Former Member

I don’t know why this double-posted. Usually the site blocks posts that are too close together…

The more visible and more accepted by the majority, the more threatened the minority become. Whether it’s women, People of Color, religious minorities, or LGBTQ+s, the same frightened and insecure bigots hate us all. They lash out at anyone who dares to challenge their ‘right’ to the entire pie. They attack anyone who wants even the tiniest slice. They never learned the basic lesson from Kindergarten of sharing.

Yellow Submarine was the song that Jake began playing. It was originally released in 1966 on the Revolver album, but it also appeared on 1969’s Yellow Submarine soundtrack. Ringo Starr sang the lead vocals, it was The Beatles' most successful song with his lead (#2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in 1966). Revolver also featured Eleanor Rigby and Got to Get You into My Life (an ode to pot and very successfully covered by Earth, Wind & Fire in 1978). 🎶 In the town where I was born Lived a man who sailed to sea And he told us of his life In the land of submarines So we sailed up to the sun 'Til we found the sea of green And we lived beneath the waves In our yellow submarine We all live in a yellow submarine Yellow submarine, yellow submarine We all live in a yellow submarine Yellow submarine, yellow submarine And our friends are all aboard Many more of them live next door And the band begins to play We all live in a yellow submarine Yellow submarine, yellow submarine We all live in a yellow submarine Yellow submarine, yellow submarine Full speed ahead, Mr. Boatswain, full speed ahead! Full speed it is, Sergeant! Cut the cable, drop the cable! Aye-aye, sir, aye-aye! Captain, Captain! As we live a life of ease (a life of ease) Everyone of us (everyone of us) has all we need (has all we need) Sky of blue (sky of blue) and sea of green (sea of green) In our yellow (in our yellow) submarine (submarine, ah-ha) We all live in a yellow submarine Yellow submarine, yellow submarine We all live in a yellow submarine Yellow submarine, yellow submarine We all live in a yellow submarine Yellow submarine, yellow submarine We all live in a yellow submarine Yellow submarine, yellow submarine 🎶

Young people have heard The Beatles in the background throughout their lives. They might not know who created the music or understand the cultural shift that The Beatles represented. They probably don’t realize just how many familiar songs have that one connection. But like Bach and Beethoven, The Beatles have always been there. Even if they don’t listen to music written by The Beatles, The Beatles have influenced directly, or indirectly, most musicians in one way or another.

Bob is a bitter man. It’s not clear whether he was always this bad (probably not) or whether the divorce and continual legal issues turned him this way. Does Jake remind him of his problems? Why does Amber put up with him? It’s obvious that Brian only echoes back all of Bob’s toxic feelings about his ex-wife. Bob does not have good judgement.

Yay! A story about the ghosts on Engris! ;–)

If Grant & Troy were ever to meet Greg and his Camp Refuge, you’d be able to fulfill two wishes with one story. Their neighbors at the campground could be visiting from Kentucky too. But the bear should remain the scariest possibility for wildlife interactions, please! Write efficiently. ;–)

I made sure not to mention this as a spoiler in chapter 3. But I wanted to congratulate @travlbug for his brilliant deductions! He was way ahead of my guesses. ;–)

Again, just a typical teenager! ;–)

What’s your excuse for all the dropped/missing words? I’ve read that Japanese people watch for reactions as they speak and sometimes change the verb (or even omit the verb completely) to avoid offending the person they’re speaking to. It works in Japanese because it’s a SOV (Subject Object Verb) language where English is usually a SVO (Subject Verb Object) language. None of that seems to explain Reric-ese. ;–)

Waaaaaaaaaay back in chapter 3 travlbug made some really accurate guesses! @Geron Kees must have been sweating bullets over some of our sleuthing. But he managed not to sound panicked or worried while he distracted us with responses that ignored the best deductions. No wonder he kept insisting that this wasn’t a mystery story. ;–)

Are we sure that US English is your first language, Reric? ;–)

If Troy had more spare time, he could make another chair or three… I don’t know about the style of the existing dining room set, but a dining bench or two might work too. ;–)

When you said that Beth would check off a diversity box for the school district, I was trying to figure out why they categorize employees by US regional origin! ;–) I had completely forgotten about John being African-American. With text, we can more easily become color-blind. In real life, it’s always there, just as we are aware of the hair color of the person you’re talking to. Even when skin color is just as insignificant to the two people as handedness. ;–) Yeah, I went there. I might not be Black, but I am a Person of Color! I am aware that people immediately readjust their expectations when they realize I’m not white (as when I meet someone for the first time in person after communicating via phone or email). ;–)

Think of all the interesting and amusing conflicts that will arise if Mr Reilly becomes the advisor to Danny’s proposed GSA! If Danny ever gets around to asking Mr Taylor for permission. Or if Mr Taylor gets around to setting it up… ;–)

Has life gotten in the way? ;–)

You’re a month late! ;–)

Jake and Danny are so lucky that it was Mr Reilly was the one who read the text instead of he who shall remain nameless whose job is currently being held by Mr Taylor. ;–)

There are many cases where the non-custodial parent kidnaps the child and escapes to a state where, for one reason or another, the laws are more favorable to that parent. Usually the child is much younger. And often the cases we hear about involve either religion, foreign nationals, or LGBTQ+ or ‘former’-LGBTQ+ parents. Because Jake is a teenager, this type of behavior is unlikely to succeed unless he were in favor of the change. Jake seem more ambivalent or slightly opposed to staying with his father. Jake’s mother is clearly restricting things just to make life difficult for her ex-husband.

There’s also the orchestral metaphor which seems to have been adopted by sports teams (ie First String, Second String, etc)…

I’m sure there were times when spouses were assisting our teachers, but we were never informed of their identities. ;–)

She never asked for information.

Dress up and marching. That’s kind of like band without the music. And it must have been really sweaty during those oppressively humid Georgia summers!

Yay, Brett! ;–) …And Bobby too! ;–) How soon before Billy appears? We’ve already seen one of Dustin’s worst mistakes (with the scar that remains). Will we see anyone else we know? ;–)

Maybe the ones who have to go through multiple unsuccessful sessions of AI or being interviewed by adoption agencies or a pregnant birthmother… ;–)