methodwriter85

You gotta love that the stadium they built to have NFL football is essentially sitting empty. (Not really, but essentially.) It sounds like that stadium is kind of a piece of shit, anyway, which is ridiculous for something that only dates back to the 90's. This article from two years ago talks about how it's for the best that St. Louis lost the Rams: In Losing the Rams, St. Louis Actually Wins It basically comes down to the fact that St. Louis just couldn't afford to keep the team, even though they tried to. But yeah, I don't remember the Rams as a Los Angeles team, so it'll be interesting to see how that fandom grows in that area, especially if they manage to keep up the promise they showed this year.

Mark said that he pictured Alisdair more conventionally handsome than "quirky cute."

Alright. Dylan it is. What works for me about it is that they have a very pretty, very cute look, but they aren't going to scream "hunk" when you first see them. And their body type and face type basically means they can pretty much work whatever look they want to look like. They also look like they will be carded into their 30's, hence Cole being 24 and still playing 16. I picture JJ being similar. I really like Timothee Chalamet as Mouse, Brad's doomed high school friend and the eventual lover of JP in the 80's: He's got the same kind of oddball cute twink look I see Mouse having. He's also got an air of artistic sensitivity, which is also something I've pictured Mouse having. Also, can't you just SEE this guy playing someone with some kind of tragic life and tragic ending? His face and bod would also look great in the punk looks of the mid-1980's, which Mark specified Mouse as getting into in Man In Motion. I can also see Alisdair, but I lean more towards Mouse. I wonder if Private Tim still posts here? I think Timothee so looks like his type. He likes that nerdy cute twink look. Call Me By Your Name still hasn't played in Delaware yet. I'm starting to think I'm going to have to wait until I can Redbox it.

Or the budget. My god, the budget to put this series to on-screen would be insanely high.

Chapter 51 -When the guys sing "Stacey's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne. "Stacey's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne

Wait, the maternal grandparents have a Jersey shore house? Now I'm getting the mental image of someone like JJ trying to hang out with Bennies at the Jersey Shore, and I'm loving the mental image. Knowing Carullo, he probably does the Jersey Shore thing. I actually have relatives who live in Ocean County, in Tom's River. I spent about two years of my childhood in the neighboring county, Monmouth County. Brad mentioning the fact that JJ is about to turn 18 made me remember that of the 3 sons that Brad raised, Darius is the only one who didn't move out before he turned 18. LOL. I'm excited for the talent show. I'm also kind of hoping that Ryan gives Marie a chance even though he prefers women of color. Marie's pretty awesome.

The Los Angeles Rams...good season, guys. Also, damn, your coach is sexy as fuck: I was actually rooting for them in this game because it would have been cool to see the Rams continue their Cinderella season. Oh, well. Still a good season. Mark said once that he was a Rams fan so I figure he had to be pretty happy with this season overall. Their last seasons in St. Louis were not too good.

I just realized that you guys had first generation Iphones. My god, they were as expensive as shit. I remember they were a novelty back then, and most people did their texts on slide phones instead. Although there some people who could do them on an flip-phone but that took skills. (I never did get an IPhone- I stuck to generic smart phones once they became cheap.) I was in college from 2005-2010, so I get such a kick out of this story. Although frat life wasn't really a focus at University of Delaware. It was there, but it wasn't mandatory because there were plenty of independent parties everywhere that you could easily get to. Weird how 2007 feels like both yesterday and an eternity ago. These kids are going to be largely insulated by what's ahead in 2008-2009, but I still feel bad for the graduating seniors and the junior class in this story.

What makes JJ different from most of the CAP narrators that we have is that he's a bit of enigma. He doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve. Anyway, I'm absolutely loving JJ's current plot. It's like something straight out of a late 90's/early 2000's romantic comedy, just the twist being that it's a same-sex pairing. I wanted so badly to say something about where this was going when Cent was despairing for JJ and convinced this would wind up all depressive, and I was like, "No! JJ's actually getting to have fun for once!" The whole thing is kind of reminding me of Josh and Cher in Clueless: You gotta love "opposites attract" stories.

Chapter 50 -When Carullo shows JJ his version of New York City, far away from the socialite version of New York that JJ inhabits. "Uptown Girl" by Billy Joel I toyed with using the Westlife cover that's closer to the time period of the story, so you can go with that one if you'd like to. Billy Joel writes SO much about New York/New Jersey, though. -When JJ and Carullo have lunch at the Italian restaurant, and JJ finally realizes that he's got a crush on Carullo. "Oggum Boggum Song" by Brenton Wood -When JJ and Carullo get it on. "Let Go" by Frou Frou

I hope Kevin does go to Paris because if he doesn't, he will always have a bit of resentment towards Becker. And I did love that he used all 3 names for Becker. I'm pretty sure he's cued into that whole triple personality thing Becker has. In any event, I think even if Kevin was a girl, Becker's parents wouldn't be thrilled at their son dating someone from Kevin's background. That flippant line Becker made about 8k not being a lot of money was perfect. Becker can't help his rich background anymore than Kevin can help his blue collar military one.

Okay, so tonight I celebrated my 32nd birthday with my niece who just turned 23. (She was born the day before my 9th birthday- I on December 7th and she on December 6th.) My family has been doing joint birthdays for us forever. This year, we were having it at Red Robin. So it's me, my mom, 2 sisters, 2 brother-in-laws, 3 nieces, and 2 nephews. One sister (the one with the daughter turning 23) and her entire family is basically on a vegan diet. So me and my mom show up late, which is strike 1. I thought we were supposed to be there at 6:30, but it was apparently 5:30. Then my vegan sister bitches about my mom bringing an ice cream cake, which is strike 2, because she got this custom ordered vegan cake. I knew that would happen, so I asked my mom to get me just a small ice cream cake that would just be for me and maybe her and my non-vegan sister, and that would be it. She didn't listen to me, and instead got a larger cake that could serve 8-10 people and had my niece's name put on it along with mine. (Which I told my mom repeatedly before that the niece wouldn't eat because she's vegan.) Then my mom, who is braindead with social cues, decides to make jokes about my Vegan Sister's lifestyle, which again brought out her pouty face. Strike 3 happened when my mom didn't finish her cake, and the nephew that is on the Vegan Diet threw a hissyfit because his mother wouldn't allow him to eat the cake. The sister then just picked up a bottle of ketchup and squirted it on the leftover ice cream cake. She basically seemed to be starring daggers at me and Mom as we left. I was pissed because so much of this could have been avoided if my mom had actually listened to me when I told her that she only needed to get a 4 person cake. The only reason why I asked was because I knew that otherwise I'd have to have the niece's vegan cake, and I wanted my own little non-vegan cake. I'm also just pissed that this stuff always seems to be a big fucking issue whenever we have family get-togethers, to the point where my mom actually hosted a secret Thanksgiving dinner not on actual Thanksgiving and didn't invite my Vegan sister and her family to. The problem is that her son (he's about to turn 5) throws all these little hissyfits about not getting to eat non-vegan food whenever we have get-togethers. Like tonight he kept staring at the Caravel ice cake in its box and then he tried pouncing on the leftovers of my mom's slice of the ice cream cake. So therefore the Vegan sister continually tries getting us to not bring non-vegan food to family events. I kind of wish I had done what I did last year and just celebrated my birthday by taking up a train to Philadelphia and hanging out around Center City for an afternoon. FAR less stressful. But yeah. I just feel pissed. Honestly, I didn't even give a shit about getting a cake. I'm just tired of feeling like I have to kow-tow to my sister's vegan diet at every single fucking turn, to the point of her trying to rope me into eating a cake I don't want to eat because it's "for everyone." That's why I tried having another cake brought in that would have just been for me. And I just get tired of my mom not listening to me. She insisted on getting this bigger cake, that I knew was mostly going to go waste, and then snapped at me when I pointed that out to her. Then she admitted after we got home that I was right, and she should have gotten the smaller cake. Anyway. Yeah, I don't think I want to do this kind of thing anymore, if it means having to go through THAT again. I'm 32 anyway- I really don't need birthday cakes and the candles and all that anymore. I won't have my next milestone birthday for another 3 years. I think for 33 I might just go to Philly or Baltimore or DC or something. Who the fuck knows? What I do know is that I don't want a repeat of THAT shitshow. For my actual 32nd birthday I quietly had a celebration wacky wheat beer at Stewart's Brewing Company and then saw the Disaster Artist at Regal People's Plaza. That was nice. I'll just hold on to that. The next night, I met up with my friend Shana at Brio Tuscan Grill and had a few drinks before going to the holiday party at the theater. That was fun, too. I even got a handmade card from a few of the managers.

Coked up Kevin was absolutely hysterical. And I like how he seems to get so giddy when he's around Becker, like he's this special toy that only he can play with. (Which is in a way, true.) I like how the interactions between Kevin and Beck changed when they DTRed. Kevin seems way, way more puppy dog around him now. But he can also get serious- they have to tell people eventually. They can't stay in the closet about this relationship forever. I think it's telling that he pretty much told Adam as such.

Last night I went on the Wilmington Halloween Bar Loop, for my 4th year doing it. It was a really good time- I flew solo again and dropped about 59 dollars total on Uber. (My belief has always been paying 50 to 100 dollars on a cab ride is much, much cheaper than a DUI.) I hit up Chelsea Tavern, Ernest and Scott Taproom, a Mexican bar, Trolley Tap House, Catherine Rooney's, and Trolley Oyster House. The Loop is no longer utilizing the buses as a free shuttle, so I decided not to hit up the Firestone Roasting House on the Riverfront like I did last year. I stuck to a reasonable 6 drinks. My tolerance level is vastly reduced and I didn't feel like puking. I went as a Blue Barracuda from Legends of the Hidden Temple, which was fun. I did not think anybody would remember that show, but I got a shit ton of compliments from people that night about my costume. Two people even took a picture of me. One really cool moment happened when I found another guy dressed up as a Blue Barracuda. We joked about being each other's missing teammates, and people complimented us on being total randos that just happened to be teammates. LOL. It was a fun night. Definitely better than last year, when absolutely only one person got that I was Dustin from Stranger Things, and I broke my phone when I dropped it at the Trolley Square Oyster House. I was lucky enough that I was able to hail a taxi, but yeah, it wasn't nice having to replace my phone. I don't really do the party thing anymore, but it's fun to go back to your old party boy self every once in awhile.

I'm like obsessed with American Vandal right now, a true crime series documentary parody that explores the question of whether or not a SoCal stoner dude vandalized his teacher's cars. It's set in Oceanside, but the high school used is Palisades Charter High School: I always kind of wonder what it would have been like to go to a California high school, with the open cafeteria and open-air hallways and perfect oceanside weather. (I did live in Texas, where schools are built similar, but Texas gets super, super hot.) The mockumentary is hysterical, especially if you love true crime docs, but the scenery also enhances it.

Growing up is a bitch, isn't it? Especially when you realize it doesn't stop once you hit 18. Best of luck, Tet.

I wonder if Brad will embrace the silver fox look when his hair starts going grey? (We all KNOW that Stefan has carefully dyed back to blond any hair that has gone grey.) I think it can look pretty sexy:

Glad you're updating this! Still kind of hoping for something to happen with Patrick but whatever.

Well, I imagine the financial implosion of 2007-2009 is going to be fun for him. Not that he's going to be screwed that much, but it's going to be a significant annoyance for him, especially if he's invested in real estate in areas that got hit hard. The estate boom should be going on right now, yes? Plus, I mean, even if he's aging great (which he so would be) he's still going to be over 50. He's going to have to grapple with questions about what to do with his 80-something parents and the other general issues of what happens when you're over a half-century old.

Chapter 49 -When Will gets it on with JJ's crush, Patrick. "Shoop" by Salt-N-Pepa -When Elizabeth Danfield imagines her future life as a saved sinner. "You Light Up My Life" by Debby Boone I learned about this song on I Love the 70's. When this was a big hit back in 1977, I wonder how many people knew it was actually a Christian gospel song about a love for God? -When they somberly remember 9/11 for a moment. "Mad World" by Gary Jules -When JJ ruminates while listening to John Carullo's music. "Everything You Want" by Vertical Horizon

Wow. I figure he'll still be hot at that age, like Rob Lowe and John Stamos are. I wonder if Riley and Maddy (who are both 17 now) refer to Brad as Grandpa? (Robbie the 2nd would be 14.) I don't think Brad would have Stefan's vanity about aging, so I'm guessing they probably do, and Brad likes it. Brad and his two siblings, Ace and Claire, are all in their 50's now. All of Brad's kids are in their 30's- Matt is 37, Darius is 35, JJ's about to turn 32 in a few months, Will just turned 31. At this point, JP and Isidore are both in their 80's, which might translate to some tough things for Brad to deal with. (I'm guessing Frank Hayes would be long gone by 2017- I can't see him still alive at 81. I think he'll die from a heart attack before he reaches his 70's or just after reaching them.)

Eh. I like to think I've mellowed out with age. Although that comment does remind me of Mean Girls. Maybe JJ can try to become Queen Bee at his new high school, and enrages the current one, leading to an all-out Bitch War? Alright, I am kidding about that one. The school he's going to doesn't sound like it would foster that kind of "mean girl" environment. Anyway, I don't know. I do get your point about JJ being out of line. However, Darius really just sounds like he couldn't give a shit about JJ at this point and he's only doing this out of family obligation, rather than having any kind of actual concern about JJ. I think that's the part that might be why people have had a negative reaction to this plot. Ostensibly, it's a tough love approach to JJ. But I can't think of any recent character interaction that JJ has had with Darius that would show that Darius even gives a shit about him, as opposed to Will and JJ. Say what you will about Will, but he and JJ have had some lovely brotherly moments together. Darius on the other hand, just kind of seems like he became really cold after 9/11 and his break-up with Ella. Which is understandable, but I can see why JJ doesn't feel like taking any kind of brotherly advice from Darius. Darius is doing the "tough" part, but he's not really doing the "love" part. Although come to think of it, JJ's never had that kind of big brother worship for Darius. I think the only one he's ever had that for is Matt. So yeah, I can see where it just rings as kind of false and hollow for Darius to try and pull some tough love "let's teach my brother a lesson he needs" moment, because he really just hasn't been involved enough in JJ's life to really warrant having that much say in it. Will has, and Stefan has, but not Darius.

I've been Mark's beta reader for 9 years now. (Holy shit, am I really not 22 anymore? Geez.) We've had some pretty big disagreements and a couple of times I came close to no longer being on Mark's team because of said disagreements. Sharon (the editor) told me once, "You need to step back a little and remember that this is a fictional soap opera, and that this is all supposed to be fun." So I did eventually learn to step back a little, and I've enjoyed the story a lot more since. Hell, some things I vehemently disagreed with turned out to be some of the best storylines Mark has done. I thought it would be a lame rerun of Brad/Robbie to have Will fall in love with a Hayes football player from Claremont, and I couldn't have possibly been wrong. The Zach/Will coupling has been one of my favorite storylines. JJ's had some pretty dark things happen to him, but I haven't seen JJ's current character arc as being dark. He's just being a spoiled little rich boy trying to make himself feared and admired in a big little pond like New York City, and his family is trying to "check" him, so to speak Basically, he's like a character in teen comedy coming-of-age film who is sure that they have everything all figured out, and they need a wake-up call that they don't, a la Clueless/Emma. Calling what they did as being "cruel" seems a bit much. They know that JJ's weakness is being the forgotten middle brother and they used that here. Was it a bit bitchy? Sure. Did it make a point? Also sure. Cruel would have been one of them throwing back JJ's old cutting habit back into his face, or what Johnny Weir said to JJ about the Twin Towers. It was under the belt but not that far below.

You and I have definitely had our disagreements in the past 9 years when it comes to CAP, but I've been pretty much on the same page with you when it comes to JJ's character development. (Okay, I wasn't happy about JJ dropping skating given that I had planned JJ's career out to the 2006 Olympics and I really thought JJ was going to get his GED so he could focus on skating full-time, but whatever.) The general theme to JJ's character development seems to be about breaking him out of whatever cocoon he builds for himself. The first was his skating life with an increasingly erratic mother, which distracted from the family's disintegrating relationships back in 2000. Then he had to face the reality of his coach molesting him. And then in 9/11, he lost his mother altogether, who was the person he could pretty much always hide behind.The second was his Streak era in 2002- early 2003, when he was riding high in his Boston days and loving life as Alex's "princess." It was all fine and dandy, but it was never going to last and Alex may have been pretty but he is never going to be the type of love interest that challenges someone and makes them grow as people. Now, JJ has built up this New York City fashion world for himself as some kind of tame Sex in the City where people are cast in his mind as certain character parts. John Carullo is like his rowdy roommate who belongs on Queer As Folk, with Bellona Carter as his stern mentor, and Patrick Christian as his Mr. Big. JJ seems to be thinking of himself as pretty hot shit who can do no wrong. (You KNOW JJ pictures himself as the Carrie Bradshaw in all this.) This is where Will and Darius's plan to knock him down a peg seems to come from. Like, "Yo, you ain't no Carrie Bradshaw. You're the fucking Charlotte. I'm the Carrie, and Darius is the Samantha! FACE!" Okay, not that Will and Darius watch Sex and The City or would have an idea what any of that means, but come on. JJ probably has like every season of that show on his TiVo, if not DVD box sets. Anyway, there does seem to be a reason to all of this. JJ's ice princess persona is fun, but there is a real person under there, and we do get glimpses of him, but we have to get through his layers. And you can see the character growth pretty clearly, even when he's back to being a brat. 15-year old JJ told the entire family that there wasn't any point of him going to school, because he was going to be on a Wheaties box by the time he was 20. 17-year old JJ decided, after long consideration, that he was going to take his National Championship title and walk away from that world, because the fiasco with Alex made him realize what price he was going to have to play to keep playing the game. In other words, when JJ gets comfortable and settles himself down into a role/world that he doesn't want to leave even though it's based on sand, Mark has a tendency to come up with ways for JJ to be zapped out of his contentment. And it's often pretty needed. For a 17-year old guy who has traveled the world, JJ seems really uninterested in life's adventures. Most recent example was the black out- instead of having fun and enjoying the big party that happened like his grandfather's did, JJ just bitched and seemed miserable. He has a pretty narrow set of the kind of people he wants to associate with and the kinds of things he wants to do with the people he associates with. JJ will miss out on a whole hell of a lot of interesting stuff if he's always like that. Hell, when I was JJ's age, I once walked into a room with group of people who were doing a live-action roleplay of vampires because their sign said they were doing comedy improv. Can't get much more interesting than that! I kind of always take what Mark does to JJ as JJ being nudged out of that shell, in a relatively realistic way.

I found this Buzzfeed video that basically rips off Bang for Your Buck, where people look at houses at different price points in a given area. This one looks at current Los Angeles real estate: I'd be totally down for that cute little house in Alhambra. 568k for a 895 square foot house seems like a lot, but it's nicely updated. (Quartz seems to have replaced the granite countertop craze of the 2000's.) I used to be a HUUUGGGGGEEEE fan of House Hunters and Flip That House back in that mid/late 2000's era, which often featured California real estate. Definitely taught me that unless you're living in the Inland Empire, you're pretty much paying a lot. Also, that Californians pay pretty premium money in order to live either by the ocean or by the hills.