alphadog415

tutti - We know he'll survive. We're only on chp 10... Being from New England, making fun of Canadians is something I grew up with. We were taught that Canadians were those nice, polite but goofy and clueless people who live north of us that we like a lot. The U.S. cousins. I don't know about the rest of the country but our poking fun at Canada was always in the same good natured fun as when siblings make fun of cousins they really like. In the 70's only Euro tourists wore speedos on Cape Cod. Dave

Mark - Chp 2 was fun! I'm so glad that Matt got a full dose of his Grandmother and we won't have to visit that problem again. Caleb seems a nice enough guy. If you haven't already developed him in future chapters I would like to put a plug in that he be straight but gay freindly or bi but preferring women. It would just round out the characters a little. Plus I think it would be fun. Just a humble reader. Nick, Nick, Nick Jims' reaction did ping on my radar. Earlier in the series Nick was the one with a brain and actual feelings. Maybe I read him wrong. Maybe this isn't the residue of having to deal with a self absorbed block of wood for a mother. He could just be feeling lost and self destructive after the implosion of his sister. Growing up she was always the stronger of the two. Now a man alone with no-one to tell him how to proceed, a beta grasping at anything that will justify his importance? Hhmph. Maybe. If so, then Jim or a strong intelligent wife could turn him around. If not, oh well... Secrets. Secrets shared by a mother and a dutiful son. The creation of a bond that she honored even after he was dead. Now that is love. Too little information right now. My imagination has gone all over the map with this one. Dave

tutti - These are good points. Maybe I should stick to my gut which says Dirk is gay or bi, not my brain which says he's straight. Either way his father (as written) is clearly uncomfortable discussing the gay issue. He and the lawyer did seem to be buddies and not just attorney and client. Hhhmmm, so many maybees. Yeah, that clue plus Trev's impulsive 17y.o. personality could spell some real trouble in the future. I hope he picks up a safe passenger or two before he gets too tired and falls asleep in a busy shipping lane. Dave

Mark - I was just checking on the next instalment of Mr Granger and noticed the new heading under CAP. I am quite surprised! Figured we'd not get anything til Feb. You little writing ho! Or is it you just can't live without our posts? Chapter One is good. You've got all the favorites on one plane. Nick is such a meddler. You do a good job (unfortunately) depicting the frayed, insecure, needy personality of a child of a self absorbed, bitter, insecure and guilty + angry parent, unable to move beyond her obsession. Nick is one of those guys always fluttering around the real politicians wanting to be just like them, but unable to grasp the fact that their toadiness and crass demands for attention make them impossible to be around. He still might make it to the Ohio Assembly, but never AG. Damn! What could be in the box? Well established families frequently have the best closets! I get the feeling this will be a short book. Significant in opening up more avenues of exploration (don't go Robert Jordan on us) but not too long itself. Chapter 2 will have to wait til tomorrow. Dave

Mark - I just couldn't let the whole Floreal thing go by. It is totally unfair for you to leave us hanging like that. I'm in the middle of training the puppy I rescued in Nov. and when the chapter ended before the fight I immediately thought "oh bad! That was just bad". Then smirked. I like the Granger story. I don't usually comment on it because I use it as light entertainment and don't pay much attention to character development and plot, etc.s The story is good and fun. Dave

OK, I've caught up again. Well it seems that my own suspission (not expressed) that Dirk is a gay closet case seeing some guy up north is now dead. The mystery man on the phone is the lawyer. So it's back to Dirk just not wanting a gay son. The underlying reason that Dirk has this reaction is not very evident. He isn't a dyed in the wool southern bigot so I feel it's best to just watch for the underlying irritation to surface more clearly. He loves his son. I'll say it again. Mom is still alive. It is an intriguing idea that she might be in Australia. But we still have no idea what it was she did that was so bad she had to drop out of life. It does not seem to have effected Dad. Maybe I should just say that our dear author has not yet allowed us to see any effect it may have had on Dads' life or lifestyle. "All in good time my pretty, all in good time..." He's heading UP the Gulf Stream with the intent of going to Australia? Hello! That has got to be the longest possible route to get there. He is not equipped clothing wise to cross the north Atlantic even in the summer. I grew up in New England and have been as far out as Georges Bank for summer fishing and it aint Florida. Plus once you take that right turn off the Maritimes the trade winds are no longer being warmed by a landmass. The North Atlantic has a well earned reputation for being a rough ocean. (Approx. 20-25% of all colonists btw 1500 and 1800 AD never made it to the New World/Colonies) I hope he pulls in to resupply and/or changes his mind and his route. After the crossing he still has two of the most dangerous passages on the planet ahead of him, for different reasons. The Cape of Good Hope has storms that sink modern merchant ships even now. Then there is the problem of a teenage boy sailing an expensive looking boat through the Eastern Med, the Suez Canal, and the always bad Red and Arabian seas. Piracy off the Horn of Africa and outside the Persian Gulf has always happened. We just hear about it more these last couple of years because they're not just going after pleasure craft. Sure there is a bit of piracy even in the Caribean, but not on the scale of the Red/Arabian Seas or the waters off Indonesia and Malaya. Much safer to take the (sorta) shorter route by way of the Panama Canal and then try to hit the south Pacific islands. Hhhhmmm, dammit I can't remember where the westerly traveling Spanish Fleets used to pick up the trade winds. God that Pacific is huge! We don't know how good he is at navagation. It's one thing to GPS his butt around the Bahamas, but quite a bit different to cross say the southern Indian Ocean and hit Australia. He should do some sort of practise run like navigating by sun and stars to Burmuda. Maybe try for Ireland and if he hits Lands End he realises he's going to have to get help or get some nav education fast. GPS units are just another computer and they can crash or have battery failure. I do hope that some where along the journey the boy gets to enjoy some sex. Personally I'd like to see him have a few flings and trists on the way to Australia and then maybe meet someone more serious who travels with him back to the USA. Lots of adventures either way! Dave

tutti - I look forward to tomorrows post with mixed feelings. It'll be nice to see how the story raps up and what strands may be left to give as a hint of the future. The true future as in the continuation of the current timeline. Simutaniously it will be sad saying good by to Matt and Wade and all the rest of the gang for a time. For me, having come late to GA.org, this will be my first time having to wait in limbo for the next book in a tale. Until now CAP has been one long pleasant read. Plus I've enjoyed the oppurtunity to dust off some brain cells and participate in these forums. Hopefully my posts have not caused too much of this... amongst the group. A journey into the past to join the thread from a different perspective should be fun. I'm looking forward to it. Of course I think we should still emplore our dear author to continue the CAP saga into the aughts at some time. The tale as it stands now is not at an ending. I would now seek guidance from some of you who have been here a while. I found Mark and CJ on my own and enjoy them both. I'm starting to poke around some other authors but will gladly take recomendations from those more familiar with GA. For some reason the chat applet here does not work on my old and trusty Blue & White Mac running 10.3.9. So I miss out on what I assume would be the leading place for gossip and insight. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Dave

Mark - Different is a very flexible and dangerous word. Just how many "adjustments" might we have to endure? Personally I can be pretty open minded about new characters, changes of venue (maybe a branch of the family moves to New York to be near Wall St.), the younger crowd (Will et al.) does not see the older family members values as being important and a rift develops, Steph loses a bunch of his $$ in the dot com bust and has to deal with being poorer, and the such. I would be sad to have someone die in the interem period, but death comes for us all (having it be Matt or Wade would be over the line). However, there should be some things regarded as sacro-sanct; Escorial can not be consumed in a Cali wild fire, JP + Steph, Brad + Robbie are divorce proof, the family cannot be permanently sundered in two by some truly evil person. I'm sure some of the other posters here can add to the list. Change can be uncomfortable (Jeff) but as long as the essential elements of the story stay in tact, you won't lose any of us avid fans. So how about a general hint on the word "different"? Nothing specific, just very general like perspective, radical character, that sort of hint. Hhhmmm?? Maybe just a little something? A little hint "thank you" for all of us who have hung in there? Huh? Laterz, Dave

? - Not sure how to address this post. Chp 51 certainly went from fun to serious in a heart beat. Seems like Whist and Brian will spin off into the sunset, their hate fueling their bitter relationship as the fire grows and probably consumes them. To answer Mark, I did witness a couple who seemed unable to get beyond a deeply scarring incident. Their spiral was sad and unstopable. All of us dropped away because their hatred left no room. If the Brian character cannot let go the hate in his heart he will find himself alone and unloved. That said the election and the deft handling of its' complications was really fun to read. I do hope there is space to fit in the 3 way we've been promised. It would be fun to see Wades' comfort level be tested. There are after all no sheilds up if you are really into the sex that is happening. Ah, Senator bone-a-boy, that took very big cajones for him to do what he did. I can't imagine the level of self loathing that must exist in his mind having done that to his own son. My estimation (barely readable) of him moved up a peg. How a son can forgive that of a father I have no idea. The level of hurt and betrayal is incomprehensable to me. As Matt said, Wade will have to decide this for himself. Wade has healed a lot in accepting the fact that it was never his fault. Now he can maybe let go some of that seathing hatred that sits in his subconscious. From what I've always been led to understand this type of abuse reproduces itself generation after generation, the abused becoming the abuser as that is their only method of expressing love for their offspring. The sexually abused person lacks the "boundaries" that normal people take for granted and so they know no other way to interact with someone they want to be close to, I think. No matter the reason it is still sick. As a recovering coke head (clean since 1983) I know that until you forgive yourself you are unable to heal or accept the forgiveness of others for all of the shit you did to others. I can only imagine that the Senator and his shrink have the psychological equivilent of the "Russian Front" ahead of them. I wish I could say that I sympathize with him, but I don't. He deserves to tread through every painful memory and to have to do some greatly painful penance before there is even an iota of grace in his future. Hhhmmmm... Before I get myself into a lot of trouble by seeming to judge him, I don't. We are all capable of humbly seeking forgiveness and making amends if we put others ahead of ourself. Yuppers, it was an interesting chapter. Laterz, Dave

tutti - What do you do with a problem like Brian? (Cue the nuns) Marying him off - so to speak - to someone like Whist may actually be the solution. While they are very hateful creatures, they are also rather impotent when it comes to acting on their intentions. A few more failed attempts at attacking JP and his tribe would probably see them devolve into an ugly fuming duo whose hate just fed the other and consumed them. In the end their lack of ability to move on would condemn them to ugly loneliness and an immaterial existance. Hate can do that to people. Remembering back to my college years (there were a lot of them...). I recall that to be a voting member of most student orgs. you had to attend more than one meeting and in some cases actually register. But that probably would have dragged out the election scene too much. Anybody else wondering what Mark is like as a faculty advisor? I really love the way that Stephs' character has evolved. From that immature teen who didn't know how to control his minds power. To the relaxed master effortlessly using his abilities and strengths and also his weaknesses. He and JP make a great team in the narrative. Wade... For the second time in this series I'm finding myself drawn to a character. Getting those fleeting little ideas about, why can't he be real, wouldn't it be cool. (caught myself and changed it to cool) This is what I find so great about the entire series. The quality of the writing is such that the characters grow on you. They maintain personality from situation to situation and then over the longer narrative. Wade is a loving person, but his life has created a little bit of a Jekyll to him as well. It will be interesting to see how he comes to control the beast within. I'm sure it won't be completely smooth sailing. Politics is the art of compromise, maneuver (sp?) and then you have to remind yourself of what you are at your core. Lose track of that and Wade becomes just another political robot self perpetuating. Fortunately there is Matt. As long as they are truly together I doubt we'll lose the Wade we are coming to like so much. OK one last thought and I'm done. I find that I don't really care how the election turns out. I think that Matt and Wade will probably stay engaged in that group either way. While she may be a bit cold, Wades' Mom trained him well. He won't be able to take a back seat in life. This engagement with Jerry and Whist was fun for him as an exercise of that training. He has tasted spice, and he is awake. He may never want to be a senator or governor, but, he will never be just an observer either. Maybe I'm just a romantic but his first love to my understanding will always be Matt, not power. Laterz, Dave

tutti - How to get rid of Brian for good? Ah, I have a few ideas on that menu. One of which involves a wood chipper, and another involves a good friend from south of the border. But it's late right now, so I'll post more ruminations on a fun chapter after the sun rise... Dave

tutti - One more thing! Surely this flashed through anothers thoughts as well. I've been meaning to comment on Peter Parker being an average guy with an average build. The minute I read it my mind ran to another average, every day, guy next door type who also is named Peter Parker. Does this mean we can expect Peter to come swinging in to rescue Matt and Wade from some evil villain? Dave

CJ - I like the way the story is developing. My money has been on Mom still alive since the begining. The question is what has she been involved in that she had to disappear? Tax records could also be a clue as to her continued good health. They may point to another financial entity which could be her, or something simple as the fact that maybe Dad still files a joint return. Dad goes somewhere "weekly" and it aint Miami. Mom can't have landed in Florida, her boat is too distinctive. There are lots of little uninhabited islands and coves in the Bahamas in which to hide her boat, but most of them have no fresh water sources, so she has to have gone someplace else after hiding it. It seems unlikely that Dad has been visiting her for 9 years and not gotten caught. So he is either mixed up in something else on the clandestine side, or he goes north to communicate with her weekly but only sees her face to face very infrequently. Now the fact that Dad has not declared her legaly dead is not a valid clue because he could just be acceding to his sons' sensibilities. (Truth: my gut says I'm full of BS on legaly dead thing) tutti - On coming out to Dad... I feel that Trev is correct in not pushing it. It is obvious that Dad does not want him to be gay. So why shove Dad into taking a stand he may regret later and then be unable to back down from. Of course I'm the sort of person who is always trying to slowly manipulate and manage a situation until it gradually is brought round. Give it a year and then let Dad figure it out for himself, or lead him by the hand. Shoving it in his face could just be bad. Dave

Mark - He probably was carrying one or more of those little plastic lube "pillows" (kind of what they look like). You can buy them anywhere and are frequently given out free at gay events that hand out condoms. Just enough lube for a single use. Dave