Former Member

With only a slight edit of the title, this Topic should be pinned and made permanent here.

My impression is that the Makarovian royal family is not as isolated as the Japanese Imperial family, or even the British royal family. There seems to have been less of an imperative to find a spouse with a pedigree. And they seem to be less resistant to change than most royal families.

When our ancestors left Africa, they didn’t have boats, so they migrated through the Middle East, around the Mediterranean Ocean. And archeological evidence suggests they went to western central Asia rather than progressing more directly into Europe. But my ancestors continued further east in any case. ;–)

I knew there were others out there, but I still felt alone and isolated. ;–) My parents were news junkies. We subscribed to two newspapers when I was growing up: the San Diego Union and LA Times when we lived in San Diego, and the San Francisco Chronicle (or later the San José Mercury) and a local paper when we moved to the Bay Area. My mother listened to news radio in the morning and watched the evening and late night news. My father read all the news magazines. I was well-informed for a teenager. But this was all filtered through the conservative culture I grew up in. Gay was not a positive attribute. (For most of my childhood, we couldn’t watch KPBS/15 because our B&W TV didn’t have a UHF tuner. My Lesbian[?] Aunt’s ‘roommate’ gave us her old color TV with its UHF tuner when I was in high school.) ;–) Things improved significantly when we moved from San Diego to the Bay Area. The news media even in the Bay Area has learned a lot about LGBTQ+ issues over the past forty years. One of the few positive things that came out of the murder of Gwen Araujo was the change in name usage during the coverage of the trial and retrial of her murderers. Initially all the reporting dead named her as if ‘Gwen’ was a nickname (Eddie ‘Gwen’ Araujo). By the time her murderers were convicted they were using her chosen name. Today, Bay Area news reporters are careful to use chosen names and are never mocking in their reports on LGBTQ+ stories. PBS was a lifeline that taught me LGBTQ+ history and culture. I learned about Harvey Milk long before Dustin Lance Black’s movie was released. PBS taught me about HIV/AIDS and the pandemic. What I didn’t learn in books and magazines, I probably learned from PBS. ;–)

We first meet Greg, an Alabama cop who is taking an early retirement to start a new business in North Coast California. He leaves behind his long-time work partner who is forced to get used to a new partner. We see Greg rehabilitating a very rundown campgrounds. While @mollyhousemouse gives a great explanation of the meaning behind the name Camp Refuge, there’s more symbolism going on in the story. As I said, Greg is rehabilitating the campgrounds, but he (and others) are rebuilding, rehabilitating, and remaking their lives at the same time. Greg builds a community full of love and acceptance.

This was a satisfying conclusion to this part of the story. But there are still a few loose ends hanging there. The homophobic ranger didn’t suddenly see the light and change his stripes (to mix metaphors). Why do I have the feeling that he’ll somehow connect with the Costa? ;–)

But you need to be more selective than Blanche…

For some, particularly if they grow up outside the major coastal metropolitan areas, they not only have no language to describe how they feel, they are unaware that they aren’t the only one in the world to feel the way they do. Trans folk were the ones who pushed back at Stonewall and the events that preceded it. People of Color were forced to the frontlines while Gay white men hid in their privileged closets. Both groups were pushed to the back of the bus as the LGBTQ+ community got more organized and went mainstream.

Better than being Sofia like so many of the rest of us! ;–)

Um, yeah, that’s it! ;–)

I am definitely not an adventurous eater! I refuse to eat fish (I’ll get my quota of micro plastic some other way). I don’t like unnecessarily complex foods. I don’t like curry or extremely spicy food. I’m happy with my lower-middle-class, Pacific Coast diet. ;–)

Some of us see you as Rose… ;–)

Home fries? The home fries I’ve had were chunks or wedges of potato, not slices. And while they were pan-fried, they weren’t deep fried. ;–)

Trout seems determined to behave foolishly! But at the same time, Trout has the most unbelievable luck. Somehow, he’ll come out of this whole mess as a winner. Peter Leslie. No wonder he goes by Trout. Some cultures are more prone to giving each other weird nicknames: upper-class Brits, upper-class New Englanders (in emulation of the Brits), African-Americans, Southerners, Filipinos… ;–)

"Only the large feather itself cannot reveal everything." Breathtaking, evocative statement. Thanks for the guffaws, and thank you for posting. v

Auggie has crystal balls? How does that work? I’m guessing that some cultures would believe crystal balls might offer a cure for ED when rubbed on the offending object. ;–)

Jack is an idiot! The Teenager Instruction Manual clearly states that all doors must be locked when you’re about to do anything when you think your parents might walk in on you! If you have a lock, you use it. Even if you’re not doing anything embarrassing or against their rules. You lock it on principle.

Is that like a nest or den for multiple Baby Auggies? ;–)

So many things you think everyone does are things I don’t do. I don’t drink coffee or alcohol and have never even had a sip of either on. And it’s not a religious thing because I’m Agnostic. My friend who apparently belongs to the same religion as your friend told me that the caffeine thing was ‘suggested’ and not mandatory, but there’s extreme peer pressure to enforce the ‘suggestion.’ Facial hair is also frowned upon, yet my friend had an intentionally very devilish beard. He shaved it off once and I told him he looked better wth the beard (he has a weak chin) – and I hate facial hair. ;–)

Do you people not want to be the first to Comment? ;–) With 15 Reactions to the chapter at this point, I recognize about a third of you who Comment at least occasionally – and one who is often the first to Comment! ;–)

Mitosis! Who’s to say that Auggie would need to reproduce sexually? We don’t know how Auggies reproduce. He could use his Skwishability to create a child just like Kippy did! Or he could have a version of Pon Farr where once every seven years, he just squirts out an offspring… ;–)

They wanted the transition from black-and-white to color to be as dramatic as possible. To colorize the horses, they needed a non-toxic substance, so they used Jello (the horses started eating the sugary stuff off of each other). And only show business people think it’s ‘Holywood.’ ;–)

I’m thinking a chunk of it will go to Greg to pay for the supplies he’s used to create The Raven as well as the pottery he’s selling. ;–)

I’m hoping book four doesn’t involve a crossover with that popular story (also set in the same region) which I skipped out on after a single chapter… ;–)

If they’re not telling you, it’s probably being shipped halfway around the world. ;–)