It's time for updates once again. To start things off, we have Ch 11 of Voyagers: SS Robert Heinlein from the Voyagers Authors. Next, we have Ch 28 of the Edrich of Haluken by Jules Porter. We also have Ch 39-40 of Mayfield Magic and Ch 29 of Emerald City Boys by DouglasDD. From Myke D we have Ch 6 of Myka’s Quest and Ch 12 of Lost Souls. Finishing things off we have Ch 18 of Lagniappe by Boudreaux and from The Story Lover we have a character list from Dragon Earl: Book One. Check back soon for more updates.

Hey everyone!

Yes, I'm still alive! Believe it or not, The Eggman and myself do have a chapter in the works; unfortunately my current medical issues and some real-life issues on his part have slowed things down considerably. While things are moving forward, I value your patience as we navigate these rough times. Good news is that by the end of this year, it looks like my medical issues will be under control!

Now, on to another topic, one that I hope you enjoy. One of the core things that has been part of the CSU since the beginning has been music. Jeffsfort was poking around one day recently, and he found something that he thought I'd be interested in. I did a little poking around, found that not only was it valid, but there was an amazing backstory, and I now want to share it with you!

Back in the day, Don Goldberg was friends with Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, and penned two songs with him which are now available on the "Lost Tracks" collection that was recently published. Don formed the tribute band "Surf's Up" with his sons Donny and Danny, along with his cousin Denny Hardwick. Moving on a few years, Donny gets married, and they have two sons. The oldest, Landon, starts playing drums at the tender age of one - and there is video proof of it! (Dad says he thinks Mom being at the concerts while pregnant taught Landon how to keep a beat before he was born) A year later, Lyric was born ... and by some stroke of luck, both boys were gifted with 'perfect pitch'.

Now on to today... Just like how his Dad let him get involve in music, Donny and his wife has supported both of their son's interest. That has led to the current topic, the band "Raized Wrong". Thirteen-year-old Landon is on drums and vocals, twelve-year-old Lyric is on keyboards, vocals, occasional guitar, and usually draws attention due to his antics. Dad does guitar and some vocals, but lets the boys take the lead. The best part is that the boys do all of the background work, programming Mainstage so that Lyric can use the keyboards to fill in instruments they don't have, breaking down songs so that they know what they need to play, etc. They recently put out an album on most of the streaming services called "Gen Z does Gen X", covering multiple 80's songs (with approval from the original artists, at least one done in-person).

Raized Wrong has a page on Patroen, and multiple Social Media pages. Video and special announcements can be found there. For Patroen, just search for "Raized Wrong". the other one I watch is on Facebook, which is "Raized Wrong Productions" and "Raized Wrong Momma" -- be careful on Facebook, as there are intellectual property thieves posing as them on some other pages, the two I just listed are confirmed as the real thing.

As a reminder, neither I or anyone on the sites are associated with the band, this is just sharing some very skilled youth who deserve to have their skills shared with the world!

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Don't forget about the previous news post on the Cafe; we could really use the help to keep the sites running! Thank you to each and every one of you!

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I hope all of you are safe and healthy, have a great week!

AC

Hello Readers,

It's TSL again with hat in hand, yes it is that time of year again when we ask you our loyal readers to help keep our sites up and running. You may well know our sites are run almost entirely on your generous donations! When your donations do not cover all of the cost, the difference comes out of our pockets. We have no ADs on our sites and no Premium Tiers! There is no charge to our authors for hosting their stories nor any charge for you the readers to read them. We would appreciate it if you could find a way to donate any amount to keep our sites AD-free and running. So please check between your couch cushions and under your car seats any amount will be gratefully accepted. No amount is too small. We thank you very much for all of your help over the years.

To sweeten the pot a bit, we are running the following promotion again, simply put, make a $10 USD donation and get a free Joel Book.

Have you considered helping to keep these sites up and running? Are you also a fan of Ted Louis' "Joel" series? Well, Ted has informed us that he found a case of assorted Joel books. Yeah, "actual" in print books! He decided that anyone willing to make a $10 or larger donation within the US to the hosting service paying the bills for the Fort Family Community of sites, he is willing to send you your very own copy of a random book in the series, autographed by Ted Louis himself as a thank you!

To sweeten the pot a bit, we are running the following promotion again, simply put, make a $10 USD donation get a free Joel Book.

Have you considered helping to keep these sites up and running? Are you also a fan of Ted Louis' "Joel" series? Well, Ted has informed us that he found a case of assorted Joel books. Yeah, "actual" in print books! He decided that anyone willing to make a $10 or larger donation within the US to the hosting service paying the bills for the Fort Family Community of sites, he is willing to send you your very own copy of a random book in the series, autographed by Ted Louis himself as a thank you!

What to do:

1. Click on https://dsshosting.net/donations/donation-form/ and click on "Donate Now".

2. Make a qualifying donation of $10 or more.

3,. Email your name and mailing address to joel-offer@fortfamilyforums.com

4. Once the donation has been confirmed, Ted Louis will send a random autographed copy of one of his books to you directly.

(One book per donation. This offer will be withdrawn once the limited number of books has been sent. The early bird gets the worm! Unfortunately, only US residents due to expensive international shipping :( We'll take down the offer as soon as we confirm that no copies remain.)

Dear Readers,

It is time for me to beg for your help with keeping the site up and running AD Free. We will never have ADs or Premium Tiers on my site. However,  I do need your help keeping things running for the future.  Don't worry any size donation will be greatly appreciated.  

I sincerely appreciate all of you who have donated in the past! To donate just click  on this link

If you have any questions please contact me.

Thanks your for help,

TSL

Dear Readers,

Happy Easter to those who celebrate Easter.

I reposted the Dragon Earl Character List, as I added some characters and updated some others. Hopefully, one of these years I will get the list alphabetized.

'Abandon all hope ye who enter here,' By Dante.

I posted a story by a quartet of co-authors residing in my head. Some of those co-authors are ACFan's. One of these years I will send them back along with a gross of new characters for him, all with the same or similar names!

I would say Happy Reading, however, I don't want to Jinx you!

Take care,

TSL

I thought about not making a post, but I wanted to make sure that you all noticed that Lagniappe is now done.  The characters all told me it was quitting time, so this is it.  You get the multiple year wrap up at the end, though, so you know the whole story.  Hope you enjoyed it.

Boudreaux

Dear Readers,

For those of you wondering whether is is St. Paddy's Day or St. Patty's Day they are both correct. St. Patrick is the anglicized version of his Roman/Latin name Patricius. His Irish name is Pádraig. So you see borth of the nicknames are correct. Now as to Saint Patrick or Saint Saint Pádraig's Day. 

Contrary to popular belief Saint Pádraig did not chase the snakes out of Ireland, the reason for this is there were no snakes in Ireland at the time other than the two legged kind and those are everywhere. St. Padraig was a real person born sometime in the fifth century. There is plenty of documentation regarding his life, just no real carved in stone timeline.

The dates of Patrick's life cannot be fixed with certainty, but there is general agreement that he was active as a missionary in Ireland during the fifth century. A recent biography^[5] on Patrick shows a late fourth-century date for the saint is not impossible.^[6] According to tradition dating from the early Middle Ages, Patrick was the first bishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland, and is credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland, converting a pagan society in the process. He has been generally so regarded ever since, despite evidence of some earlier Christian presence.^[7]

According to Patrick's autobiographical Confessio, when he was about sixteen, he was captured by Irish pirates from his home in Britain and taken as a slave to Ireland. He writes that he lived there for six years as an animal herder before escaping and returning to his family. After becoming a cleric, he returned to spread Christianity in northern and western Ireland. In later life, he served as a bishop, but little is known about where he worked. By the seventh century, he had already come to be revered as the patron saint of Ireland.

His feast day is observed on 17 March, the supposed date of his death. It is celebrated in Ireland and among the Irish diaspora as a religious and cultural holiday. In the dioceses of Ireland, it is both a solemnity and a holy day of obligation.

From Wikipedia.

Green Ombre Cake Recipe

Happy Eating, and Reading,

TSL

P.S. Click on the cake image for the recipe!

Well, actually I'm not sure about that top of the morning thing.  It's currently 3:30 am for me, so I'm not sure that really counts as the top of anything, but it's close to St. Pat's day, so the greeting stands, or sits, or whatever greetings do.  Anyway, I'm a bit loopy because I haven't slept and I may regret this rambling post later on, but whatever....

So I have just posted the first chapters of two new stories which I hope will bring you all some pleasure as you read them.  I will let you know now that one of them, Hurricane Temple is already complete (I think, but what do I know, I'm just the writer), therefore there will only be a few chapters of it.  It's a short story, but it's long enough page wise to break into chapters, so that's what I did.  I'm only long winded when I'm talking to you in person.   It's a Southern US thing.  It's a curse, really, but I'm rambling again.  Go read Hurricane Temple and Living in a Small Town, and I hope you chuckle where I laughed and feel something where I cried, because I'm a mushy old Cajun geezer when I write.

Goodnight, or good morning, or whatever.  I go sleepies now. 

Boudreaux

Dear Readers,

It is that dastardly time of year again when we lose an hour of sleep by springing forward. Yes, Folks Daylight Saving Time is here, as unnatural, unhealthy, and dangerous as it is! 

According to the AASM, it's standard time that more closely matches our body's internal clock.

"The daily cycle of natural light and darkness is the most powerful timing cue to synchronize our body’s internal clock," the Illinois-based organization says. "When we receive more light in the morning and darkness in the evening, our bodies and nature are better aligned, making it easier to wake up for our daily activities and easier to fall asleep at night. Daylight saving time disrupts our internal clock, leading to sleep loss and poor sleep quality, which in turn lead to negative health consequences."

"For morning commuters and children heading off to school, dark mornings caused by permanent daylight saving time pose numerous safety concerns," the AASM says. "This would be especially problematic during the winter months when days grow increasingly shorter."

And while for some, turning the clocks back a full hour means 60 extra minutes of rest, sleep experts at the American Academy of Sleep Medicine say seasonal time changes disrupt our health and safety.

So which is better for us? Here's a look at what some experts had to say, along with a breakdown on how daylight saving time currently works:

Which is Better? Here's What Sleep Experts Say

While the legislation on the table is currently to make daylight saving time permanent, the AASM says it's permanent standard time that should be adopted instead, with one reason being to ensure safety for morning commutes.

“Daylight saving time disrupts the body’s natural circadian rhythms and impacts sleep,” said AASM President Jennifer Martin, a licensed clinical psychologist, in a press release. “Standard time provides a better opportunity to get the right duration of high-quality, restful sleep on a regular basis, which improves our cognition, mood, cardiovascular health, and overall well-being.”

Sleep experts also argue that permanent daylight saving time would "disproportionately" affect people living in the northern part of the U.S.

"Some parts of Montana, North Dakota and Michigan would not see sunrise until after 9:30 a.m. during the winter months," the AASM said, if the country adopted permanent daylight saving time.

Form: 2978708

Happy Reading,

TSL

Coming Soon:

It's time for updates once again. To start the updates off, we have Ch 8-10 of Voyagers: SS Robert Heinlein by the Voyagers Authors. We then have Ch 17-27 of Edrich of Haluken by Jules Porter. We also have Ch 35-37 of Mayfield Magic and Ch 27-28 of Emerald City Boys by DouglasDD. Finally, from The Story Lover’s Tales of Kyle Esparar we have All I Want For Christmas Is... . Check back soon for more updates.