methodwriter85

Yeah, that seems right. After doing research through these "Shit People Say" videos, I'm scared for when "totes" makes it over to the East Coast. It may take a while, though. Los Angeles and New York City seem to be the prime places that generate national slang...is "good look" out in California yet, Tim n Blue? "Good look", I believe originated sometime in the late 2000's in New York City, then hit Jersey, then hit Delaware, and is now making it's way down the coast. I wonder if it's hit California yet.

I can't wait to see the Hunger Games and the Amazing Spider Man. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87I0lds2MhM&feature=related The concept is pretty awesome, and from all accounts Jennifer Lawrence is a pretty solid actress. Plus, there's Liam Hemsworth. I mean, what more could you want? I'm seriously amped for Andrew Garfield as Spiderman. And I'm Emma Stone's bitch, so I can't wait to see her in this. I think this is going to blow the Tobey Maguire movies out of the water- I can't wait!

I mean, this is humor, but it's also some pretty biting social commentary. I think the ones I've gotten most frequently would be "You're gay, you're supposed to know these things" and "I've always wanted a gay best friend." Some other ones I've gotten that weren't listed: "So, like, how do you give a good blowjob? What's the secret?" "So you're like good at interior design, right?" What about you guys?

I definitely feel like bro should be around at this point, but I could be wrong. I'm pretty sure "bromance" was used on an episode of the O.C. in 2003, but I'm not sure if that term was widespread in California in 2000 "Dawg" was for sure getting used in 2000. Same as "chill" and "beast." (You've already used it.)

-When JJ turns 15, he becomes the record holder for the longest amount of time a contemporary Crampton/Schluter family member has lived without ever smoking pot.

The environment at HW seems decidedly different from the one at Gunn High School 1980 or University School 1998. It actually kind of reminds me of what a much, much, MUCH better-funded Cab Calloway/Charter School of Wilmington would have been like. Mark, you know what this means, right? We have to include a chapter where Will and JJ get roped into filming a cheesy video for the end-of-year assembly. It's was just funny that Nightmare at North Faring video, and seeing how young those kids are, and comparing it to what's going on with Will and his love for partying, pot, and sex, and realizing that Will is supposed to be the same age as these innocent young kids. Although you never know- like I said, I knew kids in 8th grade that were having sex and doing drugs, and it's not until looking back that I realize we were way too young to get into things like that. A person's physical maturity really goes play a role into how those junior high years play out- if you're like JJ and physically immature at 14, you're playing with video games and maybe holding-hands with someone under the table at lunch. If you're like Will and look like a hot 17-year old at 14, you're generally getting into sex, experimenting with drugs, and whatnot. That's been a very true-to-life detail about JJ and Will's 9th grade year.

Shit, that was so true. Especially the drunkenly singing "Someone like you" part. I actually got nudged into singing it with some gay guys I hang out with. And in any event, since I think Mark will eventually get to the late 2000's/early 2010's(somewhere around the year 2030), it's totally relevant. Although I'm thinking Will seems like in his 20's he'd seek out more low-key gay guys instead of queens. Honestly, I think JJ would be more likely to be friends with these types of guys. Which made me think... Boi- the early 2000's gay way of writing "boy". God, that was annoying as hell. I'm glad that's over. bro- Seriously. It's to my generation, Mark, what "man" was to yours. "Bro, that weed was dank! Since Generation 4 will eventually get over to college... The dubstep stuff will be a little too contemporary for Will and JJ's college year era(mid-2000's/late 2000's), but it's still pretty spot-on, especially with the "bro" and "sick" part. And since JJ might wind up taking a looooonnnnggg time to graduate...he might still be in college by the 2010's. This is an incredbily good primer on how a 2000's preppy/sorority girl talks. The "Wait, what?" was especially accurate. (The card bit was special to Vanderbilt.)

The audio in this is absolutely horrible, but it gives you a great sense of what the middle school campus is like. Judging by the clothes, my guess is that this was filmed around 2000-2002, so these kids would be Will and JJ's "contemporaries", so to speak. Is there something about California schools that compells them to film really cheesy videos? Seriously, that's been like a pattern with Malibu High, Gunn High, and now HW. Is the communications department really prized in California or something?

Damn, that's pretty cool. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iUgLMl4rcL9mMqM_2J6da3_m2Mlg?docId=4d1ab40df530485e81030138197843e3 I'm all for increasing the access to Plan B. I don't get why there's even a debate here- Plan B is not an abortion drug; it's just a high dose of the Pill that will keep fertilization from taking place. You increase the amount of people being able to take this, you get a responding decrease in the amount of abortions taking place. Everybody wins. It'd be great to launch a campaign to continue increasing access to Plan B at colleges.

I got involved with Mark's writing team when I was but a wee lad of 22, in August of 2008. Mark had posted the second chapter of CAP, and in it, JP had plans to take Peter Gordon to run from the law, and hit the Delaware beaches. The only problem was, the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962 would have just passed through the area, and it completely tore up the Northeast Coast. I emailed Mark about that, he decided to incorporate the storm into the story, and it's been a blast ever since.

"1983" by Neon Trees

Mark, you obviously wrote this before you decided on turning JJ into a diva bitch. LOL. You're never more than 90 minutes away from a beach if you live in Delaware. I'm just saying. JJ doesn't even feel like much of a beach bunny anyway. And JJ. Johnny Weir. Tell me you wouldn't pay to see the fur fly at Fred Rust Ice Arena. This position seems further strengthened by the fact that JJ is still very much overshadowed by Will at HW, and he pretty much serves as an after-thought. I can see him moving to New York in his 20's and setting up a social circle where no one has even heard of his brother. In any event, I love that I did all this research and you wound up sending the kids to Harvard-Westlake. LOL. It was pretty interesting. What did you guys think about Mark sending Darius to Santa Clara? I wonder if he joined the ROTC there. It doesn't really seem like that much of a party school. I thought USC sounded like a better fit.

We're seeing that within the story. The arrival of Riley has made Wade want to mature into a better man. The arrival of Madison made Cody whoop a little bit, and then go back to his circuit boi Hollywood parties. He doesn't seem all that interested in being a father, which suits his character. If you're going through with the idea of following these characters throughout every year of the 2000's, we'll have to see more of JJ, Will, and John growing up and turning into men, and it'll be interesting to see what paths they take. My guess would be Will being like Wade and eager to become a mature, more settled person by his mid-20's; meanwhile I see JJ wanting to make up for his lost childhood by going really hard at partying when he's in his early/mid-20's. I see the dude getting dragged kicking and screaming into adulthood. LOL.

Armie Hammer looks like a Disney Prince come to life: Goddamn. The best part is that not only does he look like a Disney Prince, but he actually has a pretty cool and lively personality: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=4-dInUB-bMk

Some early 2000's slang words: Beast- Something good, someone or something being awesome. "This sound system is beast." "Jason's a beast at beer pong!" Chill- The definition morphed a little bit. In the 80's, it could mean someone needing to calm down, "you need to chill." Or it could mean hanging out- "let's chill at my crib." But by the early 2000's, "chill" started to mean someone or something really cool or nice. "Ryan's totally chill once you get to know him." "Yeah, the party scene at UD is pretty chill." Or it could mean the state of being surprisingly content with or in an unfamiliar circumstance. "I'm not used to this scene, but it's mad chill." Dank- Really potent weed. "Damn, that shit was dank." Also could mean someone or something of high quality. "That party was dank." Badonkadonk- Someone with a nice, big round ass. When Jennifer Lopez was ascendent during the late 90's/early 2000's, the phrase was used more. I'm not sure how much the phrase would be used by the CAP people, because it seems like Mark writes everyone as liking small little asses, but I do think JLo influenced the trend of women wanting to have bigger asses, aka badonkadonks. I think it might be the influence of hip-hop and the beauty standards within that culture- less of an emphasis on having a big chest, and more of an emphasis on having a broader backside. I actually had an interesting conversation with my roomate about that once- how guys my age aren't so much on the big boobs, as opposed to guys that came of age in the 80's who were reared on the Pamela Anderson look. "Are You On Crack?" - Your reaction when someone says something that you just can't believe, or is totally foolish and stupid. Jeremy S. Circa 2002- "You know, I think Mari is a pretty nice girl." Jeremy T. - "Are you on crack? She's a total bitch!" "Ignorant"- Someone either stupid, or someone totally rude. "That girl be totally ignorant, yo. She don't know how to spell nothing!" "You showed my pictures from elementary school? You are so ignorant!" Someone actually said that to me back in 8th grade.

-Harvard-Westlake has an 80's Dance, and Will enlists Claire's help, who dresses him in Brad's old early 80's prepster style. Come on Mark, you gotta admit, that would be HILARIOUS. Will would probably feel uncomfortable in the short-shorts that early 80's guys wore. And 80's theme dances/parties were pretty popular for this decade.

Yeah, JJ feels really familiar to me, for some reason.

It'll be interesting to see how Riley grows up. He has Wade the ultimate blue-blood as his dad, Matt the loveable stoner as his step-dad, and Tiffany the ball-buster as his mother. I'm thinking Tiffany and Matt will make sure Riley doesn't end up some uptight little blue blood.

Trust me, you don't want to know. Wade in this chapter convinced me he's going to be a pretty good dad, which makes sense. I think he'd be determined to be a much better parent than his parents were. Then there's Matt determined that Riley won't end up a nerd. Now you got me wondering what Riley would be like at 11...lol. I'm really hoping that Matt,Wade, and Tiffany as parents won't be as self-indulgent as Brad, Robbie, and Jeanine were. I get the feeling that Tiffany would be determined to keep Riley grounded and not turn into a spoiled brat, which both Will and JJ can turn into at times. Both Will and JJ don't really seem to understand the word "no." I'm hoping that Riley's going to be better than that. The bit where Tiffany says she's got one baby to worry about...she's definitely not seeing Maddy as hers, is she? Interesting.

I felt like doing a retro music chapter. Plus, That 70's Show was up and running, so kids growing up in the 2000's wouldn't be totally unfamiliar with 70's music. 70's nostalgia was on the wane at this point, with 80's nostalgia starting to come in, but it was definitely around. Ah, That 70's Show...

Day 10- February 2nd I found a letter from the War Department of the United States, dating from 1917 or 1918, which gave a list of desirable books for which to start a camp library. That would explain so much about why George Watson had so many different books, and often in duplicate. I also found a manual on physical training. It was interesting to see what the physical training standards were for the army in the 1910's- it seemed to be mostly focused on calistenics, swimming, and gymnastics. No real mention of running, or weight-lifting. I had some friends who did PT, and man it seemed completely different from what this manual described. Day 11- February 3rd Today we had two people come in that renewed their memberships at the historical society. One bought two maps, which was nice. Another guy came out all the way from California to renew his membership, which was cool. I really like that I get to interact more with the public here. There's something gratifying in knowing that you're helping people with their quest to learn more about their personal history. Day 12- February 4th One of the volunteers, who is an Vietnam War veteran, gave a tour to another Vietnam War vet and his wife. We looked at the second floor displays dedicated to war veterans, and there was strong emotional feel that came off of both men when it came to talking about people who didn't come back from the various wars. It reminded me of the responsibility that you have as a historian- you can tell a story, but you have to treat lightly on certain subjects. There was a part of the tour where the guide opened up a book to show pictures from the Vietnam War, and when they got to pictures of dead soldiers both the guide and the other Vietnam War Vet quickly skipped over that part. With World War II vets quickly dying off, Vietnam War Vets will(if they don't already) compose the greatest bulk of the American vet population. I'm wondering if that means that there will be an increase in attempts to exhibit the Vietnam War history in the coming decades, especially when Baby Boomers start hitting their 70's and 80's.

Chapter 16 -When Matt gets all paternal with Riley. -When Wade and Brad talk about Will. -When Wade blacks Carl into leaving the team and Stanford University.

That's pretty cool. You know, you got just a little harsh there, man. It's cool though. *bumps fist* LOL. Back to tunes.... 38. "Paint the Silence" by South, 2001 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BwKJEWMqfQ 39. "If You Leave" by Nada Surf, 2004 God, the O.C. had such great music. Major influence on me. The Nada Surf version of "If You Leave" just might be as good if not better than the original. I tried growing out my hair so I could get it to look like Adam Brody's. *hangs head in shame* LOL.

OMFG, I'm so excited!!!! A HW promo video from 2000! Some lessons from this: -Will and JJ seriously need more Asian friends -Spaghetti strap tank tops and capri pants on girls -Will should be in a drawing class; I think JJ would join up with drama -Cargo pants and ringer t-shirts on guys. And don't forget the chokers. Man, I am so stoked.

Well, you grew up in a small town where country was popular, right? That would make sense.