[Jack Scribe] Life's a Grind

[C James]

Good to have you back rested and full of yourself! Thanks for your support.

 

Jack

 

Hey, I'm always full of it! Everyone always says so!

 

I wish I'd been able to get a picture of the "It's a Grind" coffee house... However, they do have a website :ranger:

[C James]

Great chapter!

 

I found the impending move to be especially poignant. That would be a heart-wrencher, and sorting through all the bits and peices will be very, very difficult.

[Jack Scribe]

Great chapter!

 

I found the impending move to be especially poignant. That would be a heart-wrencher, and sorting through all the bits and peices will be very, very difficult.

 

A reader pointed out that having a rent-control apartment in the DePaul area of Chicago was gold. However, I felt that the home had a lot of emotional baggage for Jer and it was time to move on.

 

Jack

[C James]

A reader pointed out that having a rent-control apartment in the DePaul area of Chicago was gold. However, I felt that the home had a lot of emotional baggage for Jer and it was time to move on.

 

Jack

 

I totally agree that moving on in such a case is best, but it's still heart-wrenching to have to sort through the stuff of a loved one who has recently died, so I don't envy Jeremy that.

[Conner]

Given that my mother had moved us 13 times by the time I was 15, I have never formed an attachment to any place I have lived. I even have trouble understanding why other people do. Oh well, it is what it is.

 

Another great chapter, Jack

 

I tried counting the puns during Jer's and Charlie's opening conversation. I lost count.

 

I really don't want to see Gio happy. Just so you know. In his conversation with Jer, his lines sounded so stilted, like he couldn't even verbalize the nature of his relationship with Jacques. I get the impression that he can't even be honest with himself. He holds lovers and friends at arm's length.

 

Conner

[Conner]

Now that was my kind of ending! Happiness oozing from every pore.

 

Really great finale, Jack!

 

Frog food, eh? Bondwriter will get you for that one! In fact, I'll watch!

 

I love John Mayer! He's Canadian, eh!

 

Thanks so much for this story, Jack!

 

Conner

[EMoe57]

Excellent story, Jack. I enjoyed reading this one. Wha'cha got cookin' next?

[Jack Scribe]

Excellent story, Jack. I enjoyed reading this one. Wha'cha got cookin' next?

Desert Fantasies will be ready for posting right after Labor Day. Drew and Bob - the protaganists from It Stay's in Vegas - are in the last stages of opening a new casino resort called Barcelona. But in this volume, the guys share the limelight with a 16-year old runaway and a few characters who work in the less-than-legitimate shadows of the Vegas Strip.

 

Thanks to all for your continued support. I'm doing some traveling this summer. Off to Chicago in a couple of weeks. In August, I'll be on a road trip to Denver. May find CJ in the Arizona desert and enjoy a glass of tea with him. Will come home via Las Vegas...a little story research. Damn. Can't figure out how to write this off as a business trip. I do want to see The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil at the Mirage and check out The Wynn. It had not yet opened the last time I was in that town.

 

Jack

[C James]

Great ending!

 

One thing I have to comment on; the cliche (and inder the circumstances, unwise IMHO) of moving in together was skillfully avoided. This just "fit" IMHO.

 

Loved the story Jack, and yes, I'm looking forward to Bondwriter's reaction to "frog food".

[Jack Scribe]

Great ending!

 

One thing I have to comment on; the cliche (and inder the circumstances, unwise IMHO) of moving in together was skillfully avoided. This just "fit" IMHO.

 

Loved the story Jack, and yes, I'm looking forward to Bondwriter's reaction to "frog food".

 

"Ree-beep, ree-beep, pass the Bearnaise, Francois."

 

When I lived in Chicago (the first time), my S.O. and I had condos next door to each other. Confused some of our single friends (until they found someone) but it worked for us.

 

Oh, BTW, Connor...as much as I'm impressed with the list you compiled concerning talented Canadian entertainers, John Mayer is a Connecticut Yankee. In fact, he went to school with tennis phenom James Blake.

 

Jack

[Bondwriter]

You had cause for being on the look out, people, for I'm pretty irate at the ethnic slur used by Jeremy. Zis is an outrage, and after Jack's April's Fool news item, it seems an anti-French pattern (and I'd even say conspiracy) is developing in Jack's works. Having focused on the coffee angle (it's mentioned three times in this final chapter), I didn't really look out for any other subliminal Gallic bashing.

 

Otherwise, a happy ending and a new life ahead for Jeremy and Charlie. Glad to know everything turned out OK!

[C James]

You had cause for being on the look out, people, for I'm pretty irate at the ethnic slur used by Jeremy. Zis is an outrage, and after Jack's April's Fool news item, it seems an anti-French pattern (and I'd even say conspiracy) is developing in Jack's works. Having focused on the coffee angle (it's mentioned three times in this final chapter), I didn't really look out for any other subliminal Gallic bashing.

 

Otherwise, a happy ending and a new life ahead for Jeremy and Charlie. Glad to know everything turned out OK!

 

What? Do you mean that there is an anti-amphibian subtext to the story?

[Bondwriter]

What? Do you mean that there is an anti-amphibian subtext to the story?

To counter these vicious attacks, I featured frogs in a story. They have a positive role. Europe has been plagued for a couple decades now with an invasion of bull frogs coming from the American continent and invading our ponds and rivers. This post might seem completely random, and I apologize to Jack for hijacking the thread, but some things need to be stated. Goats, I'll tell ya...

[C James]

To counter these vicious attacks, I featured frogs in a story. They have a positive role. Europe has been plagued for a couple decades now with an invasion of bull frogs coming from the American continent and invading our ponds and rivers. This post might seem completely random, and I apologize to Jack for hijacking the thread, but some things need to be stated. Goats, I'll tell ya...

 

Hrmmm, so it's true: France has a frog problem?

 

I really enjoyed "Life's a Grind". However, now that the story is over, I have no choice but to face the fact that my speculation was wrong; it wasn't all about the coffee industry.

 

Great story, Jack!

[Jack Scribe]

Hrmmm, so it's true: France has a frog problem?

A rather odd but fun way to ratchet down this forum. Here is a link that gives the reader several choices as to why our French friends have this nickname. You can read this in either English or French. How cosmopolitan (pass the Absolut and cranberry, please).

 

http://allaboutfrogs.org/weird/general/frenchfrogs.html.

 

Thanks to all for your support and notes. Francois, I certainly didn't mind the forum being hi-jacked while I was vacationing.

 

Be on the lookout for Desert Fantasies in September.

 

Jack

[Bondwriter]

Darn! I was supposed to post the lyrics to our national anthem on July the 14th, know from Americans as Bastille Day (in French: le 14 juillet); consider yourself lucky I forgot, Jack.

 

Interesting explanations on this site. Ban these referring to WWI and WWII; this must be older.

 

As for CJames explaining Life's a Grind is not about the coffee industry: you're right, nothing explicit is said, but I measured my coffee consumption, and since Life's a Grind's been over, it has decreased slowly after reaching a high of more than 19% compared to ante-Grind consumption. Hence my theory of it being financed by the coffee industry planting subliminal messages in it seems valid. In radio serials in the 50s, tobacco makers did the same, though their messages were not this subliminal (the one with the guy explaining Camel Mild is deemed better for your throat by doctors is hilarious). Wine makers did that too. So why not the coffee industry?

[C James]

A rather odd but fun way to ratchet down this forum. Here is a link that gives the reader several choices as to why our French friends have this nickname. You can read this in either English or French. How cosmopolitan (pass the Absolut and cranberry, please).

 

http://allaboutfrogs.org/weird/general/frenchfrogs.html.

 

Thanks to all for your support and notes. Francois, I certainly didn't mind the forum being hi-jacked while I was vacationing.

 

Be on the lookout for Desert Fantasies in September.

Jack

 

In the UK, the most common explanation for the nickname is that they eat froglegs, but then again, they are also noted for eating snails, and they aren't called snails. The nickname does long pre-date WWII, though. I've seen it used in print in things predating that war.

 

Hrmmm, I wonder if there is a different explanation... Bondwriter, how often do you ribbit?

 

Darn! I was supposed to post the lyrics to our national anthem on July the 14th, know from Americans as Bastille Day (in French: le 14 juillet); consider yourself lucky I forgot, Jack.

 

Interesting explanations on this site. Ban these referring to WWI and WWII; this must be older.

 

As for CJames explaining Life's a Grind is not about the coffee industry: you're right, nothing explicit is said, but I measured my coffee consumption, and since Life's a Grind's been over, it has decreased slowly after reaching a high of more than 19% compared to ante-Grind consumption. Hence my theory of it being financed by the coffee industry planting subliminal messages in it seems valid. In radio serials in the 50s, tobacco makers did the same, though their messages were not this subliminal (the one with the guy explaining Camel Mild is deemed better for your throat by doctors is hilarious). Wine makers did that too. So why not the coffee industry?

 

 

I think you might be onto something there, Bondwriter... Wow, that does fit, and very well at that. Subliminal advertising?

 

I'm just glad that things worked out for Jeremy, and he had a good (and caffeinated ) "happily ever after".

[Bondwriter]

Hrmmm, I wonder if there is a different explanation... Bondwriter, how often do you ribbit?

Zis will not stand! Zis aggression will not stand!

 

LA MARSEILLAISE

 

1er couplet :

 

Allons enfants de la Patrie,

Le jour de gloire est arriv

[Jack Scribe]

Interesting explanations on this site. Ban these referring to WWI and WWII; this must be older.

Allow me to distill the information.

 

According to a history book called "Holy Blood Holy Grail" the earliest Frankish kings (Clovis I) used both bees and frogs on their royal robes. Both have been found in royal gravesites of Clovis and sons in France. The reference seems to be to the royal line of Frankish kings as frogs. They were the Long Haired Kings who ruled in Gaul/France/Germany before the Christianization of Charles.

 

According to some legends, it is known as that at the time of the baptism of Clovis, king of the Francs, by St-Remi, the frogs on the flag changed into Fleur-de-Lis. It became the emblem of French royalty.

 

It is also reported that certain features of frogs are found in the personalities of the French, that is to say the speciality to be able to be burried, without air, for very long periods and then to be able to live again when released.

 

I like the last paragraph but don't want to get into French politics.

 

Jack