Former Member

Yes, you have three never-ending stories. We’ll never quite get to the weddings just as we’ll never quite get to Prom! And we’ll never quite get past Michael’s hospitalization. ;-)

…And you’d prefer something else prodding your behind? ;-) Maybe we can interest a certain 22-year-old dictator-wannabe enough to shift his interest away from the Canadian…

What are you saying here? Be careful about how you respond. I’ve already got my pitchfork out… ;-)

I hope you’ll let us in on the conversation about the shoebox. I’d like to know more about that earlier trip, why Russ saved what he did at the time, what the sketches were like, and why so much of his memory is blocked. The twin act annoys me. As much as it’s a notoriously common fantasy to have a pair of twins in a mènage á trois, I’m not sure I’d enjoy it. I have enough trouble dealing with one person. (It’s no wonder why I’m single, right?) ;-)

He was more conscious of Mark when Mark was around watching Mark more, telling me he was thinking about it, but lacked the courage to say anything yet. I think this is two sentences split between around and watching. This man…” she pointed to Mark. “…was confronting a possible cotangent spreading terrorist. Contagion. “I don’t think he knows its Mark, but he knows there was trouble. It’s (it is). He said it knowing telling Stan was not like tell a professional partner. …Not like telling. Stan is just as oblivious as I am about emotions. We’d make a terrible couple! Good thing he’s only a character in a story! ;-)

Me! Me! Me! (or a Peter or a much older Jasper!)

I’m getting an early start on Mother’s Day. Mothers are a big part of the Gay experience. In The Kids Are All Right, the Moms who are Lesbians. Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet has already been recommended elsewhere. I’m going to be busy at Frameline41 watching tons of movies on Father’s Day. Gay Dads are Mothers too, aren’t they? My third recommendation is Breakfast with Scot.

I’m sorry if I’m posting this in the wrong area. When I get notifications about Comments posted in the Forums, the link takes me directly to the Comment. But when I get notifications about Chapter Comments (or Likes of my own Chapter Comments), I get taken to the top of the Chapter. This behavior is inconsistent and confusing. Now that we have access to second pages of Chapter Comments, could this be added to the list of potential fixes? It’s obviously not a high priority item.

Yeah...? https://www.gayauthors.org/story/ac-benus/songofthe70s/ I have the coffee table book-lette issued with all the Whacky Packy images. It's cool, and came in a bubblegum paper dust jacket. Loved them when i was a kid

You know, how I know? How couldn`t she, living in your heart and soul, like she does.

Stars looking at you, singing their song for you. She is!

Speaking of history, I should also mention Paragraph 175, a documentary about the Gay men who survived the Nazi Holocaust which did not only target Jews. Coming Out Under Fire is a documentary examining Gays and Lesbians serving in the US military during WWII. The Circle is a docudrama about a Swiss Gay publication from the ‘40s and ‘50s.

There are a couple documentaries about movies that are interesting. The Celluloid Closet shows references and hints in movies from back before the subject was discussed in the open. It was narrated by Lily Tomlin and was originally shown on HBO. Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema is probably less well known (it doesn’t even had a Wikipedia page like The Celluloid Closet). It’s anchored by B Ruby Rich. Learn your history kids! ;-)

It rarely gets any better than this...

Can you teach @Timothy M that trick? ;-) (I’ll just keep posting hints everywhere so he can’t possibly miss them!)

I started rereading this chapter because I couldn’t remember Jacob’s name, I love the interactions between Russell & Jacob. Are there any tall, blue-eyed, blond (or redheaded) Danes out there who would be willing to put up with a really messed up, sarcastic Californian who lives in one of the highest-cost regions in the world? Lots of world-famous companies in the area who pay really well (until you check the cost of living – $105,000/year is low income in San Francisco and San Mateo Counties).

And the theme this time is Lesbians of varying ages and locations. F*cking Åmaål (Show Me Love) is a Swedish film. Liz en Septiembre (Liz in September) is a Venezuelan film. As mentioned in one of the other threads, the Canadian film, Better than Chocolate, is another movie to see. Age-wise, I guess it would fit here. Hannah Free is an American movie. (No subtitles!)

There was my mother, looking like a real queen dressed in pink like a rose wearing in a casual suit with pants and eating with a gentleman I didn’t know. Wearing a casual suit. Poor Stan never considered that Mark might want to be more than just close coworkers. Some of us can be incredibly oblivious about things that everyone else sees so clearly. I’ve been diagnosed with Cognitive Dissonance – I don’t know what Stan’s problem is! Devon & Colin are practically telling Stan that Mark would like a romantic relationship with him, usually the problem with asking is that you might not like the answer you get. Change is scary – especially for Risk-Averse people like me! (I’m just a big mess.) ;-)

[rant!] That’s why I’ve turned off automatic loading of videos on my browser pages. I don’t understand why so many sites think that it’s okay to force me to waste my time and bandwidth on something I may or might not want to watch – there are still a few websites where I haven’t managed to prevent autoplay of their stupid videos showing me what I can much more efficiently read right under their video! (What’s worse is when a site thinks I want to use ancient, proprietary technology to look at flash videos.) [/rant!]

On the one hand, our culture’s standard of male beauty has expanded somewhat beyond the Nordic-type Europeans to include men whose ancestry derives from other parts of the world. On the other hand, men are now being expected to have a more toned and muscular look than in the past – in the ‘70s, for example, a very skinny, un-muscular look (‘heroin chic’) was popular. Especially as Gay men, we are now starting to face the same problems with body image issues that women have been dealing with for decades – anorexia and bulimia rates are up. Along with accepting people of varying ethnicities, orientations, religions, and sexual identities (among many other differences), we need to learn to accept differing body types. Not all bodies are healthy, but it isn’t my job to tell others that they need to lose weight or that I find them to be unattractive. I have lots of friends who I do not find sexual attractive, including women, but they have other characteristics I appreciate. 😉 No matter how much time I might spend in a gym, I’d never be able to achieve a body-builder-style body. Others could never diet enough to get the skinny body I had when I was a teenager (when trends inevitably swing back in that direction at some point). I could probably eat enough to get Buddah-bulk, but my heart and other organs would not be able to deal with the extra weight. It doesn’t help when doctors think I should be able to lose 15-20 pounds in order to achieve a magical ‘healthy’ weight – my body isn’t built like that and it isn’t a realistic goal (plus my hypocritical doctor needs to lose at least 25-30 pounds herself!). 😉 I don’t know you, Arpeggio, but your avatar picture shows a very attractive young man. I’m sure that feels about as useful as if your own mother told you you were handsome! But just like your mother, I’m not hitting on you, just stating a fact. 😉

There were some movies mentioned that I thought were really bad. As an example, all the Filipino movies I’ve seen suffered from very low production values. The choices were all over the map. Kind of like a good film festival. Samplings from all the various segments of the LGBTQ spectrum. But I did notice that only a few Lesbian movies were mentioned (Better Than Chocolate, being the one I can remember and that I do recommend). And as usual, what some posters raved about, others hated. Maybe the lists could be streamlined if only the titles were mentioned with plots and other details hidden in the Spoiler tag? That way anyone scanning for titles would see just the info needed and yet more details are still available when someone is interested. (I’d be willing to go back and edit my posts, if anyone likes this idea.) I still have recommendations that weren’t mentioned in either of the other threads…

I am glad beyond words, that you found this release!!!

Hi tim, I can not comment on single poems of this collection, I am with Gary. They are so personal, so emotional, so full of deep thoughts, ugly truthes BUT they are also so full of strength!!! Your light shines trough every word you wrote. I am proud to name you brother and feel honored to be your sis and friend. xoxoxo

Your both vampires. You are (you’re). Okay, so at least one half of the ‘couple’ is aware of the unusually close relationship they have and is interested in taking it further. I wonder how long you’re going to make us wait until Stan is ready to take the next step. And now we know why Stan would not be receptive to the idea yet. ;-)

I read the Valdemar books a long time ago and have forgotten most of the details now. But it was nice to revisit the setting. Jonne seems like he’d be intimidating except that he’s also so gentle and protective. Where can I find a Jonne of my own? ;-)