PrivateTim

Silver Lake is a hill neighborhood north of the 101, south of the 5 around a reservoir (as in Reservoir Dogs). It has had ups and downs, is on the way up again and Sunset Blvd runs through the middle of it. A lot of the older LA gay crowd hangs in Silver Lake not West Hollywood. Because it abuts Little Armenia there is a fair amount of "Russian mafia" around. Mark would like Silver Lake I think. Gay Clubs Silver Lake

Pretty funny video on Oak Land, as they call it. And 3rd Street is one of the places Malibu kids would hang since it the nearest place to hang besides the Malibu Country Mart. Hipsters are just a variation of goth, emo, grunge and similar groups. They are people who show their independent thinking and ways by dressing exactly like everyone else in their group and liking and disdaining the same things as them.

To revise and extend my remarks from my review of the last chapter. I don't think it was necessary for JP to reveal the Hendrickson relationship in order to help Kristin, but as a story goes, it was probably as good as any. I am looking for Mrs. Hendrickson to see which way the wind is blowing and step in and take control and bring every one back to reality. She certainly must see that she risks losing contact with her daughter for a very long time. We know Kristin loves her family and they love her. We know she has had a very good life with them, there has been no abuse or mistreatment and she has had a lot of freedom. I think the mother is bright enough to realize that at 17, Kristen may change her mind many more times on love before she settles down and that forcing the issue now might push Kristen more to Gathan rather than let nature take its course. Teen who graduate high school and go get jobs might get married at 18, high school grads who go on to college, do not. They get married much later. In defense of the parents a little, they know Kristen is too young to be serious and that most 17 year olds are not mature enough to make life changing decisions at that age. That doesn't excuse an over-reaction of trying to break up Gathan and Kristin, but their concern is understandable. I suspect Kristin is here to stay in these stories because Mark has spent so much time on the character so she and Gathan might remain together despite that it would be against the norm for high school students who head to college.

For me it would have been that moment when JP conked the security guard at Princeton. That pebble in the pond set this whole story.

If this were a 1940's radio drama you'd hear the dramatic organ hits when JP drops the bombshell. It was cool and dramatic, but I don't think he really needed to do it. A guardianship isn't about the nearness of the relationship, but ability to take care of the persons need. Not as dramatic, I know.... Emancipation is also about being able to take care of yourself, so if Kristin had a trust fund, at 17+ it might be a non-issue. I hope they don't go either direction. I hope Mrs. Hendrickson steps in and lays it on the line.

That is your personal opinion. There was actually a gay club in Los Angeles that was an all ages club and 13 and 14 year olds were in there. I also believe as pointed out, the age of consent in Italy is 14 so they obviously have a different take on what is too young and what isn't. I also believe underage wasn't the word you used.

You started the post by saying, "Oh come on. Being 14 is all about finding limits to what you can and can't get away with." That is a comment that wasn't qualified by "most 14 year old I knew tested limits" you said that was what 14 year olds were like. Sorry you think it is pedantic to ask people to say what they mean with some precision, but the only way we can communicate on GA is through pretty precise language. You did say most 14 year old you knew were "complete tools" and "definitely pushing boundaries with the authority figures" but what does that mean, 'most you knew'? Do you only mean your friends or or do you include everyone who was in the 8th grade with you? I should have been more precise when I said peers, I meant by peers, my friends. I knew 8th graders who drank, did drugs and were having sex, but they were not the majority of the 8th grade. I know quite a few young teens, some I have asked if they are doing certain activities and I've gotten back what I think are pretty honest answers because when I ask the question it isn't a random, out of the blue question, it is usually out of a deeper conversation I am having with someone and it might only be after they asked me about my experience because when people know you went to Berkeley they think you know everything in the world about illicit drugs. The organizations that do surveying on teens in America do so anonymously and since various different surveys get numbers that are pretty close when it comes to drug and alcohol use and sexual activity, I am pretty confident that the numbers are close to being accurate. I wouldn't say I am applying my moral standards to Mark's story, the only comment I made about Will's conduct was in my review, "I am not sure how I feel about the chapter.... I'll have to ponder it. I know as a parent I would not be happy with my 14 year old in a gay club, let alone in a strip contest and certainly dancing to a happy ending." That doesn't sound like "applying my moral standards to Mark's story". The sense I was getting from Mari and you was "oh 14 year olds do this kind of stuff all the time". I disputed the notion that most or even many 14 year olds were in gay clubs, dancing naked, erect and climaxing. Mark likes feedback from readers and he takes the comments to heart and I am sure he carefully considers the feedback because that is the kind of guy he is. It is fiction, but Mark takes pride in creating realistic situations and mixing in realism.

Happy Birthday old timer

You make the same mistake that Mari does is you generalize your experience to all 14 year olds. I dare say the vast majority of 14 year olds, people who have not yet started high school have not been drunk or used illicit drugs. In fact the numbers are pretty low. I never cheated in school, never skipped school, never smoked anything did go to church camp, ice cream socials, beach barbeques, broom hockey and miniature golf to name a few activities and so did most of my peers. We had pool parties, did ding dong ditch and all the normal things that pre-high schoolers did. I didn't go to a gay club until I was 18 and at 34 have yet to do a poll dance, get erect while naked in public and shoot jizz over the first row of an audience. I have been to gay clubs where 13 year olds were allowed to be and they didn't get naked, do poll dances or jizz on anyone either. There is a level of rebellion that every teen has, but my parents managed to convey enough of a sense of right and wrong that I made my own decisions on what to do based on what I thought was best for me. I didn't do them just because they said I couldn't.

No you shouldn't have posted it.

I am not sure how I feel about the chapter.... I'll have to ponder it. I know as a parent I would not be happy with my 14 year old in a gay club, let alone in a strip contest and certainly dancing to a happy ending.

Well do you mean track or cross country? My high school had a pretty elite cross country program so non serious runners, i.e. wrestlers, basketball players, etc. didn't go out for cross country, but track was different because you had football players as sprinters and shot putters, basketball players as high jumpers and hurdlers, and the like.

I think you knew the wrong athletes then in high school. Maybe some football players where channeling aggression, but is there any one more laid back than a long distance runner? The cross country guys were so mellow you had to check for a pulse twice a day. Swimming was a lot of guys who were pretty laid back too as were the golf, sailing, tennis and surf teams. Water polo and volleyball were a bit more intense, but they were sports guys did because they loved them and a lot of boys tend to be competitive, but not necessarily aggressive. Maybe east coast sports like lacrosse and hockey attract a certain personality type, but I can't see any parallel sports in the west, even though lacrosse is becoming more common. As to Will, I think you are underestimating the lure of the water to a water rat like Will.

So I am a little disappointed in the turn that the Gathan story took, I would have rather seen it move forward in a happier way, but I get that there has to drama. I guess I just like happy stories. It hasn't been mentioned, but I can't believe JP would let Will go to a gay club in Rome at age without a real bodyguard.

I haven't worked that much with USFSA directly, but I am involved with two other Group A USOC organizations and have been in meetings in Colorado Springs where the USFSA reps were there. I have a good idea of the challenges of each organzation of minor sports.

Except of course JJ is poor white trash like Tanya was and continues to be. JJ comes from a rich powerful family, the kind of family that USFSA would like to have sponsoring national teams and programs. And Johnny W, what can you say.

Of the two I would find Gathan the more likely one to falter, but in the year 2000 they are still in an era where gay men are dying from AIDS. It is hard to remember how quickly the drugs that have made HIV and AIDS managable have come. My point being, it is sometimes hard to move your mindset back 11 years to remember exactly how prevelant talk was about AIDS back then. AIDS has quickly left the front page. It just isn't something you hear about these days. Would Will in 2000 or 2001 or 2005, top an HIV+ guy? I am thinking not. Would he do it in 2008 and beyond when he is older? Maybe if it was someone he was deeply in love with. It has only been in the last 5-7 years that I have seen a total disregard for the dangers of being HIV+ among young gay men and they are usually under 21. It doesn't seem real to them. It will always be real to Will. Will at 20 in 2007 will not be like other 20 year olds.

Who is he kidding? It is only a matter of time until Troy Aikman comes out.....

So who else is going to see Harry Potter tonight at 12:01AM in 3D IMAX? I mean this is IT! The end of an era. I have 13 years invested in this series. It is almost like saying goodbye to friends you know you'll never see again.

I am not sure where your inside source is getting their information, but I used to see one very prominent US figure skater out and about in the community in the mid to late 1990's and at least two raves because he ran in a social group that touched my social group (as in a couple of guys floated back and forth between the two groups) and at a couple of low key parties I was at. Yes the USFSA would LIKE to control their image and their athletes, but they can't. Let's be honest folks, it isn't exactly a secret that there are a lot of gay men in the USFSA, past present and future. It was easy to keep under wraps for a while, but when major figures in the skating world started to show up as HIV+, we all knew it wasn't because they were Hatian. And the circumstances of JJ's family would not matter. No USOC Group A organization could ever be seen as having an anti-gay bias, that would be death to their leadership and if the organization didn't dump the leadership, the organization would jeopardize their Group A status. Yes, the 2011 group of juniors are very social media savy, but let's remember that in 2000 we didn't have MySpace or Facebook or even Friendster. It seems like they have been around forever, but in reality MySpace launched in 2003 and Facebook in 2004, but it wasn't until 2006 that Facebook opened up to anyone who wanted to join. Until then you had to join with an email that ended in .edu. In 2000 AOL was the 800 pound gorilla, dial-up was still dominant and there were a whole host of short lived concepts and sites that are no longer with us. In short, as much as USFSA would like their skaters to behave in a certain way, there is in actuallity little they can do to control them. Have we forgotten Tanya?

I would be very very careful with any site you don't know. It was gone from YouTube when I went to look at so I Googled it and found it at the originating site which promptly began to bombard me with spam and junk, my security programs were going nuts. It took me a while to get all the bogus programs completely cleared out.

bump Como e' bella ce' la luna brille e' strette strette como e' tutta bella a passeggiare Sotto il cielo di Roma Down each avenue or via, street or strata You can see 'em disappearing two by two On an evening in Roma Do they take 'em for espresso Yeah, I guess so On each lover's arm a girl boy I wish I knew On an evning in Roma Though there's grining and mandolining in sunny Italy The beginning has just begun when the sun goes down So please meet me in the plaza near your casa I am only one and one is much too few On an evening in Roma Don't know what the country's coming to But in Rome do as the Romans do Will you on an evening in Roma Como e' bella ce' la luna brille e' strette strette como e' tutta bella a passeggiare Sotto il cielo di Roma Don't know what the country's coming to But in Rome do as the Romans do Will you on an evening in Roma Sott'er celo de Roma On an evening in Roma

As my comment in my review of the newest chapter said, I hope Gathan takes Kristin (where did you get that spelling by the way, can we blame jeremy? It seems like it should be Kristen or Kirsten) home and talks with her parents. We know Kristin loves her parents very much and they love her very much. I think they both overreacted in the emotion of a moment. Kristin's dad has to know that Gathan is a young man with a good future and Kristin's mom must know that forbidding anything to a teen a like waving a red flag to do it. I think it would show a maturity and seriousness about Gathan that might impress upon her parents his seriousness about her and that it isn't some summer fling. P.S. at the rate we are moving now, hour by hour, day by day per chapter, I'll be collecting Social Security and Medicare before Will starts shaving

I am hoping Gathan man's up and takes Kristin home and talks with her parents. They all love each other and the parents are overreacting and so is Kristin. As they all cool off I think both sides can see they acted in haste. Gathan is clearly someone going places and Kristin's dad would recognize that and Kristin's mom would know, after reflection, that the worst thing you can do with a teen is to try and forbid something. Better to let Gathan go off to college and let nature take its course. As I recall from my ute, there were not a lot of small penises in Italy, but I suppose it happens.