Wow, and I thought Sunday was supposed to be a day of rest? On this last Sunday in August, I have three exciting things happening. My first solo release from Phaze in over a year was made available late last night, although the official release date is tomorrow. En Garde is the story about a man who thinks he is past being surprised by life and the woman that proves him wrong. It isn't my longest work, but the price reflects that and I have to say that Kelly is one of my favorite characters ever. Its an intriguing and erotic adventure on many levels and I am very proud that this story is kicking off the Phaze Scores line of sports-related erotica. En Garde is available now at Phaze.com for the low price of two dollars. I promise you'll will it far more than a couple of dirty, crinkled bucks in your pocket. Today is also the day we are proud to announce the next step in the evolution of Coming Together and erotic altruism with the launch of Coming Together: Neat. This single story line will shocase works between 10K and 50K, give authors who aren't comfortable writing short stories a way to contribute and also is CT's first venture into Micro-lending, a type of program that I personally believe will help maximize the impact of Coming Together. Let's face it, $50 doesn't mean much to the Red Cross. But in Afghanistan, it is an annual income for some people. Follow the link to the Coming Together blog for more details! And last but certainly not least, Alessia and I are headed to the car to drive a few hours so that I can watch Park View Little League, where I coached and my son plays, take on Chinese Taipei for the championship of the world. There are a lot of endeavors in this country where we call it a world title and yet all the participants are from the US. This is NOT one of them. These kids, some of whom I've known since they were five or six years old, have a chance to accomplish something truly special. I have to go, I just have to. Once in a lifetime opportunity and all that, even though most of them won't know me unless I tell them whose Dad I am. And Alessia is coming along because she thinks its cute how excited I am about this. I love that she is willing to skip an entire day of productivity so that I can scream "P-V-L-L!" for a couple hours. So that's my day of rest. How about all y'all? GO PARK VIEW!!!!!!

I know, it is not like I have a thousand readers out there checking every five minutes to see if there is a new post.  And I can be somewhat inconsistent on my blogs that I do update more often.

But just so all y'all do know, I have a blogspot presence that gets a lot more attention.  You can find me there by googling Will Belegon's Whimsical Box (MySpace doesn't seem to like it when I post direct links.)  I also recently started an entertainment review blog called "Things I Made My Girlfriend Watch" and started a Squidoo just today.  You can find me on Twitter as well, and there is this other social networking place where I sometimes venture. *cough* facebook  *cough.*

So I'm not gone... I just have a lot of places to try and keep updated.

Peace.

Before Mandy Long and Bruce Winfield began their globetrotting stewardship of the most unique retail establishment in Philadelphia, there was a woman who built the foundation for Erotique.  Built it with her will and her sense of adventure.  A woman who was ahead of her time in many ways.

Vivian Long's life was full of triumphs and tragedies.  As we celebrate the beginning of a new era in America, come back with us and experience the beginning of the Erotique era for the Long family.

On a historic day in Washington D.C., Vivian Long and Eduardo Rojas Aguliar make some history of their own.  And like this country, their lives will never be the same.

Walking along 17th Street with his mind firmly in the past and oblivious to the historic present, Eduardo Rojas collided with his future. Not metaphorically, but quite literally.

Both his stack of books and the woman in the yellow dress tumbled to the ground.

"¡Madre de Dios! My apologies, señorita. I did not see…"

His breath caught, his words drifted into a stammer as the woman turned and he saw her eyes for the first time. Though he considered himself a romantic, Eduardo had never believed in the concept of love at first sight until that moment.

She settled on her elbows, smiling at the slightly open-mouthed stare of her unwitting attacker. Though he had seemed quite determined to keep moving before their impact, he was currently motionless. Torn between wanting to see how long he would stay that way and a desire to get back on her feet, she decided to flip the switch on his internal circuit breaker.

"Usually, it would be considered polite to help a lady up—especially when you're the one who just sent her sprawling." The harsh content of the words was belied by their light-hearted delivery. Vivian Long was far less upset about being knocked down than she was interested in the man who had done so. He wore a brown suit that was the height of fashion…decades ago. The collection of books he had been carrying was now split between the pavement and a precarious perch in his crooked elbow, save the one in her lap. She lifted it and glanced at the spine while her handsome assailant stammered another apology, letting the rest of his armload fall in his haste to offer her a hand.

"I am very sorry, señorita. I was trying to make my way through this crowd as quickly and as gently as possible, and I somehow did not notice you, though how that was possible, I truly do not know." Eduardo blushed as he realized what he had just said. It was, however, exactly what he was thinking. Her creamy skin stood out in a sea of predominantly darker tones. Brown hair in braids, deep eyes of hazel that had trapped him momentarily, and a figure that filled out her summery dress in ways that he had best not consider if he wanted to avoid further embarrassment.

"Perhaps your mind was in the Andes of the 1500s instead of Washington in August of 1963." Vivian took the proffered hand, pulled herself up, then placed the book, Marriage and Courting Rituals among Classes in Incan Society and Their Effect on Warfare and Politics, in the hand she released after gaining her feet. She retrieved her sign and helped him gather the other scattered volumes, which carried similarly scholarly titles in both English and Spanish. "Do you work at the Smithsonian?"

"No, I am merely a student. I did several years in the field after obtaining my master's degree in Chile and am now working on my doctorate through an exchange program at Georgetown College. I apologize again for my carelessness and would…"

His words were drowned out as the surrounding crowd cheered the comments from the current speaker. The noise quickly died down as the people once again began to concentrate on the speech.

Vivian smiled again as she pieced together what she thought he had said. "I'm sorry, are you asking me on a date? I don't even know your name!" She struggled to keep a straight face as the man's handsome features contorted in shame, and he immediately began a new apology.

"No, no. I simply meant that I felt I should make amends and would like to…."

"Hush." Vivian placed a finger on his lips. A visible shiver passed through him at her touch, but he did not withdraw. "Have you a specific meeting that you were hurrying to reach?" She lifted her finger slightly to allow his reply, and his tongue darted, subconsciously sampling the site of her touch. Vivian felt the imaginary rasp of it against a distant part of her body.

"Well, no. I simply had not anticipated the immensity of this event and…"

With the heat of his breath brushing her fingertip, she realized he was not the only one stunned by an inexplicably powerful connection. In that moment, it became more necessity than amusement to maintain contact.

Once again, Vivian placed the finger on his lips. "Then you can make amends by standing with me and listening to the next speaker. Witness some history as it happens instead of reading about it hundreds of years later. Then you can take me for that cup of coffee, señor…" Her voice trailed off in an interrogatory tone.

"Rojas. Eduardo Rojas Aguilar."

"What a mouthful! Eddie, it is. Please, call me Vivian. Now, stand here and listen with me. Then you can buy me that drink, and I'll consider your debt repaid. Deal?"

Eduardo started to correct her undignified shortening of his name, but thought better of it. There would be time for that later, he realized, still shocked both at his own forwardness and that he had put himself in a situation where it could come into play. He decided that it would be a more interesting evening than he had expected, although he still had reading to do. Hearing the name of the next speaker and realizing it was familiar from the newspaper, he decided that he would indeed listen. Afterward, the companionship promised to be, at the very least, intellectually stimulating.

Vivian watched the conflict play across Eddie's face before he quieted. She thought she recognized it, both from her own experiences and those of acquaintances. She also noticed the quiet intensity that took over as he glanced down at her sign, then turned his attention toward the stage erected on the monument steps. He might not be up to speed on current events, but he knew something of the struggle, she realized. While his clothes were out of date, there was a fierce intelligence in those eyes. She was very interested to hear his reaction to the speech, which, by all accounts, would be similar to one she'd heard the speaker deliver months ago.

"Very well, miss…Vivian," he finished, looking at her and stammering over her given name as if it was an inappropriately glimpsed undergarment. Since she'd not supplied her surname, he had no choice but to use the more personal form of address. There was something titillating about the man's discomfiture, she realized. He made her feel like a forbidden fruit, ripe and juicy and begging to be…

"I take it this is a cause about which you are passionate?"

Vivian cocked an eyebrow, causing him to blush at his use of a word with such sexual overtones.

"I mean," Eduardo continued, "with which you are intimate?"

She smiled.

For those of you who have been craving more Bruce and Mandy...

Well, you'll have to keep re-reading ArtiFactual. We will return to those two beloved characters, but their next adventure is still in the plotting phaze. *wink*

A day dawns in a few hours.  A day unlike any other.

A day when hope replaces fear as our currency.  A day with the promise of our democracy renewed.  A day where all of us, regardless of political leanings, can look at the face of our President-Elect and know that all of our children can lay claim to the words "Maybe someday I can be President."

A day when all things are possible.

A nation born with the original sin of slavery has elected an African-American president.  A nation who the world had begun to doubt has made a great stride in restoring its place as the bastion of freedom and the shining city on the hill.  A nation that clings to its American Dream has seen that this idealistic cliche is not outdated.   A nation of cynics has elected a man who focuses on hope.

We have rejected the politics of hate and fear.  We have rejected the mud and the muck that dirtied our airwaves and our bandwidth. We have rejected the false folksiness of Bush and Palin for the measured language and inspirational oratory of a Harvard graduate and best-selling author.

The rays of the morning sun will caress cheeks sore from smiling and eyes still red from tears of joy.  Faces of all colors and configurations.

A beautiful day.

One can almost imagine the frustration of Michael Jordan.

Gambling rumors once came close to destroying his lucrative endorsements.  Yet this fall, the Chicago Bulls great has watched as a front page story in the New York Times about a presidential contender's habit has immediately disappeared from the public's attention.

John McCain doesn't hide his habit.  Is it because of this, because he can sit there and respond, "I am a betting man" on national television, that no one is interested in what this could mean as part of the philosophy of the Commander In Chief?

The easy excuse is that we assume that a man who has spent twenty-five years in a position of great authority is beyond the temptation to follow his reckless urges on matters of national importance.  After all, no President would take such wild chances.  Just because someone enjoys putting their money on the table in Vegas doesn't mean they would gamble with the responsibilities of their office.

The problem with this assumption is that Mr. McCain's own behavior is contrary to it.  The McCain campaign has been rolling the dice for months, and they continue to do so without the slightest hesitation.  Sarah Palin is only the most obvious of these questionable decisions, and the book is still out on the wisdom of that choice.

In the immediate aftermath of the campaign's controversial decision to name the Alaska governor as running mate, it seemed to be a good bet.  The polls in the days that followed allowed the campaign to rake in a few chips, and it energized the Republican base in a gratifying way.  In short, the decision was a short term winner.

However, as any race track aficionado knows, hitting a long shot early does not necessarily mean that you will leave with more money in your pocket than you had on arrival.  In many cases, quite the opposite is true.  Your success at the beginning often fuels wild and unwise choices late in the afternoon, so that by the time you head for the parking lot, you end up down far more than you ever intended to spend.

John McCain has been laying crazy bets for the last month.  Mortgage plans and "Who is Barack Obama?" are just two of them. The most damaging was the false suspension of his campaign, a mistake he is now trying to minimize by returning to David Letterman.  Upsetting the only man more popular in Indiana than Larry Bird was hardly a wise choice.

So, John McCain is willing to gamble with the choices he makes in his campaign.  A campaign that is the culmination of years of preparation and in itself is a fulfillment of a lifetime struggle to emerge from the shadows of his famous father and grandfather.

The Presidential nomination is the most important thing that has ever happened to Senator McCain.  It is obvious, in his demeanor and in his desperate abandonment of many of the moral positions he has held throughout public life, how much the presidency means to him.  Yet his impulses remain.  In the pursuit of the one goal that has dominated his destiny for decades, John McCain is immediately willing to shake those dice, ask Sarah Palin to blow on them and let fly.  He'll take his chances.

The problem is that if he wins his biggest bet, the stakes will change forever.  It won't be his livelihood and reputation on the line.  It will be the well-being, safety, and security of every single one of us.  If John McCain somehow manages to go on a three week winning streak and ends up in the White House, his long shot win will fuel years of belief in his own luck.

Every pit boss in Vegas will tell you that, eventually, the house always comes out ahead.

Squeeze Play is out today from Phaze Books!

It's a catchy headline that a columnist salivates over.  Yet I found myself so reluctant to use it that I decided not to follow my normal pattern of writing immediately after a debate due to the way it dominated my thoughts.

With an evening to think on it and a good night's sleep behind, I realize it dominated my thoughts for a reason.

The appalling and disrespectful moment when John McCain referred to Barack Obama by pointing a finger sideways and saying "that one" with utter disdain captures everything about the man that gives me pause when I imagine him as President.

Moments can define people.  As a writer and a film buff I should know this.  When Lawrence of Arabia stands on the roof of the train, when Sidney Poitier says, "They call me Mr. Tibbs!" or when Indiana Jones casually pulls his gun and shoots the swordsman in the marketplace, those characters are defined forever.

John McCain defined himself in that moment.  He thinks he is better than everyone around him.  He thinks that this presidency is his because he deserves it and no one else does.  He showed not only disdain for Barack Obama, but for all of us.  Our votes are his by right.  He doesn't need to earn them.

See, John McCain thinks he is entitled to that post.  He thinks that the fact that he has to go out and cater to all of us in order to be elected is ridiculous.  Because why should he have to parade around in front of these people who are beneath him in order to get the job he so obviously deserves?

I struggle with this characterization.  It is an awful thing to say about a man who suffered as a P.O.W. and who has spent the great majority of his life in service to his country.

But it fits.

If I was writing John McCain, as a character in a novel, and I needed the reader to "get this" about the character, I could not have chosen a better way to make the point.  And it changes the rest of his actions in ways that make sense within the character.  It explains his choice of Sarah Palin, since her obvious flaws become inconsequential to a man who thinks he knows so much more than those around him.  The pat on the back of the audience member, the constant use of the condescending "my friends" and the repeating of talking points that have already been shown to be untrue all make sense from this point of view into John McCain.

It explains why he thinks he can fly into Washington with a non-suspended suspension of his campaign and think that he will emerge victorious.  It explains why he feels it's no big deal to blow off David Letterman.  It explains his role in the Keating Five.  It explains his first marriage and how it ended.  It explains the awful jokes.

And it fits with a man who was involved in three flying accidents in the Navy before he was shot down and yet never lost his wings because of who his father was.  With a man who knew they wouldn't kick him out of the Naval Academy.  With a man who pledged this spring to run a clean campaign on the issues and instead is running what the New York Times called this morning "one of the most appalling campaigns we can remember."

It explains why he can't look at Obama.  It explains why he is okay running the horrible ads.  It explains why he can make outrageous claims like Obama not agreeing to ten Town Halls "forced" him to go negative  and why he can tell his lies with a wink and a smile.

It's a moment I am not going to be able to shake easily.  Because, as a writer, I feel it reveals character.  Perfectly.  I couldn't have written a better scene and thus I am hard-pressed to explain away what I saw and heard.

The only question to be answered is who John McCain respects less.  Barack Obama?  Or all of us?

The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America have today released their annual "Report Cards" on the House and Senate.  Some of you may be familiar with this idea of giving members of Congress a letter grade based on their voting records and sponsorship of legislation that supports various organizations.

In today's political climate, I consider this organization's grade to be one of those  that makes a difference.  To me, it has to do with the old value of actions speaking louder than words.  Or as John McCain has recently called the concept, not only "talking the talk, but walking the walk."

The results are not surprising to me.  But I think that they should be. It saddens me that I am not surprised.

For review, let me point out that the McCain campaign has repeatedly attacked Barack Obama as not supporting the troops.  Their attacks have ranged from negative ads released after Obama's trip to Germany to questioning his voting record in both debates to comparing the number of trips he took to Iowa with those he took to Iraq.
John McCain also goes to great lengths to remind everyone of his experience as a POW.  

It's something that is one of the great disconnects with John McCain. In my experience, and based on what I read in the experience of most others, the great majority of our veteran's are reluctant to speak about their own service.  My father is very proud of his service, as evidenced by his Vietnam Vet bumper sticker and photos of his friends on the wall above his computer. Yet he rarely mentions it, and to actually get him to speak about that time in more than a passing fashion requires emotional trauma.

The IAVA proudly gave out 150 perfect scores this year.  That shows the nation's commitment to our troops, even in a very unpopular war.  We should all be proud.  Unfortunately, they also gave out 9 D's or F's.

Anyway, to the grades of the presidential candidates.  Largely due to his absences while on the campaign trail, Barack Obama receives a B.  I would greatly prefer that to be otherwise, knowing that it is a subject we both consider of great import, but there it is.  Not the top grade, but respectable.

John McCain gets a D.  

Let me repeat that.  John McCain received a D. Yes, his large number of absences affect his grade.  But they also affected Barack Obama, yet he got a B.

Also, if you go to the website of the IAVA and download the full document of their 2008 Report Card, you will notice that while they do not take a politician's military service into the grading, they do notate that service by placing a star next to their name.

Of all the Senators listed, only one man has that honorable star next to the dishonor of a D or an F.  John McCain.

Way to "walk the walk" there, John.

So all the pundits, including me, are out in force. We all have opinions and many of them are based primarily on what we thought going into the debate rather than on what we thought about it.

Last night, I praised Sarah Palin for doing better than expected. I stand by that. She did do better than expected. However, I find some of the reactions to that performance dismaying.

Fox News said she stopped the bleeding and may have once again saved John McCain's campaign. Newspapers and websites all over are spending the first couple column inches of their stories praising her for, basically, not being a train wreck. But then they are all unanimous in saying that she got her tail kicked in the actual debating department. So why is the first part of the story, well known by every editor to be the most likely part to be read, spent praising the loser?

THIS is equality? This is the performance of a woman who is supposed to shatter the glass ceiling, a claim she made in her RNC acceptance speech? She got her butt kicked! Everybody says so, even the Republican wags. How then are we full of praise for her today? Do you think Elizabeth Dole would have done so poorly? What about Kay Hutchinson?

Or better yet... rewind a few months and watch Hilary Clinton debating Joe Biden. Not only does she not get embarrassed, she stands toe to toe and wins points. THAT'S damaging the glass ceiling. Not pathetic fallback on rehearsed talking points because you can't actually answer the question. Not thinking that we have recalled a Union General from 1862 to take over in Afghanistan. Not long pauses to search her memory of the prep work in Arizona. Not blindly repeating falsehoods that had been blown out of the water by Barack Obama when John McCain tried to use them a week earlier.

I wake up and look at the news organizations and the blogosphere and I am annoyed that we would lower our political standards in this way. When Dan Quayle did this we barbecued him. And rightfully so.

To say that Sarah Palin did so well last night just because she was not a total failure repairs the glass ceiling, it does not damage it. There are many women in national politics who would have done far better debating Joe Biden than Sarah Palin did.

You can wink at me and drop consonants off your words all you want, Sarah. It won't convert me to supporting you because you are "folksy." Yes, you're attractive. But the naughty librarian look loses it's appeal when the person wearing it favors censorship. Yes, you are the first female Republican to be nominated for a national executive office. But I can't say that you are a standard-bearer for women's rights when you favor removing many of the victories already achieved and when your campaign won't even commit to supporting legislation for equal pay.

Sarah Palin showed she's one of us. That's what I keep hearing. Well, guess what? The top two executive jobs in the country are not supposed to be held by people that are "one of us." The people in those jobs are supposed to be exceptional. Not "just plain folks."

The more I write, the angrier I get. Quit cutting her so much slack. Hold her to the same standards you held Hilary to, the ones you held Geraldine Ferraro to and, yes, the ones you hold Barack Obama, Joe Biden and John McCain to as well.

To do anything less does not shatter the glass ceiling, it repairs it.