methodwriter85

Yeah, the neon comeback doesn't seem to be showing any signs of ending soon.

As much as I liked the movie...here were the two scenes that were done better by amateur Youtube fans than in the actual movie... I was so mad they took out the part where Peeta tells her about how his father was in love with her mother, as well as the whole, "I remember everything about you. You're the one who wasn't paying attention." The cave scene was cut down so much in the movie.

Pastels and bright colors. I really thought that was going to be out by now; it's been "in" since 2004-ish.

It's possible that's what the scene is like now, as opposed to the early '00s, but eh.

Day 29- March 9th I was interviewed for the museum newsletter. It was kind of nice, getting to talk about myself and what I've been working on for this semester. Day 30- March 20th I continued working on Box 2, and got my picture taken for the newsletter. Day 31- March 21st I corrected some stuff about the article that was written about me, and continued working on Box 2. Day 32- March 24th The Cub Scouts visited the museum today, and I watched as Herb gave another tour. The best part was when he explained the mining exhibit. I grew up in Delaware, and our work labor history is mainly based on farms and du Pont gunpowder mills(before giving way to chemical factories). It's been interesting learning about the mining history of Western PA...one thing that I really have loved about living in a different region from the one I grew up in.

Damn, this is so messed up. Racist Hunger Games Fans Are Very Disappointed I wish I could say this shocked me, but it doesn't. It's amazing how many people keep insisting that Obama isn't actually a citizen of the country.

The United States has around 313 million people, while the UK has about 62 million and Australia has about 20 million people. It makes sense. The books are great. The movie was pretty good, but god, I really wish they had retained more of Peeta's dialogue.

Because the 2000 election was a pretty important event that shaped how the decade went, and gave rise to an administration that you know damn well JP and Brad are going to hate with every fiber of their being? I mean, I get that the events have been pushed back to just background for the story, but in my case- the 2000 election happened when I was in 8th grade, and beginning to really understand how politics affected us. By 2004, I was completely disgusted by the Bush administration and completely disheartened that he got re-elected. I'm just eager for us to get around to it, but with multiple chapters covering the same day, it just seems like that's not that likely we'll get there. I mean, you've always kept a slow pace that then picked up at the end, but it kinda seems like the slow pace has been REALLY slowed down. Especially because there wasn't any kind of significant time jump between the end of Poor Man's Son and the beginning of Paternity. I mean, I know this isn't true for everyone, but what I really love about the CAP series is exploring a different year in a different time period and exploring all the things that happened. You used to set stories at different time periods- first was the early 1960's, then the late 1960's, the early 1970's, the early 1980's, the early 1990's. And then we hit Bloodlines, and with the exception of the flashbacks in the Box, we've been stuck in the Y2K period for a very, very long time.We're covering far more of a year than we've ever done before, and frankly, I'm getting sick of 2000. Especially because it's the year before '01, which was a pretty big year indeed. I'm also just partial to the 2003-2007 era for personal reasons. The other problem I have with the slowed down timeline is that the characters don't get time to develop off-book and surprise us with how they've changed from the last time we saw them. It was cool seeing Brad as a little boy, and then catching up with him again as a 17-year old. We don't get that anymore. We've been, for the most part, continously following the Cramptons/Schluters/Hayes since 1998....the only periods we've missed would be May to June 1999, early fall 1999, and May-June 2000. We don't check in with Will as a 13-year old, fade out, and then check in on him again a couple of years later- there's just always this continual focus on these characters, which makes it harder for us to be surprised at how they change. For example, Will in January 2000 was so upset that Brad didn't ask him to be best man at his wedding. Then we get to July 2000, and suddenly they're at constant war with one another. It felt jarring- had there been at least a year lag there, I could see how tensions might have developed off-book, but the lack of time jumps doesn't allow for that anymore. I mean, I understand that this is your story, but eh. This has been bothering me, and I've not been entirely sure why, but I think I might have explained it better. I really miss getting to explore a different year with each story. But I'm assuming that the reason why we've lingered so much in 2000 is that you're setting up issues and relationships that will propel us through the rest of the 2000's, and once we get past 9/11 and the baton is fully handed off to the JJ/Will/John cohort the pace is going to start picking up and you're not going to have multiple stories set in the same year anymore.

Yeah, it probably would, but after a record three stories set in a single year, I'm really exhausted from circa 1999-2000 music. I'm half-hearted at this point. Is it going to be 2001 soon, Mark? *whines*

So, Blue, is this basically what you and your electronic-music fans were like? Kind of hilarious. I've seen kids dressed exactly like that, right down to the late 80's throwback neon sunglasses and bandanas. Is it just me, or did some really ugly trends pop up after about 2007? I do not think skinny jeans look good on guys. At all. Especially if they're guys who actually have muscle in their legs, and the look is just awkward on them.

So, I just got back from seeing the movie...my thoughts... S P O I L E R S I hated them not having the part where Rue's district sends Katniss bread, but I think I got why they did it. Instead of Peeta's speech in Catching Fire inspiring the riot, it was watching Katniss put the flowers on Rue that did it. In the book, it was clear that the part with the flowers was not shown to the audience, but it looks like they saw that here. That realization made it a little easier to deal with them kiboshing the bread scene. It was weird- I agree with the general sentiment that they underplayed Rue's part, and I didn't cry during the actual death. It was when Katniss put the flowers around Rue that I teared up. My favorite scene had to be the trayjacker part- it had all the right tension to it, and they didn't shy away from turning Glimmer into the mangled mess she was described as being. I was thinking the violence would get really toned down, but it didn't get toned down as much as I thought- the neck snap of the District 3 boy was just ruthless, and I'm glad they didn't take that out. I loved how much glee they depicted the careers having when they killed- that felt right. And I liked Cato's speech a lot. My interpretation of it was that Cato came to the realization that they had picked out Katniss and Peeta as the final two, and he was quite literally just cannon fodder. Cato had been raised to believe that he was going to be the valiant hero, and in the end, he was just the final obstacle for Lover Boy and the Girl on Fire. Cato never had a shot, and for someone who genuinely believed that he was going to be so much better at these games than everyone else, to realize that he was being thrown under the bus for two white trash hillbillies from District 12 drove him to the end. Jennifer Lawrence managed to convey a lot of emotion while still having me believe that this was a girl who generally did not wear her heart on her sleeve. The cold, cold interaction with her mother was so well-done. As well as the end, when Katniss is wearing that ridiculous yellow tulle dress, and she's trying to sell this big romance- the dazed look on her face while she recited what Haymitch told her to say was great. The chariot outfit kind of disappointed, but that yellow dress was hilariously perfect- you could see clearly see it as, "Look at this silly young girl so in love that she tried to pull a Romeo and Juliet. She wasn't trying to call the Capital's bluff at all, no siree!" I think Josh Hutcherson did well- the smile and wave at the crowd was perfect, but if there's one thing the movie failed at, it was taking the little bits of dialogue that Peeta had, that really developed him as a character. They cut down on Peeta's cave scene speech so much, and we lost the bit about how Katniss's father could stop the birds with his voice, which was such a beautiful bit in the book. I also wish they had kept the bit about Peeta losing his leg, because that was such a permanent physical reminder of what they had gone through. But I guess they can't have their teen idol legless, right? I'm undecided about Peeta not finding out that Katniss had completely played him in the Games, like he did at the end of the book. On one hand, that seemed really important, because it sets up the freezing out that Peeta does to Katniss during the early part of Catching Fire. On the other hand, there's something interesting about how Katniss pretty much has to play the lovestruck teenager the entire time they're back in District 12, without Peeta realizing that it's a showmance. Overall, I'm definitely satisfied with the movie. Move over, Bella Swann. It's all about Katniss Everdeen now!

Same here. Of all of the kids, Will is the one who has the least amount of room to call himself "neglected." JJ can do it, but come on, this is the same dad who took Will on a private vacation to Hawaii about two or so months ago.

-Will goes to Australia for study abroad for the spring 2007 semester. Come on, you KNOW Will would love that place. Great surf, great-looking men with hot accents, and coral reefs to explore. It'd be perfect. I think Paris would be out for study abroad, for sure. Most of the kids I knew who could afford study abroad did it, even ones couldn't really afford it, and that'd be a cool experience to cover that we didn't really do before. Speaking of study abroad, it's usually supposed to be done during the junior year- so are Wade and Matt going to do study abroad, or has Riley pretty much put the kibosh on Wade ever getting to do something like that?

Don't forget the time that Will got molested in Paris by that twentysomething thug, as well. Although Will was all too willing until he realized that the thug was a bad guy. It's pretty much a CAP rule that if you're a teenager, you must have sex with someone at least ten years older than you. If you're 17-18, then you must have sex with someone old enough to be your father/mother/possibly grandparent. Which is a good thing, because they seem like they're on two pretty divergent paths(Will being into school and surfing, JJ being into figure skating and traveling), and it'll be cool to see them maintain that bond even if JJ winds up living in Tokyo or something.

Chapter 23 -When Will learns about Pat's legal troubles.

Ever since I've read The Hunger Games, "Set Fire to the Rain" has been on my mind. They really do mesh well.

Right, but that happened a really long time ago, in 1988. He was what, 25? It'd be one thing to make that joke if he were a 50-ish creeper who was into dating barely legal and jailbait people, but in that instance, Rob was a young man who made a stupid mistake. We all do some pretty stupid things in our twenties. Cut him some slack there. It's been almost a quarter of a century.

You really like saying "hun", huh? Kinda like Paige on Degressi: The Next Generation. Anyway, the joke doesn't make sense- Rob Lowe isn't a confirmed bachelor who only dates much younger ala George Clooney, so I'm not sure what the joke is, exactly. I kind of thought Josh was more along the lines of boy-next-door good-looking, as opposed to drop-dead gorgeous in a feline kind of way. We did decide at one point that Jack Hobart looks like Ian Somerhalder, who kind of resembles a younger Rob Lowe. We also had Neal from MiM as looking like Rob Lowe...although Mark doesn't really have the whole "let's have characters who look like teen idols contemporary to the time period" anymore. Kind of a shame. I would have loved drooling over a character who looked like Josh Hartnett, or maybe Angel from Buffy. Aside from Brendan Dooling, another green newbie actor/model I'm hoping there's space for...James Gaisford. He was in a short web fan film as Young Haymitch in the Hunger Games. Cute as a button. (He's only 17, so I'll keep it at that. LOL.) I love this guy's hair. Speaking of requests...Mark, are you working on getting an Austin Butler-look alike in yet? LOL.

His name's Brendan Dooling. He's only really been in a few things; I think I came across him while checking out Austin Butler's IMDB profile. They're both appearing in a pilot for CW called the Carrie Diaries, with AnnaSophia Robb as a 17-year old Carrie Bradshaw in the early 1980's.I'm a sucker for that kind of look.

Hmm. That sucks. His name is Brendan Dooling.Like I said, I'm not really trying too hard on this one, so it's whatever. I only really go hard if it's someone who's a core family member.

Hmm. Is this closer? (I don't think it nails it, but I'm wondering if this is more in the ball park.) I'm not really focusing that much energy on this one, as opposed to the two or so years I spent agonizing over a JJ. God, I love checking out different faces and playing the "casting game." I feel like the key to Josh is that he's gotta look like a cute, innocent boy-next-door. (Whether or not he actually is irrelevant.)

To be honest, as fun as the sex stuff in CAP has been, the random hook-ups with total strangers with zero emotional commitment have left me a little cold. I tend to skim through the sex scenes where it's clearly just a hook-up that's not leading anywhere, not even just friendship. I mean, I get that this is a gay erotica soap opera, so the sex has to be in there, but eh...

Brando Eaton from Dexter and Secret Life is pretty much how I picture Wade's new friend Josh: Cute, sweet boy-next face, rocking bod.

It would be, but according to Wade, they're now somewhat estranged. Not for any particular reason, but Beau is a senior this year(he was a sophomore in Bloodlines) and he's more into his own thing. That's why Wade took on to Will so much, because Will kind of filled the little brother void for him. I know Mark's said before that he only has one sibling, so this is something he's missed out on- when you have at least two siblings, there tends to always be a sibling that you can side with and team up with against a sibling who you may not be getting along, and/or your parents. I would think Beau would make a pretty likely ally at this point. See, after Jake in Be Rad I'm pretty much wary of any guy who comes off as a shy, sweet virginal person. It would be kind of cool to have a high school/college gay guy that isn't slutty in CAP, but I wouldn't bet on it. Mark likes his characters randy.

Right, but your point that you were making was that for these kids, college was a given, and therefore none of them were panicking and then chowing down on Adderall. I wasn't saying that JJ and Will needed to be like those panicky kids- I was saying that it was interesting that they didn't turn out that way, but also that I figure that they'll run into the kids for whom Dartmouth is their backup and who mainline coffee into their system at some point. That's the reality of competitive schools- some kids are fine with wherever they go as long as they go, other kids are obsessed with getting into their first or at least second choice. And because this generation of kids happens to have been somewhat of a baby boomlet, there's a lot less spaces for them as opposed to when Gen Xers like you were applying to school.