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.

Not sure when I'll post (repost technically) the next chapters of "Ju-Ju Box." I'm in a weird phase of life where I'm trying to overcome long term alcohol addiction while at the same time getting balance in everything I do. Such as gaming. I had a huge problem playing way too many video games a few years ago.

Although I'm from Gower, and would vigorously oppose anyone calling me a 'Swansea Jack', I have to admit an attachment to the 'ugly, lovely town'. In the ten years since I moved away it's managed to smarten itself up a bit, and returning as a tourist I spent much of last week trying to photograph it.

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.

In the crazy world of English law and taxes, such things are possible if farcical.

See the link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cambridgeshire/7376925.stm

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?

That sounds kind of desperate, doesn't it? I'm not, really. Just sort of frustrated.

GENDER PSYCHOLOGY TEST:

Here is an interesting test that I found on the Internet. I cannot vouch for its accuracy or authenticity. As this test was posted in early 2007, the promised answers to the grading of this seem long overdue.
~~hugs, LAIKA

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.

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.

Hi all...

I was going to post 2 new stories that I was working on when the disk BROKE! I wanted to post it yesterday, but I have to rewrite them. (One is a preteen story about a boy and his brother who thought about being girls for HALLOWEEN.)

Hi folks and fans of the Gabyzone.

As our servers are still not back, Maddy Bell decided to open a yahoo group to get the discussions going again. So please take a look at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/maddys_scribbles/

Saphira

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?

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!

Okay, I know no real holidays are coming up. (Does Mother's Day count?)

Starting in the next day or so I will be reposting my BLSB Holiday Cartoons. Some are older, some are newer. Some may be hot off the presses! ~.^

-- SD

I'm posting this here, because I think that readers who might otherwise enjoy a particular story are skipping over it because they're making certain assumptions about it that miss an important point.

Today is a sad day, and I felt the need to get some of it out.

I have noticed that now many authors have started including a picture or cartoon/avatar with their stories and comments. Me, I find the addition to be very welcome. They often help to tell the story. I am glad that this has happened and I hope that it continues too.

You know...it is the same old same old here. That is why you are "dead" ...you can't grow...

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.

There is an interesting article in today's Independent regarding the above.

It can be found on

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/lonely-road-why-school-is-hell
-for-transgender-pupils-814378.html

I just got my bunny plushie from the mail and she is sooooooooooooo cute ^^

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170198345379

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.

Please limit the amount of characters unbroken by a space to a dozen. Thank you.

I have stumbled onto a web site that, so far seems very good, though I have a lot of reading to do to completely understand it.

http://www.gendertree.com/Reparative_Therapy.htm

As I become more proficient in remembering my dreams, they lead me down a meandering path.

I blogged a few months ago telling what a cool dream I had. Yet, recently, I've had two dreams showing I still have a long path to tread.

I came across this BBC article about the UK's "Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre" which is somewhat similar to Allie Burns' department.

Perhaps, one day, we will see Allie visiting the UK?

URL http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7359589.stm

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.

Here we are again, the end of another weekend with work lurking just over the horizon. Once more I feel that I haven't done very much at all, didn't do a bike ride or write another masterpiece, only fiddled about and achieved very little.

I hope this is set up right, I so seldom use it. I figure no one wants to read about me anyway, they have their own problems. But, I figured why not?

"It's not my knife," said Nolan, waving the switchblade around.

Birdsong 14 at Fictioneer.

- Erin

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.

Good thing I'm ambidextrous. :) Mousing with my left hand isn't hard but my desk isn't set up for it. I may not be doing much more today, it's not a bad burn so it should be okay tomorrow.

- Erin

This is what's ahead for me, as far as I can see:

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.

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.

Hello everyone

It's been a while now since my last blog entry. When i returned from Dresden (see my previous blog entry)i decided it was time to do something and finad a therapist.

There I was last night huddling over a dim candle, blanket around my shoulders , shivering into my cocoa, trying to make sense of the latest chapter of Orphan.

In the end, I noticed the clock and decided that I would just have to send it out as it was.

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

Hiya everyone! I just wanted to let ya's know my computer died a while ago, and I just recently got a replacement and have been able to get back online. It feels so nice to be back again. :)

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.

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?

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.

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?"

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.

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!