methodwriter85

I had a somewhat odd experience tonight. I went to see the seminal 1990's band, Stone Temple Pilots. They were performing at the convention center at my grad school. But here was the weird thing. When I came in, I managed feeling very young, because a lot of the people there were in in their mid-30's, maybe even early 40's. Which makes sense, because the peak of the band was in the early/mid 1990's, which is about 15-20 years ago now. I saw some young kids there, but they were mostly outnumbered by the oldsters around their mid/late 30's. I definitely had this moment of going, "Wow, I'm still young compared to most of these people!" But then as the night wore on, I also felt old as dirt. Because...I kinda came to the realization that STP is basically turning into a nostalgic band before my very eyes. The '90s are now twenty years ago now. Their biggest target audience- the kids who went to college in the 1990's are now middle-aged, or rapidly approaching it. There were so few people there, and it made sense- STP is a 90's band, and they're no longer revelant to current college kids. As all the current college kids were born in the '90s for the most part. And it was startling to realize that Stone Temple Pilots, which was so huge to high school and college kids not that long ago, has become the band your parents like. Time sucks. Time makes you old. And it made me feel young and old at the same time. It just depresses the hell out of me to think that the mid-90's were 15 years ago, and none of these college freshman I meet can remember that era. It was such a huge era to me, and to these current 18-year olds, 1996 is just history to them. Which makes sense, since they were four years old in 1996, but you know what I mean. It's amazing the way time just flies, and won't stop flying, until one day you look in the mirror and you see a 40-year old staring back. STP wasn't quite the band I grew up with- I was more of a fan of Blink 182 or Linkin Park, but that experience made think about the fact that not that long from now, Blink 182 concerts will be full of 35-year olds wanting to capture the nostaligia of their youth circa 2000. And I'll be right there with them, 35 years old and singing about damnable things like I'm fourteen with them. I felt like I was basically seeing my future- ands it was really unsettling. I did have a lot of fun at the show, but it just underscored to me, "Oh hey, the 1990's were 20 years ago." And thus I felt very young and very old at the same time. Odd, odd feeling.

The same was true on the East Coast, too. It would feel weird for these kids not to know at least some skaterboarders- they were that huge across the board at this time. Tony Hawk was really ascendant at this time- I wouldn't be surprised if Will was a huge fan. It would make sense that if Will goes to Gunn and can't surf, he'll pick up skateboarding instead. As for you, Tim, I get that Brad would be exposed to the attitude- but he wouldn't adopt it. Considering that Brad was an openly gay man committed to a partner as a 24-year old in 1986, when people were scared of anyone gay because AIDS was still the gay disease, I don't think Brad cares that much about what the social mores are. And then there's what Mark said about JP coming from the mid-West blue blood mindset....I'm sure that had way more influence on Brad than what his contemporaries were doing. Edited to say I realize now you were talking about Mark being exposed to the attitiude, not Brad. Although it's fair to say that Brad would have been too. Mark, just how DID an upper-middle-class guy like you get exposed so much to rich people?

Really? Huh, it has been a long time since I read CAP. Oh, well. In any event, I really think we should call an end to this debate about schools. We're going in circles at this point. Brad and Robbie sending their kids to public school doesn't seem like a detail that's worth getting that worked up about. It reminded me of the Veronica Mars forum at TWOP, where people were incredulous that the uber-rich '09ers were going to public high school in suburban San Diego. A lot of people gave out the same kind of arguments that Blue did that because of the caliber of the public schools, it wasn't as much of a given that rich kids would go private like it would be on the East Coast. Let's change the subject, okay? Like about how it's July 2000, which means that George W. Bush is going to get selected as the Republican presidential nominee at the end of the month. JP and Brad are going to despise him. Claire will support him, but ultimately turn against him. Ace and Senator Danfield will remain staunch supporters to the very bitter end. And Alexandra will say she supports him, but only for P.R. purposes. It's kinda sad to think that we're going to see these people go from having Bill Clinton, who was a wonderful president, to a decade of misery with W. For the most part, 2000 was a quiet year. It seems like the main things about 2000 were the dot-com crash, which Mark covered, and the Florida election recount, which Mark is likely to cover since I'm assuming Gathan will become friends with poor Democratic-leaning Wade.Wade's going to be very angry about the Al Gore thing. Man.

Thank you for that. I was wanting to rip my hair out at some point. I think Tim had a great point about the security deal, but when he brought up how the family wouldn't want their kids going to school with some gardener's son, that's where things went off-track. The Cramptons/Schluters have NEVER been written as being the kind of people who would care about that sort of thing. I mean, Brad is for all intents and purposes married to a guy who's dad was a factory foreman. Isidore is from a poor French village. Maman didn't come from a rich background, either. And Brad's been in a rich bubble since he graduated from high school? Huh? Middle-Class Max was his love interest in college. He struck up a friendship with a defnitely non-rich minister just recently. And he has welcomed poor homeless kids into his home more than once. Maybe they're not staunch about it, but there's been a long running egalitarian streak running through the family since Day 1. That's always been a theme of the story- that these rich elites are able to open up their hearts(and quite often more than that) to the less-fortunate people. They're disdainful of small-minded people, not people with small banking accounts. As for the private vs. public thing, I think you're right about Claire. I also think that Brad and Robbie liked what they saw about the Malibu public system, and didn't see a problem in putting their kids there. I could especially see Malibu High being attractive, because the Middle School is right there, and I could see the idea of their kids going to class with the same kids for seven years was pretty attractive. The private school deal on the East Coast is more about the fact that the school districts are often pretty bad. That doesn't seem to apply to the Malibu public school system. Or the Gunn High system. Ella's going there next year, right? She'll keep Will company. The other thing to think about is that JP's family was very much about doing what they could to improve education for all in Claremont- remember how Tonto basically got them to build a new high school so she could integrate the area? It would make sense that if a family was striving so hard for public education in the area, they'd send their kids to public school to make a point about how the education can be just as good. It's funny how Blue totally convinced me on the public thing when I was totally calling for them to go to a science and math charter school or something. I think someone in Gen 4 needs to turn out to be a math genius or something- we're kinda losing the "Academic" in the CAP title here. LOL. He's a laywer, isn't he? In any event, you guys know me and how much I hate arguing with people, so let's just bust out a joint and put on some Sublime tunes. I used a lot of Sublime tunes for scoring "Bloodlines". Matt and Darius strike me as guys who'd be big fans of them. Will probably likes them, too. He probaly snuck some of Darius's Sublime cd's, like I did with my sister's.

Happy birthday, JWolf!

Look, you got your point across. Duly accepted. Let's move on at this point. Just remember that in soap opera conventions, they usually do send rich kids to public school because it allows for them to interact with kids from another socioeconomic class. Maybe it's not the most probable thing, but it's not an impossibility, considering the caliber of the schools. As for the insecurity bit, Robbie and Brad don't seem like they were particularly pushy about status, or about making sure their kids were going to go Ivy League. And considering they both went public, I don't think they would have been turned off by the idea of their kids going to public school. And given what we know about the general Crampton/Schluter m.o., the idea of their kids going to school with the gardener's son would NEVER bother them. That's been the Hallmark of the Crampton/Schluter family- with the exception of Bitty and Nick, none of these people have ever been status-symbol obsessed snobs. They're comfortable interacting with people of different classes- that's been in the story since Day 1. And weren't you also the one who told me that Malibu High doesn't have a poor class going there? You just nullified that part of the argument by saying that. But I do agree there's no way Claire and Jack would send their kids to public. I also think they'd be pretty pushy about wanting their kids to go to Ivy League and have a load of AP Classes, a 4.0, and an impressive college application resume filled with leadership skills and volunteer work. As for the skater stuff, Mark said that Will was a likely skater boy, so I'm going with that. I'd just like for them to be in there because that whole look and act was a huge part of the early '00s aesthetic. One of the things Mark likes to do is capture not just the regional culture of the time, but also the national culture- and in 2000, skater punks were a huge part of the national culture. Now let's stop with all this arguing. Come over here and give me a big kiss, you sexy older man.

I think it'd be pretty unlikely for Zach to get involved with 9/11. The most likely is Wade Danfield's family, and John Carrullo considering that he's from Bayonne, which wasn't too far away from the city. They seem the most likely to lose people they know. It's strange to be at this point in the story. They're not that far away from us, but yet they are because it's still pre-9/11. 9/11 is going to change sooo much about this country; and mostly for the worst. People were still riding that ride of late 90's optimism, and it just seemed like things were going to keep getting better. We had a surplus budget, a strong economy...god. The CAP family has no clue what's about to hit them. The 2000's were just one insane decade.

What are you talking about? I'm just about the sweetest, nicest guy you've ever met. Absolutely no diva 'tude from me at all, no siree.

That's a relatively low body count, especially considering that we're talking about a span from 1944 to 2000, which include four major wars that the United States fought in. Marie died of a disease but at an advanced age- she was able to fully live her life out. Same goes for Tonto- Tonto died what I'm assuming was a peaceful death, and definitely not before her time. Of course, from our perspective, these deaths all occured over a span of two and a half years, when Mark started writing the story. But from theirs, these deaths were spread out over 56 years. Which is pretty normal, and not something out of the ordinary for any one large family. I'm not saying these guys need to be wiped out by 9/11, but it IS going to affect them. Especially considering that Wade's from Washington, D.C., and Mark's been crafting ties between New York City and the family. Tim, I really would really like to see you try to convince Adam Phillips that he's wrong on something. That would be fun. You make your points, and it's whatever. I wasn't applying my point to high school- I was applying it to the elementary school level, and why Robbie and Brad would have just gone with the flow and enrolled the kids at the local public schools, and kept them there because it worked out fine for Darius. Blue? Can you help me here? LOL. As to the other stuff...I wanna see how Will gets into skateboarding. We need circa 2000 skateboader punks, damn it! I have some mixed thoughts about this. On one hand, it creates drama among a generation that's much less prone to drama than the Be Rad crew. On the other hand, if Zach is just a one-note asshole who uses people with no redeemable qualities, it's really not that compelling. It just makes the guys look like idiots for even interacting with him.

I've gotten the impression that Kevin is a year ahead of Matt and Wade, meaning that Kevin's going into his senior year. That likely means he's off doing an internship somewhere. I still can't believe no one ever made fun of Kevin for calling himself "Sergio". That just seemed way ridiculous for a guy who didn't look the least bit Italian/Spanish. Must guys that age would have totally busted on him for that. 20-year old guys look for any possible excuse to make fun of their friends, and calling oneself "Sergio' when your real name is Kevin would have defnitely been a good one. Which reminds me- it's junior year for Matt and Wade. That means it's time to start thinking about internships and post-graduation plans. Where should they end up for next summer? I'd like for Matt to have an internship with Cantor-Fitzgerald so he can spend a fun summer in New York City, and maybe Wade could do his internship with the Pentagon or something. I bet his dad could get him in.

Well gee, considering that it's been 20 years since they were kids, it makes sense their childhood pets would be gone. This current crop of kids don't seem like pet types. I get a VERY strong feeling that Zack will somehow wind up on the Paris trip and cause havoc with the guys. It appears like Mark's set him up to be the antagonist for Gen 4. Which makes sense, because I can't see the brothers as antagonists against each other like what the dynamic was in Be Rad with Billy warring against Brad. They're too close, barring JJ's bitchy divatude turning off Will. Speaking of siblings...is Will really going to miss out on seeing his little sister grow up? That's the other thing that came up in my mind about why Will needs to stay in Malibu. He seems too loving of a guy to not instantly fall head over heels when he first gets to hold that precious bundle in his arms come August. But I think Palo Alto would be good for Will for a temporary stay, mainly because as Blue pointed out, there's no way in hell Claire's ever going to put up with his crap.

Chapter 9 -When Will announces his plan to attend Gunn High to his family, and Stefan offers to take Gen 4 on a trip to Paris. "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi http://listen.grooveshark.com/s/It+s+My+Life/22RJay?src=5 -When Gathan gets with Zach, and Zach is a crazy mother-effer. "Make Me Bad" by Korn -Harry Schluter's general life theme and characteristics that get Gathan to want to help him. Starting by getting him with Ed. "Pretty Fly For A White Guy" by the Offspring http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzY2Qcu5i2A I've been wanting to use this song since "Bloodlines", but no one ever really fit this song. Thank god for Harry. This punk guy did a dance rountine with a beach ball to this song for my 8th grade talent show. It was hilarious.

This was a nice filler chapter, I think.

There's gotta be more munchies, especially considering that we're back to the perspective of teenage boys. If I remember correctly, you are a human garbage disposal when you're a teenaged boy. So I'm right then- if Will's a skater punk, he's not going to touch Abercrombie and Fitch. I've never met skater punks who'd wear that kind of stuff. Brands were really huge at the start of that decade- what you wore said a lot about who you were, or at least were trying to be. The guys who were anti-A&F tended to be the skater/punk guys, for the most part.

True, but I just can't see him knocking back Natty light at ragers with the Malibu High football team. He has the mentality towards the sport, but nothing else really "jocky" about his behavior.

Nah, screw that- Mark should write a spin-off of this! Can you imagine how much fun Mark could have writing about a New York City girl with an oh-so-sophisticated blonde perm, a bossy tomboy from a blended family, a wacky Japanese-American artist with a penchant for dibbly cool fashion and Ring-Dings, a shy girl forced to wear pigtails and Mary Jane shoes by her dad, and a blond vegetarian Palo Alto girl obsessed with saving the world from pollution?

It might be interesting for Mark to write about a French family. Maybe Mark could do a sequel to On the Mark, but one that picks up in the latter half of the 80's so we can skip over the rough spot that Mark's alluded to having circa late 1980.

True, good point about Will. If he's moving to Palo Alto, skateboarding is going to be the next best thing. And figure skating isn't exactly a "jock" sport. Some sports aren't really the jockly type- like I was in track and cross-country, and I never considered myself a jock.

Well, duh, Mike, it's a soap opera. Of course the major players are always going to be cute/hot guys. What do you expect? As for Cole, I remember that originally Cole was going to move back into his dorm at Stanford as soon as he got released from the hospital. I hit the roof about that one with Mark- there is NO way any university housing would allow a person who tried to commit suicide back into the dorm unless they've been through extensive therapy and can prove they're no longer a suicide threat. We did learn about Gathan's issues within the first two chapters, though.

James, if you're feeling David Bowie, this is one of my fave tunes by him. Tommy, I echo your thoughts exactly.

Neither JP nor Stefan seemed to have play sports, though. And we have seen physically unfit guys in the story- Greg in If It Fits, 1999 Nathan Hayes in The Box, and David Carmichael in Millenium. Matt also had sex with a paunchy middle-aged guy in Bloodlines, and Cole wasn't obese, but he wasn't exactly thin, either. It seems like you've got, for the most part, two types in this story though- the jock and the bitchy or nerdy twink. With the exception of MiM Mouse, we don't really seem to see punks or guys who don't really fall into either of the categories. I'm still hoping that we'll start seeing skater/punk type guys getting into the story.

I'm not particularly warm about Cody. However, I do recognize he has his fans. It's a "rule"; it's not necessarily a problem. We're just pointing out Mark's particularly well-used tropes in writing the CAP, ala the way in which the Scream series points out Horror Movie tropes.

It's a BIG problem at University of Delaware. I've talked to alumni who are about Matt's age, and they mentioned how they knew people who were snorting adderall all the way back in the late '90s. If Adderall was widespread in a party school like UD, I can't help but imagine that it would be widespread in schools like Stanford. I tried Adderall once- it didn't do much for me, but for others it gets you really wired. Then again I didn't sniff it because this doctor I talk to online begged me not to do that. My money would be on John being the one who gets hardcore about using Adderall to stay up and study. He's got Claire as mother and a doctor as a dad- I can't help but imagine that he's in the kind of world where you're expected to have a 5.0 GPA(bloated by all of the honors and AP classes), and I would also see him as being the type to really get obsessed with the idea of landing in a top Ivy League school, to achieve as much and more than what his father did. For the most part, when you're talking about youth culture, you've got to include references to using drugs. Maybe we can't follow an addicted lead, but it would feel inauthentic for Gathan to go off to college and not know anybody who's using drugs, and hard-core ones at that. Special K and X are the drugs of choice at this time, correct? Now back to the topic...lol... This one's debatable because it's not spread throughout all of the stories, but... 16. Since 1995, every lead protagonist must have sex with Cody. I feel it's inevitable that Gathan is going to have sex with Cody, and that Will is going to have sex with him circa 2004.

Hmm. That's a good point- that while it would be interesting to some, it might not be appealing to others. Do you think you can deal with references about kids snorting Adderall to stay up and study through finals week, though?

I don't think they'd have a full-time, live-in domestic like JP had growing up. Definitely not someone in a uniform.That kind of servant went out of date as blacks got more rights in this country and they moved into other lines of work. People have mentioned that having a maid was very common up to the 1950's because labor-serving appliances hadn't been perfected yet and blacks pretty much couldn't get better jobs because of the rampant discrimination, so they were cheap to have. It seems to have switched over from being a service dominated by African-Americans to being dominated by immigrants from Latin-Speaking countries. I think Claire and Jack would find discomfort in knowing that a lot of these immigrants are getting taken advantage of, especially the undocumented ones, by wealthy families who underpay them because they can. I also think that Claire, having come from the age in which women's studies in colleges were flourishing(the early 1980's), would be sensitive to the way in which women have been treated and exploited in the domestic help industry. I think it''ll be what you say- she'll have a woman come in every other day to do floors and heavy cleaning. But the light stuff- like dishes and taking out the garbage- I can see being done by her, Jack, and chores given out to the kids. I'm pretty sure she'd make John and Marie clean their own rooms. I also think Claire would be sure to treat the woman very well and pay her somewhat above minimum wage, as if she's subconciously making up for the domestic servants who AREN'T getting minimum wage because their employers are exploiting the fact that they're undocumented. Did anyone ever see the movie "Spanglish"? I thought it would be just another goofy Adam Sandler movie, but it's actually a pretty well-done movie about the tensions between a Mexican servant and the family she works for.