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Merkin

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Everything posted by Merkin

  1. Cute, indeed, but one wonders wistfully if the clean-shaven look will ever return. James
  2. Two Trees is astonishing, lovely, and heartfelt. It is a great gift to us from Simon. While it might be fair to compare this work to Kipling's writing, I would never compare Simon Jimenez to Rudyard Kipling. Kipling the poet and story-teller is one thing. Kipling the social activist and father is another matter. Remember what he did to his son Jack. James
  3. Am I wrong in thinking Stephanie appears to be the one in the driver's seat in this situation, aided and abetted by her mother? James
  4. The imagination is a strange and wondrous thing, and appears to be unique to each of us in our use of it. How that should be is conclusively made clear in this delicious coming-of-age tale, "The Behold of the Eye" by Hal Duncan. Duncan?s lovely take on the work of a faery on behalf of his Behold first appeared online in Lone Star Stories, a no-longer published webzine for speculative fiction and poetry, and fortunately has gone on to wider circulation as part of the collection presented in Unplugged, The Web?s Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy: 2008 Download (Wyrm, 2009). If you missed it in either location I urge you to look at it now. This charming, readable fantasy will give you a whole new slant on how we cope with our fondest memories, our obsessions, and our desires. James
  5. This is a story I first encountered on Dabeagle's site, and I've read it half-a-dozen times because I love it. Yet I'm afraid to start reading The Meaning of Living each time because it just blows me away. I know I'm going to have a long, pensive evening ahead when I finish it, a thoughtful evening while I examine and reexamine the issues and themes this story so wonderfully evokes. This story about a learning experience is a learning experience, and if I had my way I'd put The Meaning of Living on the required reading list in all of our public schools. James
  6. This is an exquisitely wrought story delivering a wonderful sense of place, even for an outlander. I can smell the wet wool, hear the puck click, and feel my fingers getting stiff and raw. It skillfully comes full circle to make good on both the critical confrontation and the initiating birthday, so that by the end I sit back and say 'Why, of course!' Very satisfying. I especially admire Gee's extraordinary control behind the scenes to make it all work out. Now that we've learned all that Canadian vocabulary I hope Gee will deliver lots more lovely stories from the far North. James
  7. Merkin

    Venture

    Thank you, fellas. I'm truly grateful for these kind words from such capable writers and editors. (I may have come up short in this attempt to satisfy Cole's monstrous appetite for new thrills, but I refuse to admit defeat and shall strive to invent even more extraordinary and bizarre situations for his delectation. ) James
  8. Merkin

    Venture

    Venture by Merkin "Can we go to the park, Grandpa?" "Do you think we can find it?" Adrian had come for the weekend, to babysit Timmy for his son and daughter-in-law. "Oh, yes. I know right where it is. We take the 15 bus. Can we? Can we?" Although he was nearly six and a big boy, Timmy found it hard not to beg when he wanted something. "It'll be a venture!" "I think you mean an 'adventure.' Does the park have swings?" "Oh, yes. And slides, and ducks, and a pond, and -- " "I think you've sold me, Timmy. But we'd better go now. It's afternoon already." The bus deposited them right at a busy corner entrance of the huge mid-city park. Timmy clutched his grandfather's hand and stared at all the activity. Some boys in tight jeans and wifebeaters were standing against the iron fence, smoking and talking. One boy with white streaks in his dark hair ran to the curb and leaned into the open window of a car that had pulled up. He waved to the others, opened the car door and slipped inside. The others laughed as the car drove away. Timmy tugged on Adrian's hand. "This way, Grandpa." At the swings Adrian soon got tired from pushing Timmy. He went to a nearby park bench and sat to watch as his grandson ran to the slides. The boy was inexhaustible. It had been a good idea to come to the park. The old man nodded and his eyes closed. Adrian"s eyes snapped open and he sat up, confused. Where was he? Then he remembered. Timmy! He looked around. The boy's jacket was beside him on the bench, but there was no sign of his grandson. Awkwardly he got to his feet. "Timmy? Timmy? Where are you, boy?" He looked around desperately. Where could he have gone? Keeping the bench in sight in case Timmy returned, the old man walked an increasingly larger circle through the playground equipment. This section of the park was quiet and nearly deserted. It was getting late and shadows were beginning to gather. The few children who had been playing when they arrived appeared to have left. My god, what if the boy had headed for the pond? Adrian didn't know what to do. He didn't even know where the pond was located, and if he left the bench and Timmy returned the boy wouldn't know where he was. Adrian was frantic with indecision. Off in the distance he saw three figures approaching. Thank goodness, maybe he could ask for help. But wait, could it be? The smaller figure in the center looked like his grandson. It was! Timmy dropped the hands of the two boys walking with him and ran toward his grandfather. Adrian knelt and hugged the boy. "Timmy! I've been so worried! Where did you go?" "I had to wee, Grandpa, and you were fast asleep, but I knew where to go, but then the bad man tried to get me to go into the smelly toilet with him and Chris and Trey stopped him and brought me back and -- " Adrian looked up at the two boys. They were wearing tight jeans and wifebeaters and looked familiar. "Boys, I'm so very grateful. I didn't know what to do or where to look, and you've saved Timmy from lord knows what..." Adrian's voice faltered. "We do know what." His voice harsh, the taller boy stared at the old man. "Little guys like Timmy shouldn't have to run around on their own, Grandpa." Adrian swallowed hard, and nodded. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have fallen asleep. I need to remember what comes first." He leaned his forehead against Timmy's and felt the boy kiss him on his cheek. When he looked up he saw the boys walking away. "Wait," called Adrian. "I'd like to thank you more adequately." The tall one turned and looked back at the old man and his grandson. "You keep that kid safe. That's thanks enough." He turned and the two boys walked on toward the park entrance at the corner. ______
  9. Merkin

    Rivalry

    Good advice from Cole, Ele.I think if we all had sense enough we all would rush to southern California. But that would probably tip it into the sea.James
  10. Merkin

    The Wish

    Plato notwithstanding, when I was a teenager I discovered I did already know it all, and better than anyone else, especially my parents. A lot of teenagers appear to likewise contradict Plato's teaching. Now that I am more mature I find I am struggling to remember what day it is, and whether I have zipped up (although by watching the eyes of passers-by I sometimes can figure that one out). After years of searching for answers I believe I would have been better advised early on to have followed the path of the Buddha, rather than the rocky road left so mysteriously charted by the Greeks, paved with Roman good intentions, and sabotaged by the potholes, sinkholes, and washouts left for us to navigate by our successive Western 'civilizations.' I do not credit my schooling with what education I possess. James
  11. I discovered early on that cats and Christmas trees are incompatible. Wrapped gifts, Christmas stockings, and decorations around the house are also. Makes for a furry but Spartan holiday.
  12. Something else for our anti-immigration activists to worry about.
  13. I, too, discovered this lovely, heartrending tale long ago. This is not my favorite holiday season, and 'Forever December' has become one of those stories I select to read every year to remind me that there can be an essential goodness available to mankind. James
  14. Say, what's up with that dreadful camo, anyway? It's about time that the military got a little fashion sense, if it's going to recruit from our ten percent. Let's have tight riding britches, short jackets with a bit of flare, shiny brown boots nearly knee-hi... you get the picture. And bring back those little whips for officers, too.
  15. For sure, Cole, those losers in New York might be called Yankees, but yankees know that real baseball is played by the Red Sox.
  16. Nice, Cole. No use walking the walk if you can't talk the talk. James
  17. Man and Superman is superb. Every character is captured beautifully. The pace and development is dead on. Bruin employs a wonderfully effective technique of coming at his story from the points of view of secondary characters, who are charming in themselves. Additionally, I am very pleased to see that Marks & Spencer continues to incite writers to lay pen to paper. I, for one, hope that Bruin continues to hang around those retail precincts for inspiration. James
  18. Merkin

    1996

    Yes. Never forget.
  19. Merkin

    The Wish

    In Chapter 17 Gee may have come up with the ultimate cliff-hanger.
  20. Blush. Thank you both. Praise from two such good writers is praise indeed. James
  21. Merkin

    Emus love preening.

    Wow. You've a right to preen. Congratulations. Go eat worms.James
  22. Wunnerful, wunnerful. (I thought they looked awfully young on the bus last week.)
  23. This is absolutely tragic. Charismatic doctors convinced of their own righteousness are just as evil as charismatic bible thumpers. How do we protect children from people like this making irrevocable decisions on their behalf? James
  24. Reminds me of the life work of Cynthia 'Plaster Caster' Albritton. She got more than her fifteen minutes of fame back in the seventies and was an inspiration to many of us. I'll append a wee bit of her Wiki bio:'...Shy as a young girl, Cynthia sought out a way to make contact with the opposite sex. In the mid-1960s she became caught up in free love and rock music. In college, when her art teacher gave the class an assignment to "plaster cast something solid that could retain its shape", her idea to use the assignment as a lure to entice rock stars to have sex with her became a hit, even before she made a cast of anyone's genitalia. Finding a dental moldmaking substance called alginate to be sufficient, she found her first client in Jimi Hendrix, the first of many to submit to the idea.Meeting Frank Zappa, who found the concept of "casting" both humorous and creative as an art form, Albritton found in him something of a patron. He moved her to Los Angeles, California, which she described as a veritable groupie heaven, with no lack of assistants. Together, Zappa and Albritton conceived an idea of preserving the casts of musicians for a future exhibition...'While I admire your scheme, Des, you've left out the possibility for incorporating candlemaking technology to produce a line of personal votive candles.James
  25. We messed with Nature the moment we poured concrete slabs and laid asphalt roads and it probably is too late to turn back. I'm surprised those sycamore trees have any life left in them at all, and I don't begrudge the bugs their snacks. James
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