Daddydavek

Happy Birthday Tim! & I hope your day is perfect!

I can certainly understand your frustration about all the things you discussed, especially feeling a need to be doing meaningful work. I suspect you have dealt and continue to deal with several other frustrations which you haven't mentioned as well. If you are looking for options, I can only suggest that you channel your available energy into doing something that you find meaningful and which will not tax your treatment regimen. You have been smart and resourceful so far and seem to really have a good understanding of when and how to seek medical help. Use some of those smarts to come up with goal that you can achieve within the absolute limits you face. And push your limits where and whenever possible. It seems you want a challenge and I think you realize that and just need a nudge to make some plans.

In his responses to reviews and in the forum Mark gives us some of his insight into his character Matt. While everyone reacts individually to grief, Mark has indicated that Matt was particularly affected by Robbie's death and was having a hard time. He also said that Matt is clinging to his last year as an undergrad in an almost sophomoric way. In another place he stated that Matt wasn't as screwed up as Robbie was in college and that would be hard to argue. My point is, that Matt has been coming across as a bit of a shit lately, especially toward Wade who truly has his own crosses to bear. That he also pointedly crossed the line with Tony despite Will's strong advice not to had to be somewhat calculated and not just a loss of hormonal control. Finally, the chapter ended with Matt pissed off and going to see JP & Steff in mood not conducive to reason and I expect fireworks. A controlled display from JP and Steff and an uncontrolled one from Matt. My fear is that Matt could cross the line with JP and Steff and find himself in a really bad place. Hopefully Mark has a solution for what I fear could be some really rough going for Matt.

Happy Birthday Cassie! & Many, many more!

The fact that Tony and Matt fucked may finally be the straw that broke the camel's back for good as for as their friendship goes. Somehow I think Will really is done with him. Matt is another matter entirely. He really seems to be a Hayes in all the least flattering ways. Including how he is handling his grief. Doing things to push people away is one way to handle grief, but probably the least productive one. Wade's considerations of Law Schools may be affected by this. Riley is already in LA more than in the bay area. Will is not going to just roll over on this unless Wade asks him too and I don't see that happening. I suspect that Matt goes into the meeting with JP and Steff completely pissed off and that will of course not help his cause either. I can foresee some real short term fireworks out of this and the long-term solution may not be evident for quite some time. This chapter continues to show how the family is dealing with their grief in their usual dramatic and highly emotional ways. I for one can hardly wait to see where Mark takes us next.

And then you might be a little more comfortable with the twenty plus year age difference? Personally, I think they are perfect eye candy and I wouldn't mind a pic of a view from behind him either.....

When I woke up this morning at 5:00 am it was snowing. I love this musical piece: The Family Stone Soundtrack - It's Snowing (by Michael Giacchino) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4tDJSxY-98

Happy Birthday! I bet you can't believe you have been 21 for a whole year already! The next 21 go even faster!!! So enjoy it now!!!

I noted Tim's review above and understand his opinions about Zach and Will. However, he did have a good point in his actual review of the latest chapter which is quoted below: "Nice to see Brad getting ready to move on, but it still isn't going to be easy. The trauma of losing a partner in 9-11 won't go away easily especially with the annual name readings, the TV coverage on the anniversary and the rest that goes along with it. A cool chapter, but I wonder where we go next." His points here are spot on and his last sentence left me wondering as well. Mark has so many ways he could go from continuing this book for some time, to wrapping it up and moving on to Will Post-9/11 or CAP 9.11 Aftermath or even doing an interlude concentrating on Wade's story with Ethan.

Thanks for giving us a chapter that shed some light on Brad and how he is processing his grief. I can see where him going back to the scene so to speak, did provide him with some closure or at least a better sense of finality. Great job!

Edison of course didn't invent the idea of recording sound, what he did invent and patent was the first usable recording system that could be mass marketed. A much more important accomplishment. And actually the same for the light bulb. The list of patents he obtained and the companies he founded or were spun off is still quite impressive even in this post-industrial age. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Alva_Edison

Glad to see the world traveler has returned to his abode. What his legion of fans wonder is whether he had time to gather more interesting nuggets to sprinkle through his next tall tale? And speaking of tall tales, some of us are having extreme withdrawal symptoms since the last scribbled chapter was posted.

Anne Murray's "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXsIiAxVuqo

Jitters about meeting the "out-laws" is normal and our hero has a bad case. However he is determined to get through it and be there for his man which is a good thing. I just hope Renee doesn't have some evil surprise waiting.....

Baby It's Cold Outside! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_-XMZjWGF4

The Everly Brothers

Happy Birthday! & Many, many more!

Mark got to see his team win the Cotton Bowl last night and the fourth quarter saw the score and the lead change several times. So I know he is stoked! Brad has Will concerned and therefore me as I expect, that outside of JP and Steff, that Will knows him best. I am really anticipating the next chapter and hopefully we will get it in the next week or so!

What's the old saying? "Be careful what you ask for?" I'm glad you mellowed out and talked to the guy. It really is funny in hindsight. I hope you feel better!

Thanks for another wonderful surprise! The picture I see of Zach is that he is goal driven and as Will surmised, that isn't really a bad thing. That they barebacked was stupid, but they are hormonally supercharged teenaged males... Brad. I'm still worried about him. On another note--enjoy the Mizzou game. I will be rooting for them from the comfort of my chair in front of the TV!

I can't think of anything that Ricky forgot except the guys at the Abbey and oh, Granger's new country house on the island.....

Here's how this story was covered in St. Louis: STARBUCKS Local brewer's response to Starbucks cease-and-desist goes viral DECEMBER 31, 2013 3:15 PM • BY IAN FROEB IFROEB@POST-DISPATCH.COM 314-340-8348 A local craft brewery's tongue-in-cheek response to a cease-and-desist letter from attorneys for Starbucks has become a viral sensation, with mentions on NPR's "Morning Edition" radio program and the website Gawker. "It's just been insane," says Jeff Britton, owner of Exit 6 Pub and Brewery in Cottleville. The story began in early December, when Britton received a letter from a law firm that represents Starbucks in trademark disputes. The coffee giant had learned that three users of Untappd, a social-media app for beer fans, had "checked in" to (that is, drank) an Exit 6 beer called Frappicino. This name, the law firm noted in its letter, was "phonetically identical" to Starbucks' trademarked frozen drink Frappuccino. The letter ended with a stern "request" that Britton cease using the name Frappicino. In fact, Exit 6 doesn't make a beer called Frappicino. The name refers to a combination of pours of the brewery's Vanilla Cream Ale and a Founders Brewing Co. beer. On Dec. 26, Britton posted photos of the law firm's letter as well as his reply on Exit 6's Facebook page. Calling the beer in question the "F Word" instead of Frappicino to avoid the "risk of further lawsuits," Britton wrote, "...we meant no deception, confusion, or mistaking in the naming of the beer the F Word. We never thought that our beer drinking customers would have thought that the alcoholic beverage coming out of the tap would have actually been coffee from one of the many, many, many stores located a few blocks away." Britton continued, "We are bad people. We feel shame." In addition to promising not to use the F Word any more, Britton enclosed a check for $6, which he claimed was the profit made from the beers that the three Untappd users had drunk. "We realize Mr Bucks paid [the lawyer] more than Exit 6 made last year," he wrote. "We just want to help a business like Starbucks. Us small business owners need to stick together." Britton has yet to hear from Starbucks or the law firm that contacted him on the company's behalf. Meanwhile, the media storm shows no signs of slowing down. He will appear via satellite on Fox News' "Fox & Friends" on Thursday morning, and he continues to field phone calls from TV networks, newspapers, magazines and "so many damn blogs." The question every one, including this reporter, asks: Has Starbucks cashed the check yet? "Not at this time," Britton reports.

Thanks for the surprise chapter! It sure seems like George could be a landlubber for a while.

Poor Julie. Adam is falling and Mikeal already has.

I am still wondering how Brad will be coping with being in the shadow of Manhattan and whether Will is going to end up being too worried about him to get any real time to enjoy having Zach available overnight. I think the discussion in the forum has distracted everyone from appreciating that grief takes a toll and one that isn't over in just days or weeks and it is still more like an open wound that must be borne. I also think that people often do impulsive and dramatic things to distract them from their grief without thinking through the consequences. In other words they are responding emotionally rather than logically. When one has the wherewithal to do so, it can be really dramatic. I think Mark has painted a backdrop of dramatic events provoking strong emotions including nearly inconsolable grief which explains any lack of rational or logical thinking through of actions. One doesn't have to be naive or mature to be affected by strong emotions and to react to them. So as a result I do not attempt to dissect every action described in the light of cold calculating reasoned logic and cannot really understand someone who persists in doing so.