Former Member

“At first, I saw a man that despite only living only a few decades, you’re smart and know people as well.” You changed something in the sentence form in mid-sentence. …decades, is smart and knows people well. Loving me shouldn’t scare you. I’m not. These two sentences don’t match, the second one should be something more like, ‘It doesn’t scare me.’ I could feel as he continued that invisible wall he put up break down. As he continued, I could feel that invisible wall he put up breaking down. “Is this going to a thing for you? …going to be a thing… Pizza Hutt, was also good. Dominos and Little Ceaser’s. So a big slug-like alien makes pizza? Domino’s and Little Caesars. How do you tell your mother that your new boyfriend is a vampire? It’s an age-old quandary! At least she won’t be shocked that Devon is Gay!

I think you meant Teddy's fifth cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), husband of Teddy’s niece, Eleanor. He was the immensely popular 4-term President who issued the un-Constitutional Executive Order 9066 that imprisoned without trial thousands of American citizens and resident aliens (all of whom were legally forbidden from becoming naturalized citizens). Aleutian Islanders were evacuated from their homes and forced to stay in unhygienic conditions without sufficient supplies like blankets during the war. Their homes were burned to prevent the Japanese from using them and they were not allowed to save useful items like carpets and blankets. In order to drag a reluctant Congress into declaring war on Germany, he goaded Japan into attacking the US (the so-called ABCD Line – America, Britain, China, Dutch). The military experts were under the impression that Japan would be easy to defeat (I guess they never considered the outcome of the Russo-Japanese War).

Volvo’s S90 ad tagline is “Being loved for being different.” …would be great for an LGBTQ film festival if it ended there, but then they add, “Our idea of luxury.” Of course, they could fix that by crossing out or replacing luxury with something like “a necessity” or “life.” Now someone needs to convince Volvo to sponsor a few LGBTQ film festivals. At this point, banks seem to be the biggest companies that sponsor Frameline. But Bank of America and Wells Fargo are desperately trying to reclaim their historic roots in San Francisco after they were both purchased by out-of-state banks. Notably none of the major tech companies in SF or Silicon Valley are sponsors, not Google, not Apple, not Adobe, not Intel, not Facebook, not even Netflix. I think if one or two take the first step, others will join them, but you don’t even see them sponsoring PBS shows!

Things seem to have been building up to head at school. There will be consequences to Robbie being pushed down the stairs. It’s only a matter of discovering who did the pushing. Whoever it was, and Jake seems to be the prime suspect, will face heavy punishment. This may force Robbie Out of the Closet too.

Heritage? This is California! Europeans didn’t get here until 1769 (San Diego and Monterey). The state experienced a big influx of immigrants during the gold rush of 1849, but the population didn’t really start booming until WWII. There are a few buildings over 100 years old, but the 1906 SF earthquake destroyed many others (SF was the largest city in the state until WWII when the sleepy Southern California towns got sudden boosts in population from wartime industries). Santa Barbara isn’t really preserving anything other than an appearance. There wasn’t much to preserve. It’s all relatively new construction. It’s a kind of Disney recreation of a Mission-style city that never was. California suburbs are filled with mini-mansions on small plots of land. Monstrosities that are architectural cr@p. Urban sprawl that’s eating up vast swaths of agricultural land and causing more traffic and congestion (aka Los Angelesation). There are small efforts to encourage infill and increase population density in existing cities, but there’s backlash to the Manhattanization of San Francisco (the leaning tower of San Francisco [aka the Millennium Tower] and the new tallest-building-west-of-the-Mississippi, the Salesforce Tower). There is also resistance to the gentrification of areas formerly populated mainly by people of color. Please visit California and spend lots of money, but go home when your vacation ends. Do not move here. Do not buy a second home here – especially if you’re going to leave it vacant (as many from China are doing).

A very nice poem, it makes me smile. I love the pictures you drew. Thanks for sharing.

The city of Santa Barbara requires that all houses be designed in the Mission style of architecture. Most other California towns and cities feature a wild array of architectural styles. (Santa Barbara is where the inward curve of the California coast northward from the Mexican border suddenly makes a right turn.) I remember when I lived in San Lorenzo, a small unincorporated village in San Francisco’s East Bay, they had a housing covenant that prevented second story additions or fences in the front yard. The backyard fencing was required to be painted a specific faded red color. But then again it also forbad selling to non-Whites or Jews! That part of the covenant was illegal and unenforceable. Years after I moved away they started allowing second story remodel additions. The houses were small, quickly built homes for post-WWII returning white GIs and their new white families – a bunch of ranch houses with very little style or distinction between them.

I think the key for anyone who isn’t Out as either LGBTQ or, as with at least one person, as a writer on GA, is just to ask someone to contact a list of addresses.They don’t need to know who the people are or how you met them. Generally, explaining away most addresses as former classmates or coworkers is sufficient. Gmail will alert a person you choose if you do not use your gmail address after a specified period of time and will give them access to that account. (Other providers might offer similar services.) Gmail will allow you to open multiple free accounts. I use one account mainly to email authors on non-GA sites to comment on their stories. Just make sure the address book associated with that account has the people you want contacted. You might want to minimize the info for those addresses to prevent hints about what you’re trying to hide. Avoid mailing addresses for international friends if you don’t have a way to explain them, for example. Even if you don’t expect anyone to get access to the info prematurely, you never know…

Great chapter! Everything works out just fine. A baby will make Morningstar cheer up even more.

So I should cancel your Team Mom t-shirt then, hoho? ;-)

On the site I mentioned earlier, there were fewer of us who posted multiple times in a single evening in usually about half a dozen topics. We got to know each other very well. Eventually several of us exchanged real names. And I met three of the guys IRL when they visited the Bay Area (separately) over the years. One of the three had also met the other two guys I’d met as well as several others (he lives outside London and visited Australia as well as California). Even though I know several writers live in the Bay Area, I have no plans to meet them IRL – even though my therapist made that suggestion (so you’re safe AC). ;-)

If you keep the front of a building plain and inconspicuous, no one will suspect that the insides have been upgraded and improved for the use of celebrities. Discretion is a highly prized characteristic when you are trying to avoid paparazzi and fans.

So many stories on GA about football-playing high schoolers – and I’m not a sports fan. It’s nice to read a story where the teens act their age not like a script from a low-budget porn movie. Those others are about as incongruous as 30-year-olds playing high school students on TV. And I’m fortunate that my fundamentalist Protestant minister father never dragged me with him to a painfully uncomfortable dinner like that! But my father was never confrontational like that poor excuse for a religious ‘leader.’ My father was much more low-key.

That’s the goal.

CIA conspiracy theories... lol Would be a great story though

My ex’s instructions are just to send out an email (using my gmail address book) explaining my death and possibly the circumstances. He might mention a memorial. He isn’t expected to post info here.

This is wonderful! So true words!!

But I want to go where all the fun people are! ;-)

Which weighed more? The barrel or her hat & clothing? ;-)

Mike wouldn’t contact anyone here for you?

Oh god! Timmy! Make it stop! Make it stop! Please! I’ll do anything! I’ll even consider joining Team Alek if you’ll make it stop!

I used to participate on a Gay porn website’s Forum. We actually experienced that several times, one guy died and it took several months before someone decided to look up obituaries in the guy’s town. Another guy is paraplegic and prone to medical problems, so each time he’s hospitalized, he disappears. A third buy had a heart attack and was incommunicado for several months as he recovered at his sister’s place – since he lives in Los Angeles and has a fairly common name, no one was able to find anything before he returned to inform us of his whereabouts. Due to all that, I arranged with my ex to give him access to one of my email addresses/address books on gmail. He has instructions to send out an email when I die. My brothers are ‘disinterested’ in my personal life and I expect that they will disregard my wishes and have a religious memorial service for me, complete with hymns, prayers, and solemn, dark clothes. My friends will likely have a memorial for me more in tune with my preferences. I want everybody to wear bright-colored clothes. I want there to be happy, secular songs and no hints of religion. My younger brother might force himself to attend both memorials, but it’s unlikely any other family member will join him. There is one GA member who I have had email conversations with. I’ve given my email address to two others, but they’ve never used it (Timmy!). ;-)

Are you a Replicant, Pi Boy? How can you be sure? Maybe they implanted those memories… ;-)

Yeah… I bet you do it without even realizing it! ;-) Swinging those hips and snapping your fingers! I can see it now! (Make it stop Timmy! Make it stop!) ;-)

Clearly miscast! ;-) I bet you sashayed better than whoever they mistakenly cast in that role.