PrivateTim

The points, yours and Timothy's are all good, but the above line sounds like an alcoholic saying, "I can stop drinking anytime I want."

My points were bigger than that. The overarching one is that ANY behavior of Will's is excused and explained away while any behavior of Alex's is criticized and used as evidence of his evil intent. There is no spoken relationship between Alex and JJ, just a lot of assumptions and you know why you never ass-u-me. The second point and I think maybe what headstall was alluding to, is that when you are in love with someone, you change your behavior. You don't just fulfill every lust you have, when you have it, not even if your partner says it is okay because it is still wrong and always a danger to your relationship. I do like that Timothy quoted story since textual evidence to support ideas is always a great way to change and persuade.

To use Timothy's word of "cad", I word paraphrase him as "the 'excuse' of having defined their relationship is bullshit. You don't date someone the way he has with Zach (deep unabiding love or so we are told) and have random sex with other people at the same time." The larger point is that people here are tending to see the sliver in Alex's eye, while ignoring the Sequoia in Will's eye.

But the issues are JJ's, not Alex's. Brad should be focusing on JJ and making sure JJ is in therapy still and not care who he is or is not dating. You mean like Will does?

It is not good to see JJ's hissy fit. I thought he was making progress. It will be interesting to see what effect being a grandmother has on Elizabeth. Being a father it hasn't had an effect on Wade because Wade, to be frank, isn't much of a father yet. Popping down to the nursery to play with the kid once in awhile isn't fatherhood. Having to wake up for the 3AM feeding, changing poopy diapers, etc are the things that pull you into the totality of being a father. Wade is more Big Lord Fauntleroy than Cliff Huxtable.

Since JJ is on the East Coast now, the family probably isn't going to fly a jet to him to fly back to the West Coast or someplace else. Even private pilot's have limitations on how many hours they can practically fly. The family, Stef or Brad, probably would buy JJ a NetJets membership. Where do you people get that Alex is poor? He is staying with Wade and Matt because Wade extended the offer, otherwise Alex would have found an apartment. Alex's grandfather has a townhouse in Grosvenor with staff, estates in Suffolk and Derbyshire with staff, stables and an extensive art collection, which is one reason he is studying art history at Harvard. His Grace, The Duke of Suffolk, let JP pay for the restoration and preservation of the Bridgemont letters because he has better things to do with his cash, not because he doesn't have any.

There is absolutely no reason to apologize to anyone for not answering reviews. It is all of us who are in your great debt. A Danfield/Granger baby is an interesting thought. The bluest of blue bloods. I do wonder what mummy's party is all about.

My hands are shakey, my throat feels dry, I have headaches......... I think I am going through Arbour withdrawal...... I hope Mr. Arbour feels appropriately loved and appreciated from his audience. Six days and no Will is a lot to take

Sorry, but all I want is Alex slamming JJ's ass or JJ pummeling his Lordship's pucker. Is that too much to ask? Zach's touchdown was a bit of "poetic license" since "Zach" didn't score that game, it was the Cecil show the whole game. If I was Will/Zach I'd have a lawyer lined up now to put the fear of God in Zach's parents. While I think kids, especially kids in this story, do need to respect their parents more than they do, Zach's father is the other end of the spectrum and I knew those fathers as well when I was in high school. He kind of reminds me of Ryan's father.

I think you overestimate the vernacular of CA. It is a very, very big place and what is popular in LA, won't be in Bakersfield and maybe not Palo Alto. The way teens in Santa Cruz talk will be very diffenent from Palo Alto and the way teens in Palo Alto talk will be very diffenent from San Jose. The holds true for the beach areas of LA and Orange County (which no one ever called "the OC") versus the inland areas, especially when you bring the Valley into the mix. University High (West LA) and Van Nuys High are only about 10 miles apart, but I guarantee you that they have completely different cultures and language.

Here is from my Chapter 19 review (which I just put up) on how to handle a situation: I hope the Parnell angle develops, here is my plot idea. Given that the Parnell kid is a Catholic school boy and that teens boys in general have loose zippers and that boys from all boy Catholic schools have especially loose zippers, I'd love to have someone arrange for the Parnell boy to have some very compromising pictures taken to keep him co-opted. I had especially good luck with guys from all boy high schools and religious schools (Catholic & Christian) when I was in high school and college. I don't think it would take much to get the Parnell kid in bed, especially given his attitude so far. It almost falls in the category of a cover story for his own desires and urges. The late, lamented Numbers was the king of bars for that, but with its closing the under 21 set heads to Tiger Heat to meet the older guys and the 21+ set is at The Abbey.

Fun chapter. I hope the Parnell angle develops, here is my plot idea. Given that the Parnell kid is a Catholic school boy and that teens boys in general have loose zippers and that boys from all boy Catholic schools have especially loose zippers, I'd love to have someone arrange for the Parnell boy to have some very compromising pictures taken to keep him co-opted.

I hope that JJ wakes up one day and decides he doesn't need skating any more and walks away because he is bored, not because he crashes and burns because he & Alex break-up or something along the lines where he melts down. Skating has been good for JJ because it gave him some confidence and he found something he was great at, but I think he is maturing enough that he doesn't really need it anymore. Will, for someone who hates to be controlled, is certainly controlling. I hope the story goes on long enough for him to have kids who torture him. Oh and I bumped into Stef at Whole Foods last night....a 60 year old gay guy in black skinny jeans, Gucci loafers, no socks, an impecibly tailored sport coat with a modish look and an Armani shirt. Guy was trying so hard to stay "young", but not quite getting there and calling more attention to his age by dressing age inappropriate.

I am not sure how things are in the gay scene in Western Australia, but in CA and especially the LA/West Hollywood scene, where a good part of the story has taken place, there are a lot of gay boys (by way of defining "boy", in WeHo that is anyone under 30 or 35 if you in great shape and can lie especially well) looking to get taken care of. There are certain clubs in WeHo where everyone knows a 25 year old actor/waiter can go when he needs a new outfit or looks to be short in the rent. Even beyond the boys who are outright golddiggers there are the May December couples who seem happy with the arrangement and don't have a problem with the unequal power and exeperience thing, each is getting their needs fulfilled. On a side not to the arthuor Mr. Arbour, I am not sure how long this book is planned for, but we are pretty deep into it and there hasn't been a single incidence of streaking yet!

Wow, all Wade, all the time. How do I get the Will Show on this thing??

Sorry I didn't review this sooner, but you know how life is...... and you certainly deserve far more than 7 reviews for all your hard work. I may be the only person who has liked Alex the entire time (but then that may be because I didn't fall into the trap of feeling sorry for Matt just because we saw his POV). I think you are showing that these people who had him (Alex) pigeon holed into some narrow niche of a questionable disorder are seeing life and Alex are far more complicated than that. As to age differences. I have a 43 year old friend who couldn't hook up with a 20 something for anything in his early 30's, now he has to beat the 25 and under set with a club to keep them away. He can't believe (me either) how many young guys WANT the 40+ guy. My friend and I have discussed the possible reasons and we've come up with lots of reasons from loyalty, security, maturity, mentoring and more and the truth is probably combinations of those and many more, but I see this more often than not.

Really? The pizza delievery guy? How many bad porn movies and bad Nifty stories are there about the pizza delivery guy? I like how Brad learned from his experiences, that seems more realistic than stepping on his own dick again. I like Alec, but which son is left for him? JJ has Alex and Will has Zach, so unless Darius takes a walk on the wild side, Alec is SOL>

Actually the hike to the sign is pretty popular and easy to do. There are fences and a sign saying you can't actually get to the sign, but that is mostly ignored.

Very cute scene with JJ & Alex. I am not sure where it goes long term, but I think it is a good thing for JJ and I think Alex is a good person for him. Zach was a little over the top for me. Most of the athletes I know who were gay and closeted, or at least the most successful ones, were not the ones who "doth protest too much", but the ones who played along. When a guy said something like "is your boyfriend gonna suck your dick tonite", the comeback was, "sure right after he finishes with you since you've been begging him to suck yours." The flippant, 'I don't take you serious', comebacks were the most effective ones.

I wouldn't let Will off the hook that easily. It was just 10 days ago that Will was conspiring with Matt & Wade about JJ & Alex and it was Will's idea that JJ should know and it was Will's thought that Matt should be the one to approach JJ. Will has not narrated since then (it was Wade narrating in Ch. 11) so we have no idea what was in his mind other then HE STILL INTENDS TO TALK TO JJ TO INTERFERE in his life. How does Will get off criticizing Brad for getting involved with JJ's life when he intends to do the same thing? At least Brad is JJ's father and still has responsibility for him. Will then goes on to TELL Brad, "don't you dare talk to Alex." Again, who is Will, who hates to be told ANYTHING, to tell someone else what they can and can not do? Will could say, "I think talking to Alex would be a horrible idea', but who is he to tell someone else "don't you dare", when he would burn a car if someone said that to him? When you read the arrogance of Will in that Ch 11 passage, it is like HE is the one deciding who should know what and who shouldn't and that they were going to develop a "plan." How is that not the kind of inteference he hates in everyone else?

So Mark, you know I love you, but I think you've painted yourself into a literaray corner with Brad's character. It is like Peter Sellers playing Clouseau. In the first Pink Panther movie, he played the role of Clouseau brilliantly. By the last Pink Panther movie he was Peter Sellers doing an impression of Peter Sellers in the first Pink Panther movie. The funny accents became cartoonish and exaggerated. That is what Brad's character was in this chapter, cartoonish, exaggerated and a characiture of Brad. Brad is a highly intelligent, highly successful man. He has come so far from 2000. Don't take him back two years just to fill a need for tension in the story. As to Will, I am rather perplexed where he is coming from since in Chapter 11 it is the EXACT IDEA he had and he, Matt and Wade agreed that JJ needed to be "warned" and that "me (Will), Matt, Tiffany or Stef" should do it. So how is it different when Brad comes to the same conclusion?

More to the point, how will Will react when Maddie's 17 year old boy friend takes her to a wild LA nightclub and 13 year old Maddie is doing a naked pole dance?

State and local laws are very unambiguous. The reason for criminal courts is people break the laws. Appeals are never about ambiguity in the law, but are usually over procedure. Speed signs don't say "Speed Limit 45 ish", they say "Speed Limit 45". Signs outside bars don't say "No one under 21 unless you are really, really mature for your age and we all know people over 21 who are totally irresponsible, so just come on in", they say "No one under 21, we card to age 30". If laws are ambiguous, they are impossible to enforce. There have been badly written laws, but in most cases, ambiguity was not the goal. The same is true in contracts. The SAG-AFTRA Basic Agreement (contract) is 725 pages long because no one wanted ambiguity. Does it still happen? Of course, but not as much as if it had been a 3 page agreement. Life is not lived by the exceptions, but the rule. There is a reason teens are not allowed to do certain things until they attain a certain age. Are there kids who could handle the responsibility earlier, sure, are there others who should be delayed in certain privileges, of course, but that is not the basis on which you write laws and create policies. Age is not an automatic indication of wisdom, maturity or life experience, but I don't know a single 35 year old who says, "man, I made SUCH better decisions when I was 14 than I do now." I've never met a person in their 50's, 60's and 70's who doesn't marvel at how little they actually knew when they were 27, let alone 17. There is also a huge difference between a bad kid and a good kid making bad decisions. Will was a good kid who made a bad decision in taking illegal drugs on a school trip. That Will was pissed off because he took the blame for the alcohol and Brad & Rob were not interested in hearing his side was ironic and an indication of his lack of maturity. When you are misbehaving in many ways and get caught on one of them, you don't get to feel righteous indignation because you were busted on the wrong misbehavior. Could Brad & Rob have handled that better? Sure, but Will could have too, had he been the mature and 'wise for his years' teen he is presented as. Had he handled it differently, Brad & Rob might have reacted differently, but Will's behavior confirmed in their minds the correctness of the direction they were taking.

Here is the very talented Courter Simmons answer.

My son is a senior in college this year so I do know a bit about teens and parenting. On a professional level I am sometimes in the middle of family disputes, splits, custody issues and the blending of families. While parts of life are not black and white, the world I live in is and has to be. There can be no ambiguity in the law otherwise chaos ensues. Listening to a teen and getting their input is different from having your 14 year old telling you how to live your life. You listen and weigh the experience or lack thereof in what they have to say. I don't know any good parent who let's their teen do exactly what they want. I know parents who do, but they are not the good ones and the children usually do not turn out well. Can I cite Justin Bieber as exhibit #1? There was a teen who needed more parental guidance and he didn't get. Will he live to see 30 or will he manage to stay out of prison? Only time will tell. You give teens increments of responsibility and see how they perform and then add or subtract as need be. You hope by the time they head off to college that they have developed enough common sense to survive and thrive. I don't know a single parent who wouldn't have turned the screws after Will's naked dance in a gay night club at the age of 13 to reel him back in. I remember when Arena in Los Angeles was an all ages club and you'd see 13 year boys and girls in there and I wondered then (when I was 18) what kind of parents these kids had that let them mix with adults in that setting. Several underage date rape cases later Arena had to change its policies to stay open as it turns out 13 year olds were not always the best judges of character. Age is never a strict determinant, but experience comes with age which is why we have set laws on ages at which you can engage in various behaviors. Among the many people I don't know is any 35 year old who thinks he was actually smarter and more mature when he was 15 than he is now. Go figure.