methodwriter85

It would have to be Will. JJ would never have the kind of grades that would enable him to get accepted as an international student at a good European university.

Chapter 51 -When Professor Whist's plan to declare the election null and void blows up in his face, with him stepping down and J.P. taking over as faculty advisor and Wade rightfully instated as president of the GLBT club for the 1999-2000 school year. "Anthem for the Year 2000" by Silverchair -When Wade ruminates over the somber mood cast upon Stanford due to a shooting at a high school in Colorado, killing 13 people and injuring many more, include the stepbrother of Cole's girlfriend Allison. "Big White World" by Marilyn Manson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqnN0tob7w0 Before I go to the next one, I've gotta say you nailed the mood of people after Colombine- the next day at my middle school we were shocked and very afraid that it could happen at our school. I remember having to evacuate to a church next to our school several times for the rest of that year because someone called in a bomb threat. -When Wade opens up the door to find his father's face(which looks so much like his own) staring back at him. "Freak On A Leash" by Korn -At Escorial, where Senator Danfield explains why he did what he did to Wade, and promises that the cycle of abuse has ended. "Wise Up" by Aimee Mann

Just don't make Stefan a March birthday. We've already got Ace, Robbie, Marcel, and John as March babies.

Right. I forgot that. Of course Isidore is French. So there's no specific date for Tonto's death- just it was somewhere around the first half of the 90's. Robbie doesn't have a birthday. He mentioned in Be Rad that he would turn eighteen the following March of '81, which would mean his birthday is March 1963. There also isn't a specific birthday for Stefan- just a 1945 birth year. It's kinda funny that he's narrated two stories so far and we've never seen him celebrate his birthday, LOL.

Which story did she die in? It's not Man in Motion.

A lot of writers will make a so-called "timeline" for their story, because it's a handy way to keep from messing up continuity, and it's fun little trivia for fans of a series. I thought I would go ahead and make one for Mark. It'll be refined and updated as I go back and read the stories to get a better picture, but...here are important dates and events in the CAP universe. And I'd like to ask for help as well- if you find a specific date for an event and think it's important for the timeline, let me know, and if I think it's important enough, I'll edit to include it! CAP TIMELINE 1903: Tonto is born. April 1925: Jim Crampton is born. May 27, 1925: Steven Schluter is born. 1936: Billy Schluter is born. June 20, 1936: J.P. Crampton is born, the result of an affair between Marie Crampton and Bill Hendrickson. December 17,1944: Steven Schluter dies in World War II. July 14, 1945: Stefan Schluter, the son of Steven Schluter, is born. November 12, 1945: Jeff Hayes is born. 1962-1963 School Year: J.P. Crampton begins teaching at Northwestern University. October 4, 1962: Brad Schluter is born. He is the adoptive son of Billy Schluter, and the biological son of Kevin Carmicheal. December 1962: Andre, JP's partner, is killed in action in Vietnam. March 6, 1963: Ace is born to Isidore, having been fathered by J.P.'s lover Andre. March 1963: Robbie Hayes is born, the youngest of three children. He is the son of Frank and Brenda Hayes. April 10, 1963: Billy Schulter dies at sea on USS Thresher October 27, 1964: Clare and Billy Crampton are born. Clare is JP's biological daughter, and Billy is Jeff Hayes's biological son. 1968: J.P. Crampton begins teaching at Stanford. July 13, 1968: Jeff Hayes dies of an heroin overdose. March 8, 1969: Marcel is born. He is the biological son of Jeff Hayes, but is raised in France. April 24, 1980: Matt Carrswold is born. He is the biological son of Robbie Hayes, but is adopted by the Carrswolds and grows up in Shaker Heights, Ohio. May 15, 1980: Wade Danfield is born. He becomes Matt Carrswold's boyfriend after meeting him on the hockey team at Stanford during the 1998-1999 school year. October 19, 1980: Billy dies in a car accident on the night of a party at Escorial. January 19, 1982: Darius Schluter is born. He is the son of Bitty Schluter and a random Iranian man, but is raised by Brad, Robbie, and Jeanine. He has one biological half-brother, JJ, and one adopted brother, Will Schluter. July 25, 1982: Gathan Hayes is born. He was raised in Claremont, Ohio by his uncle and aunt, Wally and Clara Hayes. February 1983: Kristin Hendrickson is born. August 26, 1983: Ella Hayes, daughter of Richard Crampton, is born. May 30, 1985: Zach Hayes is born. 1985: J.P.'s lover Roger, and one-time lover Sam, both die of AIDS that year. December 7, 1985: Jeremy Schluter, aka J.J., is born. He is the biological son of Jim Crampton and Bitty Schluter, and has been raised in Malibu, CA with Brad, Robbie, and Jeanine. February 19, 1986: Marie Crampton, aka Maman, dies of natural causes. April 18, 1986: Marie Hobart, daughter of Jack and Clare Hobart, is born. April 20, 1986: Travis Buck is born. September 14, 1986: Will Schluter, son of Brad and Jeanine, is born. July 21, 1987: John Hobart, son of Jack and Clare Hobart, is born. Between 1991 to 1995: Tonto Schluter dies an old woman, warm in her bed surrounded by grandchildren and great-grandchildren. A death we should all hope to have. March 28, 1995: Greg, Stefan's long-time companion, dies of a heart attack. September 4, 1995: Ace's daughter, Courtney, is born. August 7, 1998: Robbie Hayes reunites with his long-lost son, Matt Carrswold. September 13, 2000: Madison Graves is born. September 14, 2000: Riley van den Boss Danfield is born. March 24, 2003: Bobby Carrswold is born.

I gotta agree with Mark. Worst idea. Ever. Anyways, I've enjoyed how Jack and Clare represent the people who were high school sweethearts, continued to be college sweethearts, and then got married. Every school had one of those couples. Clare will be like Tonto, but she's only 34 years old in April 1999. It's gonna take awhile. And you can't really replace someone like Tonto anyway- a woman of independent means who was born at the start of the 20th century and asserted her own free will while chafing against conventional societal prejudices as she navigated the highs of the 1920's, the lows of the 1930's, and the turmoil of the 1940's. Clare can never be totally like Tonto because Clare was born in 1964, and came of age in the early 80's, as the first generation of women who really were able to advance in society and take advantage of the feminist revolution. She didn't have to fight against the blatant sexism and discrimination that women Tonto's age had to face. So Wade is like JP with a soul. Matt is a mx of Robbie's cuddly ways and Brad's hot-headedness, as well as business acumen. I think JJ reminds me a lot of Stefan, only not as flamboyant. Still full of a zest for life and eagerness for new things to try and to have, though. Will is supposed to be like Brad's quiet, methodical side. We haven't really gotten to know Marie Hobart, John Hobart or Courtney Crampton, so I can't say yet who they're like. I guess for now, they default into being like Claire, Jack, and Ace. And Darius is like Ace, only better at controlling his temper.

Right. I don't expect you to switch to focusing on JJ and Will when they're in 9th grade for '01-'02. Because frankly, high school is absolutely boring until the upperclassmen years. Darius is going to be a senior/college freshman for the year 2000, but I don't think we're going to get a straight narrator. So Generation 3 is still somewhat on the sides, waiting in the wings. Although I suppose technically Matt is Gen 3, but we never saw him as a little kid the way we saw Darius as a three-year old in summer 1985, JJ as a preemie in December '85, or Will as a newborn in September '86. And Matt's a college freshman, which is a helluva lot more interesting than the middle school years that JJ and Will are going through, LOL. Matt's senior year of college coincides with September 11th. Just a thought.

I just spent the day at my alma matter- we had an Alumni Lunch, catered by Capriottis. (It's a chain sub shop with really good sandwhiches.) It was pretty fun- reliving the good ol' days when I was just a kid and my biggest worries were whether or not I could get away with sneaking out of the boring assemblies without getting caught. After the luncheon I just sorta hung out with a few fellow alumni in the front lobby of the school, singing songs and laughing as we reminisced about times gone by and looking at those high school kids, realizing just how long it's been since we were them. Five years. Five freakin' years. (Okay, four and a half, really, but still.) Still can't believe how fast all those years went by- from auditioning to get into that high school all the way back in January '01 as an 8th grader who just fell in love with that school, to those four precious years of high school that went by much too fast, and all those enusing years since I stepped off of the stage as a newly crowned alumni, 19 years old and thinking that nineteen would be forever. Five years now separate me from that boy. Crazy to think that. Last year, I remarked to one of the teachers, "Did I get old, or are these high school kids getting younger?" She replied, "You got old. That's how it always works." And she's right- it seems every year, those 16-year olds just look more and more like babies to me. But I guess it's just me being a decade away from sixteen. Oh, well. I still have those precious memories of youth, and what it feel like to be a kid with his whole life ahead of him where everything was just full of possiblilites and new experiences. And it's not like it's bad being older- I can legally drink now, my mother can't order me to a curfew, and I don't have those vacilitating, turmultuous moods that come with being an angsty teenager. Still, there's just something about growing up...that isn't half as fun as growing up. Anyways, here's a song for the mood I am in. (The rumination of this post completely justifes me breaking the Monday music rules, I think.) "These are the best days of our lives"...man. In a way, it is true. Because your heart is on your sleeve when you are young...the joys and the triumphs and the laughs...they're all felt so much more deeply, because your emotions are closer to the surface as a teenager. Not that you can't feel joy and all that as you get older...but...it's just not quite the same, I think. That's why I think so many authors write about coming-of-age, because that universial experience that we all go through offer such a rich treasure trove of emotions that can really fuel a story. Is anyone hitting up a reunion anytime soon?

Chapter 50 -When Jerry and Wade give their campaign speeches. -You Get What You Give by New Radicals -When Wade and Matt get back to Escorial, decide to have Wade move in with him for awhile, and have passionate sex. "Because Of You" by 98 Degrees http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY-0rosQQqk -When Wade realizes that Benjamin Whist is stacking the deck in favor of Jerry, calls him on it, and then gets moral support from his adopted family as they go to vote. "Steal My Sunshine" by Len http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GivXzk_sHxc

At some point I'm sure Mark will write a story set circa 2004-2005, because JJ and Will, along with their cousin John Hobart, will be seniors in high school for the 2004-2005 school year. Mark likes to write about high school seniors, plus '04-'05 had a lot of interesting events that are too good to pass up. Gay marriage in Massachusetts, the election, the Indian Ocean tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, as well as the swell in the housing boom, where a three bedroom house in a just-okay part of Southern California could run for something like 800 k. Stefan is in real estate, so the 2004-2006 housing boom has to affect him.

I am offended that you think its not the same to adopt or use a surrogate. That is a slap to the face of parents who adopted their children, or people who had to use surrogates. I have met quite a few gay and lesbian couples who have achieved families through sperm donors, adoption, or surrogates, and I don't think they feel its "not the same" as having the kids through a heterosexual marriage, or see those kids as being somehow less because they didn't spring out of hetero union. You should talk to adopted kids and their parents, as well as meet gay and lesbian couples who are raising children.

Thanks for the defense, Tiger. No, I don't consider myself one. First of all, I don't have kids. Secondly, I am only 24 years old...for me to have had a kid who is old enough for college, I would have had to concieve the kid at the age of 5 or so. The point I was making is that helicopter parents are a significance presence among the present-day twentysomething crowd. Speaking of present-day twentysomethings...how do you guys think JJ and Will are going to turn out? In present-day, JJ and Will are 24 and 23 years old, respectively. I personally see Will ending up at M.I.T.- I see the guy becoming an engineer- he comes off as a very intelligent, highly shy person. JJ, I think, would go to some state party school because while he's intelligent, he's not about doing homework, so he's only got so-so grades. And I think he would want to go to a party school, because JJ SCREAMS future party kid. So I think he'd want a school that had a great party scene as opposed to really caring about their academic programs. Maybe Penn State? Or Arizona State?

I feel like some of this is just wishful thinking. I don't think Elvis was bi in any way. Call it a hunch.

His characters from Saturday Night Fever and Grease were pretty hot, though. Anyways, Jeff Conaway was a very good-lucking guy before the drugs ruined him...kinda sad. Luckily, your other two crushes from that era, Robbie Benson and Matt Dillion, aged quite nicely. I bet the '80 movie Little Darlings must have been quite the masturbatory film for teenaged you, Mark....not only did it have Matt, but also teenaged Tatum O'Neal and Kristy McNichol, who were apparently very popular with teenaged boys who liked tomboys.

Mark, you forgot Tony Dow being listed, as well as Fabian. Tony Dow serves as the physical model for Jeff, Frank, Robbie, Billy, and Marcel. Fabian is the physical model for Brad. I think maybe you had a sixth sense going on.

That makes sense. I guess I've been influenced by seeing how parents actually friend their kids on Facebook, and how my mom kept calling me when I went away to college. Maybe JJ can have a roommate with a helicopter parent or something. I feel like the helicopter parent is too much of part of how my generation turned out for Mark to completely ignore, when he gets around to a Gen Y viewpoint in the story.

Enema of the State came out in late 1999, so it's already been 10 years.

I am continually getting help in Farmville from Brian's father under Brian's profile. I am really close to deleting this profile. It is just too creepy that he's playing Facebook games under his dead son's profile.

You have vintage jeans from the 80s? I am so jealous.

Helicopter parents are normal for Darius/JJ/Will's generation- its related to empty-nester syndrome, and why Generation Y is considered to be so over-indulged. I can't see Brad becoming one, but I could see Robbie becoming one- especially with the last two kids who leave the house. He'll get over it, but not before driving Will and JJ crazy with constant cell phone calls. Such is the m.o. of Baby Boomer parents.

Here was this interesting retrospective I found about this decade that had no name. (And don't tell me anybody called it the 'aughts. I tried calling it the 'aughts several times and got brutally rebuffed.) Instead of going for the big stuff, it talks about the ways our lives have changed since that clock struck midnight on January 1, 2000. It's a fun little read. 50 Life Changers Over the Past Decade Mark, I thought this would be especially pertinent for you, as you plan on moving the Cramptons, Schluters, and Hayes into the 2000's for the Chronicles of an Academic Predator series. Good primer on what those CAP people will be encountering as they enter a decade that we're getting ready to leave. On a personal level, I remember getting my first cell phone in 2000- it was a 1998 Nokia hand-me-down from my sisters. It was a red brick cell phone, crude, and pretty much only capable of making phones calls, having a contact menu, and a few games. It's amazing just how ubiquitous the cell phone became over this past decade- I remember that the camera cell phones became "hot" during my junior year of high in 2003-2004. I remember the first time I saw a fully-functional, internet-capable Blackberry in 2005, and how novel it seemed. And of course, 2007 when the IPhones came out and they were the coolest gadget to have. Then there were the IPods- I'd heard of them in 2002-ish, but it wasn't until 2004 that they really became used widely at my high school, and CD players just got wiped out. I've held out against them, because I like using cd's...there's something about the physical act of holding a cd and placing it in the player that you can really "feel" as opposed to just an MP3 file. One piece of technology that was short-lived was the PDA- remember those? I knew a girl who had one in '02, but it seems like with the advent of Blackberry, PDA's were quickly rendered obsolete. As for the 'net, my family started off in 1999 using an 56k dial up connection through AOL. It's amazing how AOL has pretty much fizzled out this decade as Comcast and Verizon have become the dominant internet providers. And the net itself- wow. I remember when it was something that just for geeky people- but that all changed with Livejournal and later Myspace and Facebook. I remember when you had to know HTML code to have a webpage for yourself- now all you need is to just join up with Facebook and you have your own webpage. I remember there used to be a plethora of little personal websites all over Geocities, most of which don't exist anymore. Not to mention a lot of bigger websites that crashed with the dot-com bubble burst in 2000-2001. There is one website that has remained resillient- Mightybigtv, which was around circa 1999/2000, changed its name to Television Without Pity in 2003, linked up with Bravo Channel, and is now bigger than it ever was. It's crazy to think I've been a member of that site through all of its changes. And then there's Youtube- yeah, a lot of the changes suck, but...it's still a pretty great site for people to communicate through their videos. I can't imagine my college experience without Youtube or Facebook. I remember when I was 14, and cell phones were just starting to become common with middle-school kids. Just a couple years later, cell phones were common with elementary school kids- one of my nieces got her first cell phone around the age of 9! An interesting example of the generation gap occured when I was interviewing for a busboy job in 2003. The owner, who was maybe about two or so years older than Adam, thought it was incredible that high school kids had cell phones now. Probably because when he himself was in high school, which I guestimated to have been somewhere in the mid-90's, high school kids were more likely to have pagers instead of cell phones, and cell phones were more of a thing for college kids. It's amazing how technology like that is now being used by very little kids- my other niece is only 3 years old, and she's already figured out how to put in a DVD into the player, and is whining about wanting her own cell phone. It's incredible how fast this world is changing. What sort of changes in your own personal lives have accompanied this decade?

After reading more of Bloodlines, I realized Robbie is a very emotional parent. He is going to be an absolute mess when his first "baby", Darius, goes off to college in 2000. I can see it now- Robbie will become a total helicopter parent, starting with Darius, and then getting absolutely horrible about it with JJ and Will when he and Brad become empty-nesters in '05. I bet Mark has run into enough helicopter parents as a professor that he'll be really good at depicting this. For those not familiar with the term, it refers to overprotective parents who "hover" over their children. They've been known to call up their child away at college to wake them up for classes, and even go so far as to confront professors over grades their children got. It's a pretty interesting look into how parenting has evolved.

Too bad JJ and Will never got to know her. I bet she would have cheered the loudest at JJ's skating competitions. But she would have to be pushing 100 had she still been alive, and I wouldn't have wanted her to be stuck in a nursing home. Eh. Anyways, I think the power trips that people get on in school clubs is universial.

Chapter 49 -At the meeting, when Wade talks about the reality of politics while totally facing Jerry, and announcing a surprise speaker. "If I Ruled the World" by Nas featuring Lauryn Hill -When Wade gets Matt back to Escorial, and sexually satisfies him before they take a nap on his bed. "I Love You, Always Forever" by Donna Lewis http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk4-e9dnGUQ Evan Wadle/Matt really does have some really nice blue eyes, don't you think? -When Matt and Wade finally have sex again once waking up in the morning. "I Want You" by Third Eye Blind http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C8buGnZDvU -When Stefan gives his speech to the GLBT club, telling them about Matthew Shephard and his own assassination attempt. "Whiter Shade of Pale" by Annie Lennox http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2NIDYNvx-4