methodwriter85

We also have to see Jeanine come back to normal...depression usually takes more than just a few months to come back from. As well the clusterffuck that was the 2000 Election, JJ's trip to Norway that everyone is planning on going on, and what-have-you. There are way too many strings left untied to wrap up the story now. I'm not going to be surprised if Paternity winds up Millenium-sized.

Chapter 37 -When Will tries to reconcile with his Pop. "Let That Be Enough" by Switchfoot

For me, the best era of music was from about 1988 to about 1996. I LOVED scoring A Summer Love and If It Fits. I seriously wish I was Private Tim's age, so I could have been in college during the Grunge Era. That would have been sick.

It WOULD be interesting if JJ and Will played out Cain and Abel, but I don't think they have that kind of sibling rivalry.

Hey, I went back to 1989 for this chapter, Mark.

Day 50 -May 2nd Finally finished Box 4. Just one more box to go. There's a woman who keeps visiting the Historical Society with her kids. They like seeing the guns. It's great seeing the importance of the historical society as a free place for families to go and entertain their children. I think hands-on activities would be great to add, like maybe teaching children how to make haversacks or marching. Day 51- May 4th Interestingly, I'm starting on Box 1 as my final box. Luckily, there doesn't look to be that much here. I found a program for America's sesquicentennial in 1926. That was pretty interesting, because I really wish I could have been around for the bicentennial in 1976. I'm definitely looking forward to the tricentennial in 2076. Day 52- May 5th I continued working on Box 1, and taped some covers back on to the manuals using archival tape.

Scallops wrapped with bacon. Mmm. And shrimp. Can't forget shrimp. God, I love living on the East Coast. Seafood is awesome. I really need to hit up the Eastern Shore this summer.

I've liked that contrast; I really have. Shows me that you're not recycling the Brad and Robbie relationship for the new millennium in younger models- where both Brad and Robbie were pretty much ruled by their dicks, especially in high school and college.

I didn't think that they had to be helicopter parents themselves, just that now we're getting into the Generation Y perspective, that's one thing that comes up. If these were kids who only ever interacted with other rich kids, I could see that point- but Mark has made it a point to bring in kids from other socioeconomic backgrounds to be more reflective of where American society was at certain points. That's been true ever since the first story- the family COULD chose to be in a complete bubble if they wanted to, but it's been installed in them to interact with people that aren't like them. Good points about Sam and the way the kids were raised, especially in how they felt like they could really go to their parents if they needed help. That hasn't been true with Brad and Robbie in regards to their Irish twins. I really would love it if JJ told them point blank, "I didn't ask you guys for help when I was depressed about Mom because you seemed too busy to care." Of course, I don't think he will, but it would be great if that point got across. Anyway, Blue, let's just rage for a bit and have some fun. It'll be totally sick. Come on!It's Arbour's birthday!*smiles* Come on, I even brought a case of Yuengling! Cheers!

Chapter 36 -When Will goes surfing with his dad.

That kind of jibes with the impression that I've gotten- Brad and Robbie were once more active parents with their kids, especially up to about 1995 with If It Fits, but as Darius got ready to graduate from high school and JJ/Will entered their teens, both the parents and the kids had less time for each other. And then the events of Millenium happened, and damn. Right, but one function of CAP has been about reflecting period quirks and mindsets. The song that Mark picked to represent how JP, Sam, and Jeanine were raising their kids was "Make Your Own Kind of Music" by the Mamas and the Papas. I'm just saying.

Nah, just certain boundaries like "you don't sleep with your kid's boyfriend" and the like. Although I kind of always thought that the upbringing that they had was supposed to represent the off-beat, 1960's/1970's style of parenting, where everyone was free to be you and me and the like. This is the Helicopter Parent generation, but we haven't really encountered much of that. Although I guess it makes sense that these are supposed to be high-powered people who can't be all up in their kid's grill all the time, but I don't know- I kinda would have thought that after seeing what happened to Billy, Brad and Robbie would have been more interested in teaching their kids what the word "no" is.

Because Sam sleeping with Brad's boyfriend and Isidore letting Billy get away with murder equals "managed."

Wait, when have I ever indicated that I didn't think Jeanine did the bulk of parenting for the kids in CAP? I thought I was fairly consistent in the expression of my belief in that, although I qualified that by saying that each parent tended to focus more on one of the children- Robbie on Darius, Jeanine on JJ, and Brad on Will. In any event...I don't know, the impression that I'm getting is that they WERE active and involved parents, especially around the time of If It Fits, but as Darius got into high school and Will and JJ kinda went off into their own tweenage things, they got less involved, which then got excerabated by the events of Millenium as they had to step up their corporate game. It would make for an interesting story for Wade to decide to "scale down" his lifestyle in order to be more of an active parent, which can and does happen. I had a teacher who used to run a pretty successful construction business, but then he realized that he wasn't able to spend enough time with his kids, so he sold it off and became a teacher at their school.

Yeah. It's a sad but true that Boby Dylan covers tend to be better because most singers have better voices.

It'll be interesting when The War on Terror hits. Given the broad scope of the canvas, I can't imagine that Will won't know people who go off to war- especially Gathan's friends. Claremont seems like the kind of place that would produce a lot of veterans.

The rich are different from you and me.

Chapter 34 -When Will realizes that he's being turned into a meal ticket, and the reality of being alone by himself without his family. "Like A Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan -When Will reads over his emails. "2000 Miles" by the Pretenders

I had that thought, but I really think JJ as written now would do a wicked Draco impression. I can totally see him doing Harry Potter roleplay games. There was this funny episode of some dating show on MTV where a guy took his date on a "Quiddith" ride, i.e. they rode on brooms suspended in the air. The fact that people really do this really is pretty hilarious. Gee, some people need lives. *says the guy who really wants to visit the District 12 village in North Carolina this summer*

Actually, I'm betting it would have been, "Oh, yes, Jeremy, you are quite the Draco and I your Harry Potter!" Come on, you know they boned off to the side. I remember around 2001 or 2002 I ran into a "Happy Birthday Harry Potter" event at Borders. Not quite as frightening as the time I ran into a Twilight event at the same bookstore about six years later, though

Hey, you never know, JJ could be the first non-slutty Schluter! *thinks of Jeremy Bloom and Apollo Ohno at the 2006 Winter Olympics* Wait, not sure I want that...

And in the meantime, JJ has to look like the innocent virginal figure skater who would never so much as think about pre-marital sex. It works for now, because he's a late bloomer, but when puberty finally hits...

Well, it's true. Think about it- aside from Brad's uptight straight brother Nick, has there ever been a Schluter who wasn't described as a hot slut?

Well, I think Will kinda realizes that JJ isn't ready for that kind of stuff yet, and as such he didn't think he should try and force JJ to get into it. I do think it has been pretty realistic the way you've portrayed this- when people get hit by puberty has suuuuuccchhhh an influence on how 7th though 10th grade play out. By 11th grade people tend to even out, but in the few years before that, people have such varying rates of growth. When I was in 9th grade, I knew kids who were going off to raves and were having sex and the like. I also knew kids who wanted to sit around and giggle while they read a sex scene aloud in some book at the library. Things really did vary. I do appreciate that you've allowed JJ to stay innocent for a few more years before turning him into a Schluter sexpot. Thanks for that, Mark. You have the precocious wunderkid with Will, and you have the late bloomer with JJ. Nice use of contrast, and a nice way to create some inherent angst and drama. JJ and Will really are just developing at different rates and into different directions, which makes having them be close more of a challenge.