methodwriter85

Right. I thought that's what made it realistic- JJ is a bitch for how he's reacting, but Will is being a dick by taking away all the attention from JJ when he was supposed to be there to help him out. You've got this guy who's spent his entire life overshadowed by his little brother and his big brother- everything came easier to them than it did to him. He's finally got this one thing his hot brother that everyone loves can't do, and now his talent is going unrecognized because said brother is slutting it up. Add to that being 14 years old, when you think EVERYONE is out to get you and no one really understands you, and JJ's reaction totally makes sense.

The guy playing Niall was hot. Man. The funny thing about Directioners is that a lot of them are totally into embracing the idea of the guys being gay, and being with each other in a sexual way. I remember back in the late 90's, you'd suggest a guy from BSB or N'Sync was gay, and the fangirls would lose it.

In gymnastics, if you're a woman you're used and dried up by age 20.

Joe Canada. If that is what the average Joe Schmoe Canadian guy looks like, I'm so moving there. Let's celebrate with my favorite Canadian 90's teen pop princess, Alanis Morissette. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-ggju-v10c&feature=related

I'm going to the Firefly Festival where I'll get to see the play! I'm so excited! I signed up as a volunteer, so in exchange for three 6-hour shifts, I get to go the event for free. Unfortunately I'll have to work when the Killers are playing, but I'll get to see Jack White on Friday night and the Black Keys Sunday night. It's going to be so much fun. I've never been to a big concert before. I can't wait!

I keep telling myself that we've lingered in 2000 for so long because Mark has a lot he wants to set up before we start going back to the "a different story for a different year" format. He does need to set up the next generation, and all of the incumbent issues within said generation, before we start going forwards and seeing how they develop and change into adulthood. Although hopefully not quite as real time as it has been lately. Sometimes I'm worred that I'll be 30 and JJ will be barely 17 years old, though. I'm worried I'll become his Dorian Grey portrait, aging rapidly while he stays forever young. LOL. (Seriously, it seems like he's been 14 for like, forever. What a crappy age to stay at.) Disclaimer: Please do not be offended by anything I put in this post. No offense towards Mark, the readership, and persons living, dead, or fictional were meant. Thank you.

There's this web series called Teens React, which features everyday teenagers watching video clips of various things within pop culture, like movie trailers or viral videos. I came across it while searching for Hunger Games videos, and I liked it a lot. The kids are funny, and it's a great way to stay "hip" to what the young people are getting into these days. Here are some of the episodes I liked: Teens React to One Direction and Teens React to Toddlers and Tiaras I liked how the one girl in the first one kept going on about how liking One Direction made her feel like such a conformist, which made me think of a joke this guy made when I was in high school, "A non-conformist wants to be different, just like everybody else." And of course, I loved seeing that one guy just facepalm at it. "Oh, god, another boyband, though. When will it end?" And in Toddlers and Tiaras...man, those kids didn't mince words. "Go-go juice makes her laugh, and feel funny. *beat* I think she was drunk." LOL. Anyway, check the episodes out, if you have time. I enjoy it a lot. It's been about a decade since I was a teenager, and it's kind of cool to see just how many of these kids reminded me of teenagers I knew when I was in high school. Kinda nice to know that the more things change, the more they stay the same. (ESPECIALLY the "I'm so unique and cool because I dyed my hair a crazy color and talk trash on pop music" person. Never, ever changes.) If you've got any web series you'd like to recomend here, by all means!

Believe me, I'm usually the first person to get on Mark if I feel like he came up with something really contrived and out of character. This isn't really the case, I think. Because really, how much did we know about Pat other than the fact that he was a good-looking 26-year old guy with red hair, nice to Will, and interested in Jeff? He got introduced into the story around late July/early August- it's not like Pat was some long-standing family friend that we knew for a long time. It was definitely a prevailing issue in the early 2000's, as Tim can attest to.

I saw Anderson Cooper at my school in 2009. Pretty great speaker- I got a book signed. You know, on the Facts of Life, there was an episode where this guy tells snobby Blair Warner that he's involved with Gloria Vanderbilt's daughter as part of this smooth image to try and impress her. She figures out it's fake, and tells him, "Then I realized, Gloria Vanderbilt doesn't have a daughter." I remember thinking, "Well, that definitely wouldn't keep this guy from dating Gloria Vanderbilt's progeny!" I just look up to Anderson Cooper so much. Here's this guy who could have just spent his life sponging off of his family money ala Paris Hilton, and instead he's done all these cool and interesting things instead.

Aaron Tveit from Broadway and Gossip Girl as Young Mark Arbour? (I keep leaning towards dorkily cute prepsters for Young Mark, like Ryan Devlin.)

I kind of feel like drugs are unavoidable anywhere you live. I remember when X was big in Philly. I also remember when Newark, Delaware was considered a major hub for trafficking Heroin on the East Coast because of its proximity to I-95. At my high school, a lot of my friends smoked pot and the like. At college, crushing up Adderall and snorting it was pretty common. So was abusing Oxy and the like. I never had any interest in the Queer as Folk circuit scene because I heard and read too many stories about people who were destroyed in it. I'm kinda glad that nowadays, the image of the circuit boi isn't the only prevailing gay image now- now we've got the 20-something guys that want to get married and settle down and the like.

I really loved this chapter, because it underscored the dark side of Will's physical maturity. Yeah, it's cool that older guys want to hang out with him because he has the body of a hot 18-year old, but when you live faster, you deal with adult issues earlier than if you stay a little boy for a bit longer. I had 15-year old friends that were into going to raves and the like which sounded fun, but I was in no ready to be around that kind of stuff.

Mark wore me out by having three stories set in 2000 and three stories set in 1999. And it was kind of a dry era for music, anyway. I really loved this quote from Tim. I was never part of the circuit boi scene, but when I was 14/15, I knew of it, and the stories I heard made me really want to do my best to stay away from it. Mark was really hitting dead-on what the early 2000's scene was like- you weren't hearing about 20-something guys trying to get married and setting up homes like you do now. You were hearing about circuit bois in their wifebeaters living for their next trick. It was like when all the AIDS activists of the 1980's either died off or moved on as AIDS in Western Civilization became a not-death sentence, the rising generation just threw themselves with abandon into the party scene unencumbered by a fear of AIDS.

Chapter 48 -When we learn about what can happen to kids on the street who don't have 50k to lug around.

I loved the Pat reveal. Seriously, seriously loved it. Because it's so CAP for Will to want to come in and fix his problems, but the reality is, sometimes people are too far gone to be saved. And sometimes you see people the way you want to see them, not how they actually are. Will saw Pat as this hot, beautiful guy who was pretty nice, and as such he didn't really want to think that Pat could be into bad stuff. But the reality was, Will didn't know all that much about Pat's life, and the pretty package was covering one big mess. That has happened more than once in my life, where I met someone who seemed cool and together initially, and only later on did I realize that they had a lot of crazy things going on that I knew nothing about because I was too busy seeing them the way I wanted to see them instead of how they actually were. Plus, this was the early 2000's, and meth combined with circuit parties really had some devastating effects. This was after gay men stopped worrying about AIDS as a death sentence, and a lot of risky behaviors re-emerged.

Interestingly, it's a cover of a 1982 hit song by Kim Wilde, who was from the UK or Australian or something like that. For me, they're "adorable gay twinks that I want to hang with" cute. In terms of people I actually want to bang...that'd be Max George from the Wanted. Holy hell that guy looks like he'd be good in the sack.

Back to the females for a second... I am convinced Mark had Gail O'Grady(best known for NYPD Blue and American Dreams) in mind when he described Claire:

That is weird.

This would explain why you only ever suggest Twinky-looking guys for CAP characters, even if they're characters that are supposed to have a little more meat on their bones, like Darius.

The Four Bullies Are Suspended For One Year They're being "suspended" for a year, and forced to attend alternative school for a year. Although really, since they're supposed to be in 8th grade next year, unless this is some kind of school where 9th grade is combined with the middle school, aren't they basically never coming back to the school? The suspension works, but really- if I were the parents I'd probably just have my kid choice into another school district, or put them in Catholic school for a year. The community service with elderly folks seems like the better, more fitting punishment.

Yeah, like I said, I had a problem with the scenario, but Mark's explanation of it, which kind of goes along with what you're saying, makes sense. It's not like I think Mark's setting up HW is the kind of school where kids can get away with murder while the administration looks the other way because of Daddy's money. I knew kids who went to schools like that, as private schools are really big in Delaware because our lax taxing system=really horrible public schools. St. Mark's had kids who would roll joints in class and the teachers ignored it. And I don't think Mark is trying to paint HW as that kind of school. Despite my criticism, I do think Mark's done a good job of reflecting what the school is like going by what alumni have said, which is great. In any event, it'll be interesting to see what happens with JJ and school, because he doesn't seem like he's all that into school. Of course, since we are getting to know JJ more on this Norway trip, I imagine we'll know more about the situation.

I loved how that one guy, Kostas, was so chill and was like, "Yeah, they're catchy and fun and I like them. So what?"

It's got Emma Stone, though. Emma freakin' Stone. She's one of the best young actresses to come along in awhile.

Trust me, I argued really hard with Mark on this one because it didn't jibe with the vibe I've gotten of the school, and I also didn't think that Will would get any kind of leeway for awhile after he got back. I'm going to go with the idea that the principal is going to be lenient, one time, because he is a good student and he does admire JP, but I don't think Will's going to be continually pushing his luck there. He seems to realize what a get out of jail free card he got, and I imagine the rest of his time at HW he'll be pretty good about following rules. Well, except for Senior Skip Day. Across the board, from people who went there or knew of the school, HW is a strict school that takes the building of character through academic vigor and public service commitment pretty seriously, and a Dubya kind of kid who continually caused problems wouldn't last there. I think Mark has reflected that, for the most par(considering Ryan's friend Mike left because he couldn't hack it), except with the whole principal going easy on Will. But I'm assuming, again, that it's just that one time, and if Will ever becomes an actual problem he'll be booted out. But Will's not a stupid kid, and I don't think that will happen. Of course, if I'm wrong and HW is totally the kind of school that will look the other way at a kid's bad grades and/or behavior because of who their daddy is, by all means, correct me.*looks at Tim, Matt, Tommy, and Julian.* Well, these are junior skaters, so David could be as old as 18, 19.

The impression that I get from what I've heard from Julian is that it's not the kind of private school that lets kids who can't handle the work stay in because Daddy donated a new library or something; they might let some things slide but a Dubya kind of kid doesn't seem likely to stay in. HW has 9th grade examinations in January, so if Mark covers January 2001 that might make the JJ education question clearer. Mark's been pretty vague about what JJ is like academically, but if we're going to go through the bother of getting to know JJ more through the Norway trip, that seems like a pretty important issue that needs to be covered. He could be a straight A guy like Will, or he could be someone that doesn't quite pass muster at HW. I really hope that Mark clears that up a bit as we're getting to know more about JJ. Tiffany does seem to think JJ is a pretty smart guy, but it doesn't seem like that's something everyone else thinks. My guess is for JJ to decide that he doesn't need HW, and he drops out and gets his GED at 15. Not because I think JJ couldn't handle the work, but because he simply puts all of his effort into skating and he's just not as dedicated about school like Will.