irangel

The story made me get a little misty before I even started reading it; like visiting old friends after a long absence. After reading it, there was this wave of emotion that swept through me ...this is a great follow up to "Furlough"; thanks Mark, I loved it.

this got me thinking, then I saw lists then I made one Billie Holiday 44 drugs Judy Garland 47 drugs Jim Croce 30 - plane crash Sam Cooke 33 - shot to death Marilyn Monroe 36 - probable suicide Nico (Warhol, Velvet Underground) 49 - bicylcing accident Donny Hathaway 33- suicide Bessie Smith "Empress of the Blues" 43 - car accident Sandy Denny 31 - injuries from a fall Laura Nyro 49 - cancer Phil Ochs 35 - suicide George Gershwin 38 - brain tumor Billy Strayhorn 51 - cancer Lorenz "Larry" Hart 48 - alcoholism now I am totally bummed out. oh, and it's Monday and it's raining... and my feet are cold

here here, Glen Miller Charlie Parker...giants in any age

not so fast there lass, I'd put Sam/Jared first if I had my druthers... he is so tall, but dah-em, I'm sure he'd be worth the climb...

Hi there, Fellow Sup fan, I got hooked after renting the entire series from Netflix. The men are easy on the eyes as well. I'm not sure if the series is supposed to end this season (do you know?) I mean after the Apocalypse is dealt with...what else could there be. They've really gone into pseudo Christian mythology as a predominant theme. I'm wondering if they'll have a resolution involving the angels and demons getting put in their place by the big Daddy; they'd be castigated for interfering with natural evolution...(Darwin rules...ha ha) The whole series seems to be very sons and father issues doesn't it? I have a feeling the boys will beat the odds with no repeating of the Cain and Abel drama. I love how they've acknowledged the "homoerotic subtext" on the show with the fan girls/boys at the convention. (cool) eh? [i nearly fell out of my chair when they brought that up in the first episode with Chuck and the fangirl character (awesome) eh?] btw, check out the "twincest" and Castiel/Dean slash stories on LiveJournal...(if you haven't already wink, wink, nudge, nudge) well, here's to at least two Supernatural fans here in GA

then there is this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGgyLGcpME0 sometimes you just got to admit "there's some good in the world, Mr. Frodo"

:-) my head is full of the homoerotic subtext in the TV series, "Supernatural" ...the Angel Castiel and one of the Winchester brothers...yeah... thanks Mark

my two pennies worth, Art is a fortunately assembled collection of forms be they paint, sounds, words, rocks, whatever the medium, but before which the witness responds. Art can be beautiful or sublime, it can be aesthetically pleasing or repulsive. At its most sublime the response is usually wordless. Art is not practical, but its absence is impoverishing. Art is a potentiality in everyone, but to realize it is an art in itself.

I hope the machines are green and otherwise environmentally friendly... just saying maybe solar powered batteries? but seriously, is this shit real??? ("now I know we're not in Kansas anymore")

Already told you but will do so publicly, I read it and loved it. Got my attention from the start, never let me go. The flashbacks were supportive of the characters and helped give them more dimensional depth. Thanks for a wild, exciting ride. your writing is addictive

thanks Mark, appreciate it

Hi Mark, I think your points for detection are a good start. While it is difficult to determine through someone's profile or self description there is something I've experienced as an "intuitive" gauge; I call it the "words and music don't match." I think one red flag would be behavior, specifically how a person presents themselves via text, not matching the profile. Here literally the words and "music" of the text don't match. Although "role playing" can be a life unto itself, so we don't want to throw out the baby with the bathwater. By that I mean, some people live full and happy lives through virtual personalities, strange but true, and I am not judging at all. I have friends that have experienced a second life through role playing, almost like the holodeck on Star Trek NG... but I digress As you mention, grammar, syntax and writing ability usually (not always) match to some extent the description/profile/age/stated education. But even if they don't match to a generalized portrait, there is usually consistency in the mode and manner of expression. Here is where a marker might be found, what is the behavior and what is its purpose/goal. There is a phenomena in the discussion, blog, opinion, forum worlds of trolling. It's not just trolling for young stuff, some troll for flame wars, i.e. start up a discussion, fan the flames into an all out war between folks in what might have been a happy discussion group and then the troll sits back and laughs. Occasionally, the troll steps back in to kick start the war again. And the troll will sometimes employ multiple accounts or membership names, a "sock puppet" to echo, support or repeat the argument. What to do...it takes a vigilant membership and moderators. I've seen folks here in GA posit opinions that I am vehemently opposed to, but the discussions have been moved to the Right/Left forums, so I don't get my blood boiling. The free and open discussion of ideas I think is fine. freedom of speech and all that... It's the fraud, flame inducing trolls we need to look out for...off with their heads I say...(virtually speaking of course) While some of these trolls might fake their identity, they have an uncanny ability to figure out people's hot button issues and go to town pushing them. If they find one that elicits an explosion of rhetoric, they laugh the harder, it's not (in my opinion) the argument or point they want to score, it's the bloodbath... but as the saying goes "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me" take care, (having just watched the National Geographic special on the gospel according to Judas, recently authenticated and translated...I will sleep well tonight)

hi, haven't seen any around here but if you check on Live Journal there are loads of it. there is even a web site exclusively housing Merlin slash...I'm not at my home computer to provide you the link, but if you haven't gotten it by day's end, I'll update this post. well ok, here is the link to a Merlin slash archive p.s. there is even some RPS of Colin and Bradley... yes indeed,

Fan Fiction, generally understood to be fiction based on established characters in books, movies, television shows etc. or literature, history (?) Slash generally, is the pairing of two (or more) characters in fan fiction and putting them in a homoerotic relationship. (There is also fem slash) There have been several good articles on Slash, fan fiction and other sub-genre's over the last 2 years. I found them informative and one common thread was the origin of the term "slash." It comes from the first series of stories written in the days of bulletin boards. Slash came about because some of the first stories written were in the Star Trek universe of the original series. A story involving Kirk and Spock would be K/S, or Spock and Chekov would be S/C etc. the slash in the middle of names or initials gave the genre its name. Kirk/Spock stories were so popular at some Comic Cons they were printed and sold or traded. There was some grumblings that William Shatner was totally unnerved by these slash stories and tried to stop them somehow...might be apocryphal. My first introduction to slash came when I found slash written based on the characters in Lord of the Rings the movies. A/F, A/L (Aragorn/Faramir, Aragorn/Legolas), since then I've found Harry/Draco, some Mutant X slash and most recently Arthur/Merlin based on the characterizations in the BBC series "Merlin". It amazes me the amount and passion out there for the genre. Slash can be juvenile, but I've found some to be exquisite, even sublime. The communities that have been created via Live Journal and the Internet in general are amazingly supportive. There are from what I can tell legendary flame wars, in its history but slash communities seem to be stable nowadays simply by virtue of the number of them. The fans are spread around. One recent development that is somewhat "creepy" although tantalizingly alluring...(my weakness is trying anything once...twice if I'm not sure)...is RPS-Real Person Slash. These have come about recently and were at first solely based on boy band members pairing them up, and usually written by young fans...it shows. However, there is now RPS of actors, in series, or movies wherein they hook up for RPS. The most surprising pairings are being made out there including...the last Die Hard movie pairing Bruce Willis with the young actor whose name I can't remember...I haven't read any but it typifies the RPS world. I think if these actors ever read these stories they'd be upset to say the least... part is it seems an invasion of privacy if not downright slander and defamation of character. Still these are out there and more are written every day. Finally, one story that I read brief and full of sex was a short little thing where the slashed pair was the Mac guy in those commercials, paired with a military character they used for a few months to make fun of Vista's feature of asking for permission. The guy was a hunk military dude and he and the Mac guy got it on but the Mac guy had to say yes to every action being taken...let your imaginations run with it. Fan fiction seems to have been around as far back as Conan Doyle, maybe even oral story telling traditions. When fans read their favorite characters were killed off or retired, they would continue writing stories keeping the character alive forever; and so it goes.

you know I'm waiting for the next chapter, sexy death reminds me I used to think the guy who played the angel of death in the TV show "Touched by and Angel" (which I only watched under duress...;-)...was hot. so this one is intriguing in more ways than one.

Here's some eye candy for your birthday Paya... many happy returns of the day

this made me remember I read Kafta's collected works and Nietzsche's work while working the graveyard shift at a State Mental hospital as an aide. The clients were mostly sleeping with an occasional outburst here and there but lots of free time. These two works are merged in my mind... oh, and Stephen King's "The Stand" was in the mix... not life altering, but it did influence my bar talk when I went bar hopping, I had just come out, mid 80's...yeah, "put that in your pipe and smoke it"...:wacko:

I can see him ... ... the feeling and visuals got my attention I liked the rhythm, free form and jazzy this is what I felt It was like I was looking at this young man through your eyes, but then it was my eyes, and you allowed that to happen through the verse it was visual, but it also evoked the tactile senses, I wanted to reach out and touch I think I want to keep the feeling I got and leave it at that... thank you

"Bullfinch's Mythology" when I was in 4th grade. At first the book hooked me with the illustrations they used, photos of classical statues and paintings; those gods were hot. I think it's what influences my art come to think of it. "A picture's worth..." as they say. I remember my elementary teacher asking if I had actually read it when I returned it to the school library. I checked out every mythology book they had including the christian mythologies. The stories were amazingly magical to me, it also sparked a lifelong interest in comparative religious studies. Joseph Campbell is a personal hero of mine. The next memorable book was the "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding, rather disturbing that, since I saw that devolution of behavior in my everyday life in the barrio...life goes on The truly transformative book and the one I would choose if limited to one book was that tiny ancient text, the "Tao Te Ching" by Lao Tzu, never been the same since; saved my life at the tender age of 16... life goes on, indeed fascinating thread here -~~~-

dude, you just described my definition of a relationship in the 80's...; my definition of a stranger: no names exchanged, afterward no acknowledgment of mutual existence, just clean up after yourselves...which made it really weird, when the number would turn up at a dinner party and we're all like..."don't I know you from somewhere..."..."no must be mistaken, oh, have you met my wife..." "the winds of change are gonna blow"

Hi Mark, I've been called many things in Spanish and English, but "pure" has never been one of them. I think my post gave the impression that I was judging behavior, I was not. As I replied to James, I don't for a minute regret my behavior during my wild days. I have fond memories and none of it is colored by moral judgment. The baths, bars, and one night stands were awesome...what's there to judge. Stranger sex was some of the hottest, I'm just not there anymore. pure and happy? I'll agree with the happy part, but pure...got lost in the early 80's. unless we're having a word confusion and pure=monogamy? in which case I am pure...my life depends on it. "you cheat, you die" is the motto of my relationship...luckily we've not had to test it btw, I had 15 glorious years of bars, baths, and bookstores... no regrets...well ok, maybe one (that I remember) getting back at my roommate for leaving me stranded at the bar by sleeping with his potential boyfriend in the living room, while he was in the next room listening...I was bad and spiteful, and marvelously petty...I guess that doesn't count though because no strangers were involved.

I am sorry if this happened to you. to your question about my father, no he didn't I spent my childhood and adolescence cleaning up after him, he was alcoholic. (my past is an impoverished childhood, in a Hispanic culture, a minority within a minority, struggled through college and grad school, came out, partied hard, settled down enjoying life, nothing special) when I told him and my mother I was gay, I was self sufficient and living on my own. I was 24 and had been out of my parents house for 4 years I did not mean to suggest a superior morality in describing my present relationship status. I don't for a minute regret my past behavior and some of the hottest adventures were had during those days. I was out and about during the early 80's when the baths, bars and one night stands were what I lived for. Getting laid was a game of numbers and faces although some sweet friendships came out of them sometimes. I simply got tired of it. And I realized I wanted something different. Turns out it was a monogamous relationship. I was/am lucky. I've buried too many good friends and people I hooked up with for a night...*not judging*...just stating the facts in my life. Lost them to AIDS/HIV, alcoholism, violence and drugs. If you read some sort of moral judgment in my post it was not my intent. I agree with you, I live in a different world, mine is colored by my life experiences. We are all a product of our past experiences, it is what we do with them that creates our experience of the world in the present. It is what we do here and now and the choices we make and the meaning we give to them that matters, in my opinion. I've had many terms ascribed to me in Spanish and English, but a superior morality, has not been one of them. However if my post offended you in some way I do apologize for it, there is enough negativity in the world, I would not add to it.

Leaves you in good company and more than you'd think. I met my life partner after my answers Yes and "been there done that" phase of life had past. now 18 years in a solid monogamous relationship, we've built our foundation on honesty, love and respect. we're counting on each other to run out the clock :king: no drama, life around us provides enough of that (sounds like a hallmark card...eh) but that's the way it is... And I'm not suggesting our way is better than other configurations, we've known couples with "open" relationships who make it work, it's just not for us. and we have many single gay and straight friends who are very content with single-hood guess, as long as you don't get burned, what ever melts your butter

Hi Graeme, I am bit confused (nothing new there) but did this image submission request receive entries? Did one get chosen? Will we be able to see some of the submissions? I am curious since art is one of my passions...not that the 63 images in my gallery would give it away... maybe putting the submissions in a gallery of its own so we could peruse it? I'd love to submit something next time

this is one that got me hooked on Vitas a Latvian born Russian singer: