methodwriter85

I get why Wade and Matt aren't doing it, but I do think it's weird that they don't have any friends who are doing it. Junior year just seemed to equal study abroad time to me, at least for my friends that could afford it. One thing I've gotta insist on would be Wade and Matt doing summer internships- that's just an expected thing, especially with guys from their kind of background. You do a summer internship, either the summer before junior year or the summer before senior year. Sometimes before sophomore year, but not always. Of course, they could have already done it, but when we saw glimpses of Wade and Matt during the summers of 1999 and 2000, it didn't seem like they were doing one. So I'm seeing them spending at least part of summer 2001 in an internship. I do think it's telling that Wade already has a plan for law school post-grad, while Matt seems to be saying, "Pfft. Spring 2002 is so far away. Let's go party instead!" I think sending Will on study abroad would be a sign of the times and things that college students in the 2000's are expected to have done, such as volunteer work and the like. Plus. 20-year old Will in Australia. The land of hunky men. Come on, you know you'd have a lot of fun with that. The vibe that I get from JJ is that he'd be a history/English/drama kind of guy, as opposed to Will, who's more of a science/math kind of guy. I really see him as a drama major, but I could also see him into English or history. Luckily for him the fact that those careers aren't exactly lucrative isn't an issue. Here's a list of colleges with skating programs: It's from 2012-2013, so it might be a bit off if JJ actually goes to college in 2004 or 2005, but probably not that off. University of Delaware has a great, , which I see as being very attractive to JJ, and it has a pretty decent reputation academically(It's a B-student school but it's pretty clear that JJ would naturally be a B student), which would appeal to JP and Brad and Robbie. It used to be a party school back in the 80's and '90s but they really cracked down on it back in 2000's so the school could be taken more seriously. It's considered a Public Ivy now. University of Michigan could be a good possibility as well...they seem to have a fairly large skate club there. Boston University would be good, too- I actually like that one a lot because it was one of the first schools to get Facebook. Penn State has a program, too- I'm not sure if it's that competitive, but I could actually see JJ being a really great fit for Penn State. The school is good academically, but it's also a bit of a party school, so the academics aren't as hardcore as they would be in a place like UPenn.

I normally reply to Mark comments in reviews in the Paternity thread, but I figured this goes in here more because the 49ers is a part of California culture. Hey though Mark, your guys had an phenomenal second half and really gave my guys a run for their money. From down 22, to just a field-goal game. It wasn't clear that the Ravens were going to win until that fake punt return that shaved off 8 seconds. You should have nothing but pride and joy for the 49ers, man. There is no doubt in my mind that the 49ers will win the Super Bowl in the near future and tie with Pittsburgh for most Super Bowl wins under Harbaugh. Here's an interesting video, though. Basically, it's a bunch of 49ers fans watching the game at Buffalo Wild Wings. There aren't any actual Ravens fans, but Raiders fans who want to see the 49ers lose. How long has this rivalry been around? Is it as nasty as the Cowboys/Eagles one? What are the really nasty, nasty as in "this could get violent" rivalries in California? I just think it's interesting because outside of college football, California seems more like a basketball state as opposed to a football state like Texas is. It's surprising that Los Angeles hasn't had a football team since the Raiders left in the 90's. It doesn't seem like this current generation is all that interested in football...I remember in earlier stories football was a big thing but that later got replaced with hockey. Did interest in NFL football wane after the end of the 80's Niners Dynasty in California, Mark? Is that what you're reflecting here?

West Point Cadet and His Boyfriend At Formal Wow. Pretty amazing how incredibly fast things are changing. This would have been inconcievable even just a couple of years ago.

I heard this song get played in Warm Bodies, and it was such a great 80's flashback. I can totally picture 22-year old Brad secretly listening to this song on endless repeat while brooding about his breakup from Robbie. "Missing You" by John Waite

I was raised in Eagles territory. Delaware in the North tends to lean Eagles, while Delaware in the South tends to lean Ravens. So the Eagles have been my primary team, while the Ravens became my secondary team in 2008 when Joe Flacco became their quarterback. Anyway... I found this ESPN interview about Flacco's post-Bowl interview. He's a very bright, articulate young man as well. Joe Flacco Wins Super Bowl MVP Man. Joe Cool. I'm just brimming with so much pride as a former Blue Hen.

I'm not sure about that quote, Mike L. Is that some kind of blow to Baltimore? Hey though Chase, don't be sad about this. The 49ers really did a great job. Baltimore had it, then the tide turned and it wasn't clear until that awesome fake punt return.

Interesting possibilities. I see JJ either at Tisch in New York City, University of Chicago (this was a rec by Daisy), University of Delaware(because it'd be funny to see him square against Johnny Weir)...maybe a school in Colorado. I don't see him going to college in California, when he does go. I think a lot of skaters wait until after their career before going to college, so I could see JJ not attending college until 2010 or 2011. Is UCSB big on study abroad? University of Delaware was the first school to have study abroad, so the program's pretty big there. It's almost expected that you do study aboard for your junior year if you have the money.. I never had the money, but so many of friends did it. I could so see Will spending spring semester 2007 in Australia. He'd have a lot of fun there. I'm kind of of shocked that Wade and Matt haven't mentioned friends that are doing it. I get why Wade's not doing it, because of Riley, but I would think that Matt's parents would be pushing hard for him to study abroad it because it looks good on a resume. It's possible that it's not as big of a deal with Stanford as it is with UD, though.

How incredibly awesome was that moment? Let me tell you, I have been breaking out in smiles randomly since yesterday. I started the night watching the game at Grotto's Pizza, during that first amazing half by the Ravens. People there were just going wild. I even got photograped by an area magazine- I was wearing my Flacco Delaware 5 jersey, and I was standing next to a guy wearing a Flacco 5 shirt, and it was pretty cool. They took a photo of us reacting to one of the touchdowns. At half-time, I walked over to this Super Bowl gathering being thrown by a friend of a friend. Because this is Delaware, almost everyone was rooting for the Ravens, save for one guy who wanted to root for an underdog. Then the outage happened, and I started freaking out because I figured that the 49ers were going to get time to re-group and the mojo was going to change. When the game re-started, I felt like I was being proven right, as the 49ers steadily eroded the Ravens lead. One of the guys told me I was being a downer, and that I needed to have faith. And it happened. With that fake punt return, we realized the game was done, and we all cheered accordingly. Great, great night. I've been an Eagles fan since 2004 and a Ravens fan since 2008, so I've never gotten to see a team I follow win a Super Bowl. It was a great, great feeling. I am so proud of Joe Flacco and the Ravens.

Flacco really did earn the hell out of this.

You don't like the Ravens, Matt? I would imagine there's got to be a fair amount of Ravens fan in Philly- the Eagles are out of contention, and it's almost like vicariously living through them, since the Eagles have never gotten a Super Bowl. Flacco also went to University of Delaware, which is an area school.There's a lot of Flacco coverage going on here in the Greater Philadelphia area. It was just an awesome moment. I finally lived to see a Super Bowl happen for a team I follow. I kinda wish it had happened in 2011 though, because I lived in the Pittsburgh region then and people HATED Joe Flacco and the Ravens.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkJKxrFrL3g This is the first experience I've ever had of seeing a team I follow win the Super Bowl. What a great feeling!

I think the problem with the narration in Poor Man's Son was that Gathan and Will really didn't have a singular, uniting theme going on. On one had, you had a guy struggling with the demons of having been abused and what it meant to have grown up poor but then suddenly become rich, whereas with Will you had him as the lovesick teenager obsessed with finding a boyfriend. Those two character arcs just didn't mesh. In Paternity, the character arc of Will(gaining his independence and learning how to relate better to his fathers) and Wade (coming into his own as a true adult in control of his own life, struggling against his parental drama, becoming a father, figuring out how his relationship with Matt is going to be in the long-term) were much more complimentary. I'm going to go with Marcel being the one bad "muse" moment I've had with you in the four and a half years I've been serving as your muse. LOL. I mean, it seemed a no-brainer- you got a Generation X person graduating from college in the midst of the early 90's recession and the fall of Communism, but eh. I was totally wrong about that. The best "muse" moment with us...probably when I made the comment to you about how it seemed like the "good branch" Hayes men were dying out(Jeff was dead, Billy was dead, Robbie didn't have any biological kids, and Marcel doesn't in any way seem like someone who'd have kids), and then you decided to give Robbie a son from his old girlfriend that he had before he showed up in Be Rad. Matt really has been a great character. And with Matt, I feel like you did a better job with capturing his generation than you did with Marcel's generation. I think having Adam around for advice(he was the class of 1998 like Matt is supposed to be) really helped give the story a true "this is a different generation" feel to it. I don't so much as see JJ in a sexual straitjacket, but I think he won't be very comfortable or all that interested with sex and sexual expression for awhile. I think that will likely start to change when he hits "bloom" stage, but in keeping with JJ being a late bloomer, that'll likely be when he's in his late teens/early 20's, not at 15.

Tim, think you might as well get used to Tony. I get the feeling he's not going anywhere, even if we hit 2004 and he finishes college I'm sure Mark will have him stay in California. He's Mark's representation of the tortured closet case to contrast against Will the guy who came out at 13, and Tony's a legacy character. I'm actually fine with Tony as a character...I'm just not that interested in the tortured closet case aspect because that story was done quite a few times in CAP, with probably the best story being what happened to Aaron Hayes. Although you never know...Marcel was a legacy character set to be a big character and even had his own story, and now he's limited to a couple of brief sentences.

I really, really like your idea of the 9/11 story being in third person, which is something you've mentioned. Anything that changes up the typical CAP story is a good thing- The Box was a great example of that. As for Tim's stuff, I'm not saying that I think guys aren't generally manwhores, but some just aren't, for a variety of reasons, and I can't see JJ hitting manwhore status for at least a few years. Will reacted to his sexual trauma with his little happy ending strip show in Italy and becoming hypersexual, while I feel like in JJ's case, he'll be generally very uncomfortable with sex and the expression of it, at least for a few years. If you've never had that mindset it's hard to describe it, but it does happen, and I think going by what we know about JJ I can't see him hitting a slut phase for awhile. And the fact he does look 12 and has the mindset of a 12-year old would keep non-pedos from being interested in him sexually. You get the feeling that JJ's set to grow up into a handsome young man that will likely get a lot of offers, but he's not there yet. Which makes him a great contrast against his very sexually experienced brothers. As for JJ only having older men in his life...I thought it was pretty clear that JJ tended to be more bonded to older women in his life, with Jeanine, Tiffany, and Aunt Claire. He's in figure skating, which is a female-dominated sport, and he's only got one close male friend, and Matt is the only older male that he's closely bonded to. Even with Darius, JJ doesn't have that strong of a bond with him. Not like it is with Will. I asked Mark once about that and he told me that he doesn't see JJ and Darius as having that strong of a bond. I feel like Mark's been writing JJ as someone who doesn't have a lot of strong male bonds in his life, which is interesting given how male-dominated the Schluter/Crampton family is.

Let's hear it for the Ravens. Joe Flacco completely deserved MVP.

Due to Warm Bodies, this song is on constant repeat in my head.

I was watching "Warm Bodies" last night, and they played this in a scene. Absolutely awesome. Talk about a great 80's flashbook song.

I'm not going to say it was the only reason, but I thought it's been made pretty clear that JJ's lack of a paternal figure left him vulnerable and needy for older male attention.

Five years from this point, JJ and Will are going to be off into their college years exploring their world. But five years ago, JJ and Will were just 9 and 10-year old little boys who probably begged and pleaded for the latest Supersoaker for Christmas or something like that. That's the interesting thing about being at that age- you really are caught in-between 10 and 20. I thought Will was softpedaling on Robbie a little bit by reassuring him that JJ's trauma had more to do with him needing to win than him desperately needing a paternal figure in his life, but I thought that was kind of necessary. You can't really kick a dog when he's lying down, and Will saying to Robbie, "You and Dad kind of ignored JJ while paying more attention to Darius and me" would have been just that.

What got me about this chapter was the push/pull moments you have when you're growing up...you want to be taken as a mature, emerging adult who is not a little kid anymore, but every so often you have these moments when you just really, really need to act like a little kid again. I thought that Will and JJ waking up people for Christmas was a great moment, and it really gave us insight into what Will and JJ's relationship was like before Will turned into the precocious gay sex stud and JJ turned into a diva bitch. I mean really, for all intents and purposes Will and JJ were basically twins growing up. There's only a 9-month difference between them. It was nice to see a glimpse of the tight bond they had to have had when they were little.

Another late 90's/early 00's trend that Mark missed...the wifebeater. Man, on the right guy the look could be so hot. It seems like these days college guys are mainly leaning stripped tank tops or neon tank tops. I miss the simplicity of late 90's fashion. Will, Matt, and Ryan seem like they should be the type to be rocking that look.

Okay, bite your tongue, Andy. 90's children rule! Anyway, Clueless. The movie spawned off so many trends. "And so if the government could just get to the kitchen, re-arrange some things, we could certainly party with the Haitians. And in conclusion, may I please remind you that it does not say RSVP on the Statue of Liberty." I think Clueless was a case of coming at exactly the right time- the economy was starting to boom in 1994-1995, Kurt Cobain was dead, and teenagers were sick of grunge.

Hey, when did RVCA become popular in California? They're hitting hard here now, which means I'm betting they hit hard in California about four, five years ago. There's no way Will isn't going to wear RVCA at some point. This brand currently seems as popular as Quiksilver and Billabong were with guys Will's type back in the early 2000's. Oh, hey Mark...one trend I realized you haven't written in yet that should be around in 2000-2001 would be puka shell necklaces. I just realized that Will should have been wearing a puka shell necklace, or hemp choker, with his Abercrombie and Fitch outfit. I think it'd be funny to see Brad react to it, because I remember that line in Be Rad where Brad laughed as he thought about how he used to wear puka shell necklaces and how passe they were now, in 1980. I actually still have my old puka shell necklace, although I haven't worn one regularly since about 2006. Leather cuff bracelets were also really popular in this time period. Guys in the 2000's really seemed to wear more accessories than 90's guys did. Flip-flops are also going to become, around 2003, de facto footwear for people. I thought the bit where everyone's harrassing Will about his flip-flops was hilarious, because I did remember that in 2000, flip-flops weren't nearly as popular as they became later in the decade.

Tommy. All the way.

This was the ultimate in 90's soap: So many great bits from Melrose Place...some of my favorites were: 1. The time Kimberly sent off a bomb 2. The time Kimberly ripped off her wig to show a gnarly scar 3. The time Sydney almost joined a cult 4. The great Amanda/Allison fights 5. The time that Allison's stalker shot himself on the phone 6. The time Antonio Sabato Junior showed up as Amanda's crazy ex-husband 7. The time that Kimbery stole Jo's baby and breastfeed him ala The Hand that Rocks the Cradle 8. When Brooke Davis drowns in the pool 9. When Kimberly's alternate personality Betsy gets Peter locked up in the loney bin 10. When Sydney and Jane fight in the swimming pool...while Sydney is wearing their grandmother's wedding dress