Merkin

Amen to that.What I perceive is that you are also teaching them what being human could be like.

Having survived our own recent hippy cultural history where names like 'Balbo Shrooms' and 'Chasidy Rainbow' and even 'Rainy Daylee' were considered commonplace in some registry offices, I'd lean toward the Czech custom. The Czechs maintain an elaborate "naming calendar" with first names for both boys and for girls assigned to every day of the year.During the Communist era parents needed a special permission form to give a child a name that did not have a name day listed on the Czech calendar. Since 1989 parents have had the right to give their child any name they wish, provided it is used somewhere in the world ad is not insulting nor demeaning. However, the common practice is that most birth-registry offices look for the name in the book "What is your child going to be called?", which is a semi-official list of "allowed" names. If the name is not found there, offices are extremely unwilling to register the child's name. James

Thanks for all your hard work, Dude. I can report that AD withdrawal, even for a few days, was a very painful experience. BTW everyone, the Donate button works fine throughout all this mess, and if Dude is going to be shopping for a new host, it might be a good time to press it... James

I suspect that Cole, when he was a naughty little boy, got plenty of practice devising backup stories.

Ah, thank goodness. I was fearful that the flash form was in disfavor, decline, or as dead as the civilization here depicted. Thankfully Gee Whillikers has breathed life back into it with this lovely piece. One word of advice for Jim and Frank: don't lend them anything in exchange for an I.O.U... James

It's even better set to the music.

Dr. Roth doesn't sound like the kinda guy who would be content to rebuild a personality just to shuck off its gay characteristics. I suspect he will be creating sleeper agents of his own, to infiltrate various gay rights movements...

That cat doesn't appear to be ill.

Let's see the picture. I'd rather send the pound to Bruin. James

And we can all imagine what the first and second place trophies look like...

May as well throw in an egg and some tomato while you're at it and get the whole brekky over with.

How does one score a free car? I'm apparently asking the expert here, and I'd sure like to try whatever it takes. Well, almost whatever. Tell me you didn't do that.BTW overheating may not be expen$ive to solve. Try at least flushing out the cooling system and putting in new coolant. You may need a new thermostat, not too costly. Find a hunky garageman to flutter those big emu eyelashes toward.James

Samples. I'm thinking Tasting Party here. James

Richard, you have made a profound difference in these lives. Not only for your cast and crew, but also for your audience--and of course to yourself and those around you. I believe that is the definition of sainthood.I'm in awe.James

(hem) WEll??Couldn't get the falsetto to work, Cole; how do you DO that?James

I was finally able to quit, years ago, when I got too sick from flu to inhale. I was down and out and on near life-support and of course I couldn't light up in an oxygen-rich environment. Try to get sick.

Softly, Softly, Catchee Monkey...

That's a hoot. I love the way they struggle to keep a straight face throughout.

Druid Engineering by Merkin "It's one great bloody rock, alright." Egfrid, the Head Builder, gloomily surveyed the lack of progress on Number Four. He turned to his assistant. "Let me see the drawings again." Thrydwulf pulled the hide scroll from under his right armpit and unrolled it with a snap and flourish. "Regard The Plan," he intoned. Both he and Egfrid choked back snorts and chuckles. "Damn those Druids," muttered the Head Builder. "They seem to think that moving huge rocks about is child's play. And look at these instructions: 'Doth cast the fourth block twenty-seven paces from the corner of the third, and precisely toward the sunset of the day the lilies first bloom.' Give us a break! We've been here half a year already, waiting for these signs and alignments for each damned stone, and who knows whose pace is the right length?" It was a familiar rant, and Thrydwulf automatically made agreeable soothing sounds as he tuned the tirade out. After a moment he realized that the sound of Egfrid's voice had ceased, and he turned in time to hear Egfrid mutter "Unh oh." They both saw it happen as though in slow motion. The crew of riggers, clad in little more than dirt, sweat, and mud, struggled to hold the thick lashings as the huge rock tottered and leaned. First one great cable, thick as a warrior's wrist, gave way, then another. The men bellowed and scattered in all directions and the giant monolith crashed to the ground in a huge cloud of dust. It lay half in, half out of the foundation pit that had been prepared for it. "Oh, fook!" the two men uttered involuntarily. "OK, that does it," said Egfrid, throwing the diagram to the ground. "Screw this Stonehenge project. Someone's gonna get killed. I've always said we don't need this complicated a roundabout here anyway. Let's just branch the A344 off A303 past the damned stones, and we'll bring A360 up a couple of miles to the west instead." Thrydwulf was wide-eyed. "Are you saying?" "Shut the damned thing down." "You're the boss." ______

Sadly, I grew up with people like your grandmother, and I know that every word you have written is true. James

Tennessee, always in the forefront for hopeless causes. Recall the "Monkey Trial" over evolution in 1925. That one gave a lot of lawyers, judges, pundits, writers, moviemakers, and actors a lot of work. Maybe this will, too.

Although I am resigned to the fact that Dabeagle likes to take his time, every chapter I read of this tale whets my appetite for more IMMEDIATELY! James

Magical Realism excites the mind and frustrates the brain. As in a mirror image, what we see appears real--yet upon closer inspection is a reversal of what we think we know. Nice. James

One small spurt for man, one giant rush for mankind. James

I am spooked that Cole's Elam spelled backwards is...