methodwriter85

Oh, young drunken frat boys. I keep getting older, but they stay the same age and just as hot. Although apparently, Lacoste has been replaced by Vineyard Vines. And you see more (actual) beards than you used to back in 2006. BTW, Mark, have you taken my recommendation about watching The Social Network? It really is a good primer on college life circa 2003-2006, when wearing a t-shirt over a long button down shirt was cool and everybody was getting on Myspace/Facebook.

There was this Teens React video where they reacted to 90's music, and it made me think about the mid/late 90's music scene. I decided it might be fun to revisit Bloodlines' music selections, which I had a blast doing. Enjoy! Bloodlines Playlist 1.) "Hero" by Foo Fighters When we meet Matt Carrswold, high school hockey jock living in Shaker Heights, Ohio. Chapter 1. 2.) "The Impression That I Get" by The Mighty Might Bosstones When Matt learns that he needs a kidney transplant, and that he's adopted. Chapter 2. 3.) "Molly" by Sponge When Matt ruminates over his fall from Mr. Popular Jock Boy. Chapter 3. 4.) "Dammit" by Blink 182 When Matt calls out his friends for abandoning him. Chapter 3. 5.) "I Could Never Be Your Woman" by White Town When Cam and Matt have sex in the elevator at prom. Chapter 3. 6.) "Time Of Your Life" by Green Day When University School's class of 1998 graduates. Chapter 3. 7.) "Sixth Avenue Heartache" by The Wallflowers When Matt meets his birthmother, Laura Mercer, and learns about his biological father, Robbie Hayes. 8.) "Wannabee" by Spice Girls When Matt unwittingly has sex again with his "grandparents" in St. Louis. Chapter 5. 9.) "Kind and Generous" by Natalie Merchant When Matt meets Robbie Hayes, and realized this he essentially fucked his grandparents. Chapter 6. 10.) "Summertime" by Sublime When Matt gets to know his new California family. Chapter 7. 11.) "Got You Where I Want You" by the Flys When Matt and Cody talk after having sex, and Matt tells him that they can't bareback because he had barebacked with a cop who blackmailed him for sex. Chapter 7. 12.) "It Takes A Little Time" by Amy Grant When Matt and Robbie walk by the ocean, and talk about how they want to build a relationship together, and Robbie tells him how difficult it was to get his happy ending with Brad. Chapter 7. 13.) "Block Rocking Beats" by The Chemical Brothers When Matt watches Brad and Will's surfing in action. Chapter 10. 14.) "Number 1 Crush" by Garbage When Matt engages in a threesome with Cody and Alejandro. 15.) "Rockefeller Skank" by Fatboy Slim When Matt takes his newfound little brothers to the skating rink. Chapter 11. 16.) "Take On Me" by Reel Big Fish When Matt encourages JJ to take up skating. Chapter 11. 17.) "How Bizarre" by OMC When Matt says goodbye to everybody in Malibu, and drives up to Palo Alto. Chapter 14. 18.) "Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth with Money In My Hand" by Primitive Radio Gods When Matt and Cody talk on the phone about all the drama that Brian is causing. Chapter 15. 19.) "Virtual Insanity" by Jamiroquai When Matt and Stefan invest in some new internet search engine called Google. Chapter 16. 20.) "1979" by The Smashing Pumpkins Party time at Escorial, which includes middle-aged Brad and Ace learning how to play Beer Pong, and Matt hooking up with Konrad. Chapter 16. 21.) "Everybody" by The Backstreet Boys At the party where Matt gets outed when everybody catches him having sex with Cody. Chapter 19. 22.) "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan Matthew Shepherd's funeral. Chapter 22. 23.) "2 Becomes 1" by The Spice Girls When Matt realizes that he might be falling for Danfield as they cuddle in bed together. Chapter 26. 24.) "Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve When Danfield and Matt, at the keggar, witness Amber's social downfall and discuss the Danfield political dynasty. Chapter 28. 25.) "Sunny Came Home" by Shawn Colvin When Cole talks to Matt about his parents, and what he's got to do to get his life together. Chapter 30. 26.) "What Would Happen If We Kiss?" by Meredith Brooks When Matt and Danfield finally give into the sexual tension between them and kiss. Chapter 31. 27.) "Inside Out" by Eve 6 When Matt and Wade have their first fight, at Halloween '98. Chapter 32. 28.) "What It's Like" by Everlast When Matt details his plan to JP about how to stop Senator Danfield from sexually abusing his son. Chapter 39. 29.) "Hands" by Jewel When Wade reveals to Beau what Dad has been doing to him, and Beau joins him in the plan to stop the Senator. Chapter 40. 30.) "Facade" from Jekyll and Hyde When the plan goes in motion, and the Senator is blackmailed from ever doing anything again to Wade. Chapter 41. 31.) "Millennium" by Robbie Williams For the new year and the new quarter, when Matt discusses his legal issues with Wade and Wade discusses his therapy. Chapter 42. 32.) "Larger Than Life" by the Backstreet Boys For Stanford's first hockey game of 1999, against Santa Clara, where our boys win and celebrate at A-E-Ro house. Chapter 42. 33.) "Seasons of Love" from Rent When various members of the family, such as Claire, come by to be at Matt's side to show their support for him. Chapter 46. *BTW, has anyone seen Spring Awakening? It really is the Rent for the Millennial Generation. 34.) "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" by Aerosmith When Wade sits at Matt's bedside, refusing to leave, and tries to comfort Robbie. Chapter 47. 35.) "Scar Tissue" by Red Hot Chili Peppers When Wade muses on his relationship with his parents after seeing the bouqet they sent to Matt, as well as a newsphoto with his father proclaiming the need for prayer in school. Chapter 48. 36.) "I Want You" by Third Eye Blind When Matt and Wade finally have sex again once waking up in the morning, with Matt back at Escorial after his near-death experience. Chapter 49. *As an aside, I finally got to see Third Eye Blind in 2014. I don't think they're good as Weezer live, but it's pretty cool to see that they're still chugging along. 37.) "Wise Up" by Aimee Mann At Escorial, where Senator Danfield explains why he did what he did to Wade, and promises that the cycle of abuse has ended. Chapter 51. 38.) "God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You" by N'Sync When Matt and his adoptive father wholly and completely mend their relationship. Chapter 53. 39.) "Crazy" by Britney Spears When Matt and Wade have a wild roll in the sack. Chapter 53. 40.) "Across the Universe" by Fiona Apple When the family gets the news that Matt doesn't need a transplant, and Matt is free to celebrate Father's Day with his two fathers. *** Reading this again, it did make me think about how important the father/son relationship has been in CAP. Will's drama with his father drove so much of the conflict in so many of the more recent stories. (Although it does seem like they've gotten to a better place.) Although we don't really get much of that with JJ. He and Brad seem fine with each other, and they love each other, but I wouldn't say that they need each other like a person needs air, like you see with Will and Brad. They've kept a relatively calm, normal father/son relationship where Brad and JJ generally seem to respect each other. In any event, it's weird to read this stuff, because everything absolutely implodes with Brad, Robbie, Jeanine, and their three kids that they raised happily for 13 years after this story. And it's weird to think about how innocent and happy JJ was, before he got involved in skating.

He actually didn't go the route you're thinking about with this one. It was way more understated, but I get your adorable annoyance with him. I read him more like a guy who wants to know more about his city, and find little things that are out of the way or not really known about the place. He just did a pretty cool 360 YouTube video where he gives a history lesson about the confluence of the L.A. River: ;media] [/media] It was actually pretty good use of the concrete banks. It took me a couple of seconds to figure out how 360 video videos work, though. LOL. Anyway, it sounds like Los Angeles is abandoning its plans to turn the Piggyback Yard into the Olympic Village, because Union Pacific has flat out said they refuse to sell. Here's an article about that: The Most Elusive Piece of Land in Los Angeles- LA River Adjacent Piggyback Yard Is A Super Hot Commodity No One Can Get Their Hands On I feel like that's got to be strange as fuck for you that this stuff is going on. It sounds like they're not getting their way re: turning the Piggyback Yard into a desirable waterfront property, though. At least for now. Anyway to switch this to something else entirely...there's absolutely no way there'd only be two openly gay guys in the upperclassmen classes at Menlo School in 2003, right? I just don't find that possible. It sounds like people have been openly gay there since at least the late 90's. I mean, I knew at least five openly gay guys at my school in 2003, and this was a TINY school even though it was a performing arts one. As Tim would put it, DL is just a tiny, podunk state. An elite high school in California...I can't really see there only being two openly gay students there, especially since I googled a little and they had a GSA in 2000.

The thing is, he's been under enormous pressure to lose weight and get down to hardbody jock bod, because he does have a great face. If he had been able to pull off a Chris Pratt, he would have been much easier to sell, but if you're going too far against your natural body type, it really gets impossible. So in any event, I'm glad that he's accepted himself, and he's getting a chance to do something that most guys who don't look like an Abercrombie and Fitch pin-up get to do. Here's another quote from him in another article... “You are beautiful the way you are right now,” Miko said. “Who you are — no matter what shape or size or age or what have you — is attractive, desirable, and valid.”Great words to live by! Dude really is inspiring- it's great to see someone refuse to be told that they aren't beautiful because they don't fit into society's narrow mesomorph standard of beauty. I really do look forward to following this guy's career.

He's only 26.

Chapter 26 -When Stefan and Brad party their way through the Great Blackout of '03 as they walk back to the condo. "Hot In Here" by Nelly -When JJ has a touching moment of inspiration, and decides to help someone in need. And then it totally backfires on him. "Flying Without Wings" by Ruben Studdard

Okay, I object to Buffy being described as Cheesy. It was a legitimately good, Award-worthy drama, especially through seasons 2 to 5. The first season and the last two kind of sucked, but the middle run was great and the acting could be phenomenal. But anyway, back to the topic: California Dreams: [media[ [/media] Basically, Saved by the Bell with a band. Hang Time: Basically, Saved by the Bell with a basketball team. USA High: Basically, Saved By the Bell but at a boarding school in Germany. I remembered thinking Jackson and Christian were sooo hot.

I think more accurately, he'd be called a bear. Really good-looking guy in any event despite the lack of a strong jawline or six-pack abs.

This story's been making the rounds and it's pretty neat. IMG Models just signed their first plus-size male model: Meet Zach Miko, IMG Model's First Male Plus-Size Model It's pretty cool to see some added diversity in the modeling world!

Wow, it's good to "see" you. Sounds like life is good. Tom Explores LA actually did an episode around a neighborhood that's emptying out because of the planned LAX expansion, called Manchester Square: It's really interesting to see a "ghost" neighborhood in L.A., because you don't really associate the region as having large swaths of abandoned houses, like Detroit or St. Louis.

The one I really liked that the bit about Matt making fun of Mark for saying a car is "bad"- which would later be used in Be Rad, where Brad says Robbie's 1968 El Dorado is "bad" and Robbie wonders what's wrong with it. Anyway, this bit from chapter 9 made me smile because gee, does this sound familiar or what? The only thing missing are violet blue eyes, but otherwise you get the general Hayes look. It kind of reminds me of what people say about "imprinting", and how the kind of people that you were into when you were an adolescent will still get you going as you get older. I mean, I'll admit- there's still a part of me that will drool over a tall, lanky cute college guy wearing flip-flops, cargo shorts, and a polo shirt. Or tall lanky skater boys who had that late 90's Eric Balfour or Josh Hartnett thing going on. God, skater boys. I was still kind of upset about Mark not really including skater boys in CAP, which seemed off for circa 1998-2002, but whatever. It's pretty clear that Mark's heart rests with the alpha male jocks, which is why they've featured so much in CAP, I think.

It really does give you insight into how Mark would eventually develop CAP. The pot-smoking. The beefy, blond jock that's like a teddy bear. The straight boy who confuses the protagonist. The bad boy. The precociously sexually mature 14/15-year old. The occasional sexual roleplay. The important friendship with a female. (Who the gay/bi guy may or may not have had sex with.) And most importantly, the plotline of the affluent trying to help the less unfortunate. If Mark's parents are still alive, I really, really hoped they manage to hold on to their house in the hills at least to the 2000's. An updated mid-century modern house in the hills of the Bay Area complete with a lap pool has to be worth a LOT! But in any event, I do get why Mark had to stop. This really was intensely personal.

I actually linked each chapter under the title, but here it is: On The Mark by Mark Arbour He wrote this back in 2004 but decidedly ultimately that he didn't want to finish it, for very personal reasons that I won't go into because it's not my story to tell. I do have to hand it to Adam Phillips for being willing to go to the finish line with Cross-Currents, even though it took him 10 years, because he went to some VERY ugly places in that story that I can't imagine wanting to relive. The interesting thing about this now is that it's set 40 years ago now. (It takes place from 1976 to 1980, I believe.) The attitudes and the world that Mark writes about here is largely vanished- nowadays, you have openly gay and trans MIDDLE school kids. And the whole cruising thing that Mark writes about is pretty much extinct, except maybe with older guys. It's just not worth it with the internet, and the possibility of ending up on Megan's List. I do imagine that the house that Mark grew up in is either worth millions now, or someone bought it and demolished it with something else and it's also worth (many) more millions. The area that Mark grew up in doesn't sound cheap these days. Hell, isn't even Oakland starting to get pricey?

This is 6 years later, but Mark was a 6'3" guy with a swimmer's build who grew up in an upper-middle class neighborhood and was pretty good-looking in that preppie way with auburn hair and hazel eyes he "enhanced" with contacts to make them a vivid green. Of COURSE he got a fair amount of action, save for his depressive senior year. It would be like wondering why "Andy" in Cross-Currents managed to get so much tail as a six-foot tall good looking joCK with solid abs and a rather big endowment. LOL. It's funny to think about how cruising played a big part in the last chapter of the story, but it's pretty much extinct now. Grindr and stuff like that pretty much rendered it irrelevant, But in any event, you really do see where some elements of the CAP series came from in Mark's early life. Darryl, Van, and Matt seem like they all sort of came together to create the Hayes archtype.

In this episode of React, teens react to more 90's music: I always get a kick out of this stuff. It's funny to see what remains, and what has slipped out of the consciousness. (Not surprised at the staying power of the Spice Girls- I've met people in their early 20's who know them.) It was funny to see nobody knew The Impression That I Get- I remember being in love with that song during the summer of 1997: 1997 was a great year for music, in my opinion.

If Mark wants to start researching the mid-2000's (which we're getting close to), I found this photo on Reddit that is pretty DEAD-ON for how college-aged guys dressed circa 2004-2006: It's perfect. Right down to the knock-off Livestrong bracelet and the vertical-striped button down. You can't see their feet, but I'm betting they're wearing flip-flops. And you can see with the hairstyles that we were getting away from the short and spiky look that was so popular at the start of the decade- guys were going for a more natural look with their hair, mostly. And they were growing their hair out longer in a look that was reminiscent of the early 1980's. UNLESS they were emo. But we didn't really hit peak emo until circa 2006.

Damn, Daniel. You know, watching it, it really does remind me of the plausibility that Will could look 16-17 when he was 14. That kid is pretty big for his age:

Apropos of nothing, but I had a math teacher who was your age. Picture a former baseball jock-turned-teacher with a pot belly, who wore clothes entirely too tight for him because somewhere in his mind, he's still the hot shit jock that he was back in the late 80's. Right before I graduated, I said something to the effect of, "Hey, isn't it funny that the seniors this year were mostly born in 1987, which is when you graduated, Mr. Baker?" He looked pissed and joked back, "Aren't you graduated yet?" Another person your age, who called himself Mark Logan, wrote a pretty good story called By the Way. It's set in his high school and college years, and there's a decent dose of 80's nostalgia there. (The hair in the late 80's may have been hideous, but you gotta love the tight clothes, which Logan does write about.) The story was unfinished (there was a great deal of drama as to why which I'm not going to go into), but it's worth a look.

I wrote this story awhile back, but decided to revise it and clean it up a little. Tell me what you guys think! **** I have this friend, Greg. One day, he talked to me about a curious encounter with someone that still gives him the creeps. When Greg was a young boy in his teens, he went to high school in the South. Greg had this friend Barry. Barry was this really hot guy, so much so that, "The sidewalks just sizzled under his feet." As a popular guy, Barry would throw parties that all kinds of people went to. This was how Greg got to know David. David was a cute guy with long blond hair that came just off his shoulders. David seemed nice enough, but was also led pretty easily by other people. He was friends with Barry, so Greg would see him a lot socially at various parties that were being thrown at various houses. Both David and Greg had long hair. According to Greg, having long hair back then meant you were into smoking pot, or you were at least sympathetic to those that did. Greg didn't smoke at that particular time (he had a couple years earlier), but David did, and they both had a few things in common that led to small talk while they partied. Nothing too heavy or serious. Greg just remembers David would bale out of the parties at one point to take care of some business, whatever that was. He never seemed to stay late, and always excused himself to leave for something. Hanging out with David was always pretty normal and followed that same pattern- small talk about life, David lighting up a joint while Greg drank, and then David leaving for whatever it was that he did. Except one night during a lull in conversation, Greg noticed David staring at him intensely. You know that instinct thing? Well, Greg described the feeling as being there. He had that feeling once before- Greg was hitching a ride, and the guy who picked him up kept talking about going to a party. The whole thing kept getting weirder and weirder, so he excused himself when they hit a stoplight. That feeling was back in full force when Greg noticed David staring at him. It gave him the creeps, and that's when Greg decided that it would be for the best that he didn't get too close to David. Anyway, Greg didn't spend his summers in Houston, where he lived at the time. Instead, he spent them in Portland with his godfather. So late one summer up in Portland, who does Greg see on his t.v. but his casual party buddy, David Owen Brooks. He and another teenager, Elmer Wayne Henley, had assisted a local Houston man named Dean Corll in raping and murdering up to two dozen young boys over the past couple years. Their M.O. was to invite boys over to a "party", overpower them, chain them to a board, and torture them before killing them. One night in August 1973, Elmer Wayne Henley finally put an end to it and shot Dean Corll, and everything unraveled after that as they helped the police begin to dig up the bodies. It made national news, and every night another detail, another victim was revealed. They mostly buried their victims under a boat shed, or in various beaches around the area. Forty years later, they're still trying to identify victims, and it's believed that the true victim count is much higher than 28. Before you ask, Barry wasn't a victim, and Greg never met Corll or Henley. Brooks insisted that he only watched the murders but never participated. Didn't help him that much- he's still serving time in jail, likely for the rest of his life. Greg said of this this period of his life, "In some ways, it's better to not be drop-dead attractive. Any more attention from the guy, I coulda been in that boat shed." I don't think Greg gives himself enough credit though- I think Greg had strong "instinct", whatever that is, and that David likely knew that about him, which is why he never targeted him. In any event, Greg was lucky as hell that he was never invited to a private party with that particular trio of people. Thank god David was never more than his casual acquaintance.

I would love to watch Mark Arbour read Talia Jane's open letter to the YELP Ceo, and just see how much of it he can stomach. (I don't think it's all that bad and she has some good points, but she's apparently being held up as the archetypal "whiny Millennial.") Glad to hear you're doing well, Westie. As for Mike, I always thought the M in MMike1969 stood for Marine Mike, born in 1969. Heh. Okay.

Nah, he's a former marine. I figured he had that former military daddy vibe, like dkstories does.

You've got an interesting point, but the thing is, Mark has set a lot of these characters into new territory, and he's focusing a lot more on the new generation. I still wonder if maybe a leap forward of like a year or two (say we skip after this story to when Will is a sophomore in college in 2005) might be a good way to get the juices flowing. One thing I really liked about the multiple-year leaps was that it "rebooted" the story, in a sense, and Mark was able to explain about how the characters had changed and grown (or not) in the years since we'd last seen them. We pretty much lost that when every single year since 1998 is getting covered in CAP. I mean, I get why we can't have these people suddenly waking up in 2010, but it might be cool if we skipped over a year or two, I'm just saying. You know, I'd get angry at you, but honestly I picture you as a beefy hot former military Daddy, so I just can't.

Oh, bite me. Anyway, take your time. I'm just sick of people wondering if you're still living. LOL,

We had a doctor consult on us with that story. The medical stuff was unlikely but not impossible.

The life of a busy professor. Eh.