Former Member

Definitely! ;–)

Lucky you! You get to read all of the existing The Hidden Ones books without waiting for new chapters to be posted! Then you can read The Golden City (set in the same world, but not really connected other than a brief reference) until you catch up. And then, and only then, will you have to wait with the rest of us. ;–)

I eat Applesauce cake! And I’d eat a cake baked with berries in it. Pineapple Upside-Down Cake is good too. But I agree with you on fruitcake and carrot cake! And I won’t eat Zucchini Bread either. So, Wow reactions indicate you love fruitcake, carrot cake, and/or zucchini bread? ;–)

Me? I’m not a character in a story! (Unless I’m a figment of your imagination.) ;–) :–(

Harris from the FBI? Danny the boyfriend? ‘RudePenny’? The Uncle I won’t name from A to Z? If I think about it more, I’m sure I could come up with an enormous list of challengers for that title! ;–)

Hartley is like a heavy-weight boxer dismissing the skills of an Olympic fencing champion. He dismisses the fleet feet and quick action of the fencer because the fencer doesn’t charge right in and punch the opponent! He challenges the bravery of the fencer who remains feet away while waving a thin, flexible piece of metal around instead of pounding away with simple padded gloves. Hartley is blissfully unaware of the challenges others face because they aren’t the same kind he faced and faces. And he’s too ignorant to try to understand the differences. He egotistically sees the world only through his eyes and judges everyone on his own narrow terms.

It took me until this chapter to remember who/what the evil b*stard Hartley was.I’m old and forgetful. Hartley reminds me of a certain sleepy Cabinet Member who stands on the head and shoulders of others who worked hard to be accepted only to have an incompetent traitor dismiss everything they stood for while egotistically claiming he did it all on his own!

I was going to make a joke, but I see I already did that very joke several months ago! ;–)

My dad was the only one in the family who would eat the stuff. I’m not convinced it wasn’t more out of obligation, that it shouldn’t go to waste. My parents grew up in the depression and hated to throw things (especially food) away.

Can you go visit her without seeing the others, or did she side with them? Is it possible to arrange to meet her somewhere neutral – or maybe call or email her? Maybe we could be your virtual grandparents? Or e-Aunts and e-Uncles? ;–) I’m almost old enough to be your grandfather, although (because my family gets late starts) one of my nieces is around your age. My family prefers papering over disputes to avoid the appearance of conflict. We never talk about my being Gay even though I wore t-shirts to a family reunion in 1989 that were pretty obvious. ;–)

“Moo!” ;–)

I posted this in the Lounge earlier… ;–)

ROFL! My conservative, fundamentalist-style minister father’s house only had alcohol for cooking. Any punch that was served was strictly non-alcoholic. I certainly had a very different upbringing than the rest of you! ;–)

Fruitcake and spumoni are not part of my culinary heritage. I don’t want fruit in my candy or candy in my fruit! (Chocolate-covered cherries was my annoying younger brother’s thing. I hate all cherries.)

Yes, because even cockroaches would avoid eating fruitcake! ;–)

Oh, no! They’re breeding! They’re going to take over the world! ;–)

I’m convinced there is only a single fruitcake that just get gifted from one victim to another endlessly, never to be sampled! ;–)

My older brother spent an English Semester in Kent when he was in college at a very conservative religious school in the Santa Barbara area (in the late Seventies). He gave me his (UK) Unwin trade paperback boxed set of The Lord of the Rings. I added a matching copy of The Hobbit and somehow managed to keep all of them through my homelessness and return to being housed. (My US Ballantine mass-market paperback copies were badly worn-out with dog-ears so bad I had to cover all three covers with tape, but I think I left them behind in one of my moves. I read the four books about a dozen times when I was in high school and jr high. I’d finish The Return of the King and start The Hobbit all over again.) Dame Judi or no Dame Judi, I’m not going to see that waste of time. I’d happily watch Kinky Boots the Musical again! I was never a Theater Geek and I’m not a Theater Queen! Taylor Swift is on my very long list of pop singers I refuse to listen to. I refuse to pay attention to their silly feuds. I prefer to listen to musicians who actually have talent.

Congratulations!

Someone should create a cupcake-sized fruitcake (fruitcupcake?). Or maybe sell slices. I’m sure there’d be a market for a more manageable serving size… ;–)

I have built up a tolerance to lactose by eating cheese, yogurt, and ice cream. But I hate milk. I don’t like the flavor and don't drink it. My ancestors did not keep cattle around and I am not a calf.

I was told that, at least in some parts of Europe, they indicate numbers with their fingers differently than we do in the US. Here we indicate one with our index finger up. Others see that as two because they indicate one by holding their thumb up – and two by holding their thumb and index finger up! ;–)

I’ll take Shawn den Norske, hold the fruitcake (since I’ve been referred to as a fruitcake in the past, Shawn can hold me!). ;–) We were never allowed to rip open packages the way Beau did. Our relatives sent boxes filled with gifts for the holiday and we weren’t allowed to open them early. Some things were just not done! ;–)

Maybe Karen’s coffee shop can offer Italian pastries prepared by the restaurant’s pastry chef! ;–) Will Chad visit the hero former-officer, Orson, at Camp Refuge? ;–)

No, his hair is pulled into the man bun so tight, it’s ’straightening out’ his thinking. ;–)