JamesSavik

Hey Tim! Hope you have a great year

You might want to go slow there. Chaz's twin (Mike?) may not be ready. No strike that. He's not read- please encourage him to go slow in the romance department. -JS

Ever need a database but its just too rigid, a spreadsheet just won't do and a word processor isn't right either? I've discovered a sweet little program called TaoNotes Pro. I am using the freeware version but I plan on buying the whole product. The best way that I can define TaoNotes is that it is a free-form database capable of being flexible enough to store books, cds, notes, dvds, names, numbers, images- whatever. It's very simple to use and rivals expensive personal information managers and specialty academic software. Nota Bene and XYwrite have many of these database and note-taking features but they cost ~$500. TaoNotes can export data in MS-Office and HTML formats. TaoNotes can perform the functions of a lot of different pieces of expensive software- contact management, personal dbms, bibliography, research notes, etc. I would call it a Swiss army knife for words and information. Actitrend Software

humm- I wonder what a huggle would be like. I suggest pecans, carmel and choclate. Oh wait that's a turtle. Mmmmmm turtles, *drool* they taste like

Oh my God Dom! I said please don't kill Eddie but I was actually sorry for Aaron by the time it was over. Maybe Cody wasn't the most sympathetic character but jeez- karma landed on Aaron with both feet.

Does anyone else ever have trouble just writing sex? I usually DON'T write sex. I think it's better to leave some things to the readers imagination by creating an erotic mood and feeling without getting graphic.

The Drunken Idiot Song I'm a drunken Idiot but that's OK, I drink all night and I sleep all day. chorus: He's a drunken Idiot buts that's OK, He'll drink all night and he'll sleep all day. I drink beer and I drink scotch and occasionally even gin. I go to the lavatory. And barf and drink agin. chorus: He drinks beer and he drinks scotch and occasionally even gin, He goes to the lavatory, And barfs and drinks agin. He's a drunken Idiot buts that's OK, He'll drink all night and he'll sleep all day. I drink in pubs and I drink in the park. I drink from the morning till well after dark. I wake up hung over and wearing high heels, I guess I lost a bet or made a bad deal. chorus: He drinks in pubs and He drinks in the park. He drinks from the morning till well after dark. He wakes up hung over and wearing high heels, He supposes he lost a bet or made a bad deal. He's a drunken idiot and that's OK, He drinks all night and he drinks all day. I wake up in strange places with strange people with strange faces, They say I'm friendly when I'm drunk and apparently nearsighted, Waking up is an adventure hung over in strange spaces, Now my favorite organ has a rash and is blighted. chorus: He's a drunken idiot but it's OK, He drinks all night and he pukes all day, He wakes up in strange places with strange people with strange faces, He says he's friendly when he's drunk and apparently nearsighted, Waking up is an adventure hung over in strange spaces, Now his favorite organ has a rash and is blighted. chorus: He used to be a drunken idiot but its OK, He sobered up and he joined AA, He's still and idiot and makes mistakes, But now he can remember the promises he makes. ___________________________________________________ My apologies to Monty Python for butchering the Lumberjack Song.

You didn't collect as a kid? I used to collect coins, stamps, fossils, gems, rocks and albums. My parents encouraged collecting because the collections themselves had value. Now my biggest collections are books (~2,300), CDs (325) and, DVDs(42). And yes, they are cataloged in a database. Garbage pale kids were after my time. In my day it was "wacky packages" which were satirical bastardizations of consumer products. Purina cat chow became "Putrid cat chow". Of course the 'rents hated them so we loved them as much as our Satanic albums. Of course there is a web site dedicated to the preservation of these priceless artifacts of us children of the 70s collective childhood. Wacky Packages

Recently I had been taking something that didn't go down very well. I read the label, which was in very tiny print, that had a list of side effects a mile long. A couple of those were lethargy and depression- which both suck a lot. It is a real pain when the cure is worse than the symptom.

May cause cramps and bloating... If you have an erection lasting more that 4 hours... May cause diareah and nausea... May cause sexual side effects... May cause tremors, forgetfulness and hallicunations... Don't drive a car or operate heavy machinery for 4 to 6 hours after use... May cause sinus infection or nosebleeds... If you experience depression or suicidal thoughts please call your doctor... May cause delerium, euphoria or dementia... Screw it! I'll just walk it off. -JS

Please don't kill Eddie. At least not before you kill TLS Aaron would make good road gravy. The way he's been boozing it up, he's about due for it.

Nick- Good for you. CRVboy's site has a huge following. In fact Topher's Carter series was featured there. -JS

AFF- The constant in life is change. The trick is.. well crap. I don't know. :wacko: Stay sweet and good things will happen for you. Just don't quit and don't give up. -JS

The Craft of Research 2nd edition Booth, Colomb & Williams Univ of Chicago, 2003. ISBN# 0-226-06568-5 Uni of Chicago Students are often asked to write a research paper in senior English. That exercise is usually not very enlightening. Form is emphasized, footnotes, the right number of reference cards, footnotes and other rubbish. The Form is taught but the point is missed. How is research really done? How do you pose a research question? How do you design a research project? How do you decide is a topic is worth your time and effort? Is your research pure or applied? How has the advent of the Internet affected research, is that contribution positive or does it just muddy the waters? What is a reliable source? What do you do when reliable sources contradict each other? Any student or professional researcher can benefit from the content of this book. Of course form is important but this book focuses on something the others miss: the function of research. If you are looking for a manual of form and style, this ain't it. If you want to learn how to do research that is more than gather data in a large pile, then this is the book for you. Table of Contents: Part I Research, researchers and Readers Chap. 1. Thinking in print: The uses of research, public and private Chap. 2. Connecting with your Reader Part II Asking Questions, Finding Answers Chap. 3 From topics to questions Chap. 4 From questions to problems Chap. 5 From problems to sources Chap. 6 Using Sources Part III Making a claim and supporting it Chap. 7 making good arguments Chap. 8 Claims Chap. 9 Reasons and Evidence Chap. 10 Acknowledgments and responses Chap. 11 Warrants Part IV Preparing to draft, drafting and revising Chap. 12 Planning and drafting Chap. 13 Revising your organization and argument Chap. 14 Introductions and conclusions Chap. 15 Communicating evidence visually Chap. 16 Revising style: telling your story clearly Part V Some Last Considerations

Oh no! After the Shrub, he would certianly win and not have any time to write. You get elected Dom and you can select me as Minister of Knee-capping A-holes- a small but very necessary post. Fuggitaboutit. :mace:

Chaz & Green: I sent you guys a PM the other day that probably makes a lot more sense now. I think the two of you getting away together is a fantastic idea (which I think that I may have suggested at some point in the past ) Fly Away (by Lenny Kravitz) I wish that I could fly Into the sky Just like a dragonfly I'd fly above the trees Over the seas in all degrees To anywhere I please Oh I want to get away I want to fly away Yeah yeah yeah Oh I want to get away I want to fly away Yeah yeah yeah Let's go and see the stars The milky way or even Mars Where it could just be ours Let's fade into the sun Let your spirit fly Where we are one Just for a little fun Oh oh oh yeah ! I want to get away I want to fly away Yeah yeah yeah I want to get away I want to fly away Yeah yeah yeah I got to get away Feel I got to get away Oh oh oh yeah I want to get away I want to fly away Yeah with you yeah yeah Oh Yeah ! I want to get away I want to fly away Yeah with you yeah yeah I got to get away I want to get away I want to get away I want to get away I want to get away Yeah I want to get away I want to fly away Yeah with you yeah yeah I got to get away I want to get away I want to get away I want to get away I want to get away Yeah I want to get away I want to fly away Yeah with you Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

Dom- Maybe I can help you with some titles. Here's a few-- see if they spark any ideas. Here's a few ideas: Dog Guy, Cat Guy- the tale of romance between two very different people and the furr flies. Diary of a Neurotic Dog- a Dog's eye view of a romance. You did something like this in your blog but I think it could be expanded and refined. Night Moves- a grifter meets a nice guy and finally discovers what he wants but is it too late? Dawn's Early Light- two gay Marine heros survive the Gulf War but discover that the Corp is deadlier than anything that Saddam had. the Rochenko Gambit- set in the Cold War, a Western agent is sent to Moscow to seduce a Soviet scientest and steal his secrets but soon finds that its his heart that has been stolen. Here's a few potentially cool titles: the End of Winter the Polk County War 10,000 Shades of Gray the Destruction of Matthew Gentry Broken Victory I wish I was as good with the rest of the story. -JS

Ryan who?

Happy Birthday my friend! I had to be the first All my best wishes for a great year for you, your family and Surfie. -James

Oh David. I know this story all too well- heard it a zillion times and it still makes me sad. I'm happy that David has his brother back. (happy tears this time)

Whenever I'm pondering the meaning of life, I think more about Dennis Leary than Rowland. Life's a bitch and then you die. Shut the f* up and get a helmet. God.. "I'm just not happy. I'm just not happy. I'm just not happy because my life didn't turn out the way I thought it would." Hey! Join the f*ing club, ok!? I thought I was going to be the starting center fielder for the Boston Red Socks. Life sucks, get a f**king helmet, allright?! "I'm not happy. I'm not happy." Nobody's happy, ok!? Happiness comes in small doses folks. It's a cigarette, or a chocolate chip cookie, or a five second orgasm. That's it, ok! You cum, you eat the cookie, you smoke the butt, you go to sleep, you get up in the morning and go to f**king work, ok!? That is it! End of f**king list! " -Dennis Leary

Com- I am part of the team that wrote Collision- a round-robin mystery. It's winding down now and it should be done in the next couple of months. One thing that I suggest right out of the gate: assign a project editor and give him some amount of authority. Our editor has been invaluable and has kept the wheels from falling off several times. He has also been very helpful in keeping a lid on issues like continuity, reality checking and timeline. In Collision, we started off with a document called the game plan and a first chapter. The game plan addressed: a) primary characters and character information (like Kelly likes Perl Jam and his favorite color is blue) setting (where things are happening) c) beginning assumptions The rules were that the game plan was fixed but each author had the ability to add secondary characters, plot twists and whatever creative control they wished as long as didn't drive the plot into a ditch. For most of the run of Collision, the authors had regular chat sessions to keep everyone on the same page. That really depends on how long you want your chapters to be. In the context of Collision, we had either very seasoned authors or gifted newbies so we could give the author a chapter and let them run with it. Six weeks is rather long. Most seasoned authors could probably get a chapter out in 2 weeks. I would suggest a flexable turn around time: 2 weeks for the author, 1 week for the editing and an optional 1 week for rewrite if necessary. Given this time line, you would produce a chapter every 3-4 weeks. For online fiction, that's just about right. You don't want to get the readers interested and then have them forget about your story. We used our regular chats to iron out these issues. You can't very well kill off a primary character and expect the plot to flow. Hummm... good question. A min and a max on chapter length is probably a good idea but writers usually have a pretty good eye for that. Collision chapters run from 10 to 16 pages and we had no such guidelines. I've never written in the horror genre but I would love to give it a try. -JS

Chris May the next year bring you success and good fortune! Oh yeah- and zillion dollar book and movie deals! -JS

He will tell anyone what ever he wants and make me look like I am the bad guy. Not really Green. By going out and talking trash, it makes him look like an embittered ex, jerk, tossed out roomate, etc. He draws more attention to himself than he does you. It makes people wonder what he has left out: the other side of the story. Someone hearing him talk s**t is going to wonder- did Green catch him snorting coke in his house and kick him out? Was he having sex with sheep dogs or running the pre-schoolers prostitution ring out of the basement? The problem with slinging s**t is that you inevitably get it on yourself.

Xander- It sucks but sometimes you've just got to punt. This is only going to hurt worse the longer it goes on. Take you dog for some long walks where there are cute guys and frisbees.