Rilbur

Ah, thanks! I knew that was floating around somewhere!

Wait, I have tomorrow too?! ... LOL! Edit: Stupid question, did the rules forget to state where to turn our stuff into, or am I just blind?

I remember way back when in seventh grade, and I ended up needing a shower after gym... I didn't take another one, mostly because I didn't enjoy everyone gawking at the fact that I already had a full set of pubes. Talk about different experiences!

Well, I don't have much opportunity to go to the gym... and there was no call for going 'all the way' in my high-school gym courses (no showers after P. E., darn!) so I don't know what I would have done then (OK, I would have gone all the way... ) but I suspect I'd go all the way. Full nudity, woo-hoo!

Actually, the movie is a film adaption of the broadway version

I subscribe to the Netflix service, and every once in a while 'interesting' movies pop up that it thanks I might like -- and in this case, that you might . On the bar it dedicates to musicals, something caught my eye. I laughed, and just had to 'check it out'. It's risque -- oh boy is it risque! -- but it's absolutely hilarious. If you think society's 'morals' with regard to nudity need a great big finger in its eye, it's called "Naked Boys Singing". It's rated NR (technically, that means "Not Rated), presumably because of the 'no crudity, just gratuitous nudity!' they sing about at the start of the show. This show stands... outside the normal rating system. R for nudity? But there's so much of it -- and the humor is so sexual! X for sex? But there isn't any (unless you count suggestions). Some of the songs are very witty and amusing (The Bliss of a Bris); some are rather... childish and immature (I beat my Meat), and some fall in the middle (The Naked Maid). But even the worst of them is a good laugh. Some of them make (or attempt to make) points about society (Robert Mitchum) while others just make fun of certain human tendencies (Members Only). One of them brought tears to my eyes when I realized it addressed teen suicide (Kris, Look What You've Missed) -- at least, that's what I think it addresses, they aren't very clear on it. Kris is dead, but it's only implied in the subtext of the song that it's suicide. Overall, I loved the musical and would highly recommend it to any adult individuals that aren't prepared to take automatic offense at nudity. Actually, I imagine any high school student could watch it... despite what the law says about kids and sexuality, I think we can all agree that 'locker room talk', 'girl talk', and the like are pretty... graphic and descriptive, moreso even than this.

OK, having just gotten a PM (that has me beyond angry!), let me clarify my statement on being familiar with the military mindset. I have an extensive family history of service going back two generations (grandfather was a Master Chief in the navy), which includes me having lived on base for years both domestically and in a foreign nation. I read, a lot, including a not inconsiderable amount of what could is called 'military' fiction, both contemporary and sci-fi/fantasy. I spent 4 years in NJROTC. I am not by any stretch of the imagination, using the phrase 'military mindset' to refer to the psycho-killer type mentalities some people might. The military is an honorable service, and while some of the 'psycho-killers' make it in despite (rigorous!) screening to prevent it, the majority are men and women of honor and integrity, looking to serve their nation as best they can. Some of them fail in this, either by degrading into the pyscho-killers due to combat fatigue or by loosing site of the rules which make their service to the nation honorable. You will note in my writing that while there are 'bad' military officers, the majority of them are 'good'. Sometimes a bad apple rises to the top. This happens more often in fiction than in real life, simply because it makes for good stories, but it does happen. But it is rare, and usually corrected fairly quickly.

I generally don't do period pieces, but there are plenty of 'modern' things that you need to do plenty of research for, too. For example, I spent hours researching rape trauma on the internet, and when I ran into a few rape survivors I talked to them and got more useful information. Guardians has been shaped and molded by that... not that the biggest shapes and molds have been shown, yet. Similarily, I'm going to have a hell of a lot of research to do on modern weapons fairly soon to equip some squads of marines who are going to become involved in a story. While I'm familiar, in general, with the military, military mindset, and how such things work, I don't have enough specific information on modern equipment. I'm really not looking forward to trying to do that research, at all.

I suspect it leads back to the fact that guys find two girls making out 'hot', and two guys making out 'not'.

Ammusingly, that was my own response. Then I realized they meant Public Displays of Affection.

Do I dare ask what these books are doing on the list? All of them are ones I read, and I really don't remember much about them that would spawn 'trouble'. There was a suicide scene in My Antonia, but that'sa bout all I remember from it... Anyway, 15 / 100 books ain't half bad!

MikeL's comments not-withstanding, my personal experiance is quite the opposite. I found the people in Japan to be quite kind, helpful, and a joy to be around... when we could talk Of course, I was only 11-13 years old at the time, that probably helped 'shape' my opinion on matters a bit

That's only true if you manage an orgasm Some of us aren't that lucky!

Similar idea, opposing reasons. Lock down in a prison is used to control the inmates; lock downs in a school are used to secure the student population while an emergency (for example, bomb threat) is dealt with. You do not want the student population moving from class to class when something like that is going on... so lock down. They stay where they are, and they do not move unless ordered to do so. Not for the safety and security of the guards, but for their own.

You're forgetting, not all churches are Christian... and not all religions are 'sin based', like modern Christianity is.

Evil gets a chance, sure, but so long as good men hold true that chance is much reduced

You know, some people get a kick out of roleplaying the evil card. I don't. Nor do I understand it. That said... Greetings and defiance, fairest and fallen! Thou shalt not take this world by force, not while I have breath yet left in my body. Though I may not have target to strike, still shall I strive against the dark, and in the day you give me that target thou shalt fall! You may be beautiful and terrible as the morning of the night, you may be fair as the sea and the sun and the snow upon the mountain, but that shall not sway me (hey, I had to match your Tolkien reference somehow! )! My wrath shall be as dreadful as the storm and the lightning, and shake the very foundations of the Earth! You shall face me and despair! Edit: You know... Neph, thanks for that; I just had some ideas for some story scenes. (Read: some really melodramatic dialogue that fits the SOB perfectly...)

Sorry, too broke to travel (Literally; college student)

Just for hoots I looked up my hometown. Four. There are four churches here who are gay friendly. That's about five more than I expected to find, given than the area is deeply conservative. Not "deeply conservative for California', but really conservative. As in turn it into a state and it'd be redder than the blood in my veins!

Oh, we exist. Frustrated and horrified, and dreading becoming 'the fourty year old virgin', but we exist.

Now there is a question... how do you get numbers on something like this?

Being offensive to be offensive is offensive. Gratuitous language, sex, etc turn me off. Being offensive to be true to the story, or the nature of the people involved, is another matter. I'm infuriated when I read descriptions about (as an example) people abusing kids. But when that abuse is an underlying story element (either because the child is going to be rescued from it, or is going to overcome it, or someone curses themselves for not intervening when they should have, etc etc) it helps make the story that much better, that much stronger. But if it's done gratuitously, just thrown in there to get the readers attention, that I do tend to find offensive, or at the very least annoying.

In my case, with Guardians, I'm being very up-front about the fact of the surprise, but hiding the actual details. By now every single one of my readers knows that 'something' is majorly wrong about his past, but they have no clue what it is. Some of the most intelligent and perceptive readers may have made a few connections, but those connections are actually deliberately deceptive on my part.

I 'wasted' a trip to the financial aid office (got a lot of good writing done on the way ) only to discover my worry about disbursement dates was ill-founded. While the financial aid corrections won't make this disbursement (Monday the 17th), it turns out the next one is on the 26th, not the end of next month. While not ideal, I'll still be able to use the funds 'in time'.