B1ue

He may be a former or very liberal catholic that has moved away from his original beliefs due to what he percieves as his higher calling. With no parishoners to give the game away, he can call himself whatever he pleases.

Not sure I'd go quite this far. Horny, yes, but not a predator, though he does verge towards that title in his pain. They all went into it with their eyes open. I think it's only that Will probably had a crush on Jordan that bothered me. The hockey player he blew, for instance, didn't make me blink, though it was almost the same situation. He redeems himself a bit with Fr. Tim, albeit after he's calmed down some. Interesting that I hadn't quite thought about it in those terms. Who was Ky? I can't remember him.

That's a general impression of the entire country. Californians were well ahead of that curve. And gas prices in Cal were at 2.00 and climing by 2003. We have a few extra taxes on our fuel, though nothing like say, Oregon. Like I said, he always struck me as a bit more private and withdrawn, like Brad might have been if Ace was not his brother. Darius is class king, and if they'd been closer in age Will likely would be just like him, but as spread apart as they are Darius's reflected glory won't do as much for his own popularity. And JJ might wind up popular yet. He's good looking, rich, happy-go-lucky, and driven in his sport. He's also comfortable around women, minorities, and people of every social strata, except for hockey players, against whom he is biased. When girls figure out he's basically a gay guy they can actually score with, they'll home in on him right quick, and there might be guys that aren't too proud to suck up to him in order to be near his harem. I guess it'll depend on how whiny he lets himself become. Which is why I made an east coast distance reference for you. This is another reason why we from California were so bemused by your insistence on one child living out of state. California is already three or four states, more like eight if we're talking New England states, hitting near every biome and economy type along the way. They go to Norcal because there is something up there they can't get in the southland, their family. But a weekend trip just to go camping would involve about 12-14 hours of driving (both ways included), so by the time you got up there and set up, it'd be time to knock out, and then you'd have to pack up the next day. But in fairness, I had forgotten about his cousins. I could see him and a friend makng the trip up to Santa Cruz, with JJ dragged along kicking and screaming because Jeanine threatened them all to not leave him out so much.

Not necessarily snobby, but certianly flashy. Hummers and their little brothers, H2s and the like, are not subtle cars, and go a long way towards being pure ostentation, especially for city driving. They're an absolute hell to park, for one thing, and right about now, it's going to start being very popular in California to not be a gas guzzler. Gas prices are about to double between now in the story and when Will is of age to get a license, and an extremely unpopular war is about to be unleashed over what's perceived to be oil envy. Will's never going to have anything smaller than a pick-up truck, but why not that? I kind of read him a bit differently than you do. More private. Not unpopular or a loner, but he probably has school friends and then one or two others than can keep up with him in his interests. It'll be those closer friends he'll come out to, and that he'll spend time with on the weekends. The rest are more or less interchangable to him. Why would he camp in Norcal when there are perfectly good places a lot closer? It'd be like driving to Virginia from Boston. And that's for the shorter plausable trips. What I always found most squicky about Brad's whore period of coping was when he messed around with Will's surfing coach. Yes, they were both consenting adults (barely), but the kid was pretty much totally Will's friend when it came to relating to members of the family. No one else had a claim on him. Even more than the outrage some might have had over "you slept with Dad's other son, who's been hitting on you and every other adult he's come into contact with and making quite a bit of headway with that list!", I would have hit the roof over "You slept with MY friend!" It'd have been especially bad if Will had had a crush on...Jordan I think his name was.

+1100 to what Mark said. People have to be allowed to be stupid, right up to the point where it becomes a crime.

Actually, he doesn't grow up so much as gain more control. He still holds a grude until it dies of old age, yet acts shocked that anyone else is capable of such behavior. And the way he treated Jake, but in his book and later ones, always irritated the hell out of me. Suffice to say that Jake proved himself to quite a bit less of a slut than Brad, yet Brad never found any irony in his condemnation. He is more paltable in Bloodlines and Millenium, but he'll never be my favorite character.

Why would you want to stay in a dorm when you could live in Isla Vista? Although, at the tme Darius might have wandered up there, certain dorms did rent to both CC and UC kids. They cut that off my second year at Fransisco Torres, which had the colorful descriptor of "F**k Towers." I think there was another dorm that catered to both, but it wasn't managed by either school. And Tim, you are absolutely right about the ROTC program. I hadn't thought to suggest that. Strange that they grouped the Naval academy separately from the other universities. I hadn't noticed that before. And my graduation was the second week of June. It may vary a bit by district. You don't want to release the entire 18 year old population of California at once.

While Umbrella/Singing in the Rain was alright, I don't really like as much as others. I think it's because Schu gave himself the male lead. Again. I'm really starting to dislike the character. And while I'm meant to, it's starting to stretch my credulity with this show. Why would the kids continue to show up to Glee if he treats them like crap all the time? "Forget You," however, I really like. A clearer example of someone just having fun with a song we haven't been treated to in a bit.

It's his truck, and I'd never tell him... Oh who am I kidding. I'd freak the f**k out if someone came to pick me up with those dangling behind. And I cna't imagine how my parents and sisters (and their husbands) would react. They choked on a basically innoffensive nice guy. I know it's jsut a little joke, but for someone to willingly put that on his own truck would be a deal breaker. For one thing, those would tell me that him and I had very different sense of humor. That's a pretty big gap to close.

I hope you enjoy yourself.

Everyone I knew in the 80's into the early 90's spoke Spanish as their primary or secondary language, or was the child of such a person. That sort of colors my memories. We also favored names that had easy translations into English. My first name is Pedro, but my family called/s me Peter. I haven't tried to get them to call me Gabriel, I know lost causes when I'm related to them. Alejandro, Juanita, Cristobal (though that wasn't nearly as common as Christopher itself), Juan, Maria, Rogelio, Sandra, Angelina, Armando, Lourdes (Marylou), Louisa, Blanca, Carlos, Marcela, Rosa, and others. If it is consolation, you hit every big name I can recall, but if I think of anything I'll speak up. It's nice to finally have an explanation for why I pick character names that start with J so often. I swear, they all start off Jeremy, Jason, or Gerald, and I have to rename them once I've noticed what I've done (again). On an interesting note, I'm seeing variant spellings seem almost more common than traditional. It's like it is starting to be assumed, especially if the child in question is Black. I also assume anyone named Trevor is gay. It seems to be a code word in media now, after that HBO special by Ellen a few years ago, and I feel bad for any Trevors I come across in real life. Strangely, a disproportinate number of them have been gay so far. Edit: I DO remember a name not on the list: Andrew/Drew. I know at least six of them. I assume you didn't include it because it's already been used?

Some of A, some of B, and a heaping dash of "everyone sort of assumes he's gay." I don't think Tiffany will be thrilled to know Jeanine got lucky, rational or not. She might not say anything to Jeanine, and is likely bright enough not to get into it with Brad, but Robbie is everyone's favorite target, right? Even more so if he knocks her up.

That can't be right. Doesn't Frank have several brothers and male cousins? Nate had kids, and Robbie was said to have several cousins. Jeff was said to have several cousins, now that I think about it. Lots of male Hayes, which Matt legally isn't, so can't even count. Regardless, the Hayes line is in no danger. Intersting chapter though. You took the words form my mouth. Also, Brad initiating the threesome is an act of proving himself to both Robbie and Jeanine, which is a nice touch.

It's slightly more likely than you might think. Women who live together tend to have matching biorhythms, including when they become fertile. Also, method, you cannot tell what color eyes a baby will have in life by what they have when born. Most of my family had steel blue eyes at birth before the brown pigmentation settled in.

See, the little icon Mark chose sparkles too! It's becuase he thinks of you. One of the funniest conversations I've had lately is explaining to this guy at work, only two years older than I am, that no, he's not getting blonde hairs. Those are grey ones. As someone slowly working my way up to full streaks of grey, I'm in a position to identify them. Next time I saw him his hair had been died a deeper brown.

Crazy how life works, Jack. It's an interesting story, at the very least. I'm horny...pretty much non-stop. I close it down a bit when I need to be on good behavoir, such as when I'm at work, but the rest of the time is a different story. Hell, even there, there's a couple of cute guys at the office, though thankfully none in my work group. Once-a-day doesn't really cover it for me either, though it's usually all I can get someone else to agree to, damnit. Three or four times, if I have the time, seems to work best. I'm told this will taper off when I get older. And it has, slightly. Maybe once a day is around the corner?

I agree on all points, but I can see why someone else would not. You, me, and JP are of the school that family is family is family, no matter how much you want to kill them. To be honest, I'm surprised Stef doesn't have more sympathy for that point of view, but I totally get why Brad doesn't. The man has spent his entire life denying family connections, he's honestly surprised that not everyone can do that. But the point that Brad and Stef are trying to get through to JP is that Brian, despite all of their efforts, is proving that he is not a member of the family. Through his own actions, he is a danger to the family as a whole and certain ones in particular. Just like you cannot be expected to give a drug-addicted cousin money over and over, knowing they'd just use it to get high again and not clean themselves up, JP has to stop supporting Brian. I hope someone makes that very arguement, actually. It'd get through to him, as all low blows do.

I've managed to misspell the word "word." Dyslexia is a bitch. Fair enough. I've lived in various parts of California my entire life, and in fact am one of the few who has family that were born in the state before 1930, so I'm pretty biased as well. And while I agree that having someone on hand to witness the events on the East coast would make it more real, do you truly think that as an educator and historian who specializes in the event surrounding the Vietnam War, JP won't be affected by Virginia Tech and Duke University? That Max and Marcel won't? That Stef won't freak out again? JJ might surprise us all. I know I was more engaged in my studies once I gained more control over them. Homeschooling may prove a good thing in more ways than one. Also, another reason he may migrate is if Jeanine, for whatever reason, decides to head home to NJ for a few years, perhaps to take care of a sick parent or sibling. Actually, that'd be a good thing (storywise) to happen sooner than later. It'd be interesting to see how Brad reacts to another crutch being taken away, and being forced to become a more active part in Darius and Will's lives. Nah, he'd just ship them off to live with Claire. It'd take her all of twenty seconds to bring Will in line.

The comments accompaning the article are hilarious. BUt, yeah, don't see that catching on among my heterosexual friends here. Personal space boundaries are enormous.

I said this in the Millenium thread, but I'd like to see Drew have an impact later in the saga. Perhaps when Will is narrator, he can spring from the woodwork. I'm not sure if that's a good idea though, as characters that drift away then come back tend to do so as antagonists... Actually, wait. Will having a showdown against his first "love" might be cool. I wonder about this myself, actually. And if Matt is actually the Brad of his generation. He seems set to become the Cody.

But no one who grew up in Los Angeles would willingly live in NYC. The rivalry between the cities is quiet (because LA is losing), and akin to siblings, but it's there. It's hard to describe, because it's hardly ever acknowledged except in a teeth-grinding half-growled kind of way, interspursed with mutters of "arrogant, annoying, far too much money for their own good." And yes, I hear you whispering "Why hello Kettle! How have you been?" but I never said it was rational. I put it down to years and years of being compared to NYC in history and political stuies and always coming up short. Which, in part, explains the city-wide obsession with looks (but not, note, fashion), where at least we can reign supreme. Plus, you're expected to do too much walking in NYC. I know people here that will drive across the street. Alright, maybe some people from LA would enjoy New York just fine. There's crazies and rebels everywhere. I tend to think Austin or DC would be more compelling. Plus, if Wade and Matt really do head for DC after graduation (I think Matt would have a thriving carreer as a lobbyist or business consultant, or New York isn't a terrible weekend commute), JJ might follow along behind them. Right back atcha, why are you arguing this so hard? It made sense for Brad, Robbie, and Ace to spread out for their academics. They wanted to get out from Papa's wings, and there was no way to do that while staying at Standford. None of them wanted to be doctors or engineers, so that elimintates pretty much all other "acceptable" schools here in state. Not only do Will, Darius, and JJ seem less inclined to bolt, though they're young and that will probably change in a couple years, but they aren't anywhere as academic minded as the rest of the family. I blame the surfing. It has effects on the psyche that mostly manifest as a laid-back approach to life and calling everyone "dude."

Going from what Mark's said, JP feels guilty less because of the amount of money he gave Brian than allowing Brian to survive at all. You are absolutely correct that the actual money is pretty much pocket change, and shouldn't have mattered, but in this case even that small amount did matter. Perhaps, in this case, it especially mattered, as Brian was forced to find a way to maintain the lifestyle he'd grown accustomed to by another means, where if JP had been bankrolling him entirely he'd have (possibly) gotten into less mischief. Actually, I don't really believe that, but JP might. Also, JP has to wonder how much of Brian's actions and attitude stems from his bastard parentage, and the way they did not instill responsibility into him properly when he was accepted into the family. That's a couple things JP really had no control over, but one he'll still feel guilty about, even if some of that guilt is on behalf of his father. Finally, JP has to see himself in Brian, and in his actions. Not that he should, Brian is acting like a wuss, enabling others in their actions while performing no direct actions himself as far as we've seen (though...how did the initial contacts with Brandon and Carson take place?), something that JP has no problem with. But JP drove someone to suicide over an office. I know the stakes were much higher than that by the time the final act came about, but the argument started over an office. JP has to wonder, if he was a bit less controlled, a bit less responsible, would he have acted in a a manner similar to Brian?

First, thanks for pointing out the chapter was up, Centex. I think my whoop of joy scared my neighbor. Certainly her cat at least. This was an eye-opening chapter. I'm not sure what I'd do in JP's situation. That his entire family forced the issue is probably the only thing that changed his mind. Not much less would change mine, in a similar situation (and yes, I have some experience with siblings of this stripe). That I'd support Brad over Brian would be a no brainer, but not helping Brian at all...that'd be tough. That'd be real tough.

Hmm, not sure. Possibly paranoia, which would undermine my reading of him. Possibly because he shares housing (nominally) with Cody and Stef, and they keep it stocked. Possibly because he shares a house with Darius, and Robbie keeps it stocked.

I don't know. I'm sure many of us would be willing to get behind a naked Dr. Hobart. I agree that Drew's parents would not be thrilled to see Brad or Robbie, or to be honest Will. And by not thrilled I mean they'd have to be restrained from attacking on sight. Jeanine would have confused them long enough to catch them off guard, imo, and she bore the brunt of his stay there anyways. If anyone from that household had a right to pointed questions, and to assure Drew her door would always be open, it was Jeanine. I do wonder if this will have further reprecussions. As a plot device, I feel Drew was kind of unnecessary, but if he turns up later in some way, I might change my mind. ...I suppose I should explain what I mean by that. Drew coming to stay with Brad served, as I see it, three purposes. The first was to give Fr. Tim reason to keep checking in on Brad, and a tie back to the mission that would make the place real for the rest of the Cramptons. Second was to reintroduce Jeanine and her role in Brad's life to the story, as well as introduce the problems she has with Brad. Third was to bring Will sexuality out into the open. While it is somewhat tidy to have all these things examined with one element, they were all due to arrive on their own anyways, and hardly needed that nudge.