Former Member

Woody should report Dewberry right away. As a teacher, he has a lot more to lose! Dewberry would lose his career, his reputation, and his ability to work with children. Plus he’d be forced to register as a Sex Offender for the rest of his life. Brandon is probably not be the only student who has been sexually abused by Dewberry…

How could you forget @Page Scrawler’s favorite, Lucas? ;–)

Apparently, there were fewer tree planted during the recession and many farmers in Washington & Oregon switched to a different crop. This cut the supply available, driving up the cost of the few for sale. (This is what I heard on news reports since I don’t put up a tree, live or artificial, in the studio apartment I live alone in. I don’t entertain guests, so there’s no reason to decorate beyond my apartment door.) ;–) Back in the ‘70s, the Ford Pinto and its competitors started at just under $2000! The (Lincoln) Continental Mark III was about $10,000. The 2019 Ford Fiesta starts at just over $15,000 (but along with almost all its car models other than the Mustang, Ford is discontinuing the Fiesta in 2020). The most expensive 2019 Lincoln Navigator is over $100,000! Inflation, man, inflation! ;–)

You’re just obsessed with Lucas! If Woody doesn’t end up with him, maybe we can convince @Ronyx to write a rare sequel featuring Lucas and Page*! I’d say you should write it, but you just claim to be the “Brilliant Idea” Guy. I only come up with wild tangents as the Redacted Redacted Redacted. ;–) * And when Lucas & Page have a son, they can call him Page Boy. Just like John Boy Walton. (Page Boy, it’s not just for haircuts anymore!) ;–)

Too bad John doesn’t have nieces and nephews. It doesn’t sound like he has any nearby younger cousins either. Any of those can make the holidays vicariously exciting and fun all over again! ;–) I remember buying my 11-years-younger cousin christmas gifts when I started working. It was like practice for when my brothers started having kids. Shopping for their gifts gave me permission to buy Lego and other things I remembered enjoying as a child – sometimes the Lego was for them too! ;–)

When I noticed the story included a cow, I was thinking of @Mikiesboy's gentle and friendly ‘Jessy’ from After the Past. ;–)

Even in the wilderness of New York state trees need water to survive the week or so that they’re inside a dry house. You need to cut a slice off the trunk so the tree can drink water from the stand. Otherwise, John & Ryan may as well have left it on the wooden stand from the tree lot. ;–)

Oh the delicious irony of listening to Barbra Streisand singing The Lord’s Prayer on her A Christmas Album. There’s apparently a US Federal law that all Jewish singers must release at least one Christmas album. And then there are the lyrics of this particular hymn that include forgiving ‘our debts as we forgive our debtors’ – in a season that has become an orgy of commercialism and greed leading to massive debt.

Didn’t Leia say something to Luke about him having a mysterious gift that she didn’t and could never comprehend? That’s how I feel about authors and writing. But unlike Leia, I don’t have a hidden Jedi talent. ;–)

Um, that’s not what I’d heard ‘pud’ meant… ;–) The Oxford Dictionary (both the US & UK versions) say the origin of that definition is: Kinda changes the tone of the whole story in a more sapphic direction! ;–)

Oops! I’m very sorry! I tried running @ObicanDecko’s name (split into two words) through the translator and it couldn’t identify the language, so I tried Serbian (no luck) and Slovenian (also no luck). I didn’t try Croatian, Serbian, or Albanian. I read a book on the Balkan Peninsula a long time ago. It discussed some of the history and culture of the numerous groups who share the peninsula. The book helped me to understand why there have been so many conflicts over the years. In the ‘80s. I worked with a woman who was from Yugoslavia (I’m not sure which part) and she was very sad about what happened to Sarajevo after it had hosted the Winter Olympics. I’m sure she had relatives who suffered during the wars. At Frameline42 (San Francisco’s Gay film festival) this year, I saw The Marriage (aka in Albanian) which was the first LGBTQ movie out of Kosovo. It probably would have been more interesting to me if I understood more of the cultural and historical references. I didn’t even realize some of the scenes were a flashback until much later. This time the translation software wasn’t quite as successful (although it did correctly identify the Croatian), but it’s still very understandable. Thank you! I hope your holidays are cheerful and happy too! ;–)

I never did figure out how old the boys were. I think the oldest one was in his late teens and the youngest one was probably in middle school. They seemed to crave attention and made friends with adults too easily (there weren’t any other kids on the block and probably not in the neighborhood of apartment buildings filled with studios and one-bedrooms). There was one guy (who the rest of us were suspicious of) who would invite them into his apartment to play video games. I was very careful not to let any of them into my apartment and avoided feeding them or doing anything but have conversations. I did once suggest to the one who seemed like he might not be straight might want to attend a free movie (for students) during Frameline LGBTQ film festival – they don’t do that anymore. I offered to go with him, or not, whichever he felt more comfortable with. Weirdly enough, he asked his mother for permission (she was usually at work during the day and the boys ran wild most of the time). She told him no. I would have paid for his BART & Muni fare if he had decided to go. I jokingly asked the youngest one to help me find a boyfriend. He suggested his brother. I turned him down right away since I was old enough to be their grandfather! I figured that since they all ran around the neighborhood and made friends with all sorts of adults, he might know of an adult Gay man that might be interested in me. At this point, the youngest one is probably in his mid-twenties. Probably still very wild. And probably still getting into trouble.

What I got when I translated the Bosnian text: So you're not just “normal” boy!! Thank you👍 ;–)

@Zioissa, I used a translation app to figure out what you’d written. I used to have neighbors who were Bosnian refugees. There were four brothers along with their mother who met a guy and moved them all to Idaho. Before they left, they were joking ‘Idaho? No, you da ho!’ ;–) The second oldest seemed to be not-straight. Some of us who knew them worried about the abrupt change from the Progressive Bay Area to the very conservative Idaho. We hoped he’d eventually be able to return to the Bay Area as an adult where he’d be able to live his life as he chose rather than suppress his feelings due to societal pressure.

Welcome @Zioissa! I hope you continue to Comment. I know authors appreciate hearing from us readers. ;–)

We can write the Telenovela de Mexico version of the rest of the story… wanna help? ;–)

With Reed, you turned convention on its head! In most Gay fiction, the Gay couple stumbles across the abandoned, abused boy(s). Reed ran to Andy & Zander! This is a very good example of why our visibility helps younger LGBTQs and allies. Just the fact that A & Z got married was talked about widely in their community and gave Reed hope for a better future! Even in Andersonville, everyone knows about the young Gay couple! ;–) The more of us who Come Out, the safer we all will be. Being Out In everyday life wherever you are can change minds about what LGBTQ means. We cease being the scary boogie man to our neighbors and acquaintances. Waving a huge Rainbow Flag is nice and all, but not required of everyone. Not hiding who you date (or dream of dating) reduces the number of times someone will try to fix you up with someone totally inappropriate (such as their homely sister with a lovely personality or their cripplingly shy and awkward, but hardworking older cousin – hey wait a minute, can you introduce me to that cousin?). ;–)

That just means @Parker Owens ‘owes’ us at least one more story, one that tells Reed’s history and future! ;–) And you’re not the only one who was expecting more about A & Z living on Eustace’s old farm! ;–)

Well this part of the country was stolen acquired through intimidation as spoils in an immoral war in a peace treaty allowing us to accept a third of Mexico’s northern frontier our rightful expanded territory west to the Pacific Ocean from our friendly neighbor Mexico! ;–)

Natalie completed her surgical transition last year – her birth name was Nathaniel. ;–)

So wild speculation and odd tangents might be useful here? ;–)

I’ll just say that I would not rely on her for intellectual insight or advice.

Or is Brother Finland looking for an icy pond to jump in after the sauna-like Egyptian heat?

Are you soliciting Comments on your four series, Timmy? ;–)

I suppose Mariah’s butterfly “intellect” is enough to confuse a muse and block additional chapters from being written… ;–) Personally, her overabundant, but unappealing, gravity-defying ‘attributes’ and glass-shattering dog whistling only annoy me. When I don’t have to see her inappropriate antics and she keeps her vocal gymnastics within normal human range (as with most of her holiday album), she is tolerable – barely. She’s in danger of turning into a wit-free Mae West-like caricature… ;–)