methodwriter85

Yeah, same here. The guy just flat out has a way with words that's unlike anyone else I've ever corresponded with. He's just so damned fascinating because of his gift of gab. Although I can say from experience that none of you would ever want to be on Adam's bad side. LOL. Anyway, I gotta say, I really liked how Mark slowly brought together threads that made it possible for the family to be in New York City for 9/11. Having Jeanine get together with a childhood sweetheart from Hoboken who's a NYC police cop made it pretty plausible.

There has never been a world without the Macarena: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiBYM6g8Tck This version came out in 1996, but the Spanish version of the song came out in 1995.

They could send her to Catholic school with some scary-ass nuns. Anyway, one interesting contrast...Will being annoyed that people were following him purely because of who he was. I thought that was a great contrast against Be Rad, as we know the guy relished every second of his top-tier popularity to the point where he would destroy other people for the purpose of protecting his power.

I was an awkward teen outcast who didn't have any real-life friends until about the age of 16, so online friends were my lifeline. I mainly met them through the I Hate Jen website, which was devoted to bashing Jen Lindley on Dawson's Creek. However, by season 4 or so of Dawson's Creek, the message board actually became support of Jen and hateful of Joey, who had become extremely annoying. When 9/11 happened (back on topic!), I was actually in computer class so I wound up posting about 9/11 on the I Hate Jen message board. They thought I was joking, then found out I wasn't. I'll never forget one poster named Rachel, who said that the big surplus we had...the big surplus that was FINALLY going to go to education (as Dubya platformed on No Child Left Behind) would all wind up going to this new war we were going to have to fight. She was right, and then some.

Winter and summer Olympics were the same year every 4 years until 1994. The last year that winter and summer Olympics were held in the same year was in 1992; then the winter Olympics split off and held the next one in 1994 instead of 1996, while the Summer Olympics were held in 1996 like usual. I have pretty strong memories of the '94 Winter Olympics because that was when the whole Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding thing happened.

I can't see that at all. Tonto is supposed to be from an uber-WASP family. The brassy Italian grandmother look doesn't work at all. She was also described by Stefan or JP as being kind of round.

Beloit College just made their list where they try to tackle the mindset of the class of 2017. Always a fun read... The Mindset List for the Class of 2017 For this generation of entering college students, born in 1995, Dean Martin, Mickey Mantle, and Jerry Garcia have always been dead. Eminem and LL Cool J could show up at parents’ weekend. They are the sharing generation, having shown tendencies to share everything, including possessions, no matter how personal. GM means food that is Genetically Modified. As they started to crawl, so did the news across the bottom of the television screen. “Dude” has never had a negative tone. As their parents held them as infants, they may have wondered whether it was the baby or Windows 95 that had them more excited. As kids they may well have seen Chicken Run but probably never got chicken pox. Having a chat has seldom involved talking. Gaga has never been baby talk. They could always get rid of their outdated toys on eBay. They have known only two presidents. Their TV screens keep getting smaller as their parents’ screens grow ever larger. PayPal has replaced a pen pal as a best friend on line. Rites of passage have more to do with having their own cell phone and Skype accounts than with getting a driver’s license and car. The U.S. has always been trying to figure out which side to back in Middle East conflicts. A tablet is no longer something you take in the morning. Threatening to shut down the government during Federal budget negotiations has always been an anticipated tactic. Growing up with the family dog, one of them has worn an electronic collar, while the other has toted an electronic lifeline. Plasma has never been just a bodily fluid. The Pentagon and Congress have always been shocked, absolutely shocked, by reports of sexual harassment and assault in the military. Spray paint has never been legally sold in Chicago. Captain Janeway has always taken the USS Voyager where no woman or man has ever gone before. While they’ve grown up with a World Trade Organization, they have never known an Interstate Commerce Commission. Courts have always been ordering computer network wiretaps. Planes have never landed at Stapleton Airport in Denver. Jurassic Park has always had rides and snack bars, not free-range triceratops and velociraptors. Thanks to Megan’s Law and Amber Alerts, parents have always had community support in keeping children safe. With GPS, they have never needed directions to get someplace, just an address. Java has never been just a cup of coffee. Americans and Russians have always cooperated better in orbit than on earth. Olympic fever has always erupted every two years. Their parents have always bemoaned the passing of precocious little Calvin and sarcastic stuffy Hobbes. In their first 18 years, they have watched the rise and fall of Tiger Woods and Alex Rodriquez. Yahoo has always been looking over its shoulder for the rise of “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle.” Congress has always been burdened by the requirement that they comply with the anti-discrimination and safety laws they passed for everybody else to follow. The U.S. has always imposed economic sanctions against Iran. The Celestine Prophecy has always been bringing forth a new age of spiritual insights. Smokers in California have always been searching for their special areas, which have been harder to find each year. They aren’t surprised to learn that the position of Top Spook at the CIA is an equal opportunity post. They have never attended a concert in a smoke-filled arena. As they slept safely in their cribs, the Oklahoma City bomber and the Unabomber were doing their deadly work. There has never been a national maximum speed on U.S. highways. Don Shula has always been a fine steak house. Their favorite feature films have always been largely, if not totally, computer generated. They have never really needed to go to their friend’s house so they could study together. They have never seen the Bruins at Boston Garden, the Trailblazers at Memorial Coliseum, the Supersonics in Key Arena, or the Canucks at the Pacific Coliseum. Dayton, Ohio, has always been critical to international peace accords. Kevin Bacon has always maintained six degrees of separation in the cinematic universe. They may have been introduced to video games with a new Sony PlayStation left in their cribs by their moms. A Wiki has always been a cooperative web application rather than a shuttle bus in Hawaii. The Canadian Football League Stallions have always sung Alouette in Montreal after bidding adieu to Baltimore. They have always been able to plug into USB ports Olestra has always had consumers worried about side effects. Washington, D.C., tour buses have never been able to drive in front of the White House. Being selected by Oprah’s Book Club has always read “success.” There has never been a Barings Bank in England. Their parents’ car CD player is soooooo ancient and embarrassing. New York’s Times Square has always had a splash of the Magic Kingdom in it. Bill Maher has always been politically incorrect. They have always known that there are “five hundred and twenty five thousand, six hundred minutes in a year.” *** My niece is starting college this year...she was born in December 1994 instead of in '95, but still pretty close enough. It's weird to think that today's college freshman has literally never known a world without mainstream Internet. Also the idea that they've only really experienced two presidents, as they would've been 5 at the end of the Clinton administration. When I was their age I had already experienced Bush I, Clinton, and Dubya.

Chapter 31 -When Marie manages to get herself banned from her first day of school. "You're A God" by Vertical Horizon -When Will squares down with Blake Leddington during lunch, and realizes that people are willing to follow him because of who he is, which doesn't exactly make him happy. "Celebrity" by N'Sync

Oooh, Tyne Daly. I hadn't even thought of her. That's fucking perfect. Tyne Daly is totally believable as the matriarch of the family who busts everybody's balls but does it in a charming, "you can't really argue with her" kind of way, especially with an infectious smile like that. I can look at this woman and completely believe that she could've gotten a racist Mid-western town to desegregate their high school. What do you think, Mark?

I'm a historian. Digital archives are the next wave in record-keeping. I think the oldest email I've ever kept was from 2003, but that's in my hotmail account. The oldest Yahoo email I have is from December 2007.

I think we're both right and both kind of wrong. I checked out our old correspondence from August 2009. I think the idea was already germinating because of the conversation about girlfriends in If It Fits, but I'd say I helped you plant the seed. I couldn't find the initial email where you told me about Bloodlines, but I did find this: August 19th, 2009 It's a pretty interesting plot twist. Did you think it up because of the comments about how the Hayes family tree is dying out? And are you going to set the story in 1997, 1999, or 2001? Pretty interesting stuff, I think. -Jeremy From: Mark Arbour Subject: Re: Your mission, should you choose to accept it.... To: methodwriter85 Date: Wednesday, August 19, 2009, 12:18 AM Yes, the dying out comment was influential. Not sure which year yet, but I'm leaning towards 97-98 Mark Arbour ****** In any event, Bloodlines is still my favorite story. Matt was just one awesome narrator. It's kind of a shame he's only been able to narrate once.

Good point. Maybe Wade would live in the canyons, like Topanga or Laurel? What's an area where horseback riding is popular, Tim? I also think I read once that the Valley has some areas where people ride.

Well, it sounds crazy to believe this, but in August 2009, Mark had only completed up to If It Fits. Mark was contemplating his next story, and was considering 1997 so he could cover Princess Diana's death. During our email go-arounds, I mentioned something to Mark about how it seemed sad that the "good" Hayes lines was dying out (Jeff, Billy) while Robbie and Marcel didn't seem likely to have any biological children. That's when he got the idea to do a ret-con and add in Robbie getting a girl pregnant before he moved out to California for his senior year, which allowed us to have a ready-made legacy teen character. That really did take CAP in a whole other direction.

Thanks for the pointers. I love your insight on California. My main exposure to California is watching the O.C., Melrose Place, 90210, and Laguna Beach, so I love getting the "real" view of it. As for the over-50 thing...Wade kind of strikes me as a person who'd be more into living in an area that was older and more established as opposed to a young area with a strong nightlife, though. Wade's kind of an old soul, no? I wouldn't rule out Bel Air just because it's an older area. Also, I'm not sure they'd get a condo- Wade clearly wants Riley to be a huge part of his life, and Matt/Wade seem like they'd have at least a couple more kids they procure either through adoption or threesomes with lesbians. I figure they'd get a house with a yard for little Riley to play with his future siblings in a guarded community where they'd feel safe to raise kids in.

He was also the male star of Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together", which was a smash hit song back in 2005: That little half smile at 2:19!

So were Reagan-voting yuppies, but that didn't stop you from being one in your 20's, right? In all seriousness though, like Yuppies in their day, Hipsters do a lot for rehabbing and re-invigorating decaying inner city neighborhoods, which isn't a bad thing. Gentrification has its drawbacks, but I think the positives outweigh the negatives.

Well, apparently you have a shot: Not really shocked about it.

I was right about this one. Woo-hoo! lol Another guess I'm going to make- because Tiffany's moving to Los Angeles due to her being JJ's coach and JJ being back in L.A., Wade's going to wind up attending UCLA Law. As that would be the 2002-2003 school year, Darius would be a sophomore or junior (depending on how his credits transferred) at UCLA. UCLA Grad has an economics program, so I can see that being a good fit for Matt as well. Maybe Mark can have Matt and Wade set up house in Bel-Air while they attend UCLA? I kind of wish they were the type to be urban pioneers and set up house in Silver Lake, which was apparently the hot young neighborhood of 2000's Los Angeles, but that's not Wade at all. It would be cool to explore hipster culture, as they were the strongest decade-defining personality archtype to come out of the 2000's like the yuppies of the 80's, but I so can't see the two getting into that. Marie, possibly Will, yes. Matt and Wade, no. They're too square.

Well, let's be honest here, you pretty much said all that there is to be said on that subject and then some. You and Sharon squaring off against each other about Sam and whether he's culpable or not for Jeff killing himself was pretty memorable.

It's crazy to think you started this poll four years ago, and now we're almost at 9/11.

For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow...which nobody can deny!

This is where I went to high school: This is from 2007, so it's only two years after I graduated. It makes total sense that the school did High School Musical...I laughed, because I remember thinking when I saw HSM that it reminded me of high school how tryannical the popular theater majors were, and when people would burst out into song randomly, and how in college it wasn't really something people did. (We did do Fame our senior year.) I wished I had footage of my audition from 2001. I auditioned with this monologue of Tom from The Glass Menagerie. Imagine an 8th grade boy who looks and sound 12 that was very naieve and immature for his age, trying to pull off being an embittered 20-something/30-something drunk who's disillusioned with life. I bet it's probably hysterical. But yeah, I remember the bulk of the drama I encountered from people senior year was when I had classes with juniors or sophomores, because my senior class had pretty much made up. Bitchy cheerleaders were replaced with bitchy dancers, asshole jocks were replaced with asshole punk art majors, but other than that I figured high school was generally the same. Will's high school drama will probably peak sophomore and junior years, then everyone just chills out senior year. But for now, he's gotta deal with an angry Marie. (Don't forget that he's also dealing with a 15-year old N'Sync fan who blames him for not being able to get a chance to bang Justin Timberlake. Have you SEEN the Twitter wars between 1D and the Wanted fans? They are merciless.)

Because Will doesn't have any expectations from Erik, whereas he does with the two people who love him the most. I think it's a bit of that, and a bit of Noah being a wannabee popular guy who will follow whatever the crowd he's trying to get into says. Marie was (or is) the queen bee of their group, so it's not much of a stretch to imagine that Noah's going to follow Marie's lead. Although it's kind of sad that Noah's a senior, and he's letting himself get mired into the b.s. of a bunch of sophomores and juniors. I felt like senior year was notable for the fact that you tended to get over all the petty bullshit that you and your peers inflicted on each other from 9th to 11th grade. I mean, senior year I mended fences with pretty much every person I couldn't stand. I think it's the mindset of, "Well, it's the final year and duking it out has gotten tiresome." (But again, Noah being part of this 10th grade b.s. kind of shows that Noah doesn't really fit in, as he seems to be the only senior in the group that's mostly 10th and 11th graders.) I've met many girls like Marie in high school and college. They can be really chill and laidback as long as they're controlling everything, but as soon as they aren't, the claws come out.

Chapter 30 -When Will and Eric share their respective troubles, and then have some fun together. "Turn Off The Light" by Nelly Furtado -When Will is clued in on how to act at school by Darius. "I'm Real" by Jennifer Lopez ft. Ja Rule Holy Juicy Couture craze! I'd bet anything Ryan's mother has a whole closet of that stuff. It's hard to believe this now, but at the time J. Lo was biggest thing going on (bigger than Beyonce, even), although it wasn't based on actual talent so much as an ability to be okay at 3 things and really, really good at famewhoring.

My grad school posted this video with tips about how to survive an active shooting event. I thought it was interesting and had some pretty good advice. Hopefully none of us here will ever have to use this advice, but I'll try to keep this in the back of my mind as I go through my daily life.