drpaladin

My favorite thing is to sing it in monotone. In monotone it never ends.

Oddly, imprecate originates from the Latin word meaning to pray.

Happy Birthday, Steve!

I think the key lies in this line. "And you, I fear, are a dangerous distraction that could cost him everything.”

I recall Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip going about the estate at Balmoral alone also.

Very interesting. The property owners have little to do with them beyond allowing them to be on their land and most are maintained by the Mountain Bothies Association, a charity. By law, they can't have power, piped in water or heat.

The North is a very different place from the South. There is absolutely no fear of Wolner, his minions, or the Duke here and sedition is paraded openly. The contrast is stark. Fran and Ed's Harry has served the exiled Edith from the time they were all parted. Of all of them he's had the easiest path. Fran's achieved his task in bringing the Earl into the fold. It's a great coup on one hand, but it also hurts his secret ambitions with his hidden ally, the Duke. Bringing the Queen Dowager was a blunder of mammoth proportions and nearly ruined the entire enterprise. Only the most earnest desires of the two principals and Fran's silver tongue saved it. I do fear the conniving Duke will try to kill or undermine the Earl to retain his power over the Council. Lothar has pulled the veil away from Edward's eyes on Gustave's use of Fran and it's hard to assess where this will lead. Will this push Fran and Edward apart?

Imbroglio is Italian, but the Italians got it from the French embrouiller. We began using the more French embroil, but then directly adopted the Italian noun as well. I guess we had so many confused messes or scandals we needed more ways to describe them.

Our group of friends are now realizing they have gone so far into the future that they may as well be on an alien world. Everything they knew and understood has changed, and by the looks of it not for the better. They will need a lot of help to fit in.

The hints so far are Michael can communicate with the animals. There is nothing yet about sensing the hidden feelings of humans who are much more complex. Is it possible? Maybe yes, maybe no.

This type scenario strikes chords with me. I had a friend who was unjustly charged with capital murder some thirty five years ago. It destroyed his life. He lost his job and reputation and took ten long years for the preponderance of evidence against the prosecution to force them to drop the case. He never got a public apology.

Or addlepated.

All of my drawers are junk drawers. I get terrified whenever I go to someone's house and I'm confronted with orderly drawers. It's so unnatural.

If Michael can't remember a fight, he might not remember it if he killed Sam. I might as well get it out there. He is also ticking all the other prime suspect boxes of means, motive, and opportunity. I also suspect he will have no alibi for the time of death since he lives alone. People have been convicted on less.

There are many tidbits in this chapter. Michael didn't have an easy childhood. You can exist with only the necessities, but a child needs more. It seems Chase and Billie are his only pleasant memories. We have the curiosity of the wave of hate the wolves felt, an oddity which must have a source and meaning, but who was it directed at and why did it dissipate so quickly? Why can't Michael remember the fight with Sam which others recalled so easily? He should have tried to learn more to fill in the gap in his memory. Both anger and memory loss are common with victims with PTSD. Chase will know this as well and it's not so good he knows. The trip to the FBI office and Chase's demeanor are bad omens of what is to come. Michael is being too trusting and this will not go well.

I've never heard this one used. You more often here birdbrain, nitwit, or ditz.

It's been popularly used in older cemeteries for this reason.

This was an excellent read. The plot was well crafted and we had characters both to cheer for and revile.

Nothing like being shot at and having your family threatened to quell any lingering doubts over shooting back. When you misplace ordinance as lethal as rocket launchers, you have some severe inventory control problems.

Someone in North Korea neglected to disarm the SAMs in the same way they have troops parading with empty guns. I knew Tom and Brad not calling for backup right away was a bad idea.

I guess the messenger drew the short straw.

It should be noted internments began during WWI with German Americans. German Americans and Italian Americans were also interned during WWII, though in fewer numbers than the Japanese. This was more out of practicality than desire since the numbers would have been in the millions. Unlike the Italians and Japanese, German detainees have never been given an official apology.

Periwinkle is considered invasive and will choke out all plants in its area.

The worst part of this is we know this is really happening there now.

The mask requirement sign was prescient,as was the comment about making people feel better.