Yes, I am a total geek when it comes to research, so I have pulled down a Risk Prediction Index (RPI) Hand-Calculation Worksheet and done on behalf of one of Kabe.

What is the RPI? It is a tool used in the Federal Criminal Justice System to determine how much at risk an offender is for recidivism — committing another offense.  It is used by judges in determining sentences and whether inmates should be moved to half-way houses and how stringent their supervised release should be (do they have to physically meet their probation officer each month or do they qualify for written check in and only periodic meetings?). It is also used when determining whether someone qualifies for an Early Termination Agreement — Kabe’s situation.

One of the criteria (worth 51 negative points) is if the offender is not living with a spouse or children. And the subtle discrimination part of it…well, in the FAQ they pose whether a homosexual marriage or domestic partnership would qualify.  The version I obtained was written before any state had legal homosexual marriage and they analogize it to common-law heterosexual marriage which doesn’t count as “married” in the RPI. As to domestic partnerships: “they are not the legal equivalent of marriage.” And so, even a gay/lesbian in a registered domestic partnership is not equal to a married heterosexual.

So yeah, most GLBT folks will never run into this, but it’s just one more little reason why a domestic partnership is not the same as being married.

http://www.capitolhillbillies.net  A fun web comic about a gay group of guys in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle. 

http://twistedmonk.blogspot.com  Twisted Monk’s blog.  Great rope top who goes on amusing video rants.

http://www.drdicksexadvice.com Dr. Dick’s sex advice.  Great advice, toy reviews and guests on the podcast. 

http://malesubmissionart.com Male submissive art.  You’ll find gay and straight photos and artwork that celebrate the strong male submissive.

http://chrisyosef.blogspot.com Chris Yosef blogs his life as a submissive in a large leather family.

I tend to write a lot of mystery/suspense/thriller plots into my romances. This is a current list of books I have on my shelves next to me.  I’ve got more in boxes.

Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist.

I have an older edition than the one pictured.  It’s a good book, interesting  and not dry.  There’s cases involving current and “cold” murders, mass graves and unburied bodies.

In that same line is Hard Evidence: How Detectives Inside the FBI’s Sci-Crime Lab have Helped Solve America’s Toughest Cases. I think the title pretty much covers any explanation of the book.

A couple text books share that space:  Police Field Operations (2nd Ed) and Techniques of Crime Scene Investigation (5th Edition).  I snagged both at a used book store… no way would I pay $80 for my law books, much less research books.

I have Swat Team: Police Special Weapons and Tactics, which is not so much a text book as an informational manual for those who might be interested in the profession.

And I Love a Cop, a “self-help” style book written for families of law enforcement.  What’s nice about that book is it talks about the stressors in a police officer’s life and job and how the police culture does/does not deal with it.  You’ll see that book come up in All or Nothing (Book 3 of Nicky & Brandon) due out the end of this month.

Then there are my mass market paperbacks.  Most written by cops some by journalists.  Each one has a unique perspective or tale to tell.   There’s Cop World (San Diego), The Making of a Detective, What Cops Know, L.A. Secret Police and A Cop’s Life.  Those are my mind candy.  I can read one in a day (or less if I’m on a plane).  Each of them gives me an insight, no matter how small, into how law enforcement officers think and what they encounter on the job.

Well, not literally.  This is the wonder of the net2.0.

I’m working on book two of the Deputy Joe Books (working title is Requiem in Leather) and I want the little details right.

Google Maps is my friend.  Map the route and then drop down into street view and follow it.  I can “feel” how the road is hemmed in by the bay one side and sandstone cliffs on the other.  How the trees lean over the road an cloak it in shadows.  How long and twisty that extended U around Bolinas bay is.  You can see the town as though you’re walking through it.  People upload their own photos of particularly interesting spots.  It’s a great way to keep things  realistic.  You can feel how close or open streets are, see what houses look like, all of that.

Back to writing.

Lab mouse by Rama

Lab mouse by Rama

Apparently men and women are not that different after all. In fact, the sexes are so similar that women have to fight their entire lives just to remain women — at least on the genetic level.

Remember this study was done on mice…people ain’t mice.  Also, as reported by PopSci.com there’s nothing in the study that suggest a genetic way to go from M2F. According to the journal Cell, which published the results of the study, researchers “switched off” the FoxL2 gene which works by suppressing a male gene, Sox9.  When the female suppressor goes away the male gene asserts itself, signaling overian cells to become types normally found in the testes. The female began to produce equivilant amounts of testosterone as normal male mice. The studies authors’ think the data might be a step in explaining transsexualism.

It’s still very speculative, but it’s possible that this approach could produce an alternative to surgery and the removal of gonads — ovaries and testes. ~ Co-author Robin Lovell-Badge

MichaelDillon

Michael Dillon (1915-1962) was the first person to transition both hormonally and surgically from female to male. Dillon’s unpublished autobiography was rediscovered by English journalist Liz Hodgkinson and served as an important source for her book “Michael Nee Laura” (1989) and a more recent biography by Pagan Kennedy entitled “The First Man-Made Man” (2007).
You can read about Michael’s extrodanary life, growing up female, transitioning to male when few people transitioned from male to female,  ultimately going on to become a doctor here:
 
Or you can buy a copy  of Michael’s Biography “The First Man-Made Man: The Story of Two Sex Changes, One Love Affair, and a Twentieth-Century Medical Revolution,” wrtitten by Pagan Kennedy Amazon
Hector Silva is a Latino artist here in So.Cal.  I often use the works of artists to inspire my stories.  And Hector’s work is gorgeous and has been featured in several magazines.  You can buy copies of his prints at Rough Trade or directly through his site.   Warning, I get lost in the galleries. 

Hector Silva is an artist based in Los Angeles who has been producing work for more than twenty years. Born in Ocotlan, Jalisco, Mexico, he moved to the US at the age of 17. He began drawing in his late 20’s when he discovered his own talent. He created his first portrait in 1982 of Lucille Ball. This drawing somehow reached her hands and she contacted Hector to acquire the original in 1984. This marked the beginning of his commercial career.

He has an exhibit coming this February.  You can find his work, both erotic and non, here:  http://www.artbyhector.comflyer

Adelante Mag cover                          La Gente MagCover

Yeah, you know them.  The ICanHazCheezburger and IhazHotDog sites.  Mine, mine are a little more basement humor.

Starting off the pack is People of Walmart Honestly there are some scary weird folks out there and they all tend to show up at (as the mom of one of the spawns’ friends calls it) Valdemort.  It’s freakier than being in a Denny’s at 2am…because at that hour in a Denny’s you expect crazies that crawl out of the wood work.  These, these are allegedly the NORMAL people.

Lurid Digs critiques the decorating styles of the men who post nekkid and nearly-nekkid picks of themselves on gay dating sites.  You know the ones with enough teddy bears in the room to establish a complex; pink walls contrasted with tubs of children’s toys, Pampers and the wedding picture on the mantel;  where the only decoration is a life sized unframed poster of Barbara Streisand staring off a gray wall (watching you fuck your boyfriend in the ass); or the collection of ALL versions of the Enterprise lined up on the waterbed headboard where you’re managing a threesome.

We have Accidental Dong .  As their blog states,It’s happened a million times. You draw an innocent little sketch for a friend or family member, only to realize moments later, “Crap. I just drew a Godzilla-like penis in front of Grandma.” Well my faux phallic friends, this blog is the home for all those wayward wangs out there. Send in your own accidental dong pics and share their squiggly, misguided joy with the world.”

For the piece day resistance (and you must say that phrase with the obligatory hillbilly drawl) there’s Why the F*** do you have a kid? All the babies sucking on shot guns, mom’s snapping inappropriate cell phone picks while junior watches on and slam drinking by five years olds cheered on by parents that you can handle.  And this is our future folks.


In honor of Halloween, I’m dragging out the links to my favorite sites and books. 

 Websites

  • Spooked.  A gay ghost hunter’s snippets of life and the afterlife. — I have this one on feed it amuses me so much.  Not only does he talk about his ghost hunting trips and gay ghosts, he gives travel tips for staying at gay freindly haunted inns and bed & breakfasts.
  • Divinafe Santeria Botanica Lots of cool occult paraphanalia (not just Santaria) and a few spells listed on thier site.
  • The Chancery House.  Honestly, just a fun place to tour around.  Thier resident ghost pages contain reports of ghost hunting trips.  Tons of rooms with fun things to explore.  Graveyard greeting cards.
  • The Dark Side of the Net.  If you’re looking for it and it’s spooky dark or unusual, you’ll probably find a listing for it here.
  • Ghost Source.  You can search archives for people’s accounts of encounters with ghosts, the paranormal and the unexplained.

Books

  • Death Makes a Holiday From acclaimed cultural critic David J. Skal, an in-depth look at one of the most popular-and perplexing-holidays in America. Using a mix of personal anecdotes and brilliant social analysis, Skal examines the amazing phenomenon of Halloween, exploring its dark Celtic history and illuminating why it has evolved-in the course of a few short generations-from a quaint, small-scale celebration into the largest seasonal marketing event outside of Christmas.
  • The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead.  This book takes the reader on a vast, alphabetic tour of the psychosexual, macabre world of the blood-sucking undead. From Vlad the Impaler to Barnabas Collins to Dracula and Lestat, it supplies nearly 500 exhaustive essays illustrated with more than 250 photos. A very thorough unearthing of the vampire through the ages, this guide relies on a collection of 2,000 titles on vampires, digging deep into the lore, the myths, and the reported realities of vampires and vampire legends from around the world.
  • Illustraded Anthology of Sorcery, Magic and Alchemy. This is the largest and finet collection fo the iconography of theoccultism every brought together in one book.  Some 376 illustarions, many of them full plates, were slected by the author from manuscripts, rare books, private collections and museums.  Those selected are the most curious, characteristic and rare graphics characteristic and rage graphics depicting socercery, magic, astology, cheiromance, cartomancy and alchemy — the universe of the occult.
  • The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Magic.  The author has deliberatley avoided a sensation approach and her very readable text includs entries ranging from All Hallows Eve and Black Mass to the Salem Witches and Voodoo.  It is illustrated by 32 full color pictures and 200 in black and white.

A fetish feast.DSC00199

1st thing, it was fucking hot and crowded.  SG took off his t-shirt at one point and wrung it out.  He wore in leather pants, combat boots and a leather vest. I wore my leather vest, chaps and cowboy boots.  Nasty hot…but at least we weren’t as screwed over as the furries.  If their suits didn’t have air, some of them had to be ready to just pass out.  DSC00198SG swears he’s wearing his new collar, leather shorts and combat boots next year – and nothing else.  It’ll probably be freezing then.

If you’ve never been to Folsom Street Fair it really almost defies description.  It’s predominately Gay, but very Pansexual as well.  It’s a Leather event with Furries and cross-dressers and rubber guys and, shit, one guy who led two people of indeterminate sex around by leashes…they were indeterminate because they were both wearing full burkas.  Guys walking their happy, playful puppies – and there were some actual canines too.  Saw a gal in full pony gear, with her master putting her through paces on a lead.  Got hit on by a real sweet gender-ambiguous thang…with more facial piercings than I can hang with.  Sorry, cute yes, but kissing a pincushion (even after 3 beers) does not give me a woody.

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