Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
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What else are you reading? (June 2010 - May 2013) *closed*
Rachel wrote: "I'm wearing black today to express my feelings for Valentine's Day. More people than ever in the U.S. live alone but society is still stacked against us."Oh gosh, I've been there!
Just keep telling yourself it's a commercial event that serves no purpose except to funnel money into retailers' tills, 'cause really, that's all it is. Love shouldn't have a day any more than it should have an orientation.
K.Z. wrote: "Rachel wrote: "I'm wearing black today to express my feelings for Valentine's Day. More people than ever in the U.S. live alone but society is still stacked against us."Oh gosh, I've been there! ..."
I am still there.. trying to tell myself it can be 'Happy Singles Day' instead..and an excuse to buy more books and chocolate =) (actually, I don't need a 'commercial' excuse for that) LOL . For celebration on V-Day last year, I went to the shelter and adopted a puppy. He is now a 75 lb puppy (shelters can be funny that way, with the unknowns..) BUT unconditional love.... think we figured he is Newfie and Aussie.
I had a friend call today and say - happy celebration of chocolate day. Works for me.
Dev wrote: "I had a friend call today and say - happy celebration of chocolate day. Works for me."I like that!
Mtsnow13 wrote: "For celebration on V-Day last year, I went to the shelter and adopted a puppy. He is now a 75 lb puppy (shelters can be funny that way, with the unknowns..) BUT unconditional love...."Oh, yes! Absolutely! I'm so glad you did that, and I'll bet you and the "pup" are, too. :)
K.Z. wrote: "Oh gosh, I've been there! Just keep telling yourself it's a commercial event that serves no purpose except to funnel money into retailers' tills, 'cause really, that's all it is. Love shouldn't have a day any more than it should have an orientation. ..."Totally agree! It's just another day for retailers to try and make money. I work in a huge office and almost everyone wore red today, it was weird.
Only one women in my section received flowers and when the poor guy from the mailroom walked through the office you could have heard a pin drop. Everyone was standing up looking over their cubicle walls to see who was getting the flowers. We looked like a bunch of meercats (of course I peeked too). LOL
Christopher wrote: "Anyway, what are you guys doing this Valentine's Day?"Right now, I'm drinking sparkling wine and listening to reggae. Two things that always put me in a good mood. :D
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and a mojito.
Tracy wrote: "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and a mojito."Ah, here is my opportunity to point out this terrific site that posts old letters from famous and not-so-famous people, including many writers. This one is from the author of that book you mention. Be sure to check out a rejection letter Gertrude Stein received and a letter from E.B. White.
Kim wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and a mojito."Ah, here is my opportunity to point out this terrific site that posts old letters from famous and not-so-famous people, including many..."
Excellent! Thanks!
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But it has certainly been commercialized out of proportion -- to the extent that it probably makes as many people feel bad as it does people feel good. Which is a shame.
For someone as unromantic as myself, it's always been a good reminder to get off my lazy, self-absorbed ass and make some gesture of appreciation toward my much more romantic SO.
But this past fall I started making a point of cooking more dinners and having us eat our evening meal together, and that has actually turned out to be one of the better moves for our relationship.
Much better than all the flowers and candy in the world.
Thinking back, my most memorable Valentine's Day was in...god...2005...I'm so old!!!A couple of days earlier my boyfriend (now ex) had been performing in a North London gay bar (he's a part time drag queen). We were going to spend a couple of days driving up to Newcastle for his next gig (he doesn't drive, so I did all the driving...and acted as dresser and occasional sound engineer - which was always fucking hysterical because I'm tone deaf).
Anyway, he came off stage feeling a bit ill. We got as far was Northampton before we pulled over to a Travel Inn by the side of the motorway. We checked in, but within a few hours I was driving him to the local Emergency Room because he was in so much pain.
He had an appendectomy the next day and the day after (Valentine's Day) I spent by his hospital bed playing scrabble.
I don't think much can beat that in terms of boyfriendly devotion. Even blissed out on morphine he still managed to consistently beat me. Bloody tripple score.
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Even if I wasn't single, it's not my type of holiday. You should celebrate love all year long, not just on one day. Besides, it's so commercialized now, with chain jewlery stores trying to convince guys they know what girls what. uck. Can't stand it. And, I'm not a flowers girl either. They wilt and die and I have to deal with them. I'd rather not. Just tell me you love me and I'll be happy. Or, take me on a trip, something that will be memorable. I'd like to be making memories, more than aquiring things I don't need.
... unless my guy wants to buy me more M/M books! That I can definitely live with. lol.
This year was the first year anyone's ever gotten me flowers. So embarrassing. Especially because the guy who gave them to me just considers me a good friend. He said he wanted orange but all they had was red. Don't tell him, but I turned around and gave them to a very good friend of mine, who displayed them nicely in the lobby where he works. I didn't even have a vase for them. Whatever this guy was thinking... I just don't know. And he knows I'm not a flowers kind of girl. *sigh*
But, while I was still home sick yesterday, I continued to read Special Forces - Mercenaries Part I. This entire series is not for the faint of heart. You need balls to read this. Especially the beginning of Special Forces - Soldiers and Mercenaries. There was a lot of hurt for several hundred pages before the comfort began. No love. Thankfully I found some on V Day, I guess. And now, looks like love all the way. But we'll see.
I also ran into the section of cheating that didn't sit so well with other readers. Yep, I'm officially still pissed at him for doing that. But it seems as if he's mended his ways. The first instance in this book I could forgive. He didn't know where his lover was, or even if his lover was coming back. After that though? It was a bit much, even if they weren't technically "together" at the time.
Ah well. I'm at about page 550, so I've still got about 300 to go. Woot! I'm hoping for a happy ending.
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Oh gosh, I'..."
Adopting a puppy on V Day is the most brilliant idea in the world! I love it! I also wish I could afford a dog and could have one in my current apartment. I'd love to have a dog. I'd like to rescue a Greyhound, actually. And if not that, a Wheaton Terrier. But rescue only.
Rescue . . . YES! (And greyhounds make lovely pets!)
I had a really interesting conversation with a cable installer once about his rescued greyhound. Now, he might have been just the tiniest bit biased, but according to him they make fantastic pets. I hear they can be real couch hogs, though, so if you want to be able to sit on the furniture, you'd better have two!
K.Z. wrote: "Rescue . . . YES! (And greyhounds make lovely pets!)"I second that - I adopted a greyhound several years ago and he was the best dog ever. I could take him anywhere and he was perfectly well behaved. He did like to get on the furniture, though...
Mod
..."
This does indeed demonstrate what a good boyfriend you are, Christopher.
AND what a WRETCHED Scrabble player! :-D
Christopher wrote: "Thinking back, my most memorable Valentine's Day was in...god...2005...I'm so old!!!A couple of days earlier my boyfriend (now ex) had been performing in a North London gay bar (he's a part time ..."
I would volunteer to play Scrabble with you...I'm probably even worse than you are! Even my 6YO can beat me at Scrabble, Jr.! (How embarrassing to admit!) And it's not that I don't have an extensive vocabulary, or have trouble spelling or anything like that. I just can't take a random selection of numbers and sort them into words. I fail at the newspaper word jumbles, too. I do, however, rock at crosswords (as long as there's no time limit) and word searches. :D
It's all the more embarrassing about how bad I am at scrabble because my ex was a college drop-out cabaret singer whilst I have five degrees and at that point was working as a copy editor. He used to ace me at Sodoku as well come to think of it.
We can console ourselves with the thought that it's not our fault! Our brains just don't function in the right way to play those games! (Ok, I've been trying to convince myself of that, but really...On the other hand, DH refuses to play Parcheesi with me unless my parents will play, too, because he says I'm too cut-throat, and at least Dad & I will go after each other & let DH & Mom alone... )
Rachel wrote: "I adopted a greyhound several years ago and he was the best dog ever. I could take him anywhere and he was perfectly well behaved. He did like to get on the furniture, though..."They are inveterate couch potatoes! :) But who can blame them?
I'm quite good at Twister. It's because I'm so flexible. ;-)
oooo, interesting!I was once flexible enough that I *should* have been good at Twister. Sadly, I am a huge klutz. Mom hoped ballet lessons would help, but all they did was make me the most graceful klutz she'd ever seen. Her words: "You still trip over your own feet on a regular basis, but at least when you fall, it's lovely to look at!"
lolEvery winter I end up at renting out a Youth Hostel in the country with a group of friends. We usually end up playing party games. One of them is called 'PornFlakes' - you take a Cornflake packet and everyone takes a turn picking it up off the floor using their teeth - but the trick is that only two limbs can be touching the floor at any one time. After everyone has had their turn, then an inch of the packet is torn off and it all happens again with people being eliminated as they fail to do it, until you're basically left with a flat piece of cardboard.
It's fun, and I usually win. :-)
We also play 'I Have Never', but I'm told I'm not allowed to participate in that anymore because there's not much I haven't done!
I need cool friends who'll play games like that with me. Friends who are slightly more local than a 12-hr drive away, and who I get to see more than an average of one hour a year. I've never played "I Have Never" -- probably mostly because there's a LOT I never have. But I bet I've read enough to come up with some pretty interesting stuff! (too bad reading about it doesn't count as actual experience.)
Wait? Reading about it doesn't count as actual experience? I've wasted my life.
Dev wrote: "Wait? Reading about it doesn't count as actual experience? I've wasted my life."I know, right?!
Irregulars is available today. Guess what I'm reading now. ;)
Cheryl wrote: "Irregulars is available today. Guess what I'm reading now. ;)"And where can I find it?
The ebook is available from Weightless Books. This link takes you straight to the right page: http://weightlessbooks.com/?s=irregulars
Becky wrote: "The ebook is available from Weightless Books. This link takes you straight to the right page: http://weightlessbooks.com/?s=irregulars"Thank you!
Anne wrote: "Becky wrote: "The ebook is available from Weightless Books. This link takes you straight to the right page: http://weightlessbooks.com/?s=irregulars"Thank you!"
No problem! Always happy to enable a fellow reader!
Mod
I was once flexible enough that I *should* have been good at Twister. Sadly, I am a huge klutz. Mom hoped ballet lessons would help, but all they did was make me the most gracef..."
:-D
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Johanna wrote: "Aaaaaah, James Marsters makes even the dreadful weather seem tolerable - even enjoyable. :) "And he gets better with every book. ;-) I finished volume 10 last week and will start #11 somewhen next week.
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And he gets better with every book. ;-) I finished volume 10 last week and will start ..."
Well, I'm glad to hear that! :)
I'm going to finish Shattered Glass tonight, this book is insane, really, I'm loving it a lot. The protagonist is not easy to like, but I'm liking him anyway, I like his voice, how snarky and over-the-top he is. I love that when he embraces something, he does it to the max, even if that's immature in a way, and it's a 112k-word book for 2.99$. It made me laugh a lot and it strongly appeal to my love for what's ridiculous.Next: Irregulars, of course
I've spent the day re-reading the Ghost Wore Yellow Socks and starting the BA Cabin Crew orientation manual. I guess I won't have quite so much spare time to read once I'm gainfully employed serving coffee on flights to California...Tokyo...Kiev...I guess this is probably a good thing.
Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "I'm going to finish Shattered Glass tonight, this book is insane, really, I'm loving it a lot. The protagonist is not easy to like, but I'm liking him anyway, I like his voice, how snarky and over-the-top he is. "You make this sound really good. I love the snark.
Christopher wrote: "I've spent the day re-reading the Ghost Wore Yellow Socks and starting the BA Cabin Crew orientation manual. I guess I won't have quite so much spare time to read once I'm gainfully employed servin..."Congrats Chris!!
I have a brother who is a Flight attendant out of NYC. He has taken trips all over the world, both for work and fun. Overall, he likes it and is glad he got into the business.
Congrats! =-D
Christopher wrote: "I guess I won't have quite so much spare time to read once I'm gainfully employed serving coffee on flights to California...Tokyo...Kiev..."I bet there will be tons of time sitting around waiting for flights though . . .
At least I'll have a job (and it's I guess it's true that there'll be a lot of waiting around - thank god for the kindle!). My parents aren't exactly happy after spending all that money on law school though. But it's a recession, so what can you do? I've made about 500 job applications to law firms already, at some point you have to give up and settle I guess.At least I've always liked guys in uniform. ;-) And pretty soon I'll be one of them!
Christopher wrote: "At least I'll have a job (and it's I guess it's true that there'll be a lot of waiting around - thank god for the kindle!). My parents aren't exactly happy after spending all that money on law scho..."Good luck on your new job, Christopher. And congrats on the uniform and flying around the world. :)
Congrats, Christopher. I hope all goes well in your new job. At least I've always liked guys in uniform.
Oh, I hear you :D
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And, in the meantime, I had to take a job as a cashier at a chain cafe. The pay sucked, and so did the job, but it helped, a little.
You do what you can, and someday your chips will land in the right spot. Besides, it already looks like you're looking on the bright side... guys in uniform and all, and I think that's the important part.
Go out, see the world, have fun, meet interesting new people, ... then write a book about it... or tell one of us so we can write it! lol.
Mod
This one's good, but there's just too much sex. Sure, some of it has meaning, but the guys are already together for life. They established that early, and now it's about who else they can shag together and/or alone, which is kinda annoying.
Anyway, with luck, I'll finish this book either tonight or tomorrow, and take a little break to read some YA fiction for work. I think I need a break from all the rough sex. lol.
Jordan wrote: ...now it's about who else they can shag together and/or alone... I haven't read the Special Forces stories yet, although they're ready and waiting on my Kindle. It's not the sort of thing I should read during quiet times at work, then? :D
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Q&A with Josh Lanyon
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That's just...really, really, really weird.