methodwriter85

My reaction was at first, "That kid would only be 10 or 11 by the time Aghanistan rolls around", but then I remembered that there are child suicide bombers. In any event, I'm not seeing Will as someone who winds up in Aghanistan. By the time Will would be old enough to join, Iraq is the going war at that time, and I don't think Will's going to join. I think Darius and Gathan might. Gathan's friends, especially Chord, SCREAM "Future War on Terror Veterans". I think Will and JJ, however, are going to representative of those college kids who kinda care, but they're more concerned with upgrading their Ipods and how long they can do a keg stand while "My Humps" by the Black Eyed Peas blares in the background at the frat house. My guess would be that if Will winds up involved with anything major from this decade, it'll be when he does his summer internship working with a marine biology lab trying to assess the damage from Hurricane Katrina. JP's going to be so pissed at our generation's near-total apathy about Aghanistan and Iraq. My college, University of Delaware, was especially politically apathetic. Which is kinda funny, since the current United States vice president is an alumni of UD.

Coincidentally, in the updated Parent Trap, they swapped out the Ricky Nelson reference for a Leonardo DiCaprio one. Ricky was to the late '50s what Leo was for the late '90's.

I like that you had Will see kids his age who have much bigger problems than whether or not their mom is letting their boyfriend spend the night, or that their boyfriend had sex with another guy before they got to it. Kids that age who are that sheltered really don't have the perspective to see past their own problems. I mean, there was Drew, but as Brad kinda realized, Drew was a kid who came from an affluent background and that made him much more comfortable to be around. I've had friends like Will, in the sense that they really had a relatively easy time growing up. On one hand, it's great having had that, but on the other hand, they tend to take set-backs and disapointments a lot harder than kids who come from backgrounds like Gathan's. When you get everything going your way, it's kinda hard to roll with the punches when the first significant failures and setbacks start to happen. I know a guy for whom that didn't happen until he was 30, and MAN he took it pretty hard. I had a buddy explain that to me once, when I was pouting about the golden boys who get everything. Dan told me that I needed to keep in mind that inevitably, things stop being golden for those guys. And when it does, I need to be sympathethic to them. I liked Stefan's conversation with Will, especially about how Will is trying so hard to live like he's 18 instead of enjoying the fact that he's 13. I've always kinda been like that- wanting to be some other age than I currently am. Sometimes I would give anything to be eighteen again; other times I wish I was forty years old and settling comfortably into middle age and past all that dumb twentysomething "I don't know where I'll end up working at" angst. Hell, sometimes I even tell people I'm in my 30's. I told my friend Steve that I was born in 1979, and he was all, "Why you trying to be old, man?" LOL. I also enjoyed Stefan's reasoning as to why Will shouldn't move. I agree with it. Will only has once chance to grow up with his brother and his father at their palace on the beach. Why throw it away? Especially on some 8th grade romance?

Chapter 14 -During Gathan and Kristin's double date at a fancy resturant. "Uptown Girl" by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes -When Stefan shows Will the place he grew up in. "The Old Apartment" by Barenaked Ladies -When Stefan cautions Will at the end of the chapter about the consequences of love and sex, and makes his point by taking him to the park where he used to hustle. "Girls of the Night" from Jekyll and Hyde http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3iLsp7T-Q0&feature=related

Ooh, name her Cadence! My niece has that name. It's such a rare, non-trendy name at all. I mean, have you ever run into little girls named Cadence?

I like college towns the best. They're a perfect mix between cities and living in a small town.

The first real, I-want-to-have-sex-with-this-guy crush was on David Boreanaz from Buffy when I was 12. That lasted for at least three years. I'm pretty sure he's the reason why I love big, teddy-bear types who wear wifebeaters.

They ARE doing a remake of Logan's Run, starring Ryan Gosling. Although it's apparently 21 instead like in the book. How they'll make Ryan Gosling look 21 again, I don't know. I could not imagine a world where no one was older than 21. Geez. That'd be 'effing scary to 19 and 20-year olds as the elders.

True. I can't really visualize it because I've never been that kind of ambitious, or have that much interest in the business world. Wouldn't the fact that his aims are basically that of a small-town mayor kinda keep the big power brokers in business from being interested in him? If we're going at that angle, it would make more sense for Matt, who I can see being ambitious enough to try and swim with the sharks.

Either of these two for JJ, I think. The first one especially has the figure skater bod down. Or... JJ's been REALLY hard to cast. I've been kicking around ideas for two years now and Mark still hasn't signed off on one. LOL. I do figure the rules about what JJ looks like is that he needs to be blond, he needs to have elfin features, and he can't look butch.

I pulled off a 4.0 this semester. Yes! Now my grad school GPA stands at a 3.83. I'm pretty happy, since getting a 4.0 was on my bucket list. I came close to that with winter session '10, and I was disapointed when it didn't happen. But now I can say I had a 4.0 semester. It gives me some wiggle room to deal with the third semester, which is going to be a bitch. I'm taking a seminar with a professor who is a notable badass. Plus I have a 10 a.m. for the first time in a year, and I don't have a single day off from class. But now I'm just going to enjoy summer. I think I'll go and hang out at the pool or something. In other good news, UD nixed their plans for the totally unneeded law school. Thank god that in one case, common sense prevailed! UD Nixes Law School Plan Thank god.

Have a great birthday, Mark. You deserve it!

So...for guys who are so pro-California you're making it sound like kind of a very bad influence on people. LOL. I mean, I really get what you guys are saying, but the whole "California corrupts the soul of good people" storyline has been done so many times that I would hope Mark would not go for the obvious cliche. And Gathan just doesn't seem like someone who'd get lost there. I buy that happening with Ella, and I buy that happening with Zach. Someone like Gathan though, who doesn't just have a good head on his shoulder but also has the ability to sense bullshit- I can't really see a guy like that getting taken in and run over. I think that's the key here- you either have an inner sense of whether or not people are sincere or they're full of shit, and Gathan is good at recognizing when someone's full of it. Because of that, I just can't see him getting corrupted like that. That storyline would make more sense with Ella, and with Zach. Finally, as for Gathan not being street-smart, you gotta remember that Claremont, for it's size, is still a pretty rough town. He may not live in East Claremont, but he's not that far from it, and he doesn't seem unfamiliar with the rougher element that exists in that town. I spent some time in a small town that had some pretty seedy things going on- Copperas Cove, Texas- and it allowed me to see some things I probably shouldn't have. Gathan's not exactly coming from Mayberry, I don't think. Claremont used to be like that, but not the Claremont of the 1980's and 1990's that he grew up in. If we go by Man In Motion, it was hit pretty hard by the crack epidemic of the 1980's, which likely means there were gangs, and thus it's not quite the bucuolic existence you might be thinking of because it's a small town.

Happy 48th birthday, Mark! Since your birthday is on a Friday.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD2LRROpph0 Hope you enjoy partyin', partyin', yeah!!!

But that doesn't apply to Gathan at all. He's a street-smart kid, not some naieve farm boy. He's not going off to USC with the hopes of starting a modeling career. Gathan's going off to Stanford to get his degree in public policy so he can someday run for mayor of Claremont. And since Gathan was never a closeted kid scared to death of anyone finding out that he likes boys, I can't see how alluring the whole WeHo scene would be for him. Gathan comes off as a guy who would avoid phonies at all cost, and he's got a built-in bullshit detector that tells me it would be hard for someone to put one over on him. I think your scenario would apply to Zach much more than it would ever apply to Gathan. Although Zach's an asshole so I'm not sure how many of us would care if he wound up some WeHo druggie loser. I'm thinking Zach's more likely to wind up in the army and dying in Iraq than he would going off to WeHo, though. What better way for a guy living in self-denial to prove to himself that he's straight than going off to fight in the War on Terror? He turns 18 just two months after the Iraq War starts, too.

Honestly, I think Gathan will be fine. He has a very strong sense of self that Jeff never had, and he doesn't seem interested in milking the family for every penny that they're worth or putting on that he's always been a rich boy to impress people, like Robbie did with Neil back in 1985. Gathan seems like he's grateful for the opportunities, but also that he doesn't expect or even want to suddenly be given a membership at the country club, and ride the coattails of the family. I mean, he plans on taking his 1982 truck and driivng it out to California, for crying out loud. Although we all know Stefan's going to surprise him with a Hummer for his 18th birthday, he doesn't know that. The fact that he seems determined to remain grounded and himself, and not get lost in the crazy Cramptonworld bodes well for him. And yes, I totally meant that double entendre. I like this one for Gathan. Mark had a point that Will's not buch enough for a Hummer, but Gathan's totally butch enough to pull it off. God, I remember when Hummers and totally tricked out SUV's were like the ultimate status car symbol with teenagers. Having a TV and a VCR/DVD player in your car seemed like such a novel concept to me back in '03.

It does feel like Gathan's taking a backseat in the story right now. I'm assuming that when Will's major issue- figuring out his relationship with John and Brad- gets solved, we're going to go back to Gathan being the main driver of the story. The other time we had a dual-narration, when the person's issues were mostly solved, we went to the other narrator. Because frankly, I'm more interested in learning about Gathan and the issues that abuse have caused, rather than typical teenage angst bullshit. Will's angst is totally valid and very 9th grade, but I lived through 9th grade. I don't really need to live through that again. I mean, Tim kinda raised a great point- what exactly is Will's issue besides the fact that he doesn't get everything he wants when he wants it? He's a spoiled brat, and while he's still a pretty good guy, the angst of a 13-year old boy realizing that the world doesn't revolve around him just isn't as compelling as a seventeen-year old guy from an poor, abusive environment suddenly finding himself rubbing elbows with the rich elite.

I think Mark later admitted his mind was already on If It Fits. That's why A Summer Love didn't quite work- it was never fully focused on. It only got like 13 chapters, if I recall correctly. I think we all were kinda rushing through that one. I think the lesson I learned from that was to never assume that all 22-year olds graduating from college are as interesting as Brad was, or the gang from St. Elmo's Fire. I thought the drama of transitioning from college to the real world, and generally Gex Xer angst against the backdrop of the Cold War ending would have made A Summer Love a compelling story. And damn, I was wrong. LOL. One good thing that came out of it, though, was that I discovered the Pixies while doing music for A Summer Love. What a great tune. Anyway, I really liked Will's conversation with Brad. It kinda hits on the problem- Will's growing up too fast, and Brad isn't handling it well. I think I've had some trouble with it, as well- I was really uncomfortable with where the story was going at first, because in my mind, Will's still a little kid. I think of him as being about 11, and all this stuff with sex and drugs and the like just seems much too soon, much too fast for him. I just thought all of this was way too mature for his age. But then I had to remember being in 8th grade, and it's really not. Hell, I knew kids who were parents by 8th grade. But I guess I just have to get used to the fact that Will's not a little boy anymore, same as Brad has to. I'm glad that JJ's staying a child for just a little bit longer and isn't in the same rush to grow up. You want to grow up and become an adult, and then when you get there, you realize that childhood was a lot less complicated and more carefree. LOL. It's kinda weird- JJ and Will kinda feel like my young nephews or something, and it's just weird watching them hit adolescence and get involved with all the complications that arise with it. I feel like they should still be off, playing with Pogs before watching Boy Meets World on TGIF or something.

Posting this because two weeks later, I'm still laughing. They look like the wicked stepsisters-meets-the Kiss Army.

Chapter 13 -When Gathan picks up Kristin for their dinner date, and they have some fun at JP's house. "Come on Over" by Christina Aquilera -When Will goes all teenage angsty on us. "All Outta Angst" by NoFx - When Brad admits to Will that he's at a loss at what to do, because Will's growing up much faster than his brothers are. "Slipping Through My Fingers" from Mama Mia I'm such a sap for using this, but you gotta admit it pretty much nails the feeling that Brad's having. -When Stefan recounts the events of 1980, when Brad's stepfather slept with his boyfriend, and swears to not hurt Will like Brad got hurt. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division I kinda appreciate that callback, since Sam's son is in the mix now.

I think Benjamin Whist is more popular with the readership than Marcel. I'm still living down convincing Mark that we should have done a Marcel story. That's one case where as your muse I failed you, Mark. Hopefully I made for that by indirectly giving you the idea to create a son for Robbie.

But that was for four years, and only for the school year. I can't see him permanently moving away from his family. John's totally the type to go away for college for a few years, then go back home and set up shop near the family. That is totally the dynamic I've seen in tight-knit families like that. And you gotta remember the East Coast mindset of not wanting to drive more than a few hours, as Blue pointed out once. Six hours is a BIG deal for people in the East, and I don't think John's gonna go, "Well, you know New Jersey isn't that far away from Ohio, so my folks would be okay with me living there." Really doubt that. Of course, we don't even know if John's going to figure into this story, in any event. He's not on the hockey team and I doubt he'll be living in the same dorm Gathan's living in, since he's gotta be at least a junior.

I would have liked it if "Born this Way" had shown images of gay men getting married, gay men adopting kids, gay men in the military, gay men in professional sports, etc etc instead of just a bunch of dancers around her. If that was supposed to be some "gay anthem" for this generation, it seemed more like a gay anthem for the tweaker circuit boi culture of the late 90's/early 00's instead.

In the interest of full disclosure, when I was a little boy, I used to take my sister's Skipper doll and make her enact Paula Abdul's choreography in Cold-Hearted Snake.

I think it's 25. I turned 25- I wouldn't really call myself a youth anymore. I'm no longer college-aged. I wouldn't call myself old, either- just I don't think of myself as young. It's kinda nice. Sometimes I miss my youth, but then I think about what a total jackass I was as a teenager, up until I was 22, and cringe.