methodwriter85

I've been kind of on a Heart kick right now. Nancy Wilson is in a new vanity band project called Roadcase Royale, and the commercial featuring their version of "These Dreams" have been in rotation on the promo screens at my theater. Also at this point I've gone through most of the 2003 songs I really like, so I decided to think outside the box. LOL.

I meant them dating each other, Mark. I can't see Elizabeth being thrilled about Maddy as a possible future Danfield given her two mother's backgrounds. Jeanine's family seems pretty tacky, while Tiffany's family were cultists. With Matt Carrswold, if he had been a woman, they probably would have been totally happy with the match given that he comes from a respected family name. But yeah, I'm kind of shipping Maddy with Riley. That would be pretty cute if they went out.

I just wonder how Elizabeth Danfield will cope if and when Maddy and Riley start dating. I think she'd go ballistic. LOL.

Chapter 52 -When Brad contemplates the situation after they realize they've all been played. "Barracuda" by Heart -When JJ and John have sex. "Crazy on You" by Heart -When JJ and John have their fight. "What About Love?" by Heart -When JJ leaves John, fuming about what happened. "Stranded" by Heart -When Will fantasizes about Patrick Christian, and leaves him a message. "Magic Man" by Heart Yeah, so I went with a theme. Their 1970's classic rock phase and their 1980's sell out rock phase are both pretty awesome, honestly.

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.)