PrivateTim

What a pleasant way to start a lunch at your computer.... finding a new chapter. Even if Ryan does try to take his own life, which I doubt he will, he won't succeed. Interesting scene with Josh and Will, but like I said earlier, the bar is a hobby and a hobyy that is making money, even if it isn't a lot. But that also might be more plot device than reality. A successful gay bar can throw off so much revenue from $16 martinis that you have to work at failing. It is when the crowd moves to the next hot bar that bars get in trouble. I assume that JJ is going to wind up hiring John as his PA, which will be good for both of them for a bit.

I am pretty sure most of the words were "all work and no play makes Mark a dull boy."

As if any of my fraternity brothers, 40 miles south of the Napa Valley, was going to drink a box wine. We brushed our teeth with Stag's Leap and used Grgich Hills to wash our cars....... Once, God knows why...... but we can smell it from our Palm Desert home when the wind blows the wrong way. I had a college class in folklore legends.... which this sounds like. Some really cool ones here: Folk Tales

You are missing two key points here. The family is rich and the family is really rich. Do you think racing thoroughbreds is profitable? Yacht racing? Playing polo? When you are rich you can indulge in incredibly extravagent hobbies. Owning a hot club, even if it is losing gobs of money is a gay man's hobby. It isn't the "cool young people" who are moving to Brooklyn, but the financially challenged young people who think they are cool (or more to the point want others to think they are cool) that are moving to Brooklyn. They tweet, Instagram and Yik Yak to each other about how cool, hip and trendy they are and hope people believe them. The really rich stay in Manhattan.

Of all the things that struck me in this chapter was this: It was 9:30, too damn early for me to be up in the summer. Early morn is the norm for surfers. Up at 5:30AM, out in the waves at first full light when the waves are still glassy before the wind comes up. You are at the donut shop by 8AM after an epic session and you have to hold the coffee in your hands for five minutes before your fingers thaw enough to work again and you can grab the first of your six donuts. I hope JJ finds out he enjoys genuine people.

Mmm, not a lot, some. Funny, I was thinking you were raised in Highland Park...... but now I'm like hmmmmm Idylwild? Big Bear? Yeah...... like in the 1930's...... Burbank is more "Hollywood" than Hollywood is. Paramount is the only of the majors in Hollywood and its been that way forever.

Duke's have townhouses and flats, not condos We thought were bad boys egging cars on PCH. - - - - - - - - - - - - - A comment was made in a review, "JJ may bitch but Will just leaves a trail of good deeds. Both hurting, both being dumped, still Will thinks about others not himself." It is true that Will does some nice things, but it is very easy to be generous when you have so much money no matter how much you spend you still have more. It is a bit harder when you give of personal things, like your time (and no, not once a year at Thanksgiving) or when the giving is painful, either financially or emotionally. Pat Tillman was someone who could have made generous donations to the USO, but chose a very different path and committment. Beyond just giving up his NFL career, Pat could have easily gone to OCS, but instead enlisted as a grunt. That is being committed.

If Will is 17 he is legal in NY state. CA is one of the few states where 18 is a hard and fast age. Zach can not be completely divorced from Will because they are still related, but he can back off the contact to holidays and special occassions. My guess is that there is someone at UCLA from either De La Salle or another Nor Cal school. With a player of Zach's quality other players are going to talk and players from different schools all know each other. There has to have been no small amount of gossip about Zach. Even if the gossiper had no clue it was true, it wouldn't be unusual for malicious gossip to go around for the sheer maliciousness of it.

It is premature to speculate on anything. We have to wait and see what Alex does with Mary Ellen. He isn't going to let her leave the country with his son and heir and no British court would side with ME in a custody battle. As to poached salmon I probably eat it once a week as it is about the easiest thing a working couple can fix for dinner. JJ might be small, but a competitive figure skater needs about 5,000 calories a day to maintain their weight when they are in training.

Thanks for the latest chapter. I don't know why everyone, including Will, are shocked by Zach's email. Everyone, including Will, know that football comes first with Zach. I think we discussed this two books ago about Will knowing he was going to have to be way in the background during college and any possible NFL career. He can't be Zach's constant companion and not raise eyebrows and as Zach would become more well known in NCAA circles it would be impossible to stifle the speculation online and eventually in the media. I still don't get why Alex didn't tell Mary Ellen to sod off and send her packing.

I am trying to figure out what Mary Ellen can do to JJ without hurting herself. She can't try the outing to USFS thing since that would blow back on her and piss off Alex. If I was JJ I'd just have ME whacked. Alex has his heir, now he can be the widower. I also don't get the big deal about Will spending money. He has lots of his own and why should his father care? Will can't spend Brad's money. If Will pissed away his money I think Brad would almost be glad.

So wait...... Italians are considered white now??

I see Tony more like this.......

I think I liked that chapter, I need to ruminate some more. If Stef was having business issues with Brad, the place to raise it was in a business setting. It is pure bunk for Stef to suggest he couldn't have a meeting with Brad because he wasn't around. If you want a meeting to discuss issues, you schedule one. As to Will, since he never is held accountable for his behavior he continues to overstep his bounds.

"George Jefferson"?? Is the Viscount movin' on up???

Why are you reading a British newspaper to find out what is going on in Los Angeles? I stopped reading after the first line. What unadulterated bullshit. I've been to Liverpool, East London, Glasgow, La Courneuve Paris and other slums in European cities that are massive compared to the tiny sliver that Skid Row is and there many worse spots in the U.S.

Have you ever actually been to LA? The City of LA is 469 square miles. Manhattan is 33 square miles. There are no single families homes I know of in the core downtown area. What is being torn down are old industrial buildings, even at that at the pace they are building it would 100 years for even downtown to look like Manhattan. There is plenty of room left to build more single family homes in the hills, but there won't be large family tracts like there was at the end of WWII when the Valley still had farms and orchards.

Plaid isn't flannel and a lot of celebrities grow beards between productions to "hide". It has nothing to do with LA wanting to be Manhattan, but with developers wanting to build big buildings, the city council to stem white flight and increase the tax base.

Any sane person would be horrified at that look. I've never seen a male look that way in West Hollywood or Silverlake..... maybe a lesbian or two.

Congratulations Mark and team on another marvelous story. The coming book should be interesting for who the narrator(s) is(are). Will will return to Harvard Westlake to be near Zach? Will Zach have time for Will? What will Alex do to handle Mary Ellen? How will JJ come to terms with the end of his career, or will he realize yet? Looking forward to what comes next.

Okay, sorry, but I think Will is a Grade A asshole. What gives him the right to remove Brad's mattress in a home that isn't his? When Will got emancipated, did Brad remove the mattress from Will's room? Make him feel unwelcome even though Will was rejecting his parents? If I was Brad I'd do a psycho Will job on Will's Ferrari. As to JJ, it is nice he is planning his return, but I hope in this recovery period he finds out how cool life is once something like skating stops dominating your life. And for those who hated Alex early in this story.... well [/url]" />

This is why we don't build high rises in LA.

Well we will NOW!

Freakin' A, Palo Alto is 30 minutes down the 280 if you aren't leaving at rush hour. There is no reason for any family member to want to spend the night in the City other than they want to spend the night in the City and if they do, there isn't one that can't afford a suite at the Mandarin Oriental, Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton, Palace or any other five star hotel in the City. As to family dinner, it is one thing when you live in the house or in the same city (Jack & Claire), but how many people here are still going to Daddy's house for dinner every week? I don't think wanting a break from those is a bad thing and it certainly isn't Will's place to tell anyone else what to do.

JJ's injury is a nice way to bow out of the skating stuff. You can bend history a bit for JJ to win the nationals, but bending to medal in the World's might have been a bridge too far. As to Will, what a little douche he is. "“So part of me feels like he completely deserted me" Oh really? Aren't you the one William who asked for emancipation? You told your father to stay out of your life, but you insist as a callow 16 year old to tell him what to do. Take a dose of the advice you dispense so freely and butt out of his business.