"Translate for Animals is an application for Android phones that recognises and transcribes words and phrases that are common to a species, like cats for example. To develop Translate for Animals, we worked closely with many of the world's top language synthesis teams, and with leaders in the field of animal cognitive linguistics, including senior fellows at the Bodleian Library in Oxford."

http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/landing/translateforanimals/

Now what makes me think this service will only be available for 24hrs, and will be withdrawn on Friday? :)

Is well into production and I hope to have it ready for posting over Easter weekend, for those of you who enjoy my schoolgirl saga. Kylie attends school as a girl, not for the first time, but certainly for the first time officially. What's going to happen - watch this space and see.

My friend Kayla is an actress and model and she put out a bulletin for someone to help with Makeup for this film she is working on called "Santa Vs. Zombies" She contacted me and put me in touch with the Director and I sent him a message. If he wants to hire me , it will be my first real paying job in a long time. Please keep your fingers crossed and say a few prayers for me. I really need the money.

...but before you start celebrating, there's a catch.

In the study, the benefits came to those consuming only one measly chunk per day, or one bar a week.

And then only if it's used to replace a similar number of calories of other snacks. Nutritionists are such spoilsports, aren't they?!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8593887.stm

I don't know about the others here at BC, but even off-site I write A LOT. and one thing that always bugs me is finding good and decent sounding names for my characters. I HATE with a passion the boring names that, I am sorry, Lazy people like to slap on to some characters...

Tim, Tom, bob, Fred, George

I just keep coming up with new ideas for stories; which naturally slows down the posting of old ones. It's kind of irritating in a way, but fun, too. The latest addition is a spin-off of sorts of Kittyhawk. I'll be posting the first part of Chrysalis Friday for sure, as I've already written 5,000 words of it. I'm not sure how big the first part will be. It may be the entire 5,000 words, or I may break it down some. I may even add more to it before then and post all of that as the first part, but I doubt it.

I would like to tap the collective experience of the community here.

I'm considering going on hormones.

Now, I'm 42, overweight, diabetic, high blood pressure, and I have a wife and daughter (both of whom are fine with this).

I am totally ignorant on this, so I would like to hear from you all.

EDITED TO ADD:

My weekend was a bit like the curate's egg - good in parts. I had a good time with my daughter and her partner, although my IBS nearly spoilt things - I had two bouts this time, once in the cinema and I had to go running to the loos as the film (Kick Ass) was about to start. The film was OTT violence and bad language - but was so slick and fast moving it didn't put me off. Both my daughter and her partner enjoyed it.

Well, I just got back from my daughter's 10th birthday party, so I thought I would take a second and introduce her to you all. She is develepmently delayed, mentally and emotionally more like 6 than 10, suffers from ADHD, and her favorite pasttime is climbing her daddy and trying to sit on my head, while trying to convince me to be more like James Bond. She doesnt understand why her dad is so "girly and wierd" (her words), but she does love me anyway.

Earlier this week, I decided that I'd like bigger boobs. I saw a friend of mine's DDs floating around in the neck line of her T shirt and got a bit green around the gills. So, as I was changing my patch, I put two on instead of one, and forgot about it. Well later, the next day or something, I was feeling slightly nausiated and felt quite emotional, and after a while realized what was causing it. Sadly I took one patch off.

Advice from an award-winning author:

“The more you practise writing, the better you get at it.”
–CK Stead

CK Stead wins inaugural Sunday Times short story award

Practical Suggestion

Just so you all know,

You may have missed Tiffany's blog entry a few days announcing book 3, Dreaming of Cheers. As fast as entries come in now, I'm sure the message won't be seen by many now.

Basically, she should have the first two or three chapters up here tonight with weekly additions, or you can purchase the ebook in PDF form now at lulu.com

The long awaited Season part 9

A few months back I noted that I had just received (that day) a single vote on more than half of my stories. This has happened again. I assume it is a software glitch. Has anyone else received votes on most of their stories today? I'd like to believe that somehow thirty-one of my old stories received votes today, but that's about twenty-nine more than what I normally would receive on any given day.

Jill

Hi all, thought that I would share two dreams I had within days of each other. The first was looking down on a hospital room with two patients, one was screaming following S.R.S. and the other was spitting angry; both patients had the same name and the wrong patient had the surgery. The second dream I had was where I ordered a feteshists dream concoction of a full body rubber bodysuit and was about to try it on, only then did I dissapear from the dreamscape leaving the bodysuit to crumple to the floor.

There's a new feature here at BC, at the end of all stories entered as Fiction or Wysiwyg that are rated General or Mature, there are a row of buttons for passing a link to that story on to various social media sites. It's been there since Monday. :)

I don't know if anyone has used it yet but no one has commented on it, so I thought I ought to blog about it to draw some attention.

Tell me what you think.

If you want to post a story Without the Social Media Buttons, rate it Restricted or higher or use the Story input type instead of Fiction.

Hugs,
Erin

Hospitals feature quite heavily on this site - both in fictional stories and in real life blogs. So you may be interested in this story from Tuesday...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8582161.stm

Hospital gowns, bed bays, chairs and washrooms have been given a makeover to prevent patients being exposed and embarrassed.

The initiative, led by the Department of Health and the Design Council, aims to transform a stay in hospital, making it a more modest experience.

Greeting and salutations! Part 14 and the Final Chapters of Once the Hero is posted at StarDust! This completes my 2nd novel. Yay me!

I'll post that final part here at BC on Sunday along with the character list already up at Stardust.

I do have a question for all my readers. Anyone who have seen Tim Allen's Zoom's Academy can see the similarities between OTH and that movie. I'm thinking about doing a self-published version of OTH, but if it's Plagiarized that of course is out. I'm simply too close to the story to tell. My question is does anyone think my story is plagiarizic?

I don't know if anyone is still interested, but I have almost finished the next part of Unfinished Business. It has taken quite a while because of other obligations, but I'm going to finish the story. For those who have been waiting I apologize and hope it's worth the wait!

Okay, I'm an old man and still don't know how to use my computer. That being said, I can't thank Holly Hart enough for all the hard work she has done with my latest story. She's teaching me things I never knew besides cleaning up the mess I send her to, "Just take a little look, it won't be hard." This latest part of the story is over twenty thousand words and she has been kind enough to fit me in even though she is in the middle of moving and a new job. I bestow on you, Holly, sainthood because you deserve it, Arecee

I know you're not going to like this, but I fear that the appearance of Chapter 4 may well take longer than usual to produce.

I look in the mirror on my return home. There are the perfect eyes and lips I painted a few hours before. I'm definitely getting the hang of this makeup business. Pencil eyeliner, four shades of shadow expertly blended, brows trimmed, plucked, combed and secured in the right shape with some pump-type hairspray that I've transferred to an empty clear mascara bottle. The gel that came in it was useless, so I took it apart and washed it out. My lashes are bold and beautiful. The latest two-part mascara I've tried looks to be a big winner. They'll probably discontinue it next month.

Currently I am looking for a distance learning course with an American Studies sylabus, ideally through a U.S. College or University. Although I am from the U.K. my preference is to study under the auspices of the American Education System. Any help or thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.

Okay like here is a site that someone suggested to me. So far they are very nice welcoming and accepting, and there are a TON of different kinds of people, it's so vast and amazing. It's not for everyone, I'm not even sure it's for me but for now I'm going to try it out and see how it goes. You never know mew :D Anyway for anyone that is interested here ;D
http://fetlife.com/home

I realized that I left out a paragraph in Chapter 3 of "So, Here I Am". It has to do with a switch. I will not say more in case you want to read it.
I also want to thank everyone who has read my story and a special thanks to those of you that left comments and voted. This has been a very hard story to write since I am reliving my past.

Hilltopper

I'm sorry to say that Once the Hero has been delayed again. I'd finished the story even before I began posting but because of feedback and earlier tweaks, I heavily edited the last and final chapter. It is now some 6 thousand words longer and I hope ties up a few more loose ends.

Currently it is off to the wonderful Kimmie and Hope so they can do their magic. When they're finished and I have a chance to give it that one last read of approval I'll go ahead and post it.

I hoped that it would've been ready but it was not to be. :(

Sigh...

Grover

Well, I found a place to be dorothy. After my 2nd class in career planning, I went to my local pride center. I was only hoped to find a list of TG friendly businesses that I could leave a resume with, but I also found out they have a weekly meeting Sunday night, and TG are invited, so I am going as dorothy. Then, to cellebrate, I went to my local mall, and visited a middle-to-high end department store, looking for a new skirt.

As a retired college professor, I am available for rapid response editing/proofing.

I've just posted a new story by Julie O called "Twisted Values" over on Stardust.

Bob Arnold

okay, well, life is good right now, i have time to sit down, and actually think with out having to worry about my profs breathing down my neck or ending up arse over eyeball on the streets for not paying dues. Mom is healthier, and I actually have a decent paying job for a college student ($12 an hour or about 8.87 Euros an hour payed biweekly.)

so I have been sitting at my computer and I managed to hammer out what I hope to be a MUCH shorter than RWDWP. It is still heavily fiction...swords, sorcery, elves, dragons, you know...the gewd stuff.

If you haven't read the story Broken Glass by Jenna Hitch and Shalimar you simply must. It is, without a doubt, the most spiritually moving story I've ever read on a TG story site.

For me, it is even more moving, for my wife, my children, and I would have followed the Blau's to become dust in the wind...

Wel, I told my Church, and a Church Member came and repaired the broken door so that we can lock it, again and he also added a slide bolt.

Now I feel more secure at night. Having a bunch of thugs to break in and threaten you is disturbing, to say the least. Me, or my brother could have been shot. Me, am suffering from a crisis of Faith. I KNOW that GOD SAVED us from harm, but now I a filled with an anger, an anger that scares me. Please, if I sound off kilter, let me know, it might be me dealing with my ordeal.

I look into your eyes and I see you’re the one.
My heart and my soul are in your tender care.
I entrust and dedicate my life to your loving soul.
You are my everything… my world, my passion, my reason.

I thought I'd say this formally, then if it pops out in conversation no one will be shocked (although to quote Maggie Thatcher, who is probably the opposite of everything I believe in, may shock some).

I have a baby grandson born yesterday by Caesarean section. Mother and baby are doing well as is the father, my son.

I'm far too young to be a granny, but se la vie!

(Does this mean I have to start wearing long black dresses, sitting in a rocking chair while knitting for the Red Cross? If so, bugger that for a game of sojers, I'll stick with riding and writing Bike(s)).

Well, I got her back. The unit where she went had been built since I last went to that hospital, typical. Still, I found it and they let me park right next to the emergency entrance so she wouldn't have to walk far.

that i'm goimg to give up writing TG/V fiction - I seem to get more reads and votes for my other works!

Maddy

From Stars and Stripes, a newspaper whose audience is primarily men and women in US military service:

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=68606

This part is just plain fun. Jacqui is not only more relaxed as a woman, but she can be donwright playful. Just ask some of those hunky NY Yankee players what happens when she turns on her charm.

Things with Kurt are also getting more clear, and most of us will really like where that's going.

So, if you've suffered along with Jacqui through the worst of times, join her now as the sun starts to shine again.

I've got to take my better half in to hospital tomorrow for an angiogram. This sort of crept up on me...

"I've just been to the doctor. I've been having these chest pains..."

School and life were keeping me... rather busier than I was able to handle...

New class. Breathing room. Writing time. Sk8rs this coming weekend.

Well, I think we have fixed all my stories. Poor Bev, she and I looked like we were going to end up conjoined twins. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, things are moving forward. Tomorow, I go to my provincial goverment office to try and get some finincial help, and for the first time, I am mentioning my gender issues in a official form, including listing dorothy as an "alias". We will see what occurs, but just filling out the forms felt good.

Something weird is happening to my stories, and I am not a happy camper. Somehow my name as the author is being replaced with beverly colleen's. This happened to the first story i submitted, and bev was not pleased, thinking I had used her name without permission. I really hope this is a problem that can be fixed. I am going to have to go through all my stories and make sure i am getting credit. I would hate to have to pull them, but I did write them, and i deserve the praise and blame for them.

Spotted on the shelves of my local Tesco...

(Apologies it didn't show up earlier - evidently Twitpic [where it was originally uploaded] doesn't like direct linking!)

Was someone in the factory having a bad day?

Caption suggestions welcome - either from Troy's POV or Gabriella's.

Or of course we knock a couple of letters off one character's name and do the obligatory TG twist - Troy's POV or Gabriel's...

I went to the cinema last night and saw Hachiko: A Dog's Story. I cried my eyes out. It was such tear jerker and based loosely on a Japanese story.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1028532/

It also reminded me of the wonderful Greyfriars Bobby.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyfriars_Bobby

If you like a good cry and a very good story, see it if you can.

Hugs
Sue

Lesbian Sergeant Discharged

By TIMBERLY ROSS, Associated Press Writer Timberly Ross, Associated Press Writer — 29 mins ago

Jene Newsome played by the rules as an Air Force sergeant: She never told anyone in the military she was a lesbian. The 28-year-old's honorable discharge under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy came only after police officers in Rapid City, S.D., saw an Iowa marriage certificate in her home and told the nearby Ellsworth Air Force Base.

As I interact with the world around me, a difference in the way life is and the stories I read and write becomes evident. I don't seem to attract male males into my life, though I do have a dear gay guy friend. Indeed, almost all of the friends I have here where I live in Portland are College age genetic females, and most of them think of me as sort of a pseudo Mom. So, I hear all their expressions of joy and all their sadnesses, and drama.