I believe I was genuinely surprised ...although maybe a small part of me went 'Aha!' when it turned out to be the gawky nerd I'd 'Kanyed' at the Piracy Conference.

Jared Kaltmarsh was apparently Valleywag's new 'it kid'. The darling of all the angel investors and 'the next Zuck' according to all the cool kids in tech bubble land.

For the officially anointed Golden Child, he was quite sweet and unassuming. And for a math whiz, he seemed pretty clueless about money.

If I hadn't been panicked enough at the thought of being a celebrity auction item ….I couldn't help but think back to Rado Mitruczeck's twisted vacuum packed beauty 'exhibit'.... my anxiety spiraled out of control when I spied a familiar face in the audience.

By the time we got back to the hotel it was pretty late. I had an email from Mikey asking me to wake him up and tell him how the pirate stunt went. I decided to let him sleep, knowing there would probably be some third party coverage by morning, with that many tech folks in one room, my speech was probably already on You Tube.

I asked Dennis whether he thought it was too late to call Doctor Dale. He seemed to think the call could wait until morning.

So I had all sleepless night to toss and turn and wonder what Doctor Dale wanted to discuss.

While I scrambled to come up with a way to break free of this intolerably perky social appendage, Ani proceeded to show me every square inch of wine country and beyond.

This Unicorn answered the call in a world without grit.

Marty Hughes adores doing things with his mom, who is a single parent with a mysterious job. She loves him just as much, but when there's an accident on a camping trip, their mother-son relationship is going to be strained in ways that neither could have imagined.

Jessie's Ride

Chapter 3
The move

I spent the next few hours packing the kitchen and my stuff. Ben arrived late that night. Something was different about him. I could not put my finger on it but it was there. I really did not want him to change now. My life was throwing too many curve-balls lately as it is. I told him about the sale and the move. His reaction was a shrug and to start packing. This made me think something was defiantly wrong! I decided to let him be for now. I could find out what was wrong when we were settled in the new cabin.

 Chapter 83

The ball flew through the air cleanly from way out there in three point land.

“Holy shit.” Faye said.

“Damn. Big Daddy Kane in the house or what?” A nameless skin player gave Faye a hi five. “That’s like what. Twelve points… somethin’ ridiculous? What is it, Brickhaus?”

Brickhaus, a large barrel-chested dude with shiny hair and an Ed Hardy shirt looked at the game as a whole.

“Yeah. He’s at twelve. Score’s 68-61 skins. That’s game. Dude, where the fuck did you come from? Wait… you’re the bakery guy, right?”

“Well, now you've had the Uncle Kevin experience” I laughed to Dennis as we walked back to our hotel.

“Did it live up to your expectations?” Mikey asked playfully.

Dennis just shook his head. “If I didn't experience it for myself, I'd swear you two were exaggerating” he laughed.

“Trust me. No one could make up uncle Kevin.” I chuckled

“Only God!” Mikey said.

“...or maybe the other guy?” Dennis raised one eyebrow. All three of us broke into guffaws.

As much as I was becoming obsessed with the woman whose life I was living, I became immersed in the nearly fulltime job of being the public face of Katherine Keller.

One of the highlights of our European tour was a hastily improvised performance after a chance meeting with a principal of the Vienna Light Orchestra, a group of serious classical musicians who do 'popular music' in an orchestral tradition to introduce general audiences to the experience of classical music.

Virtual Reality, the dream of all gamers, is now a reality with the land of Ilos.

However, it's creators are unknown, and no one knows how the devices they have access it, only that they do.

Tasalin and Corvid, the final two 'main' characters, are introduced in this chapter as they deal with the start of Ilos.

It didn't take a private detective to find Matt Cutler. Want to find a guy on the UCLA track team? ….Hang out at the UCLA track.

I was dressed down in sweats and a hoodie with logo and school colors, courtesy of the campus shop. I looked like any other student ...maybe a little too student like with all the branded apparel. Still, no one seemed to notice.

This gave me a wicked, wicked idea. I mentioned it to Eoin and he was all for it. But getting it by Dez was a trickier manouver.

“Well, since you're here, let's get a look at you” I smiled and playfully shook the skin around Kesey's neck. He cocked his head and leaned into my hands and his stubby tail began to wag.

Colin regarded me while I gave Kesey the once over.

“He's usually extremely shy, I'd even say ...skittish... around strangers. I've never seen him take to anyone the way he's taken to you....”

I smiled and regarded him for a moment. “What about you?”

He shrugged sheepishly.

It seemed I had the rest of the day free. I wandered into Katherine's 'office'. I guess it was a tax thing or somesuch, but this was the room with all the Katherine Keller memorabilia.... her framed first Vogue cover.... a number of other framed glossy magazines and photos, including one with a very perplexed looking Dalai Lama which made me smile. There was her Golden Globe, her people's choice award, a number of teen spirit awards going back to the time she first started modeling. I hadn't realized how long she had been doing this. How long since she had been a part of the 'real world'.

Curiosity Killed The Boy

My older sister always had more clothes than I. Her closet and dresser were full. The closet in the spare bedroom was packed with outfits that didn’t fit her or were deemed out of style. There were boxes of her old clothes on the floor of the closet. Since Monica took care of her clothes, Mom had a habit of saving her stuff. “You never know when they may come into use,” she would say.

I was accompanying my cousin on his contest winning trip to a lavish Hollywood premiere. I was merely his 'plus one' and chaperone. The last thing I had intended was to become the center of attention - as the stand-in for the reclusive, troubled starlet.

I simply joined my cousin as his plus one on a contest winning trip to Hollywood.
I had hoped for a break from my rather miserable home life, but never imagined I'd get swept into the center of a scheme that belonged IN a Hollywood movie.

Virtual Reality, the dream of all gamers, is now a reality with the land of Ilos.

However, it's creators are unknown, and no one knows how the devices they have access it, only that they do.

Some things are revealed, and Nick gives his theory on what has happened.

Virtual Reality, the dream of all gamers, is now a reality with the land of Ilos.

However, it's creators are unknown, and no one knows how the devices they have access it, only that they do.

Nick and Jess venture back into Ilos to see if they can find David, but end up running into a new friend instead.

Call me Elsie. Everyone else does. Actually, it used to be L.C. And that was only because I never let anyone call me by my proper name.... never let anyone even know it if I could help it. What kind of parent names their kid Lorenzo Carlton? I used to half joke that I should be able to bring them up on charges, for naming your child something guaranteed to get them picked on at school surely counts as child cruelty.

Virtual Reality, the dream of all gamers, is now a reality with the land of Ilos.

However, it's creators are unknown, and no one knows how the devices they have access it, only that they do.

Virtual Reality, the dream of all gamers, is now a reality with the land of Ilos.

However, it's creators are unknown, and no one knows how the devices they have access it, only that they do.

Chapter 78

Bobbie was still trying to figure out the plans for the school cake; it was just such a daunting project. There’s got to be something like 20 sheet cakes here. The amount of limes that would give their lives to form the tasty grass of Slacker’s cove would number in the dozens.