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The Date For My Book Signing Is Set!

I just got off the phone with the Waldenbooks store manager. Between us we have set the date for the signing! It will be May 31st, which is a Saturday afternoon, from 2-4PM. See my previous blog entries for the location. All advertising has to be done by me, including some kind of poster they can hang in their window, explaining what, when, and where.

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Thank You! Aunt Greta's Homework tops 2500!

The first Aunt Greta episode has now topped the 2.5K reads and I just want to thank all those of you who have read my inconsequential scribblings. It seems that Aunt Great and her niece/nephew (a NIEPHEW or NIECEPHEW perhaps?) has found a certain following.

The sixth episode is well in hand and should be posted in a few days.

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Approaching 300!

As I approach episode 300 of Falling Off A Bike, I think I'd like to take check on if readers still want me to continue posting them or to bring it to a conclusion.

I'm aware it's at best literature lite, but given its preparation is zero, I really do write them directly to the site, which sometimes shows.

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Imaginary Conversations I Had Once, with a Girl

The power was off last night. There was just me and my laptop in the dark, and my mind started to wander around.

Imaginary Conversations I Might Have Had Once, With a Girl

One

Felicia, I know I’m not cool, and I promise I’ll never tell anyone we’re, you know, we have anything going on, but, do you think, I mean, could we just be friends? Friend friends?

Downside risk: Eeww!

Upside possibility: You mean talk and stuff? I s’pose so. [Thinking] Uh, Harry, would you help me with my Algebra?

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Bonjour Mes Dames or Topless driving in France

Bonjour mes dames

As I sit here writing this at 07:10 on Tuesday morning, it feels odd that it was exactly a week ago that Penny and I were sitting on board the ferry Barfleur, patiently waiting to go down to the garage, get in our car and get on with our holiday-cum-house-hunting.

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The stories weren't real were they?

I became aquainted with the Internet in 1980. Remember the amber screen, DOS, 720 kb flopies, and the 8088 chip? Oh, there had been been people messing about with tiny PCs before that but I never could see the point of it with their miniscule capabilities. I didn not want to mess with computers, I wanted to do something.

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More on the Book Signing

The date (when) is still to be determined. No more than a week or two from today, I believe. The where is The Waldenbooks Store, in the Lakewood/Chautauqua Mall, in Lakewood, New York. Likely either at 7-9PM on a Friday evening, or 2-4PM on a Saturday afternoon.

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Three letter word, or who's dear.

Ah here we go, this is one of those lunatic rambles inspired, if that's anything like the word, by various 'conversations' with several different people. It's about identity and self perception and that big little three letter word, you know the one, it's every bloody where, whether you think about it or not. I mean what is it that sells and what do your average 14 year old boys think about every 3.5 seconds or something?

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Tragedy of the Spirit

My posting for the next 3 chapters will be delayed as i am to reenter hospital tomorrow. I am experiencing significant discomfort from my surgery. I also have a severe infection in my bladder and kidneys. BLESSINGS TO ALL. I will return soon to post THE TRIAL part of my autobiographical story.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Mellissa (prairie_girl_64)

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Status of the Violet Ajah

So, when I was talking about posting the pieces of this story I wrote as a sort of fanfic, The Violet Ajah, I was proud of the fact that I had actually gotten James Rigney's permission to write it, as well as the fact that he liked the first 4 chapters of it when I sent them to him. [NOTE: James Rigney is the real name of the author known as Robert Jordan]

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Postscript to "What Maisie Knew"

What Courtney Knew

First of all, I did a bad job with the names. I've thought about going back to fix it, but by now it seems a bit late.

Usually I have a chart with all the characters listed, but for some reason I missed the fact that almost every character's name starts with an M: Marcie, Maisie, Misty/Mary, Margaret/Maisie... even Miriam! And I bet I missed one or two.

And why were there *two* Maisie's? Maisie Beale, the little girl, and Maisie Sabatino, now known as Mrs. Wix?

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Sportsmanship isn't dead yet

I was at the Outback this evening and saw a story on ESPN that intrigued me, so I looked it up when I got home. Last Saturday the Western Oregon girl's softball team was playing Central Washington, when senior Sarah Tucholsky, for the first time in her life, knocked one over the fence with two girls on base.

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THE BOOK SIGNING, AND MORE, IS ON!!!!!

I just got off the phone with the manager of our local Waldenbooks store. It seems that they CAN order my book and STOCK it, which means that they CAN and WILL schedule my book signing!!

I informed the manager of my TG status and that I would be into my RLT by the time we get this set up and she replied that it would be no problem!!!

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The following is a copy of the letter I intend to distribute among my co-workers.

To all my friends and co-workers at CARTS:

As many of you are aware, I have been undergoing some changes in the last year or more. This is due to the simple fact that I am transgendered...that is, a woman in a mans body. I am treating this as simply a mistake made at birth and I am undergoing constant therapy and medical intervention to correct the 'birth defect' I was born with.

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Sex I.D.

It may have been there for months. Everyone else probably knows about it, commented upon it even, but I have just noticed another male/female brain test on the BBC website at http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sex/add_user.shtml

According to the blurb -

'Some researchers say that men can have 'women's brains' and that women can think more like men.

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Well, the "Let The Punishment Fit The Crime" contest is over.

Actually, it turned into pretty much a non-contest. It's okay. I know how daunting it must be to try to complete another writers story, and truthfully I didn't expect any entries, but I thought it'd be worth a try.

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Attention Writers! I Need Your Feedback On This!

If my book signing comes off, I fully intend to publicize other books written by you, as well as talk about those who haven't published yet, but who have more than enough talent to publish.

What I need to know from ALL of you is, do you WANT me to talk about your work by story titles and pseudonym, or do you want to remain in 'stealth' mode?

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Frogs ahoy!

As from midnight tonight, Penny and I will be sallying forth. A seven hour ferry is not exactly as exotic as "night boat to Cairo" but then that's the wrong country anyway, however the idea's sound.

I wanted to say "thank you" to all my friends out there and wish them along with everyone else, a nice quiet week while I'm gone.

You'll all have to get your "vacuous ramblings" out without me!

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Dear Abby - Boy w/long hair

Interesting letter in Dear Abby this weekend. It's from a person in Tennessee who's concerned about the son of some prominent townspeople. Seems the boy, who is in fifth grade (12 years old), has not been allowed to get his hair cut and is being teased about looking like a girl. Now, this would have been heaven for most of us, but the writer terms it child abuse.

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It looks, more and more, that the book signing will actually happen!

I've contacted Borders Books and I have their phone number to call, Monday morning, to try and work a deal with them. So far, the manager of our local Waldenbooks is more than happy to host the signing, even though I informed her as to the content of the book, and my Trans status.

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Harmony and Imperfection

China has, eventually, begun to appear on my shelves, although it's somewhat different from what I started searching for more than a month ago. It didn't take too long to discover that I have an innate expensive taste in porcelain, the imari patterns I was most attracted to were art nouveau Derby pieces, beautiful but impractical for use.

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It's a wonderful day

I don't normally write about my days, but I couldn't help it today. Show Me 30 was posted and as much of a downer as the chapter is, my day couldn't have been nicer. The comments have been positive, and better yet my whole day has been perfect. I brought my dog, a Welsh Corgi, to the vet for a call back and her ears are good once again.

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This Beta Text Needs Smart Readers Like You

Dear BCTS Friends,

Evi V is ready for testing in Beta version. Known formally as Balthasar’s Elixir Part V, this 16,000 word chunk is the continuation of Evelyn Westcott’s novel-length journey toward self-realization as a turn-of-the-20th Century gender-conflicted youth.

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I have received my "carry letter" today!!!

I fully realize that this is not a 'get out of jail, free' card, yet I feel as though I have just been, finally, given permission, not that I needed permission, to finally begin being the person I should always have been. I am ecstatic at the moment, and only waiting for the go ahead to begin my real life test.

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Server problems

The server is acting oddly, I've had to reboot twice. Once last night and one just now. Service may be up and down for awhile. There's a lot of bogus traffic being logged, we may be under Denial of Service Attack. Or it may just be some goof on the network at the server farm has his Windows machine configured to broadcast everything he's doing over the local net. That's happened before.

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Poignant

Sometimes a paragraph or two will move me, a lot. This is from an article I just started reading. This scene is from a classroom in Toronto where, for over a decade, the author has been sponsoring a series of sessions to promote social and emotional literacy, as well as empathy, by inviting a mother and her baby to spend time with the students.

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Anyone seen HalaMaksoud?

I met a girl the other day and can not get her name off my mind. She's HalaMaksoud and a real mystery to me. Saying her name seems best when pronounced to the beat of Bedouin Drums. HalaMaksoud, HalaMaksoud, HalaMaksoud...just seems to become a chant. Can't you see Her/my hips shimy like...oooooh, mmmmm giggle.

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Projects to work on this week

starting today:

  • Sk8r Grrls 22
  • Sk8r Grrls Comix SB-1-1-1-2
  • Sk8r Grrls Comix SB-1-1-1-3
  • Sk8r Grrls Comix SB-1-1-1-4
  • Sk8r Grrls Comix SB-1-1-1-5
  • Sk8r Grrls Comix SB-1-1-1-6
  • Sk8r Grrls Comix SB-1-1-1-7
  • Sk8r Grrls Comix SB-1-1-1-8
  • Sk8r Grrls Character Codex
  • Carlotti's Way 3
  • Wurtha'hekawee
  • Intrepid Heroes 10
  • Intrepid Heroes 11
  • Intrepid Heroes 12
  • Intrepid Heroes 13
  • Meanwhile... 2
  • Suspicious 2
  • The Vermilion Schizanthus
  • Glory and Honor
  • Anything else that takes my fancy

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AUGH!

Edeyn I just spent 3 hours putting together a page of information for tomorrow's holiday, only to have a quirk of Firefox delete the entire thing for me. I am not in a great mood and will be unavailable the rest of the day.

Edeyn Hannah Blackeney
Wasn't it Jim Henson who said, "Without faith, I am nothing," after all? No, wait, that was God... Sorry, common mistake to make...

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I've lost two friends today.

One, a casual friend named Anselmo Nunez...an older Puerto Rican man who I took back and forth from dialysis for over four years. He was teaching me spanish, a little bit at a time..as quickly as my poor overloaded mind could take it in. He had no legs left, lost to diabetes, yet he walked on his two artificial ones until last year when his illness finally confined him to a power wheelchair.

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Good News Aunt Jane Fans,There Is A Brand New Seasons House Story

Posted at Fictionmania by Tigger. It will whet your appetite for Aunt Jane and Seasons House and being from Tigger, I know that it is a good as his other Seasons House Stories. I will not give away the plot, you have to read it or your self.

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I'm back, hopefully for good, and with a new purpose and resolve.

I know I've been more than a bit 'melodramatic' over the past few weeks. All I can say in my defense, is that I have been wrestling with old, bad memories and present day fears. It's taken a couple of days of "alone time" recently, to wrestle with my demons, major and minor, and at the end of that, I found myself with a new purpose, or a redux of my original purpose.

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Lesbian sex

While wandering the web tonight, I stopped by the Skepchick website. This website is crewed by some wonderfully independent thinkers with a knack for finding and writing about things I find interesting and/or amusing. While browsing through the various bits, I came across a link to another blog, by Greta Christina.

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I Think That Everybody Will Enjoy This News

I was in Church tonight when the teacher asked what would happen if the sign said " Homosexuals And Lesbians Welcome Here." That sparked a lively debate.

I wonder just how many churches actually welcome all into the church? I would hope that there were more Churches that would open their doors to all.

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Changed by Alien's Chapter 3 (Make them scream like babies)

In an effort to get out of this whiny assed, needs a whippin' blue funk, I am working on the next installment. Expect action, like you ain't seen no shit like this befo'. It's going to be one of those "leave the ladies faint" episodes with much funk and gore.

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Show Me the Money

Message from the author.

Arecee has told us that after part 30 he is taking a little break to look at his other story and come back to Show Me. Writing a couple of stories at the same time is tiring so for the time being he is taking a bit of time off to recouperate.

Hopefully it will continue asap

Samantha

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Gabyzone/Cyberbrats nameservice issues

For anyone wondering what happened to cyberbrats chatnet, which is home to the gabyzone channel, please note there are only name service issues. Chatnet itself is still online and running. For anyone wanting to get in, please use 88.198.48.47. This is one of the european servers of CyberBrats Chatnet.

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I am leaving for awhile.

There are too many things on my mind and I cannot concentrate or even communicate with clarity. i know where my mind is headed and its a place I know very well. In that place I can harm people without caring what harm I do, and none of you deserve that, so I am leaving before I do that.

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Trouble On Triton

About a week ago I finished reading the science-fiction novel Trouble On Triton by Samuel Delany. I hadn't heard of it before, and only read it because I had the idea that it was about a man who turns into a woman.

Well. I wouldn't characterize the book *that* way. It doesn happen, but in the very last pages of the book.

Has anyone else read it?

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Re: FTM, Trans, Porn, Boundaries

This week's column from Tristan Taormino takes a look at what she characterizes as a new wave of "tranny porn". She reviews a number of movies featuring transmen. The reviews are explicit. The films don't sound like ones I'll be looking for, but I merely pass this column on for educational purposes in case anyone is interested.

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Some exciting news! A possible BOOK SIGNING at Waldenbooks for me!

While out with friends today, Saturday, we stopped at our local mall Waldenbooks store. I casually remarked, while checking out with our books, that if I ever saw MY book in the place, I'd probably faint. The clerk, as we were leaving, asked me, "You have a book out?"

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My stories and sexual content

I have in the past been accused of being a prude when it comes to writing my stories but I can honestly say that I am not a prude but I write my stories for a different reason. I don't write for the tittilation factor but rather to see the building of characters and plot. Too many stories, IMHO, are based solely on sexual content and no plot. That type of story I don't read.

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I'm still here, if anyone wondered

I've spent the last fortnight alternating between the throes of nicotine deprivation and guilt from succumbing to it - I am too weak.

I've written nothing, though I've had a few new ideas, and earlier this week I - accidentally - half sold the idea of 'Midnight Angels' to one of the commissioning editors in work - like I need the pressure!

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