methodwriter85

I really don't think there is a single person between the ages of 8 to 10 in 1995 who didn't own at least pogs. I mean really, they were cheap and you could get them everywhere. I even remember that Cookie Crisp had Pogs in their cereal boxes.

So every once in awhile, I get into a mode of getting rid of stuff that I have, whether it's old clothes I never wear anymore, books I no longer want to read, or newspaper articles that I once saved but decided to get rid of. I'm in that mode right now...I'm selling off my old books from college(Don't worry, I saved the books I really love), and I went through my old newspaper collection(stuff saved from 1998 all the way up to 2008)...I'm probably going to look at my clothes at some point, as well as old papers I saved from high school. I think everyone in my family has somewhat of the pack rat mentality(my middle sister has it the worst), so we tend to save things. But every once in awhile, I get this urge and this itch to go through my things and criqitue whether or not I really want or need to keep this. I think there's something about lessening the amount of possessions I have that makes me feel more free and less tied down, like I become more portable with the less I'd need to pack if I ever decided to just pick up and go. It's a good feeling. I remember when I was a kid, I read this book about a guy who only allowed himself to have 99 possessions, and therefore if he got something, he'd give away something. I don't think I've been quite that strict, but sometimes I feel like acquring material objects just to have them, or keeping far too many items for sentimental reasons can be like piling on emotional baggage. It's great to pare things down once in a while, don't you think? It also makes you reassess why something had value to you, and if it still does, and when you do that...I think it makes you realize how your viewpoint and priorities change as you get older.

I'm wondering now if Will or JJ will have any friends who wind up joining the new start-up Facebook in 2004, considering that they have strong ties to Silicon Valley. It'd be great if Noah ended up being part of Facebook and became rich that way. We already know that Matt has a Google fortune coming his way. By the way Mark, have you watched the Social Network yet? It really does nail what the college experience was like for people during the circa 2003-2006 era.

Word on the first point. In my thread, "The Rules of CAP", one of the rules is that every protagonist must have sex with someone either significantly younger or significantly older. This goes all the way back to when 26-year old JP was having sex with 16 and 17-year olds with Stefan, Jeff, and Sam. (The black son of Vella, his family housekeeper.) There's never been a single protagonist who hasn't had sex with someone where there was a significant age difference. Mark once joked that the reason why this is so is because he's so hot for Adam Phillips and he's keeping that fantasy of being the Mrs. Robinson to Adam's Benjamin Braddock alive. LOL. I'm wondering though if JJ will break that trend, because I'm thinking he'll wind up being pretty screamish around older guys who try hitting on him because it might evoke memories of his own abuse. I think JJ, because of what happened to him, will have a strong need to forge sexual connections to people his own age when he's ready to start having a voluntary sex life, because the opportunity to have his first sexual encounters with his peers was taken from him. As for the other bit...there's no possible way this wouldn't be high-profile. If JJ believes this guy is taking him to the Olympics, then it means that his coach HAS taken skaters to the Olympics. That means this coach must be very high profile, and El Segundo has to be a well-known figure skating club. This is a post-Meghan's Law, post-Mary Kay Letourneau, post-Catholic Child Sex Abuse Scandal United States. CNN would be all over this like vultures. If it were the 80's, I could see the media being quiet, but no way in 2001. As for the techno stuff...Mark's team has been pretty good about catching goofs. The only goof in recent years I remember was when Mark was having Gathan showing cell phone photos to his Claremont friends in Poor Man's Son...cell phone cameras were in existence, but they weren't on the U.S. domestic market until 2002. I do like that Mark likes incorporating then-cutting edge technology into his stories, like when John Hobart showed Will his USB flash drive, or Matt's plasma screen t.v. in Bloodlines. I figure that Mark's love of new technology was likely ingrained on him because he grew up in the Silicon Valley in the 1970's and early 1980's, when it truly was the cutting-edge home of everything going on. It's almost 2001, which means that the IPod is getting ready to arrive. If I understand correctly, it was first getting used by affluent 30-somethings, so Brad, Robbie, and Jack should probably be getting them soon. The teenagers would probably get them in 2002-2003. I remember how huge the first ones were. It's almost boggling when you think just how swiftly technology changed in the 2000's- even faster than it did in the 1990's. I found an old newspaper artcle this week that showed one of my friends working at a video store in 2002- now there are very, very few left.

I'm actually with you on that. If it were the Homecoming King and football quarterback, I would have been more shocked and impressed.

Get ready to feel old, fellow Generation Yers. I wonder if this is how Baby Boomers felt when they started running nostaglic ads for them back in the '80's. I thought the shot of the kid getting the Dutch Boy haircut was hilarious. How many freaking blond guys got that haircut when we were in elementary school?

JJ really did sacrifice his childhood for this shot at Olympic Gold. Which is actually never going to happen for him. (Unless Mark decides to re-write figure skating history.) Poor guy. There was one scene from Poor Man's Son that I'm looking at differently now- the scene where Will masturbates in front of JJ and JJ tells him he doesn't like porn. I'm betting that at that time the coach was already trying to start "grooming" him by plying him with alcohol and porn, but JJ being physically immature just wasn't that into it. But he had to watch it anyway because the coach was telling him to. I think it's going to be interesting to see what JJ is thinking when he's around 17- giving him a few years to process what happened to him.

You dirty old man. But yeah, I don't think this kid will have any hard time finding dates in college.

I actually like his look a lot, but I think JJ has been described as being conventionally handsome in a somewhat effeminate way. Imagine a minature, 15-year old GQ Junior model. I don't think he'd be good looking in a quirky, somewhat geeky way like this guy is. I think we're going with Lucas Till's face on a short, scrawny body. I'd love Joffrey for Alistair, though. Slap him in a suit and I think he's perfect. I've been picturing Alistair brunette, but he could be blonde. Mark's been very general with Alistair- all we know is that he's short and he wears suits and glasses. I don't think Mark's even specified if Alistair is white or not. Emmy Rossum as Young Isidore? She's hot, but most importantly Emmy Rossum just has this certain air of good breeding and class that Isidore would have. Wasn't Isidore bred in a somewhat affluent French family who kicked her out once she got pregnant with Ace? She definitely didn't feel like someone who had grown up a street urchin, and if she had I don't think JP would have been nearly as comfortable with her as he had been.

Any of you catch the Discovery Channel show called ? It's such delightful trash and I enjoy the hell out of it. Another show I'm enjoying right now is called Buckwild. Basically, it's the Jersey Shore, but if the people were all rednecks from West Virginia. And of course, it's generating controversary from West Virginians. I've got a soft spot for rednecks because of my two years in Western Pennsylvania, so the show appeals to me because of that. Any of you seen either of those shows? They're great trashy reality tv.

You'd want to put an effeminate, 5'2", 100-pound guy who likely collects Louis Vuitton purses and Prada shoes like baseball cards in miltary school? Are you kidding me? He wouldn't last a week there. I don't disagree with what you're saying for the most part. I'm talking about New York City for when JJ's 18 and out of high school, not now. I think he could really grow up if he started over in a city where he doesn't have his brother being around to blame for why people ignore him.

They're not called "meets", they're called competitions. Just another reminder. I'm kinda bummed that Boston Nationals isn't happening. If Wade and Matt decided to go, we could've had hot orgy scenes with their friends who went off to Harvard and the like. There's no way they don't have friends who go to college in Boston, or somewhere in New England. I'm convinced that the only way JJ is going to grow up and mature is if he moves away from California once he's out of high school, and he's forced to set up his own support system. New York City would be great for that, but I could also see Chicago. Maybe Denver? That seems like an area with a lot of Olympic-caliber training going on. I could totally see JJ ultimately pursuing an acting career in New York City. He's got the theatrics, in any sense. Maybe once he's done with figure skating, he'll decide to attend Tisch? Another thought...would JJ actually eat pizza? Wouldn't he be on some crazy diet all the time like Evan Lysacek is?

Well, to be fair to JJ, the adults do favor and bend over backward for Will to a pretty sickening degree.

I grew up in and around the suburban college town of Newark, Delaware, so there were plenty of pizza places. My favorite though, was this place called Peace of Pizza. I think they eventually started skimping on ingredients like Papa John's did, so my preference switched The best known Delaware pizza though is called Grotto's- it's like a beach tradition around here. When I lived in Western Pennsylvania, there was like only one decent pizza place. Kind of sucked. I have to say my favorite pizza I've ever tasted came from a chain called Mellow Mushrooms in Chattanooga, TN. Over in reviews: I agree with you. I think JJ pretty much figures he'll never be able to beat the genius Will in terms of grades- I'm betting he probably tried, but there was always a B or a C that kept him from getting the perfect grades that Will gets, so he decided to go another way. And when he got to Harvard-Westlake and saw that good grades were going to require more than just a passing effort, JJ checked out and is basically getting himself kicked out instead of actually dropping out. He COULD save everyone the trouble and just take the damned GED, but that would require active action and he's not into that. I'm sure Robbie would help him prepare though- I doubt JJ would be the first 15-year old high school GED dropout he's met. As a self-admitted attention whore, I think JJ feels like any attention is good attention, even when it's attention for being a jerk. Being the happy, sweet boy got him zero attention, so he's doing it instead by being a diva bitch. I think JJ in general feels left behind by his brothers- Darius to college, Will to precocious puberty turning him into this big gay stud practically overnight, while he's stuck in the body of a 12-year old that no one's going to give a second look at. He wants to understand and relate to his brothers, but he can't because the puberty fairy is visiting him late and he's still got the body and mind of a child. It's frustrating, and he's venting with that frustration by being a bitch to his brothers to try and get them to pay more attention to him.

Except it's already being said that JJ's grades are bad, and if they're bad, then that probably suggests that he hasn't soaked up the Michelle Kwan mode of being academically diligent. I've consulted with Daisy on this, and she said the mindset of the time period was actually pretty split- yes, you had the Michelle Kwans of the world. But you also had a fair amount of people who would totally backburner school in order to pursue this, and JJ seems to have fallen into the latter category. From Mark in reviews: Okay, this is where I go with the whole "JJ parallels my life" deal. I bombed out my freshman year of high school. I somehow managed to flunk or get a D in computer applications, gym, and Algebra. My grades were really bad, and I kept getting pulled into conferences about how to do better. I would nod my head, then go straight back into slacking off. It wasn't until 11th grade, when my slacker friends had gotten kicked out of school and I had discovered a love of history due to history camp that I started trying more. I think if someone find a hook with a him- a subject that he loves- he'd have more motivaton to do well in school. But for now, his concentration is on this stuff. As for Darius, the real naval service academy probably would haven't accepted him, but in the story, and for story purposes, they did. Which is where Darius decided to give up the spot because he realized it could go to someone more deserving. There was one moment in chapter 86 that I really liked- Will having this little moment where he realizes that barring Ryan, most of his current high school friendships are pretty shallow. I think what Will doesn't realize yet is that he tends to make friends with guys on the basis of how hard they make his dick, instead of what their personalities are like, and because of that he's setting himself up for shallow relationships. I had something similiar freshman year of college where I tended towards trying to make friends with guys I liked looking at, rather than guys I actually had stuff in common with. When you make friends with people for superficial reasons, you tend to get back pretty superficial friends. Have you noticed that his best friendships right now- his friendship with Wade and with Tiffany- are friendships were sex isn't really part of the equation?

Yeah. I feel like anybody I know who went to college and got a degree are at least thinking about graduate school, if they didn't already do it. I mean, even nursing and elementary school teachers want masters now. The only people I know who were able to pretty much go straight into having a good job with just their bachelor degree were like accountants and engineers. As for JJ, I think his graduation year- 2004- nicely sets him up to be able to do his freshman year of college, for 2004-2005. He'd probably take off for his sophomore year to concentrate on the 2006 Olympics. I think he'd probably do a lot of summer sessions, and I think JJ would probably pick a college that has a well-known and well-regarded figure skating program affliated with it, because it would be a culture that would understand how to deal with his abscences. My guess would be he graduates in 2009 or 2010. Which is actually very "of the times"- like grad school, it's starting to become normal for people to go through college in 5 years or more. I'm not entirely disagreeing with you here. But didn't Darius also make it pretty clear that the only reason he was even being considered for Anapolis was because his rich granddaddies tried to pull some strings for him? As in Darius's grades were maybe just barely tolerable for him to get in, and he wouldn't have if he were just from a normal family? And didn't Darius mention to Will that his grades at Santa Clara aren't all that good, either? But don't we also know that JJ's grades are bad which is why he's being punished and not allowed to go to the Junior Grand Prix Final in Scotland? And I'm not sure JJ's looking up to Michelle Kwan. I think his likely idols are probably Evengi Plushenko and Alexei Yagudin. This was the era of Russian Male Figure Skating dominance, I believe. I wonder if that's the reason why Johnny Weir began to believe he was Russian.

Your son is probably going to have an extremely easy time getting laid by Les Miserables fans, then. Anyway, Brendan Dooling, the guy I picked out for Josh the Sexually Confused Guy...he's currently playing a sexually confused 80's prepster on the Carrie Diaries. Man, I'm good. I gotta say, this guy favors the 80's preppie look extremely well. They revealed him as being "confused" by staring longingly at photos of Circa 1984 Rob Lowe. Which...can you blame him? Rob Lowe is still hot but in 1984 the dude was just unreal. Rob Lowe was also the inspiration, physical-wise, for Neal. Which was funny, because Rob Lowe kinda has this vibe where you can picture him as bi. I swear, I think he and Andrew McCarthy had some homoerotic chemistry in that fight scene from Class.

That's a good point, Blue. You are right that it seems like other than JP, education has been more about the status symbol rather than having a true love of learning. There was only one academic with Max in Brad's generation, and none of this current generation really seem like they're headed that way. Will likes learning and school, but more because That's What You're Supposed to Do, as opposed to having a real thirst for knowlege. It kind of reminded me of what someone said to me once about rich families and colleges. The kids go to college because it allows their parents to put them into high positions at their family companies, rather than some idealistic love of knowledge. It'll be interesting to see what happens if/when JJ decides not to go to college. Because I'm pretty sure at this point, JJ sees himself at 20 traveling the world showing off his shiny new gold medal, not going through his sophomore year of college struggling through a stats class. Would JP be okay with JJ pursuing his career instead of college, or would he threaten to disinherit him?

Just a reminder that figure skating competitions aren't referred to as meets or tournaments, as per Daisy's instructions. You can call them competitions, if you're being generic, or you can call them by what they are. What JJ missed was the ISU Junior Grand Prix Finale in Scotland, which were held December 14th to December 17th, 2000. Although Brad calling them "meets" actually kind of works because it shows that he's kind of clueless about the sport. I thought it was pretty clear that it was an abberation for JJ to do that bad at Norway. During this 2000-2001 season, JJ also got a bronze medal at the International Junior Competition in France in August and won the Southwest Pacific Regionals in October. We didn't see JJ at the Pacific Coast Sectionals on November 15th, but I'm betting he did well there, too. Remember, we've only ever actually been to like two of JJ's competitions- Southwest Pacific Regionals and the Norway Junior Grand Prix. But yeah, JJ would never file for emancipation. I think it kind of speaks to something I saw once on Behind the Music: Tiffany. Tiffany was an 80's teen pop star, kind of like a less popular version of Debbie Gibson. She filed for emancipation and it hurt her career. Why? Because you can't maintain a wholesome, happy-go-lucky teen innocent image if you're battling your parents in court. It ruined her image of being the carefree teenaged mall rat. If JJ filed for emancipation, it would ruin his image of being a happy, innocent teenager like on those Disney sitcoms. What JJ could do, but I'm not sure JP would be ever be cool with, is to take the GED and drop out of school. He's 15, so he's old enough to take it. I'm getting the feeling that as a consequence of basically letting Jeanine parent JJ without much interference from Brad or Robbie, the typical Crampton/Schluter attitude towards education wasn't exactly passed down to JJ like it was to Will. I don't get the feeling that JJ isn't smart- I think he's probably a bright person, but he's not particularly motivated to do well so he does just enough to get by without ever fully applying himself. And the more he's gotten into figure skating, the less motivated he feels to do well at school.

Guys started growing their hair out again and stopping with the gel around 2003...so maybe Cody Simpson's hair could be JJ's 2003 and onward hairstyle? Maybe JJ gets a boyfriend who prefers his curls or something, kinda like the scene in The Ordinary Us when Quin's love interest discovers that he's got curly hair, when it's not drowned in product. There's this shift in clothing and hairstyles that happens in 2003 that I think you'd like writing about, when you get around to a 2003 story. The hip-hop styles and the more urban styles gave way to guys wearing their hair more natural and ditching Tommy Hilfiger for brands like Hollister, and the prep look came back in. Birkenstocks also made a big comeback in 2003, but that was usually paired with the Hollister crowd.

I think the face would be Lucas Till, but I picture JJ's hair as being like Cody Simpson's: I keep picturing JJ as having wavy blond hair. This look isn't period(, short, spikey and gelled would be), but Will's already described JJ as being someone who doesn't really dress to fit in.

Happy birthday, Matt. Do a three Wisemen shot for me, okay? (That's Jose Curveo, Jack Daniels, and Jim Beam.)

I always thought it was kind of funny that macho, masculine guys like nearly every Hayes guy could be total bottoms, and effeminate guys could wind up as tops. I like Noah being Will's friend. Even though I'm sure they're going to have sex, I also think Noah has the makings of being a good friend. I liked Ryan as Will's friend as well, but he reads as that friend in high school who becomes totally into their significant other to the detriment of their friendships. I also really like Noah being from a poor background, and not being given a trust fund from the Cramptons/Schluters to be made rich like Gathan was. One thing a good soap usually has is class tension, and I feel like that's been missing for the most part ever since this soap left Claremont. It's nice to have that back again.

I'm not sure if that's a function of Will being a total bottom, or a function of the fact that Will's usually the younger guy or he's the gay guy hooking up with a "straight" guy and topping is more acceptable in the mind of a guy who's "straight" but hooking up with another guy. See, I haven't really seen much of this being like Be Rad 2.0. Brad at the start of Be Rad was mainly concerned with three things- sex, weed, and his social standing/power at Gunn High School. Will's into smoking and sex like his dad was, but he seems to be more into helping people, as well as what's right and wrong, than Brad was. 17-year old Brad felt way more shallow than Will does. And Will's story arc is more about taking control of his life than the trauma of coming out and finding true love. Brad was also wayyyy more into preppie culture than Will is, although that's likely more a function of the fact that preppie wasn't exactly cool in 2000 like it was in 1980/1981. Will's generation was highly influenced by hip-hop, as opposed to how whitebread Brad's generation was. As Adam Phillips (who's Matt's age), everybody wanted to be black. Tommy Hilfiger was really popular at the time and that was totally influenced by baggier hip-hop styles.The closet we had to prep was Abercrombie and Fitch, but even that wasn't really the kind of prep that Brad would have grown up with in the early 80's. It was more like laidback surfer prep.

See, I've had no interest in going out to West Hollywood, because I figured I'd be ripped to shreds by catty queens for being a stocky guy with non-perfect features and a lack of fashion sense. I don't know- I haven't really been that interested in going out to gay clubs because of how body-obsessed the gay community can be...I met quite a few catty queen types at U of Delaware. When I met gay people in Western PA at IUP, I was shocked at how much more laidback and accepting they were.