Mark Arbour

Damn. I hate being f**king land-locked.

I took no offense, and I appreciate your thoughts. There's an adage that I have to keep in the back of my mind: You can't please everyone. I get that now with PMS: some people want to read more about Gathan, while others prefer Will. Sometimes I let all of this bother me, but usually I just try to take the feedback I get in a positive way and let it modify my approach if it works with where I want to take the story. The issues the story has raised are interesting to me. The age issue is one that is often viewed as black and white, and ignores the differing development rates of young men as they go through puberty. So how does a guy like that deal with his advanced body? How do other guys deal with him? I think it is more instructive to think about it, than to be judgmental about it. It amazes me that a segment of society that has been so victimized by that trait (judgmentalism) is so often hasty to invoke it themselves. I attribute much of that, though, to the paranoia that most men have to approach the issue with, because, as you noted with your friend, some guys have been burned by it (justifiably or not). The other issue is the addition of heterosex to the story. This takes us to the agonizingly painful argument about bisexuality, which many gay men, in their idiocy, still deny. Some guys, especially young guys, are much more fluid in how they get off. I think it's important to include that in the stories. To answer your other question, if I were to guess why Bridgemont doesn't get dinged while the CAP series does, I think it has to do with the fact that the CAP series is more popular. It has more reads, and a broader audience. That makes it a more visible way to voice "displeasure". From the scuttlebutt, I suspect that whoever is doing this is less concerned about the quality of the story than the fact that he/she can't seem to generate a significant readership. That makes the whole thing more comical than annoying.

In St. Louis, there are a plethora of private schools. The biggest player in that game are the Catholic schools. Their best schools are single-sex, while those that are more run-of-the-mill are co-ed. This is completely different than the non-Catholic prep schools. The two 'best' (that being subjective) are Burroughs and MICDS ( which resulted from a merger of the boy's school (Country Day) and the girls (St. Mary's)). Those latter two would probably be the most similar thing to H-W that we have here. Regardless, they are different than the Catholic schools. My experiences (anecdotal) was that the Catholic schools are more focused on cultural education (read: making sure you grow up with the right Catholic people) while the others are more focused on success (how to run Daddy's company someday). And there's the issue. It's not about just taking classes, it's about achieving learning goals. In an institution where they're worried about priming their students for admission to the best colleges, they want them to have as many diverse experiences as possible. Simply taking a language because it's required, to check off a box, is something that you'd find in a systematized public school, not in the more custom-tailored environment of a top-notch private school.

Well-stated.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

LOL. Normal is odd. There may be something to that.

We'll see. I'm not sure about this one either.

Well, you can't please everyone. I have some angry that Gathan's still around. Glad Tony spiced things up a bit.

Channeling a little Disney here? It's cute.

When I started to write Tony into the story, I had a clear vision of his personality, and it was based on an amalgamation of a couple of guys I know. These guys are very masculine, claim to be very straight , and have a very tough outer shell. I thought it would be interesting to toss him into the mix, considering that most of the other characters in this story wear their feelings on their sleeves. Now granted, Wade and JP are more reserved, but they'll let their hair down, so to speak, with their family members. I see Tony as the kind of guy who remains superficial to all but a special few, and I think what makes him different than the others is that he doesn't have to have someone in that role. I'm not advocating that as the way to be, but I'm sure we all know guys like that. Tony is that guy. At least for right now.

Tony's just a more reserved person.

Non-sexual? Is someone else going to take over writing this story? :-)

Well, they went a whole chapter without having sex. Is that a record for me? :-)

Not every person is deep and interesting. But Sam brought some nice characteristics to the scene. I thought the way he jumped in to deal with Jeff was pretty interesting.

Will is having a tough time trying to figure Tony out. He's not used to reserved guys, which is understandable. I think that whole thing must have been intensely weird to Tony. I'm not sure how an 18 year old guy will deal with all of that.

August 18, 2000 Escorial Palo Alto, CA Will “And how are you this morning?” I asked Grand as I breezed into the room. I’d just finished talking to Gathan, and he’d given me a kick-ass idea on how to really show Tony a good time. “Just fine,” he said as he appraised me. “What do you want?” “What makes you think I want something? Can’t I just come in here to check up on you?” “You can, but you didn’t,” Stef said. “Now what do you want?” “I have a

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! It was good to see you hanging around here again!

I couldn't agree more. I think every story should have multiple climaxes.

I disagree. These guys have their own bedrooms with their own bathrooms. I'm trying to think of a time when they'd be naked around each other, and I'm not seeing it.

Thanks for the info on your sources. I had this vision of you taking the chapter into a staid attorney's office, and watching them sort of squirm as they read the more salacious parts. I'm glad you got the ping-pong effect for Will. My experience is that this is a trademark characteristic of teenagers: mature one minute, immature the next. I think that you're being a little hard on Will. He's dealing with Pat, who is a bit of an enigma: he's an employee, an older guy, and a fellow gay guy who's growing into a friend, all in the same person. I'm not worried about the harassment issue, as I think you'd have a tough job prosecuting Will for his actions, and I just don't see Pat doing that. In the scene where they're going to the airport, Will was treating Pat like he would probably treat one of his peers. I think it's reasonable that he'd struggle for a way to interact with this guy that he likes, but also has all these other roles. And again, referencing my above comment, he's bouncing between moments of maturity and moments of immaturity. Life as a teenager isn't always easy, not that I can remember that far back.

Hang in there. We'll get back to school (and hockey) soon enough. Will is being an obnoxious teenager, and you're right, Gathan is getting a clue. Skype or no Skype, long distance relationships suck.

You're absolutely right about Van Nuys. I started using LAX back in the 70s (The Land Whore) and never stopped to think of an alternative. I'll have to think of a way to gently shift them over to the valley. Plebs would have been the correct meaning, but we'll blame that one on 18 year old Gathan instead of the much older author. ;-)

Will starts school on the Tuesday after Labor Day. JP is channeling me when he rants about emergency funds. ;-)

August 17, 2000 Malibu, CA Will “So are you crazy?” JJ asked me, being a smart ass. I’d just come back from my first appointment with my shrink. I figured they’d send me to the same guy Robbie went to in the Bay area, but evidently I was so fucked up I need my own therapist, one that was close by and not embroiled in all of my parents’ problems. So Robbie’s guy referred me to Evan Bieser, a guy who was 32 years old and really handsome. That part of it wasn’t tough duty, just

Isn't that so true! Getting laid can really put things into perspective. :-)