JamesSavik

A link would be nice.

Are there any particular events that would happen in a particular school year? Homecoming Dance- this is a special event that takes place during football season designed to attract alumni. This is a much bigger deal for colleges and universities than high schools. The general rule is that Homecoming is more important for larger high schools in rural areas which are more important to the country or the town. Christmas Break- Goes from a little before Christmas to a little before New Years. Spring Break- Varies considerably and are intentionally staggered so they don't all happen at the same time. Usually lasts a week from mid-March to mid-April. Is sometimes bundled with Easter. Some school districts have their calenders and student handbooks online. Hope this helps. Any specific rules regarding the birthday ! In my school you had to be six by Sept. 1st to start 1st grade.

As a writer, I do a good bit of research to develop my characters. This is a result of the information that I've gathered. I won't write a slack-jawed yokel that hates those people. That's a useless stereotype. People are a LOT more complex than that. This research comes from several sources including the DSM-IV. _________________________________________________ Anti-Gay Bias There appear to be several distinct "flavors" of anti-gay bias which tend to overlap in many cases. I have observed that often when a person exhibits extreme bias, some underlying pathology may be involved. When one of these lines of reasoning is shown to be false, another one of the reasons will be brought forward. I will try to list the typical reasons for bias and the pathologies because it is important for us to look at the reasons why people hate us. I. Typical Bias 1). the Ick factor- the idea of two people of the same sex having sex is gross to some people. 2). religious objections- the Judeo-Christian tradition and the Islamic faith have strong taboos against gay sex. In some cultures this has been taken so far as to criminalize gay sexual acts. 3). It's not natural- this school of thought seems to think that same-sex attraction does not occur in nature despite all evidence to the contrary. They do not seem to have the same objections to organ transplants or in-vitro fertilization. 4). Gays are all Predators- despite all evidence to the contrary. 5). plain old garden variety bigotry- these guys hate anything different be it race, religion or sexual preference. 6). Erroneous Misconceptions- these people have heard something or have some belief about gay people and their behavior. II. Atypical/Pathological Bias 1). ego defining bigotry- in this type of bias, the bigot believes that he is superior because of a defining characteristic like his race, gender or sexuality. Typically, this person doesn't have a lot going for them so their ego depends on a characteristic like race or orientation for their self-esteem. 2). Homophobia- this is a person that has some same-sex attraction but turns their self-loathing outward against others. Gay people constitute a serious threat to their identity 3). Post-Victimization Projection- this person has been sexually abused or sexually assaulted and turns his anger toward all gay people as potential sexual abusers or assaulter's. 4). Religious Fanaticism- this person has an underlying psychosis and believes that their actions are guided or directed by god. This is sometimes what is going on with many ritualistic serial killers. The difficult part of this analysis is that the reasons for bias usually overlap and sometimes cover an underlying pathology. There is almost always no single reason for anti-gay bias and it's layers and psychological complexity make it a difficult issue to pin down.

This is creepy. I fear being restrained or cornered. I fear needle nosed pliers and soldering irons. I fear being helpless in the hands of an enemy.

I got the flu. Blech! I was fine Thursday morning and was sick as a dog by nighttime. It's fast, it's mean and it's ugly. Started out with a sore throat, fever, chills, sweats, cough, sinuses exploding, head on fire. All of this and I was avoiding birds and people. :wacko: Have you had it yet? How did it hit you? How long did it take you to feel human again? -JS

Confusedious sez: Unwise to piss off the man that makes the cookies. Wise man shows up with butter, choclate chips and praise.

I know who it is. He's my editor too and he rocks!

I took this some time ago. INTJ- whatever that means.

>the Squawk box >random noise

Ummm... it's no big surprise that a cajun sweetie like you is going to be popular! You are such an up and positive person that you brighten up the day.

How you got that I do not know.

OK- here goes... I was born in the US. I was a government scientist during the Cold War. I've been to South Korea.

There is a very old adage that still works even today: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The lay outs are good, simple and clean. The focus of the site is content. Everything else is dressing. Oh yeah- and to NateB for pitching in to help out! If you are motivated to help, PM Myr. There is always something to do.

I fear weapons of mass destruction but that's because as a small child we had nuclear warfare drills where we hid under desks and were told not to look at the flash. This fear has recently been reawakened not by Al Qaeda but by the good ole boy in the White House. George Bush strikes me as the kind of guy that might get drunk and say, "Hey ya'll, watch this!" (I'm FROM the South- I know these people.) But seriously- weapons of mass destruction don't kill people, people kill people. I should be able to own a neutron warhead or anthrax for home defense. Who knows? I might have to retaliate against the Smiths or the Jones.

There might be something to that. Maybe she got busted for smoking pot and hanging out with bikers.

I used my GAC super-powers and took care of it.

SB- You are 14. Being in love will happen for you however, at your age with teenage hormones, there's not a lot of difference between being in love or in lust. Just stay sweet and it'll happen before you know it. -JS

Dammit my eyes are leaking. Great story Dom!

I thought you were an evil overlord Myr.

AFF- You need an OTHER button. I think that Granny mAlice is getting the house ready to sell so she can move into a "retirement" community.

Chapter Story- well, they all have chapters don't they? With Trust- trust is for innocents that don't know any better Crash- I like it. The Painting Boy- Uhhh, no.

Mr Black Sings a Sad Song would have been better.

Its a good story and a well done film. I hope that its commercial success will make some production companies take another look at good scripts with gay themes. In the past, the only gay characters in a movie was likely to be a serial killer or a serial killers victum. I can think of a number of stories that could be adapted as a screen plays. Comicality, Dom, Graeme, Freethinker, Driver (speaking of Driver, Sudden Storm would make one hell of a movie).

Oprah turned on one of her favorite authors Thursday, attacking James Frey, author of A Million Little Pieces for taking liberties with the truth in a book billed as a "non-fiction memoir". In the book, Frey claimed that he had spent 3 months in jail when in fact, he never spent more than a few hours. He also claimed to have had root canals administered with no Novocaine. Apparently Frey's "true" story of drug addiction and recovery has been substantially embellished and exaggerated. In his defense, he did say that names, places and events had been changed to to protect the privacy of 3rd parties but the story is essentially TRUE. This controversy begs a few Questions of our authors: When does fictionalizing a story cross the line? Is James Frey covered by dramatic license or is he a liar, liar pants on fire? As a reader, would you feel ripped off or betrayed if you discovered that a book or story that you had read that was billed as true was significantly changed?

In doing research for a story that I'm working on, there are a few things about Aaron that caught my interest. The character that I'm working on has ADD and I wonder if that isn't one of his problems. That and alcoholism and narcisism.... here's a few "markers" -Short attention span -impulsive behavior -interupts or intrudes on others -trouble keeping attention on tasks -easily distracted