Phaedrus

Unfortunately for your argument, the laws of physics have now been demonstrated to predict probabilities of outcomes, rather than actual events. Your argument was fine until Quantum Mechanics came along, but it hasn't held water for a century or so. The reason macroscopic events appear so predictable isn't that they --must-- turn out that way... just that it's overwhelmingly likely that they will. The deterministic laws that preceded this are still useful, but even they rapidly supply provably insoluble problems (the classical three-body problem is a good example of this). As for destiny and things of that nature... sorry, not buying it. The universe just --is--. It has no underlying purpose. There is no higher power that gives a damn how the universe, or any particular bit of it, works out. Your particular path is and will be what you make of it; there's no inevitability about anything.

I must admit, my initial reaction to this was: "Private caller"? Why on earth are you answering in the first place? AFAIK many ladies simply don't pick up if the number is blocked, and I'm sure this kind of crap is part of the reason for that. On the "real job" thing... Of course it's a real job! I know everyone else has already said this, but still, I'll say it again. I think a lot of this comes from people who are, quite simply, jealous. They're stuck in their own tedious 9-5 drudgery, trapped there by the need to pay the bills and their own inability to move onwards and upwards (or just.... out). Sure, they could set up their own business from scratch (as SPs do), but for whatever reason they don't, and I think they envy the freedom of those who have made that leap into the unknown and found that it worked for them. And on the Shayla thing... I have to say, I was quite amused by that. I've never seen anyone commit career suicide in quite such spectacular fashion. As to whether she ever comes back or not... really, who cares?

To be honest, I'd be inclined to delete everyone's info when you no longer need it. The problem with smartphones is that you never know when you'll install an app (or an update to an existing app) that will grab your entire address book and do who-knows-what with it. The only real safeguard you have against this kind of crap is to not have sensitive information there in the first place. You can be careful about what apps you install, but if you're like the rest of us you'll probably screw up on that sooner or later... Yes, I'm paranoid :)

Happy birthday, Katherine! I made you some inappropriate cupcakes....

This seems like a good time to remind everyone that mistert brought awesome brownies to the social, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who liked that. Mmmmmm......

Slow Internet connections. Soooo frustrating... and soooo doesn't matter all that much when you really think about it.

I like Katherine because she's an awesome person, and she's a lot of fun to spend time with!

This saddens me. Reading it just made me curl up and die inside a little bit. Really, not all of us guys consider escorting to be a bad or insupportable source of income. I can think of far worse things you could be doing than providing happiness to people. Loving someone involves accepting them as they are, not trying to change them into something else. And while I don't claim to know the personal circumstances of everyone here, I'm pretty sure that there's quite a few ladies who could give you some cast-iron counter-examples if they choose to. "I'd love you if you quit your job" is not the same as "I love you."

Wow! That's a lot of redheads! Congratulations, Cato, and keep 'em coming!

Very late to this one... many congratulations, Christine!

Seconded! "Saw this, thought you might be interested." That covers it, I think, without making any assumptions about why you think the recipient might be interested, or where you found the link.

This sort of thing is probably irrelevant :) A week is a long time in politics, or so they say... and the length of time that it takes a legal challenge to go through the various levels of the court system to the point where the government of the day would have to actually do something in Parliament is an eternity. It's very likely that the government that was in power when such a case was launched would be long gone by the time the Supreme Court ruled on it, so trying to time your case "correctly" would be a fool's game. Also, bear in mind that the current government, whoever that may be, is more-or-less obliged to defend current law when it's challenged; they don't get to pick and choose which laws to bother with. If they think the current law is that bad... well, they're the government, and they can change it.

Bear in mind, of course, that we all have different definitions of "vanilla" and "kinky" and "fetish". Sometimes they can be --very-- different. It should perhaps also be mentioned that AFAIK most SPs who offer BBBJ will quite happily do CBJ if that's what you want - just ask them! Anyone who's very concerned about the risks of BBBJ should probably consider this as I'd imagine the whole thing would be far less pleasurable if you're spending it worrying about things.

Question: are we sticking to novels, or is other stuff allowed to be on the menu too? If we're having other stuff, then "Why Is The Penis Shaped Like That?" by Jesse Bering. It's... fascinating :)

If that's the case, what the hell are you doing online? :)

Like everyone else, I don't care. I guess what's more important is that you post where your potential clients are likely to look for you :) You could, of course, do both. AFAIK you're not allowed to post in more than on advertizing section on the same day, but a few ladies do post in different sections depending on what they're offering at any given time. The Fetish section doesn't get much traffic, so maybe post there occasionally (so you have a presence if anyone looks there) and then post in the SP section on a regular basis (since that turns over far faster). Assuming that's OK with Mod, of course :)

Well, a couple of thoughts having finished this one. First up: it was an interesting snapshot of an existence and a way of life that I know almost nothing about, so it was good to read it from that point of view. I found it profoundly depressing, though; many of the characters are stuck in a drug-infused, hand-to-mouth life with little prospect of escape, in a life where the next hit seems to have filled the void where a little love and attention should have been. I don't really see much of a ray of light at the end, either... sure, there's been a change of scene and perhaps an opportunity fresh start, but there were plenty of those earlier in the book and I saw no particular reason to believe the last one will turn out any better than the rest. However, it did make me very grateful that I've never been dumped into that kind of vicious circle. Secondly: the writing style --really-- annoyed me. I'm sure it's a hard thing for an adult to write in the persona of a twelve-year-old, and I'm afraid I don't think this attempt works. There are too many moments where the kid's worldview is interrupted by some "insight" thrown in that feels like an adult trying to be too clever; it's followed by a return to banality in the next sentence. The overall effect is... jarring. It would have grated far less if the main character had been a few years older, which would have made the juxtaposition of adult and childish viewpoints more credible, but that would perhaps have lessened the shock value of some of the events in the plot, and thus reduced the effectiveness of the book as a whole. It annoyed me less as the book went on, but I'm not sure if that was because it happened less often or just because I was getting used to it by then.

I think we're going to need a new social group for commitment-phobes at this rate :) If you're not looking for a relationship, the great thing about seeing SPs is that you know exactly what you're going to get, and what the expectations are. There's never any issues about calling in the morning (or not); if you don't get on that well, then you simply move along and there's no hard feelings or recriminations on either side. There's no question of stringing someone along just to get them into bed, or of anyone feeling used or deceived afterwards. All of this saves a great deal of hassle. As far as random hookups go... been there, done that, got the T-shirt and the bar bills and probably the liver damage too :) I've never been one those people who can walk into a bar and strike up a conversation with a random stranger; and I've always hated that slightly desperate feeling towards the end of the night when you start to think, "Okay, you'll do" and end up with someone who's thinking the same about you. It's just not much fun, in the long run; it's far better to be able to go and see someone who I think I have a good chance of getting on well with. My hit-rate isn't perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than it ever was in bars. And finally, once you do get into bed, it's far better if everyone's sober. And finally - but by no means least - this way I get to play with people who are waaay out of my league. What's not to like? :)