methodwriter85

Aww, how can you not like the Four Seasons? They're a wonderful oldies group. "Big Girls Don't Cry" in Dirty Dancing and "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" from Ten Things I Hate About You were just wonderful music choices. But yeah, Jersey Boys sucked. At least the movie version did. I can't speak to the musical version. I did think Erich Bergen was cute, though. Here's an interesting fact though- "Saturday Night" by the Bay City Rollers inspired the Ramones to make "Blitzkrieg Bop."

There was. It was called The Boy From Oz, starring Hugh Jackman as gay songwriter Peter Allen. There was also a musical on Boy George called Taboo, although it wasn't a jukebox musical. I think the Bay City Rollers would actually make a pretty good musical. You've got the crazy, tacky costumes, the exuberant pop music, and the big downfall that befalls the group. You also have a gay manager who may or may not be evil, a lead singer who may or may not be interested in men, a member who may or may not be interested in looking at little kids, a member who becomes addicted to amphetamines, a member who can't stand playing a teen idol when he's pushing 30, and a forty year battle to reclaim royalties that the band says are due to them. And of course, you get the reunion when they're in their 50's/60's. (Well, semi-reunion.) It would also have inherent late Baby Boomer/early Gen Xer nostalgia appeal to it.

Chapter 34 -When Marc and Brad have a lunch date that seems to suggest that they're finally over the drama of their break-up. "We Are Going To Be Friends" by The White Stripes -When JJ contemplates art and life. (And death.) "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" by The Dream Academy

Aww. I loved the Paul Walker reference. He really was such a handsome guy. I'll always remember him as the 1950's hottie from Pleasantville. Anyway, Mark liked this male model I picked for Patrick Christian, Ella's designer boyfriend: His name is Heath Hutchins...former Southern college football player turned model. He underwent a big transformation in order to become a fashion model as well...it's funny watching this interview of him from when he was a college football player. You can barely tell it's the same guy. He had to drop about 50 pounds of muscle mass to do this.

University of Delaware has something we call Alumni Weekend, where hordes of former Blue Hens come back and visit campus to relive their past, including and up to staying in the dorms. I wound up spending a nice afternoon with a couple that I knew in passing at UD, Johanna and Chris. Johanna was an R.A. with my friend Stephen, and we wound up connecting at his memorial two years ago. Jo and Chris live in Queens, and had ridden the bus down here. This was their first time at Alumni Weekend. (They were class of 2009, a year ahead of me.) I met them at a gaming store. We hit Duck Donuts, then sampled beer at Growler's, and then made a trek over to the shuttered Dickinson Hall, where she and Steve were R.A.'s at. Along the way, we talked about our lives- where we've been, where we want to go, and all the angst in between. Jo also has the angst of getting a master's degree and realizing that she can't use it. (She's switched over to education- I believe she was originally trying to do media.) Chris is an urban planner, which is something I've been interested in. And we're all in a shitload of student loan debt, which Jo is about to add more to as she's going back to school for an education degree. I also talked to them about all the changes in Newark, which have been pretty numerous as building after building gets knocked down in order to create yet more student housing apartments with retail (that often goes unused) on the first floor is getting pretty different from the Newark of today. When we got to Dickinson Hall, I told them about how I used to process my grieving process by standing outside this dorm, and just remembering. Then we all just talked about the memories we had of this place. Pretty crazy to think of all of the thousands and thousands of people that lived in that complex for over 40 years. All these stories that we'll never know took place within those walls, and the whole thing is going to be gone soon. Depressing, but that place gave me some great memories, even though I never lived there. Then we walked over to Elkton Rd. (or South Main Street), then went up Amstel, then cut through the Ewing Kirkbride Complex to get back to Main Street. We sat down on the brick borders surrounding Kirkbride to share our memories of the Kirkbride Jesus Guy, a c and how we're all going to hell. I wound up having dinner at Homegrown with them and another couple...it was nice. Seriously nice. I love my buddies at work, but I really, really needed conversation with people my own age who understand my Millennial angst bullshit. We part ways after a second trip to Duck Donuts, and I felt really good. There's some really dumb shit going on in my life (the worry about bills, the worry about my future, my lack of a car of my own), but it was nice to remember that excited young college kid that I once was, and how much fun that period in my life brought me. Not to say that there wasn't plenty of angst to go around during my early 20's, but there was so much to experience then. It also just felt nice to talk to people that *get* what it's like to have gone through college and then ended up in a menial job, and struggling with the thought of going back to school to try and get a more marketable degree. Not to mention being able to talk about my grieving of Stephen, because as I've said, all of my mutual friends with him left the area, and I didn't really get to be around his memorial two years ago. Anyway, it was a nice day and made me happy.

Given that Stanford plays a HUGE part in this story, I thought I'd post this: All-American Stanford Swimmer Found Guilty of Raping Unconscious Woman Wow. That statistic is eye-opening: of 175 reported sexual assaults on campus between 1997 to 2009, only FOUR of them were formally adjudicated by Stanford. That is just mind-boggling to me. You would figure that would be the case at some party school like WVU, not one of the most prestigious academic universities in the country that has near-Ivy League status. I can just picture JP reading this article and shaking his head. It's absolutely crazy to me that this is somehow being treated like some "grey" area rape- there were freaking witnesses that saw this poor, unconscious girl getting raped behind a dumpster and the guy RAN because he was afraid of being caught. It's unbelievable that he's getting six months in county jail for what he did.

I'm posting this picture I found on Reddit, because I laughed at how this former emo kid is basically cringing at how he dressed at 16, without realizing that he's still following a very prevalent trend in his 20's: Emo boys should be showing up at this point, but we really hit the peak emo thing circa 2005-2006, which contrasted against the Retro 80's preppie look that other guys were doing. I like to picture Stefan and JJ reacting in horror when they see one of these creatures. As for the current stuff...I'm kind of getting sick of the scraggly beard and buzzcut look right now, but what can you do? I find myself longing for the days of sideswept surfer boy Zac Efron hair that I was never, ever able to do.

JJ said at one point that he had only made out with other skaters, like with Evan Lyscaek, but otherwise, Alex is the first person he went beyond 2nd base with. (I can't remember if he had actual oral sex with John after 9/11, or just a handjob.)

If Darius has ever had any interest in having sex with another dude, he would have done it at 14 at some Hollywood party and he would have told Robbie. So, anyway. JJ. If we go by what he's said, he's had sexual encounters (including jerking off and blowing) with John, Alex, Mary Ellen, and Buzz. He may or may not have hooked up with Susannah, but I honestly don't think he would have gone beyond making out with her- JJ probably knew that Mary Ellen was trying to set him up with her so he'd stop sniffing around Alex. So that gives him about four sexual partners- pretty low for CAP but in normal ranges for a 17-year old in the real world. LOL. I'm hoping Carullo makes that five. LOL. Mark has said the one thing about JJ is that sex doesn't really control him the way it does sometimes for the other characters. He's pretty controlled about it, interestingly enough. It's there and he can enjoy it if the opportunity is there, but other than Alex (and barely then), he doesn't really chase it. That does really make him very different from the other characters in this story.

If I were JJ, I'd start dating effeminate theater guys from Broadway. I can't see Will ever being interested in those types.

Well, now that JJ doesn't have to worry about image anymore, I wonder if he'll start racking up numbers. Although he does still seem a bit cautious.

Chapter 33 -When Will and Dalby have a "get to know you" talk. "New Slang" by The Shins

This is more "Cali during the Fast Times At Ridgemont High era", but check out this cool old #ThrowbackThursday picture of a teacher at Dana Hills High School teaching math: Pretty funny. Any of you guys familiar with Dana Hills High? The teacher apparently retired this year. You gotta love the teachers that are a little unorthodox and crazy. I had one like him, although I was never able to do better than a C in his class. LOL. I think these students are roughly Mark Arbour's contemporaries. Did you feather your hair like that when you were that age, Mark? LOL. Anyway, this is making the rounds on Reddit.

You gotta love 70's guilty pleasure music.

I like him for Alex, but I definitely prefer Margot Robbie as Mary Ellen: I can so picture Mary Ellen having a beauty routine that involved. In any event, that was an AWESOME shout-out to American Psycho. What really sold me on her for Mary Ellen was her big scene from Wolf Of Wall Street. Swap out the Brooklyn accent for Southern Virginia, and tell me you can't see Mary Ellen playing games with Alex exactly like this one. (Although I don't think Alex would have the balls to get back at her the way Leo gets back at Naomi in this scene.) In any event, I can just buy someone like Mary Ellen working a face like Margot Robbie's to full advantage, all-heart shaped and big-blue eyed.(Which stands to reasons Mary would have them, because blue eyes seem like a Danfield trait.) So many people in the story basically admit that Mary Ellen wouldn't get away with half of the shit she gets away with if she weren't exceptionally pretty.

I found a documentary on the Bay City Rollers, a Scottish boy band that skyrocketed to fame during the mid-1970's, and then crashed spectacularly when the ride was over. Look them up- they were a total train-wreck. Anyway, here's a tune from them: Fluffy 70's stuff...so much fun. I used to party at a college house, and somehow there was a poster of the Bay City rollers there. In 2008. I have no clue how, but I thought was kind of neat. I wonder if it was a poster that people just kept up over the years, until it had become ironic. Didn't know they weren't actually a one-hit wonder, because it seems like Saturday Night is all that is remembered. Three of the former members have reunited, and it's kind of cool to see all these people in their 50's and 60's re-living their 70's youth. Time hasn't been the kindest to the guys, but you know what? More power to them. I hope they're having a ball with this. Do you remember the band? Did you ever try wearing tartan plaid to show your appreciation for them?

Chapter 32 -When Brad goes home in the plane, and reunites with Will. "Girls" by Death In Vegas -When the grown-ups, plus Will, reunite at Escorial, determined to get down to the bottom of it. "The Weight" by the Band -When everybody learns that Buzz fucked his way through the non-straight male half of the Schluter family. "The Girl Gets Around" from Footloose the Musical

Happy birthday, Mark!

I mean, if you look at actual 1970's/early 1980's t.v., they're full of blonds/blondes. Mary Ingalls, Ma, Nellie Olseon, and Almanzo Wilder on Little House on the Prairie. The female half of the Brady Bunch. John Boy in The Waltons. Half of the cop duos on Starksy and Hutch and Chips, etc etc. James Savik, who is Mark's age, listed his teen idols growing up, and all of them were blond: Jim McKeon, Leif Garret, that kid from James at 15, and Willie Ames. (He's the goofy buddy from Charles in Charge who was inexplicably a teen idol back when Eight is Enough was airing. Totally confused me.) I wonder if it's because the Californian surfer boy/girl aesthetic was really popular then. I do remember Janice Dickenson, who was surprisingly beautiful before she let surgeons hack her face up, talked about how it was hard to break into modeling back in the 1970's because she didn't look like the ideal blonde. It's kind of funny to compare to our era, which tended to emphasize dark-haired guys. The only blond teen idols I can think of from the Y2K era are the Carter Boys, Brian Littrell, Chad Michael Murray, JT & Lance (although Lance wasn't really the teen idol of that group), and the poor doomed lead singer of LFO. The preferred aesthetic of our teen idol period seemed to be more along the lines of the blue-eyed guy with spiky dark hair, like the Carlson twins. Now, frosted TIPS were popular, just not full-on blond, it seems. At least for the guys. Anyway...no, I don't really have a guy for Cam. Maybe Zac Efron? Cam hasn't really featured much of an impression on me to get me into finding a guy who fits how I picture him.

We have two brown-haired guys named Cam- the gay one from Boystown that Matt hooked up with for a bit in high school, and the straight junior that goes to Menlo with Will. He hasn't really factored much- Will thought he was cute but backed off when he realized that Cam was straight and not interested in messing around. I'm kind of feeling Damn, Daniel for the straight high school one. In requests...Tom Holland (aka Spiderman) as some cute nerdy twink? He was absolutely adorable in Captain America! Not conventionally handsome, but cute. I figure Private Tim would find him just too cute- he kind of likes that look, I think. Also, Aunt May as some hot older lesbian that Tiffany starts dating? I wondered if they were going to dress her down like they did to Dianne Lane as Super Man's mom, but they did not, and it was a total squee! moment to see her and Tony Stark and remember the time they did a 90's romantic comedy together.

Alright, this is my offer for Music Monday...a nice little uptempto pop rock song about nostalgia and the beauty of youth: Summer of '69 by Bryan Adams A snippet of this is currently playing on the advertisement screen at my work; I think as part of some classic 80's playlist. I started singing along to it, and my co-worker Devan, who's this funny sarcastic Mormon, looked at me and said, "Well, you can actually remember 1969, can't you?" Ooh, burn. I flipped him off. Then, I started laughing hysterically, and thought about all the times I'd say stuff like that to Adam when he was 30-ish and I was 23-ish, similarly to the current age gap between Devan and I. Only I'm on the wrong side of it now. LOL. But yeah, I was like, "This song was a big hit the year I was born so I feel an affinity for it," and he was like, "Well, I have a brother who was born in 1989." Nobody there knew the song, and I realized it's because 80's nights and 80's parties just aren't really a thing like they were back when I was 21. And MTV/VH1 aren't airing retrospective 80's music videos anymore like they did when I was growing up. Anyway, it made me laugh and it made me think, "Wow, karma is a BITCH."

Thoughts, Mark? He does have that classic blond jock boy look you really, really seem to like. (Seriously, has anyone else noticed that guys with this general look tend to pop up a lot in the story?) I wouldn't say he looks like a Hayes, but more along the general lines of a hunky Mid-Western blond jock boy. I always wondered if the reason why Mark includes so many blonds in the story is because he grew up in the 1970's, which someone at TWOP called the Decade of the Blonde, because it was such a dominant aesthetic during that decade for whatever reason. So many music and acting stars were blond/e at the time (Blondie, Farrah Fawcett, Peter Frampton, Mark Hamill, etc etc), and even 2 of the 3 presidents of that decade were blonde.

I was kind of thinking instagram-guy-turned-model Matthew Noszka for Dally, but then again, I keep thinking this guy has more a mid-Western cornfed guy look to him: In any event, I'd figured you like him for something, Mark. You gotta thing for those beefy blond jock types, after redheads. But yeah, he's from Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh has more of a mid-Western vibe to it. I could see him more as a Claremont youth or some guy in Boystown. Although we're just guessing he's like a younger "type" of his father. It could very well turn out that he's a nerdy, unattractive redneck, like how Wade thought Ethan would be the hot guy on the soccer field and it turned out to be the chubby awkward kid. LOL.

I think what JJ adds to the story is a viewpoint that we're not going to get from Will. We're not going to see Will putting up with snobby blueblood circles, and we're not going to see Will hanging out at the opera. We're also not going to get bitchy (but often very true) observations from Will, because Will tends to believe the best in people unless they repeatedly give him a reason not to, while JJ has to like you before he even considers deigning you with his discussion. The other difference is that Will is largely "settled", in a sense. Will at 16 is probably not going to be very different from Will at 26. Meanwhile, JJ still kind of feels like he hasn't really totally formed yet; inchoate-like. I think the years he missed out on normal teenage socializing adds to that, but he's making me think of something that director Richard Linklater said. People who are hard-core athletes are never really allowed to grow up, because their whole life is focused on getting to that spot. When that dream is over, then what do they do now? JJ basically gets to grow up now.

Well, it's all a moot point now. It's got to be weird for JJ to be going back to school, after dropping out in 9th grade.