sojourn

I enjoy the speculation. I have seen your observation play out in real life. Some men live lives of “quiet desperation”. When confronted with the truth they withdraw into the familiar even if it is totally dysfunctional. thanks for commenting Jim

I think the family you make is just as important as the family that made you. Thanks for posting your interesting comments. I like how you examine the characters for their distinct personalities. Jim

I wonder what the "different light" is and what you view was before? Thanks for your kind words and for taking time to post your comments. Jim

Yes, I think it is John's story in that he is my protagonist but it is a shared stage for sure. Then again, Gordy is coming home. 😉

LOL. I think that we all (gay men) come to this point at some time in our lives when we cannot pass it off as simply experimentation. Thanks again for posting your comments. Jim

Old yeller should be a must for all adolescents to read. I may not have hit the like button on all your comments so know I do enjoy reading them. Your comments are insightful and make me think. Thanks again for posting your comments. jim

Difference between people in a relationship will be addressed. The key, I believe, is to recognize and address the differences. I have been there done that. I know that if "issues" are allowed to fester they can become explosive at some point. Thanks for commenting, Jim

People react in different ways to loss of a loved one. As to the motivations of the women, I see them somewhat like the two women on Gilligan's Island. Mary Ann wanted love, home, and apple pie. Linda wanted the money and notoriety like Ginger. No, those were not the models for these characters. Just understand that neither found what they were seeking. Thanks for commenting, Jim

My editor quit. He said Wylie would not do that and if I did not rewrite this chapter he could not continue to edit. I cannot explain how I write but it is like a stream of consciousness all fades and except the characters and the keyboard. I found the rape to be a watershed moment for Wylie. He was consumed by despair, guilt, self loathing, and rage. He was not raping John, he was fucking the world for screwing him over time and again. Consider that his plans for the future were shattered with the words, "we're going to have a baby". He was destroying his dreams. Thanks for commenting. It actually lets me see somewhat differently regarding John and Wylie. Jim

I believe life is the experience just like love is a verb. I think they had reached a point at which both were seeing this was something more than either could explain or just shrug off as experimentation. Each had a vision of the future that included the other. Circumstances have evolved that changes the level to which that inclusion is defined. Thanks for taking your time to comment. Jim

Thank you so much. It has been years since I wrote this but that is a comment that I encapsulates my intent with John's experience. Even now I can readily summon John's emotional state. thanks for the memory and for taking time to comment. Jim

Thank you so much. It has been years since I wrote this but that is a comment that I encapsulates my intent with John's experience. Even now I can readily summon John's emotional state. thanks for the memory and for taking time to comment. Jim

This was my first attempt at writing since I submitted a book report in the fifth grade. I have a couple of advanced degrees but often say my education was lacking. John's experience was not unlike my own. Even though the focus is ultimately on Gordy's return, it is truly John's story. Thanks for commenting. I hope you continue to enjoy this story, Jim

THAT'S IT! At this point, I am skimmed out. I quit. I surrender. I have skimmed the intro. I skimmed: bicycles, quetzalcoatl cuisine, servers, programming, cooling and heat exchangers, audiophiles and why vinyl will never beat digital... (why not 8 tracks?), the Tesla I enjoyed. but racing? really? Real estate in NYC? hOW MANY ADOLESCENT GENIUS' CAN ONE ADOLESCENT GENIUS MEET BY HAPPENSTANCE? (kids of the corn, anyone?) I expect Skully to pop up as some boy genius' mommy dearest.) I AM TOO DAMN IGNORANT TO COTINUE! BESIDES WHICH, I NO LONGER CARE ABOUT j.j AND HIS BOY HUSBAND. AND I TRULY DO NOT KNOW IF I AM MORE EMBARASSED THAT I WROTE THIS COMMENT OR THAT I READ THIS FAR BEFORE YELLING "HEY YOUR HIGHNESS, YOUR ASS IS SHOWING". SOMEBODY JUST SHOOT ME. Jim

"Radical Agnostic"? Me thinks I am ordained a priest... nay, I are and arced ufcking bishop... could I be a night instead? I got rooked into enjoying this tale so if I castle it will be hard to tell if I am desperate or calculating. This is an adventure wrapped in technology, tied up with happenstance, sealed with a plethora of average people willing to help others while sometimes helping themselves. That may not be altruistic but it beats the fuck out of looking at folks in need with disdain and a complete lack of compassion. This is a fun read and I am cheering for J.J.

Doctor, am I being synical or just crazy when I think the "he looked somehow familiar" will lead to familial familiarization and I don't mean Henry. BTW, my guess about Henry is getting more like a sure thing.

I hope I remember this observation that came to me as I read this chapter. It is the last few paragraphs that determine if one likes the chapter. That last line made me chuckle. Does anyone else see Henry as the something J.J is overlooking?

Forgive me father for I have sinned, I skipped over most of the techno-geek-speak. (htink not two pourly of my brain capacitance, I CLEP tested sophomore level astronomy and was awarded 3 semester hours of college credit, scoring equitant to a B+. Not bad considering I had only 8th grade General Science. Although I was tutored by Isaac Asimov, Robert H. Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, and, of course, Gene Roddenbury.) Am I the only reader who will confess? I skim over a lot of sex scenes too. My penance will be self imposed bing watching "The Watchmen". (spoiler alert: penis' are more human than the movie led us to anticipate.) I should have commented sooner about sharing. The depth to which love can be measured is how open one allows themselves to become to another. I could see Sean was not a keeper in his urging his boyfriend to remember the future is along ways away and the fact he never seemed concerned about J.J's plans at all. J.J was to attend whatever school was close to Stanford or MIT. I wonder, had he shared his secret would he have turned to J.J for consolation and accepted his father's fault for the explosion. How much did his hesitancy to share his secret play in his rejection of J.J? Consider that since he accused J.J of being "father killer" he would not have to share his shameful secret. I wonder..

I can't believe how excited I get when I feel the gauntlet has been thrown at his feet. I expect the results will be amazing and in record time.

I am enjoying this tale immensely. Thanks for sharing your skill. I am sure it doesn't happen today but as a child in school no one ever challenged me. Teachers and staff simply gauged my intellect by my family income and decided no one so poor could be expected to excel academically and I had no desire to make waves when I could pass with no effort. Now, I am sure no student is ever judged by his or her appearance.

Obviously, I agree with his assessment of trumptydumpty. Every morning an old man in Texas wakes up and after taking a piss looks in the mirror and says, "Thank you Jesus! for Donald Trump. It's good to notarize I am not the worstess' presidential hombre in U.S. history." Never once considering the impact of the decades long war in the middle east that his inept leadership spawned.

Is it just me or do others think it is a smoke screen to opine that there must be some cognitive awareness behind the "big bang"? That somewhere over the rainbow there is an imaginary friend looking out for us. What a comforting notion... like a kid believing a parent is holding his bike upright as he or she experiences bicycling for the first time without training wheels. Some refuse to believe that our heavenly father let go of the bike... or was likely never there. What a piece of work is man how noble in reason... to assume cogito ergo sum and sum more simply because we exist. What gives anyone the right to make godly assumptions. If one admits our similarity to other apes how much a stretch is it to believe that homo sapiens came into the evolutionary chain as a matter or time and circumstance, trial and error. JFC! life is a natural process that will evolve if ever given the chance without a Titan or Yahweh or what ever deity the indigenous peoples anywhere believe... Believing does not make it so.... or trumptydumpty would be king today as per 37 percent of republicans.

I just realized, or more to the point, better understand, that it is not the inner strength, courage, and resiliency of the human spirit that moves me most when reading and in my own writing, it is the compassion, care, and support good people selflessly show when they see a strong heart inside a good man. Thank you for giving me that moment of clarity with this adventure you are sharing with up lucky readers. I almost feel as if the intro has no connection with the courageous and brilliant young man who is running toward an unknown but knows exactly from that from which he doth run. May we all see more of that selflessness within ourselves.

Ignorance is motivation enough to tunnel through the mountain ahead but ensuring the tunnel is always over engineered. To underestimate one's on ignorance is live, albeit most likely a short life, in a fool's paradise. Am I the only reader who ignored most of the WARNINGS and felt justified in my lack of comprehension? Was I alone insulted by the patronizing tone in this conversation? What replaces ignorance with the enlightenment never flares to full illumination? Is one then then less ignorant? 50 years ago I had a student say, "I am still confused but on a much higher plane". I look forward to learning through osmosis and trusting my love of Electric Dreams. Must I forever be a Stranger on the Shore? A Stranger in a Strange Land? When will this biological artificial intelligence I insist is ME understand? I will read chapter one with great expectations and google at my fingertips. I have completed chapter 6 and came back to add that I was right not to be intimidated by the tedium of vaulted, pretentious, grossly patronizing language of this introduction. I knew I would come back to announce that I had abandoned all hope or to say I had enjoyed what I have thus fare read. I have loved the tale thus far. I google a recipe or two but nary a single word. It is a heartwarming tale of desperation, young love, wisdom, and hope. I will read on. Jim

I believe in lust at first sight more than I believe in love at first sight. But attractions can be instantaneous. That rule about one has 30 seconds to make a good first impression, in my experience I think we have less than 5 seconds once you approach someone's personal space to be evaluated by our fight, flight, or fuck lizard brain. 😉 Thanks for this and all your future comments. Jim