... and it's happening tonight from 8 to midnight EST! Okay, it happens at other times too, but that's the target time for this effort to raise awareness of the chatrooms, so come on in and chat with us! You can use the link in the banner up top to connect through your browser, or copy the information there to your favorite irc client. If you have any questions or problems, send me a PM and I'll do my best to help.

I'm launching an effort to get the chat rooms active once more for the new year. If you're interested in chatting, just use the link at the top of the main page and come in to #MainRoom, #GabyZone, or both if you like, and say hello to my chat alter ego, Breanna. I'll be there for certain between 8PM and Midnight EST, now through the end of January, and probably at other times as well. Just be certain to say my name, Breanna, when you come in so I'll get an alert that you're talking to me, and I'll be happy to talk about anything you like.

On the heels of Apple's Siri, and apparently after a quiet but hostile takeover by Aperture Science, comes the newest thing in cell phone convenience ... GLaDOSiri. Make sure you read the fine print....

Introducing GLaDOSiri on iPhone 4S

Need I say more?

I'd Give Anything to Kill Someone Again

I have a friend who is an English teacher, and she gets these little gems from time to time. This one is from a few years back but I recently found it and thought I post it here for giggles. This is a collection of analogies and metaphors submitted by high school English teachers from around the US and taken from essays turned in by actual students.

1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.

2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.

Thanks to the recent refreshing of The Prodigal, the story received many new hits and comments, and that has caused me to consider writing a prequel. Keeping in mind that this is likely to be a rather dark and violent tale, would anyone be interested in such a thing? I will probably go through with it anyway, but I'm interested in knowing the interest level.

Also, look for something featuring Bree in the next few hours. I've just finished a short piece for the Transgender Day of Remembrance and I'll be posting it soon.

Last year I was very proud when the city of Gainesville approved an ordinance that allows transgender persons to use the public restroom of the gender they identify with. Of course this measure was immediately and quite vehemently attacked, and a petition drive was launched to amend it, ostensibly to prevent men from entering a ladies room and then claim they were transgender if they got caught, despite the fact that the law already has a provision to deal with this.

Mary Travers, of Peter, Paul and Mary, passed away on Wednesday after a long battle with leukemia. Bob Dylan wrote 'Blowin' in the Wind', but it was Mary's powerful voice accompanied by the harmonies of Peter and Paul that made it an anthem for a generation. She will be missed.

It seems a day for sad news. Farrah Fawcett has died of cancer at the age of 62.

Well, all the hoopla about Amazon has accomplished something positive for me, at least.

A group of paranormal investigators set out to solve the mystery of a haunted brothel. Are they hunting the ghosts, or are the ghosts hunting them?

This one started rattling around in my brain after a violent encounter with a large piece of lumber. The idea seemed to fit with the current writers' challenge from Melanie, so I took a break from my current project to tap this one out. ­­

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So, I ordered some books from Lulu, one of which was 'Headlights Girl'. I got the order yesterday, and everything was fine except for Cathy's book. The cover looked great, but when I opened the book the title page read, 'Baseball Pitchers: The Most Overrated and Underrated in the Last 20 Years' by KP Wee.

I am enjoying another vacation, of sorts. I haven't gone anywhere, but my friends are away for the entire month of June, leaving me free to indulge in some long overdue ... experimentation. I've been making some online purchases over the last few weeks in preparation, and I'm prepared to make a few preliminary observations:

After our time in the champagne room, Fallon and I returned to the couch where I ordered us another round. I should point out here that the waitresses don't get tipped out by the dancers; they get their own tips, so I made an effort to be generous. The service was quite excellent and I have always believed in tipping well.

So there I was, sitting in a gentlemen's club called Scarlett's, sipping my second drink. I was aproached by another girl, a very pretty blonde, but I still wasn't quite ready to take the plunge. A short time after she moved on, the DJ called all the girls to the back, and I saw my first walk-around.

First let me say thank you to all who have commented on my entry from last night. I didn't really intend to bare my soul so much, it just sort of happened, but the response was very encouraging. I might need to consider a No BUI (Blogging Under the Influence) rule, however.

I'm only slightly tipsy this afternoon, so I should be safe. Hey, like Jimmy Buffet says, it's 5 o'clock somewhere.

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

... by some strange quirk of fate, I was born.

Solari over on the FM hyperboard posted a link to a site called TStories (http://www.tstories.com/index.php) that is hosting works from a lot of authors here. After a quick scan I found stories by Julie O, Morpheus, Angela Rasch, and many others, including myself. I know I didn't give them permission to post the stories and I'm sure none of the others did either.