Former Member

I’m sure the neighbors are happy that not only is the Stracht home remaining in the family, but it’s being refurbished and repaired! No tech billionaires, musicians, movie stars, or drug lords moving in. A piece of history retained.

Hawaii is very progressive in many ways, but the family aspect means it’s surprisingly conservative about some things. And the LDS church has a huge presence which chills things significantly too. Hawaii is like any small town…

A surfer dude! Reminds me of my youth in San Diego in the ‘70s. Lots of surfer-wannabes and the second wave of skateboarders (urethane wheels were new back then). I could do without the soul patch though, but I guess I could put up with the long hair. ;-)

Historically, not many kids could go on their parents’ honeymoon!

Until the US has Single Payer Universal Health Care, there will always be people who fall between the cracks…

I’m surprised that after all the efforts to avoid James getting Gabe’s regular phone number and actual address, he’s being invited to stay with them in Hawaii.

The ‘Pink Palace’! (The nickname of the Royal Hawaiian.) ;-) Having money means you don’t have to wait. You can pay extra to have things delivered overnight or in some cases within an hour or two. On some highways, you can pay an extra fee to drive in the carpool lane. If you need to fly somewhere quickly, you can pay a premium for a last minute seat – or if you’re wealthy enough, you can charter your own flight! You can pay others to do the chores you don’t enjoy. Don’t want to waste time in lines? Hire someone to wait for you. Hate cleaning? Hire a service. Don’t like cooking? Hire a chef or go out to eat. Don’t want to clean the pool (something only rich people have anyway)? Hire a pool boy. Don’t want to deal with the yard? Hire a gardener. Hate shopping for clothes? Hire a personal shopper. Hate dealing with traffic and other drivers? Hire a chauffeur or a service. Want someone to furnish your mansion? Hire a decorator. Whatever you hate doing, someone else is almost always willing and able to do if you pay enough (you do have to get your own colonoscopy and prostate exams though). Being poor takes a lot more time because you have to do it all yourself.

Unfortunately, I have trouble retaining information. But I will come back to this as a reference, and hopefully one day I'll get it.

What an odd reaction – or non-reaction! Maybe she’s ducking into the bathroom to let her real feelings out. Has someone already suggested that Hotshot might be Gay? (Like maybe the ex-wife?) ;-)

This is just the calm before the next wave of problems hit! They get to regroup and strategize before the next surge pours over them. The tide goes out, the tide returns… ;-)

I agree, very intense! ;-0

Being wealthy makes moving to Hawaii much easier. Similar to the situation with San Francisco and San José/Silicon Valley where the cost of living is also incredibly high with limited land available due to geography. For those of us without a lot of income, there are many compromises involved in living in such desirable places. Certainly there are many places where the cost of living is much lower and you can buy a huge mansion for the cost of a small home or condo in those three areas, but then you have to live in a place where most people would not choose to live, far from the amenities found in highly desirable locales. Usually, the weather is much less desirable too with blizzards, tornadoes, hurricanes, and other harsh conditions regularly occurring! ;-)

There’s a MasterCard ad with an Asian guy disappointed that a movie has sold out. His white buddy arrives and grandly announces that he MasterPassed it, apparently using the Fandango app, and was able to get tickets. Cut to the two of them sitting together inside the theater. Are they on a date? 😉

I think it’s significant that California is well-known as the home of fusion cooking. Blends of influences from all over the world in a single meal or dish. They aren’t ‘authentic’, but they are something new and more interesting.

How is ‘Mitch’ (aka @R. Eric) supposed to answer that?!?!?!?!? ;-)

It’s clear that your brother wanted to get an opinion he thought might be impartial. It occurs to me that the whole crush tangent might have been caused by your brother mentioning that he has feelings for you. To get a feel for how you might react, it’s possible he turned it around. Your reaction would have upset him because you don’t reciprocate what he possibly feels for you. If my speculation is correct, I think he’s confusing hero-worship and brotherly love with romantic love. I would suggest a cooling-off period too.

My older brother is 3.5 years older (four grades ahead of me) while my other brother is 23 months younger than me. Our parents treated my younger brother and me almost as if we were twins (Danny and “the little boys”). I’ve always resented that. It was probably one of the reasons I was so stubborn as a child. We were very poor when I was growing up, but at a certain point, I refused to wear hand-me-downs (not just from my brother, but also cousins too) – I didn’t have a lot of clothes, but I was the only one who had worn them! My parents had friends who would give us fish when they went sports fishing and we had fish a lot (free food)! I eventually refused to eat any more fish and my parents went along with my demand and my mother even made me something special instead.

I wish my brothers were fun like Michael! Mine teased me too, but it was never fun for me. After we got out of elementary school, my younger brother and I were never close again – my older brother always seemed like he was part of a different family… ;-)

You’ll have another chance when you start your next story. If you managed to win me over with this one, the rest of your readers would riot. Choices means that a decision has to be made between two or more options, I have been forced into my corner by an opinion that did not believe anyone should dissent from their view – it felt like a jumbo jet exploded over me repeatedly. (And no, I’m not referring to the author.)

A Vegan diet? And he misses meat? ;-)

The art of manipulation. Chris seems to have a knack for it. And I agree with BA, you never know what happens behind closed doors. I am enjoying this story, and looking forward to the next chapter.

As always, you write straight from the heart, and with honesty.

I’m sure there’s a long line of people eager to give him his shots! No, not that! Rabies, tetanus, distemper…

I would think at least part of that is because sight dominates the senses for sighted people. A huge percentage of our brain is dedicated to the one sense. When the brain no longer gets that information, the other senses don’t have to compete for the brain’s attention as much. Eventually, I would assume that parts of the brain formerly dedicated to sight adapt and begin processing other information, forming new neural pathways. Asking whether Jayden is cute is a sign that Troy not only trusts him, but is starting to have feelings for him! ;-) When we read stories, we absorb the information fed us by the author. Since physical descriptions are usually only necessary when a character is introduced, we don’t have those physical characteristics repeatedly presented to us the way they would be in a real life, physical, interaction. We get to experience a world less obsessed with race, racial stereotypes, and physical beauty – pretty much the opposite of TV, movies, and beauty or gossip magazines. Troy hasn’t really thought through where Jayden came from and doesn’t realize why he started visiting. If Troy thought about the neighborhood Jayden used to live in, he might not have asked the same questions about hair and eye color. In stories I’ve read that were written by African-American writers, they often describe skin tone and hair texture. There is an entire vocabulary dedicated to various forms of coffee and chocolate as descriptions for different shades of brown. (Since I don’t drink coffee, many of the terms were lost on me!) Having grown up mostly in a Southern California suburb in the ‘70s (where Surfing was offered as a PE class in high school!), I can remember the apparently no-longer-used ‘dishwater blond(e)’ as well as golden, bleached blond(e), and strawberry blond(e) as among the terms used to describe pale hair. I think I’ve probably read close to a dozen different variations on the color blue to describe eye color here in GA. We come up with numerous near synonyms to describe the characteristics that are important to us. ;-) I tend to forget that Jayden is African-American, just as I do when I think about my friends who happen to be Black. It’s not the most important thing about them. Some of us never realize that… ;-)

I hope that your slightly less regular updates is a good sign, that you haven’t felt compelled to write at such a manic pace. While I miss getting new chapters every day, I’d rather you be healthier and more at peace. Thank you for sharing your self with us! ;-) They not only got Mark and Burke back, but also two Old Ones! Amaris was able to speak to Dragon on a level that he understood. Pieces are starting to fall into place (again). ;-)