Hey, Your Nose is on Fire!

     The S.S. Wheeler was a large, green residential hotel that operated until the mid-1980s, I guess, right on the oceanfront about halfway between Main Street and the Wedge here on the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach, CA. I never went inside the place, but I walked and rode past it for a decade or more heading to and from the house our family moved into when I was 9 years old, the house that I still live in with my father to this very day.      That last point becomes important later, so kindly make a note of it.      Five or six years after we moved into the house—I was in high school by then, at any rate—my younger brother Tom, then in middle school, came home with a classmate, a short, solid girl with stringy, brownish-blond hair and a deadpan expression that seemed to vary only between a scowl and a faint, rueful smile. She and Tom had started talking on the bus ride home, and it had turned out t...

The Daily Grind Table of Contents      Now that we're bumping up against something that might be a plot, lemme provide some links. Ochre and Malvolio's semi-contentious relationship shows up here and there: this page and the following few from near the end of our 107th storyline, " Warts and Bunions ," will give the interested reader a taste of it. As for Russalka and Princess Lily, they were last seen at the centers of our 128th storyline, " Succor ," and our 129th storyline, " Triage ." I'm guessing we'll soon learn what they've been up to since.

The Daily Grind Table of Contents      Could this be a paying case? We don't see Daily Grind take too many of those, though I always assume that they're carrying on with the business while I'm busy diverting everyone's attentions elsewhere..

The Terebinth Story Archive      I feel certain we're heading toward a Lamont soliliquy here, but then I'm always convinced that that's about to happen...

The Daily Grind Table of Contents      That's always my first recourse, too, popping over to see Howlett.

The Daily Grind Table of Contents      The Vapors came together as a group during our 104th storyline entitled " The Vapors ," oddly enough.

The Daily Grind Table of Contents      Is Juliette quoting Caddyshack there? How is it that my characters have seen movies that I never have?      Is a puzzlement. Which is from another movie I've never seen!

The Terebinth Story Archive      Three coyotes yip-yip-yipping in unison, I guess. All very melodic...

The Daily Grind Table of Contents      After all, breakfast, as they say, is the most important meal of the day. As for the Emporium, Jolene first stepped inside the place near the end of our 73rd storyline, " Fits and Starts ," and it's remained a pretty big subplot around here ever since.

The Daily Grind Table of Contents      Their separate little worlds came crashing down around Ochre and Ariadne during What Remains , the 15th book of Daily Grind adventures. They ran into each other at the end of that book and proceeded to create a great deal of mayhem together after colliding with Ann during our 16th book, Boundless . That was about eight months ago for our characters, but it was more like eight years ago for us reading in case anyone would like to review...

The Daily Grind Table of Contents      So, while I was reading the old stories I recommended on the previous page to prepare for this story, I was reminded of the weird font I used for Ochre's dialogue, a thing called "1942 Report," back when this was an actual webcomic. A good thing, I thought to myself, that Ochre's not our next POV character, or I'd hafta use that font for the whole thing.      And then, well, then I thought again. And here we are with Ochre as our POV character and "1942 Report" as the font for the story.      Still, if you did read the stories I recommended last week, then you have a basic idea of who Ochre, Ann, and Ariadne are. And we'll all move on from there.

The Terebinth Story Archive      I'm not sure, but I don't think cockroaches can hover in real life. Good thing this is fantasy, then. 'Cause who doesn't fantasize about hovering cockroaches?      Of course, Lamont would insist loudly that he's a Palmetto Bug. But we all know...

The Daily Grind Table of Contents      I'm not making any promises, but as far as preparation for our next storyline goes, I might recommend folks take some time this weekend to review our 104th storyline, " The Vapors ," our 105th storyline, " Leech ," and our 123rd storyline, " Universally Acknowledged ."

The Daily Grind Table of Contents      I'm not sure, but I think maybe we're on the verge of all living happily ever after or something...

The Daily Grind Table of Contents      Last week of the story, and I still have no idea what the next story's gonna be! Something shorter than this one, though, I reckon...

The Terebinth Story Archive      Apparently, I was wanting to draw a fussy little interior today.

The Daily Grind Table of Contents       That's telling 'em, Kain!      One more week of the story here, folks!

The Daily Grind Table of Contents      I've been thinking I should go back and reread the beginning of this whole thing to see if the ending here actually makes any sense, but, no! We're moving on!