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Daddydavek

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  1. Daddydavek
    I want to thank everyone at Gay Authors who has made my visits here so satisfying and enjoyable.  The stories are what brought me here and keeps me coming back so I first want to thank Mark Arbour for his CAP Series and later his Bridgemont saga. Mark's stories are what brought me to the site in the first place and they keep me coming back.  Along the way C. James' "Circumnavigation" and Andrew Q Gordon's stories also captivated me...and so many others too including Nephylim, Libby Drew, AnytaSunday, DKstories, and oh, so many others!
     
    As I was visiting the site fairly regularly, I finally decided to formally join it in April 2009 and I started to leave a few comments, getting more confident after awhile.  "Likes" were not unlimited and actually fairly restricted, meaning I often ran out every day.  Accordingly, reputation points built quite slowly for most on the site and that is why some of the classic authors' rep scores must seem low to newer members.  It is only in the past couple of years that members could leave an unlimited number of likes. 
     
    I finally had written and revised something enough that I thought was good enough to post and "Dean Warner Intrigues" was posted in 2012.  Having tasted some success, I began writing "Abel III's Awakening" and it was posted in 2014 and 2015.   I intend to post some more, but my standards have grown and I'm not satisfied with anything as of yet.  
     
    Seventy years is getting a bit long in the tooth and for most people in their teens, twenties and thirties it doesn't seem possible to project that far ahead into one's life.  But most everyone has grandparents, parents and other oldsters in their life and you do notice things.  Not all of them complimentary either.   Life is often explained in terms of a journey and what you make of it, how you prepare for it and how you take time to enjoy it and help others to enjoy it determines whether you derive satisfaction and what kind of person you end up being.  The pursuit of happiness is hollow if it only involves the pursuit of money or things.  It is also hollow if it only involves the next drug or alcohol induced high as that gets old quickly and makes you old before your time and unhealthy to boot.  
     
    People are social creatures.  We crave interaction, touch and a sense of belonging.  However, it is just those things that makes us vulnerable. Learning to chose friends wisely is an ongoing lesson.  Everyone gets hurt, and in truth everyone has hurt some others, even if unintentionally.  Forgiveness is a virtue which must be cultivated if we expect others to forgive us.  Every long term relationship requires forgiveness and not just the act of saying it, but also of letting go of the resentment and hurt caused by the offense. It is not always easy and is damn near impossible at times, but the resentment and anger can eat at you.  And life is too short to carry that around all the time. 
     
    I have had many family and friends die over the course of my life and some died much too young.  What is worse, some died before they really had a chance to achieve anything, as I had a cousin who was murdered in a drive by shooting in Denver when he was in his early twenties.  But most were of great help to me and always encouraging and I treasure the memories. 
     
    So while I have many regrets, but then again too few to mention, (a la Sinatra) I have had a good life so far and I'm looking forward to being productive for several more.  
     
    Thanks again GA for being part of my good memories!
     
    Daddy, Dave K
     
     
  2. Daddydavek

    Basking Sharks

    By Daddydavek,

    If you read Abel III's Awakening you know it involves telepathy. In my story, Basking Sharks on earth formed a primitive telepathic network in the world's oceans and seas. The news from Australia shows a picture of one that was inadvertently caught and the article is located at the following URL
     
    http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/huge-20ft-basking-shark-caught-accidentally-by-fishing-trawler-in-australia-to-go-in-museum/ar-AAbZ0qps
     

    The more descriptive Wiki article on this species is found here:
     
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basking_shark
     
    These are gentle giants that eat plankton and fill a vital ecological niche in the world. The sad fact is that like the land, the oceans are in trouble too.
     
    DDK
  3. Daddydavek
    The tragedy that occurred in Ferguson could have happened anywhere in the suburbs of any large American city.
     
    An unarmed eighteen year old male was shot by a policeman. Mike Brown was black. The officer Darren Wilson was white.
     
    The whole confrontation lasted only about a minute and half.
     
    Mike Brown was confronted by officer Wilson who was driving in his police SUV down Cannfield as Mike was walking down the middle of the side street in Ferguson. The officer ordered him to move to the sidewalk.
     
    Mike Brown evidently thought he was being harassed by the cop and ignored him and kept on walking.
     
    Wilson meantime heard a description over his police radio of a shoplifting in a nearby store and the suspect was described and the description matched Mike Brown who was wearing distinctive colored socks and clothes.
     
    The officer put his SUV in reverse and backed up quickly and turned his vehicle to block Mike Brown and words were exchanged, a scuffle ensued, shots rang out and in a minute and a half, Michael Brown was dead.
     
    The Wiki article provides much more background and is not sensationalized like the news media reports. Here is the link::
     
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Michael_Brown
     
    That Mike Brown died was a tragedy. The fact that officer Wilson killed him is indisputable. That Wilson was not indicted by the Grand Jury is also a fact. I give the Grand Jury the benefit of the doubt and believe they fulfilled their duty under the law and followed their consciences as well.
     
    Eyewitness accounts are often notoriously unreliable and because of this everyone is clamoring for police to wear body cams. Even if such a camera had been worn by the officer, it might have become dislodged and destroyed in the initial scuffle and may not have even been turned on in time to capture what happened. Still it is a resource that is worth pursuing.
     
    What is lost in the whole picture of the ensuing demonstrations and subsequent confrontations with shots fired and buildings looted and burned is that this could happen anywhere in the USA.
     
    From my own personal point of view, there is more disaffection, sense of futility and anger in America than at any time since the riots in the 1960's when Watts and many other flashpoints erupted.
     
    The income disparity has worsened between the rich and the poor and the middle class has contracted so much as to almost have disappeared, especially among minorities. And while people who are comfortable have ignored that fact, the rest have not.
     
    The promise of the election of the first African American President has been stymied in the minds of most people working for $20 an hour and often much less.
     
    So while some people bemoan that an unarmed black kid was shot and others think the thug got what he deserved, I wonder whether the country will realize that this is a wake-up call and that things could get much worse if we as a country don't begin to do something to make the country a land of opportunity for all.
     
    If that doesn't happen, I foresee more violence and rioting ahead....
     
    Some people are reluctant to say we are in the beginning of a new class war, but I fear for my country that I served in war.
     
    Michael Brown RIP
  4. Daddydavek
    I came across an interesting article which reported a survey on American attitudes on public displays of affection (PDA). It used several scenarios and the results were interesting.
     
    Here is the link:
     
    http://www.livescience.com/48820-americans-gay-legal-rights-pda.html
     
    And here is the article!
     
     
     
     
    Americans Support Legal Rights, But Not PDA, for Gay Couples
    by Kelly Dickerson, Staff Writer | November 20, 2014 07:28am ET
     

     
     
    [/url] Credit: Aleksandar Stojkovic/Shutterstock.com View full size image
    Many Americans support legal rights for gay and lesbian couples but still don't think those couples should kiss in public, a new study suggests.
    Over the past two decades, same-sex couples have made great progress in terms of legal rights in the United Sates. Gays and lesbians can now get married in 33 states and the District of Columbia, after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month cleared the way for same-sex marriages in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. And yet, the new research shows that deep-rooted prejudices against same-sex couples may manifest themselves in more subtle ways.
    The experimental survey revealed that heterosexual people are equally supportive of legal benefits for same-sex couples and heterosexual couples, but are much less supportive of public displays of affection (PDA) for same-sex couples than for heterosexual couples. [10 Milestones in Gay Rights History]
     
     
    Perhaps more surprisigly, the study revealed that some gay and lesbian people were more supportive of heterosexual PDA than they were of same-sex PDA. The results seem counterintuitive at first, but gays and lesbians are much more likely to be victims of harassment or hate crimes. The lack of support for same-sex PDA is likely out of concern for safety, study lead author Long Doan, a doctoral candidate at Indiana University, told Live Science.
    In the new study, more than 1,000 volunteers (male and female, gay and straight) read a short story about a gay couple, a lesbian couple or a heterosexual couple who were living together but were not married. After reading the scenario, each volunteer answered questions about what they thought of the couple. Questions included whether the couple should be granted legal rights, such as hospital visitation, health insurance and inheritance rights. Other questions included how acceptable it was for the couple to tell people they are in a relationship, or to engage in PDA, such as holding hands, kissing on the cheek or French kissing.
    Heterosexual participants generally supported same-sex legal rights; for example, they were almost equally in favor of inheritance rights for heterosexual, gay and lesbian couples (with 70 percent, 69 percent and 73 percent in favor, respectively). But heterosexual study participants were pretty negative across the board about granting some informal privileges to gay and lesbian couples, Doan said. Of the study participants who read the scenario about a heterosexual couple, 95 percent approved of the couple kissing on the cheek. For comparison, just 55 percent approved of a gay couple kissing on the cheek, and 72 percent approved of a lesbian couple kissing on the cheek.
    The gay and lesbian volunteers were generally positive about these privileges, except for PDA. That's why Doan and the researchers think the lack of support for same-sex PDA is related to safety concerns. The results also showed that people were more tolerant of lesbian PDA than gay PDA. This could be more evidence that research on same-sex attitudes and prejudices should not lump gay couples and lesbian couples into the same category, Doan said.
    The findings fit in with a growing body of research that explores modern prejudice — the term psychology and sociology researchers use to describe the more subtle prejudices and racist attitudes that still persist after legal rights are granted to various racial groups, sexual orientation groups or genders. Doan's research addresses the difference between old-fashioned gay prejudices that are rooted in long-held religious beliefs and moral objections and modern prejudices that are more nuanced.
    Doan also noted that while heterosexual people were generally supportive of gay and lesbian legal rights, they were still largely unsupportive of same-sex marriage. (Indeed, a Gallup poll in May found that 55 percent of Americans are in favor of same-sex marriage. That's the highest level of support Gallup has ever seen, but it shows how divisive the issue still is.) This discrepancy suggests that heterosexual people view marriage as an open display of commitment and affection (a privilege) rather than a contract solidifying a partnership (a legal right), Doan said. Gay and lesbian people, on the other hand, are more likely to view marriage as a legal right.
    The research appears in the December issue of the journal American Sociological Review.
  5. Daddydavek

    Annoying Commercials

    By Daddydavek,

    While watching the Major League Baseball Division Series and now the League Championship Series we have been subjected to some of the most annoying commercials on television.
     
    The Dodge Dart commercial is the worst:
     
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctZsLiAV9eg
     
    The Creepy Rob Lowe Direct TV is also right up there.
     
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMfzh8Zfi5U
     
     
    I can't understand how anyone would think either commercial could possibly sell those products.... DDK
  6. Daddydavek

    Super Clusters

    By Daddydavek,

    I posted the following entry in the forum for my story Abel III and unless someone was interested in my story most probably did not see it. In laymen's language the video describes the latest theories about galactic super clusters. It is very well done and I recommend everyone to take a look if they haven't already seen it.
    DDK
     
    Posted 03 September 2014 - 11:21 PM
     
    I just saw a great video that came out today explaining galactic super clusters and the most recent and best understanding of ours.
     
    The video is on Youtube and can be found at the following link:
     

  7. Daddydavek

    Valentine's day

    By Daddydavek,

    Not a very happy Valentine's day. The weather sucks. Not just here in the America, but generally, except perhaps in Sochi.
     
    My son has finally admitted he is a complete fuck-up and has broken his mother's heart.
     
    He has been a financial and emotional drain for almost all of his adult life. It started when he was just eighteen and just out of highschool when he decided he just had to get married to a seventeen year old highschool dropout. She was a bitch from hell. Devious, controlling, narrow minded, prejudiced against almost everyone and spiteful. She gave my son ten years of hell before he finally broke free of her. Thankfully there were no children. However, he was already ruined. He had learned all her bad ways of mishandling money and credit and of being a person who never did more than the minimum to get by and was unashamed to borrow and never pay back from any and all.
     
    My son who was an Eagle Scout as a teenager had become little more than a bum.
     
    They experimented with drugs. He has an addictive personality and been addicted to tobacco since he was fifteen. I tried to explain that he was easily addicted and to avoid experimenting as he could easily get out of control. His response was to conceal it from us. He also got into going to the casinos and gambling.
     
    At thirty-four I worry that he will suicide. As it is, it appears he is doing just that in slow motion as I doubt he will make it to age forty. He has recurring bouts of very bad bronchitis which smoking worsens.
     
    We seldom see him. Only once or twice a month and then it's usually because he needs money. He always has a story and his mother always wanting to believe the best hands over cash for his "emergencies".
     
    Now it seems he is abandoning the area and moving a couple of states away and wasn't even planning on telling us.
     
    The sweet laughing boy of his youth is just a memory for us and we are mourning our child.
  8. Daddydavek

    November 22, 1963

    By Daddydavek,

    For the current generation 9/11 was when in a sense they lost their innocence.
    For my father's generation December 7, 1941 was when their world changed.
    For my generation November 22, 1963 was the shock that changed our world.
     
    I was in highschool and it was the first period after lunch and the subject was English when my generation's world was changed. Suddenly the intercom speaker over which all school announcements was made came on playing our local CBS radio affiliate KMOX and then we heard Walter Conkrite announce that the President had been shot. The radio and TV coverage was continuous for the next four days on all broadcast networks.
     
    A lot happened in the 1960's but nothing was as momentous as this.
  9. Daddydavek

    American Greatness

    By Daddydavek,

    I came across a powerful indictment of American hubris. Not to pile on about the decline of America which I don't personally think has happened, but in my opinion we are less than we assume and less than what we were.
     
    Please take a look at the video in the below link and watch it all the way to the end but be warned it contains some very strong language:
     
    http://www.safeshare.tv/w/UAGOcLSuLX
     
     
    I submit that with politics dead-locked in this country, we are becoming a dysfunctional society. People seem to care more about their own personal agendas than the good of the country. I have lived through 12 different presidential administrations. The trend since President Nixon has seen the middle class shrink, government being blamed for problems instead of used as problem solver and the rise of huge corporations with corporate practices intent on only the bottom line without regard for much of anything else.
     
    What do you think of the views expressed in the video and by me?
     
    *Cia has reviewed this video to ensure it does not violate GA.'s ToS*
  10. Daddydavek

    Baseball is back

    By Daddydavek,

    I came across an article today that may not make any sense to someone unfamiliar with baseball, but makes perfect sense to me.
     
    In essence the argument is made that baseball is all about the anticipation. But the author in the article cited does a much better job than I ever could:
     
     
    http://theweek.com/article/index/259600/yes-baseball-is-boring-thats-exactly-what-makes-it-so-great
     
    I would only add that the pace of the game allows the fans to interact more and perhaps this is why so many fathers and mothers treasure the times they take their kids to a ball game!
     

     
     

    http://theweek.com/article/index/259600/yes-baseball-is-boring-thats-exactly-what-makes-it-so-great

     
    Sports
    Yes, baseball is boring. That's exactly what makes it so great.
    The anticipation of waiting for something — anything — to happen makes baseball a tense, beautiful game
    Published April 9, 2014, at 8:43 AM
     

    Having a grand old time. Photo: (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
    Baseball is back and so, too, are the usual complaints that the sport is an interminable affair with little action save for the occasional angry waddle to the diamond by a red-faced manager eager to harangue an umpire. "Nation Already Sick of Baseball," The Onion joked last week.
    There's some merit to the argument that baseball isn't living up to its billing as America's favorite pastime. For the past 30 years pro football has been the nation's most beloved game; 35 percent of adults named it their favorite sport this year, more than twice as many as the 14 percent who picked baseball.
    Yet the explanation for that gap — that baseball is boring — is way off base. On the contrary, baseball is great specifically because nothing happens. Or more accurately, because nothing happens most of the time.
    First, let's dispel the myth that baseball is a pit of inaction. There are about 18 minutes of live play in an average baseball game, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis; there are only 11 minutes of action in a single football game. If baseball is boring because nothing happens, then football must be the sports equivalent of Waiting For Godot.
    Still, very little does happen in a baseball game. There's plenty of time devoted to pitchers standing idly on the mound and batters fiddling with their gloves. There are long bouts of dead space in every game, in every inning, in every at-bat.
    And you know what? I love it. I'm with Joe Posnanski, who remarked a few years ago that "many of us love baseball not in spite of these failings but because of them."
    All the excitement in a baseball game is immeasurably heightened by the pauses, the breaks in action fueling the anticipation of what's to come. Before the pitcher releases the ball, anything can happen. After he does — well, the batter often whiffs. Or he doesn't even swing. Maybe he grounds weakly to short, or bunts the ball into his foot and gives everyone a good laugh.
    The point is that the game is defined not by constant awe-inspiring moments, but rather by its dearth of them. That's what makes a towering grand slam, a walk-off hit, or a perfect game so incredible. Statistically, none of these things are supposed to happen with any kind of regularity. But they do happen. And when they do, you can't believe they did.
    The lack of action makes you appreciate pivotal moments all the more. There's nothing more tense than waiting on a pitch in a two-out, one-run game in the bottom of the ninth. One swing could tie the game. One swing could lose it.
    And that's the other thing about baseball. There's no time, only outs, leaving open endless possibilities for teams to come back and win, no matter how long the odds.
    Compare that to this most recent Super Bowl, which was utterly unwatchable after the first half. We all knew how it was going to end. And though Seattle didn't finish with the ball, games do often end with the leading team kneeling over and over again until time expires. Super exciting, right?
    That could never happen in baseball, with the winning team simply scratching their butts and loafing on the field, refusing to throw a pitch. Now that would be boring.
    Baseball is different and weird and therefore great. If not for baseball's quirks, poor Steve Bartman is still some faceless dude and not Chicago's greatest villain since Al Capone. Instead, the Cubs, five outs from their first World Series in almost six decades, imploded. A 3-0 lead turned into an 8-3 hole, and the Cubs haven't been back to the NLCS since.
    Baseball can be cruel like that. The game's listlessness gave rise to those intense emotions. Each pitch held the possibility to move Chicago closer to or further from the World Series. The game was over, until it wasn't.
    Baseball leaves open the possibility for anything to happen on any play. Most of the time, nothing happens. But the sheer possibility that something might makes the sport transcendent.
  11. Daddydavek

    Mother's Day

    By Daddydavek,

    I was sent this by a good friend and I thought it was worth passing on to the GA community. Dave
     
     

    JUST A MOM?


     

    A woman, renewing her driver's license ,


    was asked by the woman at Registry to state her occupation.

    She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.

     

    'What I mean is, ' explained the woman at Registry,

    'do you have a job or are you just a ...?'

     

    'Of course I have a job,' snapped the woman.

    'I'm a Mom.'

     

    'We don't list 'Mom' as an occupation, 'housewife' covers it,'

    Said the recorder emphatically.

     

     

    I forgot all about her story until one day I found myself in the same situation.

    The Clerk was obviously a career woman, poised,

    efficient, and possessed of a high sounding title like,

    'Official Interrogator' or 'City Registrar.'

     

    'What is your occupation?' she probed.

     

    What made me say it? I do not know.

    The words simply popped out.

    'I'm a Research Associate in the field of

    Child Development and Human Relations.'

     

    The clerk paused, ball-point pen frozen in mid-air and

    looked up as though she had not heard right.

     

    I repeated the title slowly emphasizing the most significant words.

    Then I stared with wonder as my pronouncement was written,

    in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.

     

    'Might I ask,' said the clerk with new interest,

    'just what you do in your field?'

     

    Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice,

    I heard myself reply,

    'I have a continuing program of research,

    (what mother doesn't)

    In the laboratory and in the field,

    (normally I would have said indoors and out).

    I'm working for my Masters, (first the Lord and then the whole family)

    and already have four credits (all daughters).

    Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities,

    (any mother care to disagree?)

    and I often work 14 hours a day, (24 is more like it).

    But the job is more challenging than most run-of- the -mill careers and the rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money.'

     

    There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk's voice as she

    completed the form, stood up and personally ushered me to the door

     

    As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up by my glamorous new career,

    I was greeted by my lab assistants -- ages 13, 7, and 3.

    Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model,

    (a 6 month old baby) in the child development program,

    testing out a new vocal pattern.

    I felt I had scored a beat on bureaucracy!

    And I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable to mankind than 'just another Mom.' Motherhood!

     

    What a glorious career!

    Especially when there's a title on the door.

     

     

    This makes Grandmothers

    'Senior Research associates in the field of Child Development and Human Relations'

    And Great Grandmothers

    'Executive Senior Research Associates.




     

    May your troubles be less,


    Your blessing be more,



    And nothing but happiness come through your door!



    Happy Mother's Day!


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