Tomas

Made it to 12 fully read, some of them more than once, and I count 5 only partially read for one reason or another.

Billboard No 1 song on my birthdate was They Can't Take That Away from Me - Fred Astaire

Someone once said, "Growing old is not for wimps".

Fantastic news!

Thank you, Ricky. I was wondering how things have been working out for Dustin. Have a Great Thanksgiving. Tomas

KC, I hope your friends in Texas are all OK. I would venture a guess that many people picture the NW as being rainy and wet, but the month of August is usually our hottest and driest time of the year, and this year is no exception. Just .04 inches of rain for the month of August with about another month before our rainy season starts. There are several major wildfires burning in the state. I believe at last count there were 8 fires of various sizes burning through out the Cascades and the Mount Hood National Forest. The closest to me is designated the "Dollar Lake" fire and that is on the slopes of Mount Hood about 17 miles as the crow flies from here. Smoke from the fires is filtering into the Willamette Valley mostly South of the Portland Metro area, down around Salem. Many forest roads have been closed and several popular mountain lake resorts have been closed as a precaution. The Warm Springs Indian Reservation is in danger from the one of the fires. Since the fires are mostly in mountainous terrain, it is a difficult task to bring them into containment. The dry, hot winds make it even more dangerous for the fire fighters and dry heat lightening, which is the cause of most of the fires, adds even more danger. A young friend in Arizona works in the summer for the Forest Service in Arizona and was involved in fighting the monsterous "Wallow" fire in SE Arizona earlier and for a time in fighting the fire in NM that threatened the Los Alamos laboratories. As far as I know at this time, he is out on some fire line somewhere. Wildfires, no matter where or when they occur, can be devastating. Not only in the physical destruction that occurs, but also in the emotional and mental toll on the people involved, victims and fire fighters alike.

I'm allergic to Purple People, do you have any other colors?

An earthquake on the East coast. That's not right. Now a hurricane is a horse of a different color, or if you will 'colour'. LOL. I'm happy that no one over there suffered any major damage and all are safe. Especially our friends in Virginia. Of course, hurricanes aren't a problem here, but we do have earthquakes and volcanoes. Oh and the possibility of tsunamis along the coast. [sarcasm on] It was heartening to find out that the media was on the job and knew that the world was waiting with bated breath to find out if Obama felt the earthquake while he was on the golf course. As if... And now his vacation may have to be cut short because of Irene. Awwwww... poor thing. Haven't yet been able to find violin small enough. [sarcasm off] Bye!

I normally don't respond to this type of post. One of the reasons is that I usually don't know how to respond. As I have said in other posts, I have never gone through the emotional trauma and angst usually associated with the discovery that you are different. I knew that I was different when I was nine. Had my first lover when I was nine. He was my best friend and also nine. Of course, we didn't really know what we were doing, but we never heard any negatives about it. Got caught once, but all that happened was we were told that we shouldn't be doing what we were doing. I had a couple of crushes going through school, but never acted on them. I never acted any particular way. I was just me and never tried to be anyone or anything except me. I was away from home when my parents found out, I think I was 19 at the time. All that they said, was I was still their son and they loved me just the same. They also told me if that was the reason that I left home, I was always had a place there when and if I wanted to come home. Not having been in nor out in the current meaning of the words and never having been exposed to any of the homophobic vitriol that exists in current society makes it difficult, for me at least, to give any kind of reasonable advice or to feel comfortable doing so. After all, how can I advise someone when I can't truly understand what they are feeling. That being said, in this circumstance, seeing what happened to a few of my friends when they were outed, I can make an observation. One thing that you must remember, the social climate back then, more years ago than I like to remember, was different than it is today. At least where I grew up. I do have to agree with the advice, or lack thereof, given here. No one can really know what consequences another will face in making such a life changing decision, and it is life changing. You will still be you, except that you will be a more honest you, but not everyone will be able to accept that and it can easily turn into dangerous situation for you. It is up to you to determine if this is the time to do it or whether it makes more sense to wait, especially if there is no compelling reason to out yourself at this time. And... Only YOU can make that determination based on your experiences and knowledge of your situation and the attitudes of the people around you. (Friends, Family, etc.) No one else can or should do that for you. The only other thing I can say is, "Be Wary".

I'm basically a very private person. Always have been. Even out here very few people really know me. I don't post very often as you can see by my post count. I've been a member since December 2003 my member number is 86. I've reached the ripe old age of 74, not the oldest member, but still... I think that, besides myself, maybe one or two of the original 100 members still drop in every once in a while, but other than Myr and Comicality I haven't seen any posts by them if they do. Oh! And I'm gay. Growing up I never went through the angst, that so many go through, when I realized that I was different. I was who I was and that wasn't likely to change. I didn't concern myself... I was just me. Never tried to be anyone else or other than who I was. I've had a couple of long term relationships one lasted 17 years, ended by mutual agreement and we remained close friends after. The second lasted 22 years and ended when he died, almost 3 years ago now. The first died about 10 years ago. I do still miss both of them. I'm an avid reader. I have several hobbies that keep me busy. I'm attempting to write a story, but it's something that I've never been a success at. Story lines and characters have never been cooperative and usually just ride off into the sunset with certain digits raised leaving me stranded. That's all I have to say.

Coffee, forever coffee. Twas always thus and always thus will it be. I had my first taste of coffee when I was 3 days old. Mostly milk with some coffee in a teaspoon fed to me by my Grandfather. I was born at my Grandparents house with the assistance of a midwife. A common occurrence in the "days of yore". LOL Anyway, coffee was the drink du jour everyday. There was always a pot of coffee being kept hot on the back of the stove from breakfast time early in the morning until the last person went to bed. The last thing done at night was to empty the little bit of coffee that was left in the pot. The pot was cleaned and set up for the next morning. There weren't electic coffee makers with timers, so the first person up in the morning started the water boiling and slowly poured the boiling water into the top of the French Drip coffee pot to start the coffee. The first of several pots made through out the day. Always the same brand Luzianne Coffee & Chicory. The routine was the same in every household in the family. I am unable to recall any time that I was unable to get a cup of coffee without having to wait for it to be made, no matter the time of day, at any of my relatives homes. So I have been a coffee and caffeine addict for a very, very long time. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. LOL

I just saw an article about using a 3D printer to print chocolate products. Read more:

A Short list for starters. [Well relatively short] Beautiful Thing Edges Of The Lord The Boy In The Striped Pajamas The Last Legion The Island on Bird Street Secondhand Lions A Feast At Midnight A River Runs Through It Beastly The 13th Warrior Season Of The Witch Previously mentioned: "Latter Days" Some Older Epics: Ben Hur Lawrence Of Arabia Cleopatra Demetrius and the Gladiators Spartacus Becket

Driver had/has the same problem and he was able to reach a solution. Maybe Tristan will find a similar solution and continue the story. Then again he might have lost the desire to do so, afraid that the attacks would continue no matter what he did. In which case, as Neph says, "This just totally sucks."

It would be helpful if you at least said what genres of movies that you favor.

Awwww, you're no fun. Just think of all the paradoxes that you could set up.

Talk to Marty McFly

Full Article

A very happy birthday. Have the best day that you can possibly have.

Here ya go, James. Other Thread

Except in fiction and fairytales, I don't believe that such exists and I doubt that an ideal family can really be achieved. Of course, it is a very subjective thing and what one would view as ideal another might view as dysfunctional. As to the subject of this thread... I seriously doubt that this is an isolated case. If his siblings hadn't cared enough to take the time to try and find some reason for their brothers suicide, the story probably wouldn't have grown legs. I'm sure that there is plenty enough guilt to go around for all concerned, not that all concerned will admit to any quilt whatsoever. Feelings of guilt at this juncture are useless really. But that is just my humble opinion. Take it as you will.

Lucas Till... WOW!!

How about "Toxin".