Fae Briona

Oklahoma -- yep, we're not "Deep South" but we're definitely Southern. As far as Venezuelan men having a wife at home and then finding male companionship when away... I used to know someone like that when I was much younger (he was about the age I am now [that's almost depressing]). It wasn't until towards the end of the relationship I realized that the "ex-" wife back home wasn't an ex. I was not amused. [but damn could that man... 😛] The cousin is definitely a scumbag. In one of the earlier chapters the dad's made a phone call before agreeing to let CJ go up early -- hope that 'insurance policy' is effective.

Well..... quite the end to the chapter.😯 and guess no one will be sleeping on the couch 😉

Identity of the new Conduit was a surprise (to me at least). Would still love to know the meaning of "child of Sa'la".

Glad it's been a good one @Wayne Gray !

Wright didn't see himself as a designer of structures -- he saw himself as a designer of art. To him, the inconveniences of his homes were an acceptable part of being able to live inside a piece of artwork.

CJ & Orlando - pure hormones, but at least it was in a safe place and his cousins made sure he knew where the condoms were. Dragon -- that was a major breach of trust.

It should be called what it is: Ritualistic genital mutilation Have a feeling CJ's mom is more concerned about a possible scandal if they don't live up to the deal than with any real concern over her children.

Love that there is such a program in your area. Don't think we have anything equivalent here.

Love Jeremy, he's one of my favorite characters -- though there are several in this story.

Brings to mind what is an old song, but one I just ran across: "Puppet Loosely Strung" by The Correspondents. Great song about cutting the strings tying you to things you don't need and freeing yourself.

Started reading this series quite awhile ago, but lost track of it at some point. Re-reading it now.

Good chapter. I might have mis-read the paragraph, but I think you meant the boys parents would NOT have been aware their caretaker had died the morning they left on the trip?

Took today and Monday off. I'm not making it to Joplin for the Tri-State Gem & Mineral event because of unexpected car repairs but I did drive down to the same town C & I were at when we spent an entire afternoon wandering through antique stores. There were a couple of moments where his loss threatened to sneak up on me, but I tried to focus on the fun we had that afternoon -- the brief moments holding hands, the quick pat an the ass when we where out of sight of other customers -- the good memories to keep. I know that the first part of November isn't going to be good. I have a feeling that memories of his passing are going to overwhelm any thoughts of my 50th birthday; but I know he doesn't want me to be hurting.

Hope your day has gone well Rick.

Ash & Ember is one I liked. It is a slow burn, but a good one.

Taking tomorrow and Monday off. Not going to be able to do what I had originally wanted (car repair $) but still plan on relaxing. Maybe going to a neighboring town and roaming the Antique Malls tomorrow.

I'm currently reading The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu; he refers to it as 'silkpunk" (or steampunk set in an Oriental setting instead of Occidental). It's the first book in his Dandelion Dynasty trilogy Also reading A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson -- queer African fiction/fantasy. Very interesting so far; only about a 1/3rd of the way through it.

I'm reminded of one of the solutions to the Fermi Paradox: we don't find any large, galaxy-spanning civilizations out there because we all destroy ourselves -- actively through war, or passively through pollution / non-natural climate changes -- before we are able to reach that stage. At this point we don't "have all our eggs in one basket", we only have ONE EGG and no basket to protect it (or at least not much of one).

Love the local pharmacy I go to. Would never consider going to one in some mega-mart. The pharmacy staff is skilled, knowledgeable, and knows their customers in a way the larger pharmacies don't.

2010 also explains HAL's behavior

Sounds like an interesting evening. 2001 is hard enough to understand if watching it from the beginning -- from the middle it would be impossible; and no, the book itself isn't that much easier to follow.

Glad all of you had a great time.

Well there's that ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛where⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ but....

Blood pressure has continued to swing from way too high to way too low -- and yesterday it did both in one day. I know part of the "high" was taking my evening medication later than I normally do by almost two hours + very high level of pain. A multi-state property management agency just bought the house across the street and down one. They want to turn it into a "short-term rental" [which the city defines as anything less than 30-days] full time. To do that you have to apply for a permit with the city as at that point it's a business (kind of like a garage / lawn sale - if you have one once or twice a year you're cleaning away junk; if you have one every month you're running a business). No I've nothing against the idea on it's own but the companies rep has been a complete ass and has left the HOA with the impression he has no intent of following through on anything he says he's going to do. That does not make us trust that he's going to run the rental in a manner that won't be disruptive to the neighborhood. The HOA president was there on behalf of several people from the neighborhood, and other than her I was the only person from the HOA there. His attitude in the meeting didn't ease any of my concerns -- and didn't help him with the members of the Zoning Commission. They ruled in our favor and denied the application. Have a feeling that the 'fight' isn't over though - he just gives you the feeling of someone who doesn't really care about following the rules. Going to that is what caused me to get home so late. I hadn't expected the meeting to take almost TWO HOURS. There were only three other items on the agenda. Guess I should be happy that they didn't just rush through things and listened to what both sides on each of the issues had to say. But by the time it was over my pain level was extremely high, as was my blood pressure.

That is also a great winery that has some lovely blended wines, both red and white.