I want to sell my short stories, novels and screenplays and make my living as a writer. I've sold two screenplays so far, one of which was produced and shown in theaters. And...if I relied on my writing for money, I'd be living in the streets. Thank goodness for my day job.

Smartalek's advice is wise. For the LW and anyone else (like me) who wants to make a living in the arts, it is crucial that you have a decent day job which you can tolerate; most people aren't thrilled with their jobs, but it beats poverty. You can go the starving artist route, like a good friend of mine is doing, and find yourself middle-aged and dead broke and f'd for life. Being a starving artist gets old fast.

LW, get a decent day job, work on your craft, and if you should be fortunate enough to hit it big as a writer (or whatever art you pursue), then you can thank your day job very much for giving you a decent life and move on. Just always remember, if you're miserable in your job, you'll be a million times more miserable if you can't pay the rent.

Jeez Louise, another married man who has become smitten with a younger woman, and even worse, a younger foreign woman who is married. Dude, stop thinking with your Mini Me! I have no doubt that this young Chinese woman is everything you say she is -- in your mind. You met her under romantic circumstances where she and you had just enough time to show each other only your best, most alluring qualities. You left with a fantasy, a fantasy which exists only in your head. Imagine living with this woman; if it's anything like any relationship, that fuzzy magical glow will dissipate, and you'll find yourself in an intimate relatioship with a real human being who can be not only happy and sexy, but sad and cranky and downright pissy. And don't forget, she'll see the same stuff in you.

One other small point: you're married, remember? To a woman who presumably cares deeply about you and, given her physical disabilities, also probably depends upon you in important ways. If you betray her for a fantasy, she will justifiably look upon you as less than dirt, and once your little fantasy in China disintegrates, you'll find yourself and your Mini Me woefully alone.

That is, if your little China doll's husband doesn't ice you first.

Go home, kiss your wife, take her out for a romantic dinner, and screw your head back on. Sheesh!

My Life in the Bush of Ghosts is one of those albums I played over and over, and not just because it was great when I was stoned. Brian Eno has the musical Midas touch, and his collaboration with Byrne, like his collaboratio with Bowie, produced works of genius.

As for the cultural imperialism charge: I'm a guy who can be considered P.C. in many ways (though the term "P.C." started out as a joke amongst leftists and now is used only by brain-dead conservatives in lieu of an argument), but I consider that charge utter nonsense.

I am amused that wingnuts criticize the N.Y. Times for publishing the well-known fact that our government tracks those who finance terrorism, yet they give a free pass to Novak, a man who blew the identity of a CIA agent who worked undercover on weapons of mass destruction.

Novak put partisan politics above the security of his own country. He is a filthy traitor.

Enough pussyfooting already! Iraq is not on "the brink" of civil war, nor is it "in danger" of civil war, nor is civil war "imminent," etc. IRAQ IS IN THE MIDDLE OF A CIVIL WAR RIGHT NOW. Does our media need them to don blue and gray uniforms to admit this blatant fact? Every single day Sunnis bomb, shoot, torture, and drive out Shiites, and vice versa. What else could one call this state of affairs within a single country but civil war?

Salon editors, please get off the fence on this one. The Bush Administration will never, ever admit that its incompetence and arrogance has led to civil war in Iraq, but the media must, and you should take the lead.

The Emperor not only has no clothes, but he is covered in other peoples' blood.

Alc, they say that God loves drunks, and your story proves it. Or, no offense, maybe God loves short guys. I'm guessing that if you were six feet tall, you'd have ended up in a real bar right, and given the way you described your opponent's muscles, you'd be on the losing end.

Which could be bad, by the way. Bar fights can lead to permanent disability, paralysis, or death. Many's a street fighter who fell on his head and woke up brain damaged or dead. Keep that in mind, killa. :)

I find it curious and dismaying that the same people who oppose the use of embryonic stem cells have absolutely no problem in using full grown, thinking and feeling animals in experiments.

On the one hand you have a blob of cells, neither sentient nor capable of suffering; on the other hand you have mice, rats, dogs, cats, monkey, chimpanzees, and so on, all of whom are very capable of physical and mental suffering. So logically, which should an alleged compassionate and caring person care about more?

For the wingnuts and religious loons, the answer is, obviously, the blob of cells. After all, an animal might scream in agony, but it wasn't made in God's image, right?

(The fact that God's alleged most powerful creation conducts painful tests on God's weaker creations shall not be mentioned again).