methodwriter85

To take another "tack", check out "Jude" and "Connor" at 2015 L.A. Gay Pride: God, it really awesome to see two straight young boys who are comfortable enough with themselves to do a gay storyline in a way that feels really authentic. As opposed to Kerr Smith, who was in his late 20's playing a 17-year old gay boy that made him a star and then gave an interview about how straight he is and how he hates having to kiss dudes (but accepts that he only has to do it once a year) and how two guys kissing isn't really something young teenagers need to see.

So Will is officially setting his foot down about Zach and football. I pretty much thought he would never be able to lead a closeted life with Zach, ala Aaron Rodgers and his "roommate." As for JJ, I find it fascinating that he's pretty much the only CAP narrator we've ever had who actually DOESN'T want to get his slut on. I like that. Keeps him different. I do get the feeling that Mark is easing JJ out of his whole "nearly virginal Disney princess" vibe, though. JJ probably won't ever really become a total slut, but he might find a balance between prude and slut.

Chapter 12 -When Wade gets angry, and gets Trevor to admit that La Danfield is behind all of this. "Season of the Witch" by Donovan -When Will makes the decision to break up with Zach for good, at least for the next few years, but still remain friends with him. "All Kinds of Time" by Fountains of Wayne -When JJ tries to talk himself out of his crush on Carullo. "Miss Independent" by Kelly Clarkson

Mark, the Olson twins were 17-year old girls who owned a multi-millionaire business media conglomerate. You can't get much higher up than that without being old-money blue bloods, which neither of them are. JJ would probably consider them about equals, but disdain the fact that their fashion stuff is mainly Wal-Mart stuff. He'd probably like their Boho fashion sense in any event. But I'll concede your point that he's a social climber who would try and get in with the truly elite crowd. Still, I don't think he'd stick his nose up at them, especially when you factor in that he "grew up with them" by watching Full House. There might be some residual goodwill on his part towards them for being Michelle Tanner. I'm trying to decide whether or not JJ would be horrified by the hipster look, or join in on it. He IS going to live in New York City, and he'll be going to school in Brooklyn. It might rub off on him.

This is way ahead in the future, but Mark, did you read the New York Times article about the Amazon workplace? I wrote a blog about it, and I really wanted your thoughts on it, as a guy who left corporate America big money to be a professor instead. My feeling reading the article was that it was a lot like The Wolf of Wall Street, but minus the drugs and the depravity. Like a clean-cut version of business-obsessed sociopaths. Anyway, the recent explosion of Amazon has been interesting. It's always been there, but it hasn't really become so pervasive until recent years. I kind of wish they were in Philly- they could use those jobs! All we are getting around this area are the warehouse jobs.

Hey guys, I thought I'd point you guys to this rather fascinating expose I read by the New York Times about the corporate culture of the Amazon Workplace. Amazon: Wrestling Ideas in a Bruising Workplace It paints a picture of Amazon as this "every man for themselves" environment, where workers are encouraged to work well over 40 hours a week (try more like 80), sabotage each other in secret feedback to their bosses, and hold themselves to unreasonably high standards. People who go through thing like miscarriages or cancer are "managed out" instead of getting sympathy, and all in all it sounds like one big crazy jungle. So my question is...have you guys ever worked in jobs with bosses who had completely unreasonable expectations? Did you work in a job where you went way beyond the job description? Did you find the experience rewarding, or did it just burn you out? Does the "Amazon Way", as they put it, ring a bell with you in your own experiences? I just thought this was just such a crazy read, and I want Alan Sorkin/David Fincher to make a movie out of this as soon as possible.

Twizzlers pull and peel. Nuff said. Anyway, Tim, I've always kind of seen you as a guy who would rock the hell out of that preppy man look- boat shoes, some chino shorts, and Vineyard Vines pastel polo shirts.

Also, have Zach, Will, Marie, and JJ thrown into a large, expansive arena where they must fight to the death with other teenagers until a lone victor remains. Seriously though, I'm looking forward to re-living the Twilight era. My god, that was hilarious. I told this guy at a party once that his peat coat made him look like Robert Pattinson and he went on a 10-minute rant. It was then that I realized that RPatz had officially replaced Zac Efron as the Teen Idol Du Jour. I just wonder if Will is going to be Team Jacob, or Team Edward. What were you, Blue?

You're welcome, boss. Hope you have some great weekend plans!

I wonder if JJ will meet Lena Dunham? She's supposed to be in the same class at St. Ann's. I can't see JJ ever actually LIKING Lena Dunham (a weird quirky not-conventionally pretty girl with a hipster flair), but he might run into her. I can totally see JJ hanging out with the Olsen twins, though. They're the same age, they have a grumpy New Yorker attitude, and the twins are fashion moguls. All in all, I really like how you're shaping up JJ's year away from being a skater. What a great place for him to finish school.

Well, technically, that's another 10 days form now. Katrina hit on August 29th.

Chapter 11 - When Wade sees Stefan's new tricked out plane. "All Around the World" by Cool Kids -When Kevin has his breakdown, and Will silently watches the waves with him. "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler Kevin and Will didn't remotely have that kind of relationship (this would actually be a really good one for Will and JJ), but I'm going with the sentiment here. -When they realize that Zach has been dosed with meth. "Out of Control" by Hoobastank

And JJ's year sabbatical continues to shape up... It sounds like a great place. I wonder if JJ will meet Lena Dunham? She's supposed to be in the same class. I can't see JJ ever actually LIKING Lena Dunham (a weird quirky not-conventionally pretty girl with a hipster flair), but he might run into her. Anyway, if JJ goes to school in Brooklyn, I kind of hope that he decides to make some Brooklyn investments. (As TetRefine said at this point you're not going to make the HUGE profits, but JJ could still clean up pretty well if he wound up selling some properties he bought in 2003 Brooklyn in 2015.) In any event, I wish I could tell JJ that he doesn't have to worry about getting blackballed if/when he tries to come back during the 2004-2005 season. By then, the USFSA will realize that they have Johnny Weir as their poster boy, and they'll be desperate for guys that can compete with him. LOL. But for now, JJ's main focus is on finishing school, and I like that he picked a pretty cool place to do it at. There was no way the family was going to let him homeschool himself if he wasn't skating in any event. I wonder if JJ will meet the Olsen twins? I can actually see them getting along, as they're supposed to be very big into New York Fashion, and they have that kind of grumpy New Yorker vibe to them that I picture JJ developing. They're also the same age. It's also not inconceivable that JJ might have known them from their child star days because Robbie was such a player in Hollywood. (Although in 2003, they were still kinda going as teen queens.)

Is Vineyard Vines popular in California, or is it just an East Coast thing? Vineyard Vines is hitting hard right now where I'm from.

John Walsh. You know he's in his 40's now? I wonder what he'd be like in his 40's. I feel like he'd still be boyish as hell, just with less hair and a few more wrinkles. Chapter 10 -When Zach and Will share a very tense ride along the PCH. "Are You Happy Now?" by Michelle Branch

Mark has a thing for blond guys- they show up A LOT in CAP, both twinks or as jock types. I think it's because Mark Arbour grew up in the 1970's. I mean, blonde/blond hair has always been seen as desirable, but it REALLY seemed big in that particular decade. We even had a blond president, and a lot of sex symbols both male and female were blonde/blond. Standard beauty tends to imprint on you. I'd bet anything that John Schneider from the Dukes of Hazzard was a MAJOR masturbation fantasy for Mark back in 1979. LOL. Like I remember my friend joking one time about how guys in my generation are so much more about the big butt on girls than guys in say Private Tim's generation, because we had beauty idols like J.Lo and Beyonce. In my case, I'm always going to find wifebeater tank tops and spiky hair on a muscular guy pretty hot, because that was such a major trend/look on guys when I was having my first stirrings. But anyway, I always thought it was kind of funny how there seem to be far more blonds that exist in CAP than tend to exist in my own experience...guys that are blond especially tend to be rare, because if there were former blonds as a child/young teenager they don't tend to fight against going darker like women do, especially after blond highlights/streaks in guys hair stopped being trendy after the late 90's/ very early 2000's. Of course, my area tends to have a high concentration of blacks, Hispanics, and Italians, so of course it makes sense that there aren't as many blonds around here. When I lived in Western P.A., I was kind of shocked by all the redheads I saw around me, but then I realized that it was rooted in the fact that that area was founded by the Scots-Irish in the 1700's, so of course you'd probably see more redheads around there.

Brian was born somewhere around 1973 and died in 2000. I don't think he would have grandchildren in 2003. If he had a kid in his teens, he might have a teenager who was born in the very late 1980's or 1990, but David was born around 1985-ish and Brian would have been a little young for that.

Was the whole "swideswept" bangs look, aka the Zac Efron/later on Justin Beiber, popular in California in 2003, or was that more 2004/2005? I can't remember seeing it here until around 2006. I do remember that short, spiky hair was falling out of favor in 2003 and guys started growing their hair out. By 2005, I remember seeing what I deemed the "early 80's winged haircut" around a lot.

Honestly, Zach is about as closeted as Troy Aikman. It's like the biggest open secret. I love that JJ's getting his bitch on with MaryEllen. MaryEllen, this is why you don't mess with bitchy, catty queer guys. LOL.

Chapter 9 -When Will launches a rescue plan for Ryan. "Hold On" by Good Charlotte I am so embarrassed to admit that I really, really loved Good Charlotte when I was 16/17. LOL. -When JJ talks to Alex on the phone. "You're So Vain" by Carly Simon Warren Beatty is rumored to be the inspiration. Having read Star by Peter Riskind, I can believe it. The guy pissed off EVERYBODY. He was hot, but geez, what a dick. -When JJ decides to get even with Mary Ellen. "One Way Or Another" by Blondie -When Will confronts Zach. "Cry Me A River" by Justin Timberlake

If they expected Will to become a business shark, they were pretty sorely mistaken. If Will does get involved with Corporate America, I'm guessing he's going to be of that Free Trade/Compassionate/Local/Save the World kind of vein.

Chapter 8 -When Will gets to Chicago to check on the bar, realizes the problem, and decides he doesn't care because everyone seems so happy. "Feel Good Time" by Pink -On the dance floor, when Will meets his latest distraction and decides to get his slut on. "Get Busy" by Sean Paul I have been DYING to use this one. Even better, this tune was in the Billboard Top 10 during the week this scene is set in. - Life with JJ and John Carullo. "The Odd Couple Theme" -When Will gets a phone call from an old friend, and things take a dark turn. "Screaming Infidelities" by Dashboard Confessional I can picture Ryan listening to this on endless repeat during the break-up. Gotta love that emo music.

Honestly, I feel like Adam is being the bigger dick to Patrick than Patrick is being to him. And it doesn't make any sense because Adam's not even into Patrick.

Yeah, we've got to remember that Will is a 16-year old multi-millionaire mogul in addition to being a sexy piece of jailbait who looks 20 years old and a 4.0 honor student who nevertheless doesn't seem to spend that much time in school AND a champion-level surfer who opted not to compete.

Way to think of it as like a hobby business. That makes sense. As for Brooklyn...I mean, you got a point, but there is a lot of artistry going over there. But it's not like that really matters to JJ. He''ll stick to TriBeCa. I don't think JJ is, either. He might grow out of it, but right now JJ is very much about surface, and how well people are bred, and it's rare for him to give the time of day to somebody who doesn't have the right clothes or the right attitude. I can't see see JJ hanging out with avant-garde artists in Williamsburg, for sure. (I guess now its Bushwick?)