methodwriter85

It is pretty interesting. Brad was about five or six years old when he came to live with the Cramptons, and by the age of 10, he had developed a crush on Ace, his adoptive brother. They fooled around a little bit, but Ace was clearly straight and that all ended by the time of Be Rad, in their late teens. So because Brad became Ace's brother just after the age of the Westermarck Effect, he was able to develop a sexual attaction to Ace in early adolescence. It contrasts with the case of JJ and Will Schluter- even though they are not biologically brothers, they have been raised as brothers since infancy. I think that means that JJ and Will, as they get further into their teens- are not going to be sexually interested in each other. I really wish Claire and Ace could have been there to find out. Ace would have flipped out, for sure.

If it's not for you, it's not for you. By that same token, however, if someone isn't into the idea of settling down, it's not something for you to judge. You don't have to be slutty if you don't want to. And I've met quite a few gay and lesbian people who are settled down into devoted relationships, who've built a life together and it works out fine.

JJ is the skater. Will inherited Brad's talent for surfing. And even without the figure skating stuff, JJ really, really seems gay. I bet 1999 JJ is putting up pictures of the Backstreet Boys and Josh Hartnett as we speak...lol.

Yeah, a story about Wade and Matt's sophomore year of college should be good. And then maybe a story where Brad deals with pushing-40 angst, as well as the tech meltdown. Then move on to seeing JJ and Will enter their college-age years. I'm seeing JJ as a lot like Stefan, just without the baggage or the flaming ways. I see them as having a similiar joie de vive. Will- I'm not sure yet if I think he's gay or straight. JJ pings the gaydar, but not Will just yet.

Chapter 7 -At the party, when Jim gets faced and destroys Steven's car, with no consequences. "Little Brown Jug" by the Glenn Miller Orchestra Chapter 8 -When Aaron apologizes for having sex with Maman, and then intonates that he might be gay. Then he and Steven make love. "More Than You Know" by Billie Holiday http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuPctgZza_8 -When Stefan and JP talk about Marie's...uh..."habits". "Bad Girl" by Madonna

Actually, I think it makes a lot of sense. JP has always been kinda unnerving- it makes sense he made one creepy little child.

Does it every just spring up on you? Right now, I'm feeling it. I'm writing up a CV for my professor to get him to write a recomendation, and I realize...I peaked at the age of 20. I haven't done anything noteworthy since 2007. College started out great for me- I was a tutor, I was involved in a sport, I had a job, I was involved in a lot of activities. And then I transfer to UD, and I get it into my head that I'm John Walsh from Fraternity Memoirs, and I don't do anything except party my ass off and go on the occasional burn ride. I was involved with some stuff, but not nearly as much as I used to be. Then I get put on a Dean's Vacation for a year, and I spend it bumming around in community college and partying my ass off in bars and parties. And I come back, and I don't really do anything, at all. I thought I was going to leave behind this great legacy when I graduate from college...and I'm not. No one is going to remember that I was ever there, because I just didn't much while I was there. I had this great opportunity to go to this really fine school, and I didn't do nearly as much with it as I should have. And it's too late now- I'm graduating in 8 weeks baring failing Italian- and when I step off the stage, only my family members are going to clap because they're the only ones who are going to know who the hell I am. I guess all I can do is remember this feeling, and try and do more in graduate school*fingers crossed* than I did during my time here at University of Delaware.

I don't see Darius doing a math deal- he seems destined to become a lawyer. Maybe he'll follow his uncle Darius and attend Princeton. I can see Will ending up a science/math guy- maybe Will could end up going to Virginia Tech University when he graduates high school in 2005. As for JJ, I see him at a party school with a decent figure skating club.

It really did anger me they didn't include her in the "In Memoriam" section of the Oscars. I'm glad it didn't go unnoticed: Academy Responds to Criticism I love their justification of it- and how totally hypocritical it is when you consider the fact that they included Micheal Jackson, who was only in one film and was never actually an actor. Meanwhile they forget someone who was not only in over a dozen movies, but was actually nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress. Geez. And I felt like the audience thought the same thing- the applause for MJ was stilted, like they didn't expect him to be there. He shouldn't have been there. Farrah should have been. I say, screw the Academy. Farrah will always be remembered by her millions of fans. Fan Tribute to Farrah Fawcett God. What a dazzling smile!

Got it- the reference to Billy, and therefore Robbie's, hair color. I think Frank just had slightly darker hair than his brother Jeff and son Robbie. It's probably that shade of brown where it's debatable as to whether or not it's actually brown. But yeah, the Hayes are generally supposed to be blond. Ish. The Schluters tend to be VERY blond, though- strawberry blond with green eyes, right? And the Cramptons lean towards having dark blond hair. Brad got his dark hair from the milkman. LOL.

I know, right? His look SCREAMS Hayes.

Right. And you specifically wrote Robbie and Matt having dark blond hair. Robbie, especially after years of living in California, prolly had hair that got bleached to dark blond from all that sun.

I took it today. An 1110. I'm pretty satisfied with it. Whew!

I was 21 when I lost my virginity. Unless you counted oral sex- then I was 15 years old. I used to call myself a Catholic virgin because I did everything except go all the way...it was the most technical virginity someone could have.

There really is just no way of pleasing you, is there Enric? That's the physical model for Brad. Mark chose him. I think he's handsome. So did a whole hell lot of people back in the 1950's, since he was a teen idol pin-up and all. If you've got a problem with that...well...don't be so rude in expressing your displeasure about it.

Well, find a guy who looks like Fabian Forte in his youth and you got it. Though we have decided what Brad's sons Will and JJ will look like as young men. But 2005 is at least three stories off- we've stopping in 2000 and 2001 first after the Box.

I just got the impression that Enric doesn't like the guys we're using for physical models, and given his preference, of course he won't like a guy we pick for any of the Hayes, who are beefy with dark blond/light brown hair.

Which is nice, but not right for the Hayes.

Man, he's hot. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs4joQj_sz8 Bit of trivia for you CAP Fans- Kellan Lutz was almost the physical model for the character of Matt Carrswold. That's why I'm posting this vid here. I thought Kellan definitely fit the Hayes mold- tall, dirty blond hair that would be curly if it grew out, beefy and muscular, with a very uniquely handsome face. Mark didn't like the receding hairline, though, and then I remembered a model I had seen, Evan Wadle. Evan Wadle fit Mark's vision of Matt, and so the decision was made. Kellan could prolly still play one of Matt's as-of-yet-unmet white trash cousins, however. LOL. I get the feeling that Matt didn't have cousins growing up- his parents felt like only children. The remark about how Matt thought the Carrswolds adopted him as a last-ditch effort to continue the family line would point to the idea that Edward and Amanda didn't have siblings.

That he does. So, we're currently in summer 1999 for CAP. That means Darius is a rising senior, and looking at colleges. What college do you think he will go to? Will he go to Brad's alma matter, Yale, or will he go to Robbie's alma matter, Princeton? Or might he end up going to Stanford? What do you guys think? For me, I don't really picture Darius staying in California. I can really see him going to an East Coast college. I think it'd be too funny if Brad and Robbie get a little pushy about trying to convince Darius to go their respective colleges- that's a pretty common parental emotion. It would be really funny if Darius wound up going to UC Berkely, though. So what's your guess as to where Darius will go to college? One things for sure, though- Darius is definitely going to go for a weekend visit with Matt at Stanford to "get a feel for the academics of the college". And possibly some sorority girl's boobs.

Jeff's birthday is November 12th, 1945. So just after the war ended. That might be why the Hayes were known as having six brothers- one died in World War II, and one was born soon after, keeping the number at six. Until Sam euthanized Jeff in 1968. So...Five brothers. With Frank as the youngest surviving son. I wonder if any other the other four are worth knowning. Notice how nice and lovely the Hayes family seems to be. Man.

Actually, with the exception of the guys who dress thug, the super-baggy jeans look is falling out of favor, and guys are actually trying to wear jeans that fit now. Hipsters especially wear pretty tight, skinny jeans. Unfortunately, hipsters and emo kids tend to not have asses that you actually want to see in tight jeans. Jocky, preppy guys wear jeans that actually kinda fit these days, but it's still a long cry from the super-tight jeans that were so popular with Mark Arbour's generation. It's actually pretty amazing how long baggy jeans have persisted in American male fashion- it's been a common look since about the mid-90's.

The late 90's, though- I think that fashion has aged well. I looked at an episode of Boy Meets World from 1999, and everything they're wearing wouldn't look out of place in 2010. I think in 20 years, we'll be much more likely to cringe at the stuff we wore in the 2000's than the stuff we wore in the mid/late 90's. I mean. Uggs with leggings. Why do we think that's a good look? LOL.

I really wish Adam P. was around to read this one, Mark. Anyways, I voted for Brad. He and Stefan were neck-in-neck, but I think his artistic, masculine nature won me over. I liked his big...hands. And I'm a sucker for guys with dark hair and light eyes. They can, but longevity like that tends to genetic, and we've never gotten any sort of indication that the Schluters/Cramptons have the sort of consitution that allows them to become centenarians. They all tend to live into their 70's or 80's- which is normal and something I'd be satisfied with. Mark didn't really kill off Tonto- she just died of old age somewhere in her late 80's, which is how all of us should want to go. You can criticize Mark for killing off Jeff, but criticizing Mark for having a character around the age of 90 years old die doesn't sit well with me. People die of old age. It's natural. Remember, the average life span for a human being is about 80 years old, give or take. Mark let Tonto die an old woman, warm in her bed. What more do you expect from the guy?

I prolly take this to an extreme, but nostalgia is really not an uncommon characteristic of my generation. Nostalgia is generally supposed to take about 20 years (see Gen Xers and the 80's revival of the 2000's), but for whatever reason, my generation has jumped the gun on it. Here's a New York Times article about this:Harry Potter Is Their Peter Pan Man. I definitely feel a lot less alone after reading that article, and realizing that I'm actually normal for longing for the days of Blink 182, the Backstreet Boys, Discmans, and when teen blond girls singing coyly about their budding sexualities ruled the charts. I thought this was an interesting analogy: Neil Howe, an author of several books on what he calls the Millennials (another term for Gen Y), draws a parallel between this nostalgic wave and the one boomers embraced with the film "American Graffiti" in 1973. That movie depicted the recent past, the early '60s, which seemed to have vanished forever. "It's instant nostalgia before a huge change in the nation's mood," Mr. Howe said. " `American Graffiti' was nostalgia for the boomers for a world before everything changed after J.F.K.'s assassination. "Millennials see the world before Sept. 11 as a period of innocence. Our biggest worry was the Y2K bug. That all seems a world away now." I think that's a good insight. It does feel like the mid/late 1990's stand as halcyon days- good employment, boom times, a federal surplus, Clinton in office- and the United States had yet to embarrass itself with the quagmire of the Iraq War. The things I associate with that time- Britney Spears, Blink 182, tv shows like All That and Clarissa Explains It All- do make me feel a sense of comfort because it harkens back to an earlier, more secure era. I look at people Adam Phillips's age- about 5 to 10 years older- and they really don't engage in the nostalgia for their own past as much as mine does, even though logic would say that because people's Adam's age are further away from their childhood years than my cohorts are, they should be more nostalgic. I wonder why that it is- maybe it's an outgrowth of the narcissism that Adam has described when talking about my peers. Like we think we're the shit, and therefore we believe the shows and toys and music we associate with our 90's childhood should be treated with reverence by everyone. What do you guys think? I do notice that when I bring up Classic Nickelodeon to people in their 20's, they get that I'm referring to shows like All That and Are You Afraid of the Dark, but I get total blank stares from people that are older. It's an interesting thing to ponder about my generation, I think- because I agree that, in a general sense, most of us engage in nostalgia even though we aren't 30 years old yet. (Arbour, keep this article in mind when you move to writing about Will/JJ's generation.)