Benji

...........Either way, Tim is right! Bringing the sad story to the front is another way of combating it. As unfortunate that is was to hear of Matthew Sheppard, if that had been hidden from the press to the people of this nation would the emotional response had a different impact? Injustices should always be proclaimed, keeping silent on it only brings back memories of societies lynchings of the past. This young man's story will never be heard. Silence?

............ I somewhat disagree, the first story I'd read is 'For The Love' a love story with a reminiscences to the Dukes of Hazzard, with a very evil kid named 'Eric' CJ, captures the humor of the of the bumbling Reverend and Sheriff that entice 'Evil' little Eric along with their plan. I would then progress to his novel of 'Let The Music Play' (with a somewhat reluctant and amiss 'hero' named Eric ) followed by 'Changing Lanes' the Author turns the stories very well into creating a mystery still with the love but keeping the intrigue alive. The setting being with a truly evil person, bent on conquest only to be derailed by a 'Boy Band'. The short stories are great but lead into a different direction of his previous works, an older genre if you will. Circumnavigation, his latest novel is very interesting in a departure that leaves the reader to ask themselves 'who dunnit' type of story with 'sparse clues' while taking a great trip around the world. That said, CJ has promised to re-visit 'For The Love' with a sequel !!!!

................. How did I miss this? "That's a lot better than I expected, but the main issue remains; what the hell do I tell him about Ares? Errrr! Whatever do you mean Dirk?? Didn't the Ares go down in Bimini? Then again I remember Dirk almost blurting out to Trevor that 'she's not there....' In his anger at the searching... Australia must be the key!

...................There was this Norwegian who was on vacation in Florida. All his life he'd wanted to have a pair of alligator-shoes, and now he thought he would finally be able to get around to buying a pair. Gator shoes are of course expensive, and haggling down the price didn't help. Finally the Norwegian yelled out in anger, "Bare behold de elendige skoene dine. Skal det være på den måten, skal jeg pinadø leie meg båt, dra oppover sumpene her, fange meg en alligator og lage skoene selv!!!!" (Sigh.. In English: Just keep your lousy shoes. If that's how it's going to be then I'll just get myself a boat, go out into the swamp, catch a gator and make my own shoes!) The owner of the store just looked stupidly at him, "Yeah, sure, and give my best regards to the Swedes who're already up there trying to do what you just told me." The Norwegian runs to a boat rental place and gets a boat, then he heads out into the swamp. After a while he finds two men standing up to their knees in the water. Both of them are holding a spear pointed at the water. "det må være svenskene." (that must be the Swedes) the Norwegian thinks. Suddenly there's a movement in the water and an alligator swims towards one of the Swedes. The Swede is standing there like a statue, just waiting for the big gator to get closer. When the gator was close by the Swede stuck his spear into the gator, and with a bit of fighting he got the beast onto the land, where there was a big pile of gators. The Swede turned the gator on his back and examined it's feet, and then finally utterd, "Satan också! Inte sko på den haer heller." (Damn! No shoes on this one either!)

Happy Birthday Myr!!! ...............Have a great one!

.............. Exactly!!!

..........Sorry to hear that!! But we still need numbers here, the date is getting close!

......I concur with misdirection, it's what you'd expect from a cliff-dwelling goat! But I disagree that Jim & Dirk are not lovers. Too many hints; His fists clenching, Trevor fought against his temper and lost. Raising his voice, thinking of the divorce papers, he said, "Why the hell should I? You've got your secrets from me. I know, all right? While you were gone I–" "Enough," Dirk roared. "My life is not what we're discussing here," "Stop, Dad. I don't want to hear it, not after what I... Why the hell didn't you tell me... I found the f**king divorce papers," Trevor said, his eyes full of fire. 'Oh shit, he knows about that too,' Dirk thought, feeling the blood drain from his face. I know there are other reasons why there are issues between the two of you, but you can get past that, if you're willing to make the effort." 'He means try to be straight,' Trevor thought, his temper beginning to simmer. "I'm not changing, I can't and I won't, and if he can't accept that, too bad." Trevor replied with a scowl. Jim could see the anger in Trevor's eyes, and then Jim gave the two shirtless teens an appraising glance, deciding that he was unlikely to be able to convince them both, and a partial step would have to be good enough. "At least try to put that aside for now, okay?" "It's not me who has the problem, so I won't be the one bringing it up," Trevor replied crossly. Deciding that was as good as he could hope for, Jim turned his mind to the problem of finding a payphone. "Any news on the gay front?" Dirk asked, in a dejected tone. Jim sighed. "About what you'd expect, but one thing he did say was he wouldn't bring it up if you didn't." "That's a lot better than I expected, but the main issue remains; what the hell do I tell him about Ares? (Then this chapter) I note that you are not a criminal attorney, and thus, given your personal relationship with the client..." Officer Gonzalez said, letting his voice trail off. Jim shook his head. "Nice try. I've been Dirk's attorney of record for years, and that predates any personal relationship. ...........Dirk thought Trevor found out that he was gay way back at the after Trevor's search for the Aries, when Trevor was only referring to the divorce papers. Dirk assumed Trevor knew about that too! Later Jim tries to bring it up and Trevor thinks Jim is referring to his sexuality. The Mexican standoff of the unspoken truce, with Dirk and Jim coming thinking they came off better then they expected. Finally Officer Gonzales slips out the relationship, Jim being an attorney doesn't deny it but goes into lawyer mode and finishes by saying the attorney client relationship predated the personal one.

..................Great chapter, very revealing! Not sure who was happier about Trevor getting laid! I think after Joel reads Trevor's journal he will refuse to go home and insist on finishing the voyage with him. Hmmm, Dirk and Jim lovers? Who would of thought! I think Jim will very well find a tracking device on his car, it would explain how someone knew he was parked at the airport and I'm sure it wouldn't be hard for a certain police officer to obtain information on which flight Jim was on and where he was headed. It looks like Detective Gonzales already has his suspions on Sr. Detective Alford and nicely laid a trap. Can't wait for the next chapter where Joel will make embarrassing phone calls for Trevor to Lisa!!

............. Errr! I don't think so, if you re-read the convo between Walker and Sam, she is clearly thinking that Billy is the gay one. And after re-reading it myself, I've concluded that she only loved him as a brother.

.................. Great chapter! Although I'm a little perplexed at Sam, she seemed to have already known, but she reacted as if she had no inkling! I guess is that she was in love with him and was doing her own denial. Candice, decisions, decisions..... float by boat or have a row with Sam?? Looking forward to more! I'm sure the fireworks are coming up.

............Is that a goat in the distanced background of pic #8?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAEME!!! ....................................Have a great one down under!!!

.......... Utterly ridiculous!!! But it would explain a lot!

..........The goat does not give concrete evidence in his stories until close to the end, but enough are given to lead credence that Jim and Dirk are a couple. As far as Bridget being a murder suspect, it was clear that someone from the department had leaked information to her early on. She told the Detective facts that were of a confidential matter. I suspect it being Sr. Detective Alford as being the leak, both he and Bridget seemed languish on to describe Dirk as a possible serial killer, goes back to having 'similar stories'. Finally in the last chapter Detective Gonzales gives up the murder suspect when he gives his thoughts; ...'he was gravely troubled by the leak in his department, all the more so because whoever was disseminating confidential information was doing so to a suspect in a murder case. The only person that was privy to confidential information on the case was Bridget.

............. If I may, the leak Detective Gonzales was referring was indeed to all the information that Bridget fed back to him in their '2nd interview', Detective Gonzales was upset that his murder suspect (Bridget) had privileged information regarding the investigation. I don't think we do not need a proclamation from Jim and Dirk to see that they are gay lovers, the clues were all over, however slowly forthcoming. Leave it to a hockey fan to 'lick' his (others) wounds when his team loses!

..............Damn, your right, but blame the goat I think I caught goatitis!

............Onto the story, little revealing fact here that Detective Gonzales was in fact investigating Bridget as a murder suspect. Will he make the connection while investigating the 'leak', that both Bridget and Sr. Detective Alfred both referred to Dirk as a possible serial killer? After all, he is always looking for similarities in the stories when interviewing people! I do hope Trevor got himself laid with the Swede, "Trevor looked into Torsten's sparkling eyes, and replied with a smile and a nod." Or did he bore the guy all night long with his lamentation of his predicament!! One never knows when dealing with a goat, but a big salute to Joel for 'mission accomplished' I agree the rest of the voyage without Joel will be somewhat anti-climatic, but we still have a few chapters until that happens, and anything can happen! Maybe even a reunion with Lisa and Joel in Australia for the rest of the voyage? I still think Australia is the key, and most of the mysteries will be revealed by then, that just leaves the conclusion with the 'bad' guys.

...... You mean in like, "Please write another chapter and soon"!

............I agree 100% with KJames! JamesS that was a great story! If people want 'fluff stories' please direct them to the Children's section of the library. And if anyone reading that story thought that the suicide was the the message, then they did not get anything out of a story. The Barlow Boy was clearly a social injustice piece, outweighing the hypocrisy in the end.

.............Monkeys and goats and frogs...Oh my!! Poor Steve has become so depressed over his hokey team (hockey?) that he has resorted to licking frogs when the psychoactive is in toads! Oh well, I hear that the frogs need to stay wet, 'slurp' go Steve go!!!

.............Hmmm, another interesting thought, the goat has never used a 'female villain' in his stories before, yet Steve propose's at least 2 in this saga! Gasp! I'm still waiting for Trevor to get back to Joel for the monkey, perhaps a fun loving, butt punching goat fixated on Joel on some future island in coming chapters! Need pics!!

Happy Birthday Patrick!! ............Have a great one!

............Ah, I must have misread your blog, thought you were coming to Vegas this weekend! Still escargots are great!

.........Ah, I see you made into Vegas! Have fun, and do try the escargot, they are great!!!