Former Member

🎶 You know I can’t smile without you I can’t smile without you I can’t laugh and I can’t sing I’m finding it hard to do anything You see I feel sad when you’re sad I feel glad when you’re glad If you only knew what I’m going through I just can’t smile without you You came along just like a song And brightened my day Who would have believed that you were part of a dream Now it all seems light years away And now you know I can’t smile without you I can’t smile without you I can’t laugh and I can’t sing I’m finding it hard to do anything You see I feel sad when you’re sad I feel glad when you’re glad If you only knew what I’m going through I just can’t smile Now some people say happiness takes so very long to find Well, I’m finding it hard leaving your love behind me And you see I can't smile without you I can't smile without you I can't laugh and I can't sing I'm finding it hard to do anything You see I feel glad when you're glad I feel sad when you're sad If you only knew what I'm going through I just can't smile without you 🎶 Do you know this oldie? ;–)

So, now the way is clear for a story about Andy, Zander, and that Anderson kid! ;–)

Well, your other stories eventually involved hospital stays! ;–) Happy Star Wars Day! May the Fourth be with you! (For all the nerds besides me!) ;–) Just don’t drink too much on Cinco de Mayo! (For everyone who thinks they can only celebrate heritage with alcohol. Or you could just go get a Mission-style Burrito!) ;–)

Gary is already considering a sequel to this story! ;–)

I have changed one diaper in my life. My mother conned me into babysitting my now-31-year-old nephew when he was an infant. It was his first weekend with grandma & grandpa and she decided she needed to be in a meeting that evening. Fortunately for me, it was only wet, so it wasn’t a pheromone bomb! ;–)

I recognized Carlsberg and Ray Ericcson right away! But unlike @mayday, I didn’t remember Heidi Graber. At that point, I was expecting Ambrose Whitley to be the surprise! ;–) But at least Andy & Zander’s cameos were more obvious to an Oblivious Reader™ like me than when they appeared in Predator Prey! ;–) And I am so glad that justice was finally served!!!

Especially when they follow it up with another brand new story almost immediately! ;–)

Wow! That certainly qualifies as a scene change! I spent most of the time I read this totally confused (yeah, that’s my usual condition, but even more confused than usual). ;–) Connor’s in his twenties with a five-year-old. At least he won’t have to deal with nappies (or as we call them over here in the US, diapers). How does a perfectionist deal with a child? Kids are very messy, partly because they’re still learning how to control their bodies, and partly because adult-style organization isn’t important to them! ;–) This should be fun! ;–)

I was very amused by the ‘conversation’ Tigg had with his mother too! ;–)

I remember what my father looked like after his quintuple bypass surgery in the ‘90s. He hadn’t had a heart attack, but had terrible chest pains. It sounds like Michael’s surgery wasn’t quite so invasive and traumatic. My dad looked tiny in the hospital bed with all the monitors and devices arrayed around him. It certainly took him more than a few hours for him to interact with us. But my (Protestant minister) father didn’t have the benefit of a Guardian Angel or an Angel & Imp. ;–)

@Timothy M. was quoting the girl when she was signing her agreement to dance with the dishy hearing impaired younger brother of Hugh Grant’s character in Four Weddings and a Funeral! ;–)

...I may be renaming the blog Ask AC if this continues... This had me laughing over my morning coffee

Dorcas would probably have immediately changed her seat had she know of the lesion. At best, she would have stopped touching him. At worst, she would have demanded that Thad be put off the bus!

Potholes, a very squeaky bus and poorly paid driver. Sounds just like Richmond. But there aren’t any yellow buses here – the school district contracts with the regional bus district and they usually use their green Transbay buses. ;–) I wonder how Mattias found Heinrich – I guess the Best Seller money allowed him to hire an investigator? ;–)

I think the author is an engineering nerd too! Such incredibly detailed descriptions of an eco-friendly development that could fit in California too! I love how they weren’t sure if it was the engineering or the memories that gave them hard-ons! ;-)

‘By appointment to the Luckiest Man in the World’? ;-)

Gotta admit they’d never not be in the mood! It’d always be up for whatever you had in mind! And it’d never get tired before you did! ;-)

I hope you realize this wasn’t meant to be an accusation, just a more general observation. I usually assume that the stories I read are set in the US with American characters until presented with evidence to prove me wrong. I went for years reading For Better or For Worse, the famous Canadian comic strip, before someone drove to London and I realized that meant London, Ontario! Authors can drop hints that other Canadians notice, but some of us need a sledgehammer to the head! ;-) With stories set in the UK, the spelling is usually the first clue. With Aussies, the language is the giveaway – so much unique slang. In visual media, cars on the ‘wrong’ side of the street do the same thing! ;-) Most of us are guilty of profiling people based on visual cues, others on audible cues. It’s human nature – historically vital survival skills. But we’re not dealing with potentially violent (animal) predators anymore. It is possible for society to change – left-handed people are no longer thought to be evil, blonds are not assumed to be dumber than the rest of us, and redheads aren’t seen as more likely to get angry easier! But clearly it won’t happen overnight… ;-)

Two hundred and thirty-two years today, the world changed inexplicably for the better. If Miss Battle's performance fails to raise goosebumps in your soul, I'd seek out advice from your spiritual adviser. It's possible you were born without one Happy birthday, Le nozze di Figaro

I’m thinking that this story will conclude with Drake and Jimmy going their separate ways. Then in a sequel to this story, after a suitable amount of time, Drake and Jimmy will run into each other by accident… ;-)

I think it’s interesting that it took Vic that long to realize that one-night-stands are meaningless and empty exercises that are ultimately not worth the effort. Human beings need more than just physical sex. Many people will only realize that after they’ve invested in silicone sexbots. ;-)

It’s still April (for just under two hours) here in PDT! ;-)

At some point I decided that it was important for me to not only like a chapter, but also provide some feedback in the Comments.I definitely have opinions even if some people don’t agree with them. And i get lots of feedback when they don’t agree! ;-) I have also been known for providing suggestions, some useful, others humorous, and still others just plain silly. I’m always suggesting that authors do crossovers between their different stories. The authors have various reactions to that: outrage, laughter, agreement, and most commonly, total confusion as to why I’d make the suggestion! @Parker Owens included such a subtle cameo of two characters from a previous story, that I had no idea that we were supposed to realize who they were! ;-) With @Ronyx, I keep suggesting that earlier characters be edited in. One of his earlier stories included two characters who were student journalists. I keep suggesting that he mention their names as the reporters in his stories. But that’s almost as unlikely as his writing sequels to our favorite stories! ;-) @R. Eric refuses to do any more crossovers, but he does use suggestions and comments. ;-)

Which means they’re close enough for the taxman too! ;-)