lose That Number was covered by Tom Robinson (as Ricky Don’t Lose That Number) on his major label release album, Hope and Glory.

I must have read the series at least a dozen times in junior high and high school. When I’d finish the whole thing, I’d start with The Hobbit and read it all over again. That would be my mainstream choice. But my all-time favorite has to be Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin. I first encountered the series (now nine books long) when it was being serialized in the San Francisco Chronicle. I had just moved from San Diego back to the Bay Area with my family and I was buried deep in the Closet. I was fascinated by a story that actually included Gay people in it! (At one point the Chronicle editors complained that there were too many Gay characters in the story, so Armistead Maupin charted all the characters and asked them how to categorize a pet. At that point, the editors gave up and allowed him to continue the story the way he wanted.) It was also exciting to read a story where actual locations I had personally seen and heard of were mentioned. People, places, and events that had been mentioned on the news were in the story! I later found out that Armistead was writing the serial just before it was published in the paper. This allowed him to incorporate current events into his story. Initially, he thought he needed to incorporate hooks or cliffies into his columns to keep people interested and reading. Later he realized that his readers were invested in his characters and the stories are less wild and madcap. I discovered that his early columns were compiled and edited into books! So I purchased a set of the then full series. The first four books were created out of columns that had been published in the Chronicle. When I heard that he’d be writing another serial in the series in the San Francisco Examiner (then the Chronicle’s arch-rival evening paper published by Hearst – as in William Randolph Hearst), I started buying the paper every day. It was frustrating because there were days when Armistead was ill and no column was published. Eventually it was published as Significant Others. Later books were not serialized, but were published directly. Tales was one of the first stories that incorporated HIV/AIDS and even included – possibly the first such fictional instance published in a newspaper. The series generally chronicles the Gay experience in San Francisco, particularly in the late ‘70s and into the ‘80s. For reference, the series contains: Tales of the City (1978) More Tales of the City (1980) Further Tales of the City (1982) Babycakes (1984) Significant Others (1987) Sure of You (1989) Michael Tolliver Lives (2007) Mary Ann in the Autumn (2010) The Days of Anna Madrigal (2014) Tales of the City was turned into a miniseries produced by Britain’s Channel 4 in 1993 and shown on PBS the following year. It was the highest rated series on PBS at the time. But Congressional objections prevented PBS from participating in further miniseries adaptations. Showtime presented the second and third adaptations. All three have been released on DVD. Apparently, all of the books have been adapted as radio plays by BBC Radio 4. There have been hints that another Tales TV project is being planned. A concert series and a stage play were also inspired by the series. I recently purchased three hardcover books in the series – the first three and the second three were published in combined omnibus versions and I didn’t have a copy of Michael Tolliver Lives. Those were among the things I abandoned when I was evicted from my last apartment when I became homeless. I wish I’d thought to keep them as well as my hardcover copies of the Harry Potter books…

The setting was interesting too: the French Pyrenees.

That was an interesting way to get rid of the kid – and even better that Payne was able to get his fingerprints into the FBI database! Maybe they can link him to other unsolved cases around town! Too bad they couldn’t get fingerprints from his parents too! ;-) People are just falling out of the closet everywhere in that town! Seems to be a statistical anomaly! Or are all of the LGBTQ people in Kentucky just gravitating to the one place? ;-) My fingerprints are on file in California because Republicans think that all CalFresh (aka SNAP or food stamps) and GA (General Assistance – cash loans from the county) applicants are criminals…

Is this the beginning of Demonism? ;-)

Any time I read about a character who doesn’t like shopping, I figure the author is channelling his own feelings! ;-)

For a second I wasn’t sure who Davey was yelling at (my computer froze with Davey’s words at the bottom of the screen)! When the computer finished whatever was occupying it, I was relieved to discover that Cal wasn’t being kicked out! (That would have been a really nasty place to end the chapter! Thank you for not being that mean!) But wasn’t Mark’s reaction the very one that Cal has been fearing the whole time since he met Davey? At least now it’s out in the open and everyone can get it out of their systems. While I think his approach was very wrong, I can understand why he might have believed what he did. Haven’t all of Davey’s friends been afraid that someone would try to take advantage of his kindheartedness?

I like how Cal thinks of Scarlett as pretty much like a child who doesn’t speak. As when she brings Ben with her to speak to Cal. Or not enjoying the shopping trip – I guess I have enough of the Gay gene to like shopping, but my straight younger brother has it more than me and even does his family's grocery shopping since his wife doesn’t like to shop at all.

Teddy might be popular, but he’s really a jerk. He has a few good characteristics hiding somewhere under his douchebag personality – I think. I’m beginning to wonder what Ryder sees in him and why he allows Teddy to do those sorts of things to him. I’m kind of surprised that Teddy isn’t trying to keep his friendship with Ryder a secret…

DriveSavers in Novato, California is offering to recover the data on computers, phones, and tablets for free to victims of Harvey. Devices need to be sent quickly so data is still recoverable. DriveSavers is the acknowledged industry leader and this service is worth several hundred to several thousands of dollars per device.

Unlike some writers, Ronyx has competed this story long ago. So we’re guaranteed to be able to read the full story. The secret is that he has posted all his stories on his own site – some of them haven’t been posted on GA yet. ;-)

This story is interesting to me because the guys are so different from me. I’m certainly not a tattooed adrenaline junkie biker, but you wouldn’t have caught me hanging around a biker bar either! I cannot imagine being with someone who wants to do the sorts of dangerous things Don did. I’ll just do what I always do, observe from the side. 😉

There’s a saying that always seemed to be very British (to a person who has grown up in a very dry region): Right as Rain! ;-) Rain keeps British California green! Otherwise you’d be looking at yellow-brown hills like American California or Baja California! Rain also washes away dust, pollen, and pollutants leaving everything cleaner. When you do your grocery shopping, try to find a cheesecake. Give yourself a treat! You know you deserve it! ;-) I was once advised to think of going to a new and scary place as if it were a sociological experiment. Gather data, ask questions, be curious, explore. Those were all very difficult things for me to do since I’m Risk Averse and have Social Anxiety. But I was able to survive and find new friends in a scary place and time in my life. I’m sure a homeless shelter run by fundamentalist religious fanatics is much more frightening than Prince George could ever be.