methodwriter85

Mark's never skipped 10 years. The longest gap he's had was between The Landwhore and Be Rad, with six years- 1974 to 1980. I can see Mark maybe skipping over a year (if JJ's not at the Olympics I don't think there's much reason to cover 2006 because that was one boring year) but I don't think we'll ever get a gap like that again. It's funny though-I really thought that JJ and I would both be in our 20's at some point. JJ's barely 17 and I'm 30 in December. LOL. Oh, well. The mid/late 2000's were "my time", so to speak, so I'm excited about seeing how these characters go through it. In any event I'm tickled pink that it's now 2003- that's when the 2000's really started feeling like the 2000's instead of the late 90's. Although I always thought that if/when our CAP characters reach present day (Mark did say he intends to have these characters eventually catch up and hit present day), Mark could always start a new series of prequels that deal with say, the Crampton family establishing Claremont in Ohio in the 1800's, or maybe the history of Wade's family, which you know HAS to be juicy as hell. It was hard to feel outrage, I think, when the people who were there were there by choice. I knew guys/girls in the military back in college, and it was so weird to me that they had gone off into Iraq risking their lives, while most of us were just focused on ragers, updating our phones, and The Hills. (Later, Jersey Shore.) My college was notoriously politically apathetic (which is funny because our current Vice President is an alumni), and the turnouts for the Iraq War protests were pretty small. One year we did a "soldier die in", where we layed down on the Green dressed up as soldiers and played dead, and I think maybe 15 people showed up. Back in high school, right before the war, we did a school walk-out at 9:11 a.m. (the symbolism, right?), and protested at the corner of DuPont Road and Lancaster Ave. We actually started to get a sizeable crowd- maybe 50 students from both Cab Calloway and Charter School of Wilmington- and we were yelling things like "Drop Bush, Not Bombs!" and "Fuck This Oil War Shit!", but then our dean came out and basically threatened to expel us unless we went back to class. We were told before that we'd get a detention, which I was fine with, but expulsion? Nah. Also, some middle school students showed up and they were clearly on there because they wanted to cut class. After I got back to class, my English teacher, a former Black Panther back in the 1960's, minced no words about how she thought we were foolish, disorganized, and didn't even get the media there.

SF has very strict building codes and an oppositions towards building super-tall skyscrapers like Manhattan, which is why housing is so expensive there- there's a very limited stock, especially in protected historic districts. On one hand it's cool to see to see skyline pictures of all these beautiful 1920's/1930's houses; but the drawback is that people are pretty cramped and they can't build up because again, San Francisco doesn't want to be Manhattan. Mark said that in retrospect, he thinks he might have massively slowed down the timeline after Bloodlines (this was the last book where years passed between books) because he knew 9/11 was coming, and he was putting it off. I do think the pace has picked up somewhat after 9/11 (2001 and 2002 were covered by three books and the last chapter of Paternity, while 1999 and 2000 took four books). I think there's a lot of interesting historical stuff to cover for 2003 and 2004, but I do hope a time jump does come in. I don't want to age in real-time to see these characters deal with the Global Financial Crisis of 2008. And I don't want to wait until 2027 to see what adorable teenaged shenanigans Riley and Maddy get into. (I really hope they won't consider themselves brother and sister because man I want to ship them.) The other reason why I think time jumps are needed is that it starts to become kind of ridiculous that all of these things happen to people within a very constrained period in their lives. It also gives us a chance to see the different places people are with their lives, and then kind of explain how they got there, like we ended CAP with Jeff being this promising college baseball player, to him in 1967 being a drop-out junkie. Connecting the dots was always interesting, but we kind of lost that because the family never really gets much "off time", where big chunks of their life aren't documented to us. On the other hand, this IS a pretty fascinating decade with a lot of dramatic material. As Times put it, "The 2000's- the Worst Decade Ever?" There was 9/11, the Iraq War, the Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, Virginia Tech, etc etc. JJ is just one of those guys who can't ever seem to catch a break. I still think it's hilarious that he wins the U.S. Championships- but the one that is remembered for how mediocre the guys skated.

Happy birthday!

Hey Mark, in honor of it being your birthday, I thought it might be cool for you to check out this clip that depicts High School Life, Circa 1980 at a California High School. I hope that brought back a lot of flashbacks of fun high school memories. Similar in vein...check out this video of a 1981 Gunn High School basketball game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRW_x6grZdw Damn, you can just FEEL the money in that program. As an aside, I'm glad feathered hair wings on guys made a comeback during my late adolescence. It looked good in 1980, and it looked good in 2005. Did you ever wear your hair like that, Mark?

I do think a generic v-neck, skinny or regular jeans, and converses will look good on almost any guy without looking too dated. Just be glad neither of us had our childhood in the 1970's: I've always joked that the reason people had such good music and films in the 1970's was to cope with how hideous-looking the polyester clothing and color palettes were. Harvest gold and avocado green and ugly earth tones, ugh.

Not that this is much better: I wasn't really a 90's teenager...more like a early/mid-2000's teenager...we dressed more like this: I really miss being able to pop my collar and not look dumb. LOL. I can't wait for that look to come back in when I'm in my 40's.

Hey, I came across this Young Adult book that Adam Phillips recommended to me a year or two ago, called Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg. I was in Barnes and Nobles, and I basically devoured the book in about two hours. I honestly loved the story. It's the story of a guy, named Rafe, who after being Mr. Openly Gay Guy, decides to get a new fresh start by going off to boarding school and just being regular. Because of his resemblance to a very former popular student, he's embraced by the jock crowd, and he manages his way around friendships with macho jock types, while dealing with his growing feelings for his new friend who doesn't know he's not straight. I loved it. Because I was just there, in so many ways. I've grown up in very gay tolerant environments, but at the same time, didn't tell everybody I ran across that I was gay because I knew that if I did I would be expected to be Mr. Fabulous Queer Eye for the Straight Girl...that's what you were expected to be if you were openly gay at my school- a fabulous diva or a cool raver club kid. And plain shirt, cargo shorts wearing me just didn't have it in me. It's kind of funny- I didn't grow up with the fear that I'd be gaybashed for being gay; just that people would expect me to turn into Carson Kressley. It annoyed Teenaged Me when girls would say that they wanted a gay guy for a friend because it was a cool thing to have. And then I related to the other part of the story- Rafe trying to fit in with macho frat-boys-in-training, and finding in the end it just wasn't really a fit. Freshmen year of college, I tried to hang with them. There was one particular group of guys, with a leader named Kurt, who basically treated me like their mascot and I took it because I thought it was cool to hang out with guys who looked like they belonged to the jock crowds I'd seen on T.V. (Again, my high school didn't have sports, and the school that we could play sports for had guys that were insanely intelligent and not like the dumb jock stereotype on T.V.) And fuck, I'll admit that I was totally lusting after Kurt, who sent all kinds of confusing signals to me such as calling me up randomly over summer '06 and telling me that he missed me. (Who dropped me as a friend as soon as I told him over an AOL chat that I was gay in '07, but whatever.) I moved on to try and hang out with the hipsters my sophomore year, and then during junior year 1/junior year 2, I kind of realized that it wasn't really me, either. I just kind of became a Goddamned Independent (G.D.I) and met my friends that way, regardless of their labels. And it was a relief to be finally just be myself, and not have to put on any masks or ways of selling myself. It set me up for my Grad School Years, where I was just completely and totally myself, and I made some of my best friends that way. Another thing that the book touched on, that I ran into during my Grad School Years, were people treating being openly Gay like a brave thing. I didn't think of it a brave thing. It just was who I was. One woman who bartended at this bar I went to actually gave me a hug and told me how great and brave it was that I was openly gay. Of course the context was that this was a very conservative area we were in (Western P.A.), and people had stories that floored me like a guy who told me that his roommate bitched online about how his gay roommate should die, etc etc. But it was like, "Why does this matter? Why can't I just be a guy who happens to be gay?" I've always gone with the mindset that if you don't treat it like a big deal, others won't do so, and it's like people found that my being so casual about being gay made me stand out like a sore thumb in that charged environment. Anyway, if you like YA novels and happen across the book, give it a read. It really made me think about my Younger Self and His Search for Identity, and also begs an interesting question- what happens if you can pass for something you're not? Do the guys who can fit in really have it easier as opposed to the ones who have been flamboyant since birth? A lot of interesting thoughts and tangents you can go here with this book.

Tom Brady has been suspended for 4 games in the NFL. This can only be good for Joe Flacco and the Ravens!

Chapter 48 -When JJ and MaryEllen dance together at the wedding, and she flat out tells JJ that he and Alex are done in June. "The Skater's Waltz" -When Will and JP leave the San Francisco anti-war protest, and JP deflates Will's optimism. "San Francisco" by Me First And the Gimme Gimmes (A Cover) -When JJ sets up for a big quad, and then splats with a big injury. "Get Free" by The Vines (reprise) -When JJ learns that his injury will take six months to heal, which means he will not go to Worlds. "Landslide" by the Dixie Chicks I really do wonder what country music would have looked like if they hadn't been cast out because of that one anti-Bush comment. Blue grass is so popular right now, too.

Well, that just about ends JJ's championship 2002-2003 season. Poor dude. At least it's not a hip problem. I think those are a lot harder to come back from for skaters. If I were JJ, I'd take this time to go back to school and spend the summer of '03 in summer school to get his diploma as soon as possible. If he kept up with his independent studies he should be a junior right about now with Marie and Will. JJ could actually be a semester ahead, if he was taking courses during the summer with his tutor. In any event, though he's going to miss Worlds, he should be ready right in time for the 2003-2004 season. As for Mary Ellen, she was a bitch but it's also true that an arrangement like this can't work if the wife doesn't want it. I think Mary Ellen would be okay with Alex having affairs on the side with men, but she knows that Alex really has feelings for him, and she's probably sensed that JJ is good at manipulating Alex and she's not having that as "the other woman."

Well, that just about ends JJ's 2002-2003 season. Poor dude. At least it's not a hip problem. I think those are a lot harder to come back from for skaters. If I were JJ, I'd take this time to go back to school and spend the summer of '03 in summer school to get his diploma as soon as possible. If he kept up with his independent studies he should be a junior right about now with Marie and Will.

Will Poulter is the new Pennywise. I'm digging it. You best know him as Kenny in We're the Millers, as well as the bully in the Maze Runner. I wonder if they are going to keep it a period piece or are they updating it, with "present day" being 2016 (or whatever) and the kid's childhoods being in 1986? I will be so pissed if they try to Giver-it and make the kids teenagers. Ugh. Please, please don't. I can take a slight 14-year old playing 12. I can't take hunky 25-year olds playing "16." As Super 8 showed, you can do a story about kids and not have to turn them into oversexed high school juniors in order to have a big hit! On the other end, I'll be annoyed if they try to reduce the thirty-year time lap for the purpose of casting Jennifer Lawrence for Beverly or something. LOL. I mean, I'd take the latter over the former, if we must have characters in their 20's or 30's. However, this needs to stay about childhood fears. If you make these kids teenagers, it's basically just a rip-off of Nightmare on Elm Street. In any event, the T.V. movie scared the crap out of me as a little kid, and it's Tim Curry's finest role after Frank. I really hope they do it justice. Does anyone else remember the t.v. movie/book?

So, it's now 2003 in CAP-land. I'd love to see references to: - Freedom fries...it wasn't that widespread here, but I remember one short-lived restaurant in Slower Lower Delaware (which is much more conservative than Northern Delaware) sold freedom fries. - Queer Eye for the Straight Guy...I think the show did a lot for integrating gay men into mainstream American society. It was a "gay show" that jocky young guys could admit to watching. It's kind of funny when you think the meterosexual look the show espoused is COMPLETELY out-of-style now, and scruffy beards and plaid are sexy again. - The O.C. I wanted to be Adam Brody so badly. One of the best-looking high school nerds I've ever seen. LOL. Anyway, "Welcome to the O.C., bitch!" Immortal line. - The Dixie Chicks Piss Off Dubya Fans, I.E. Almost their entire American fanbase. I kind of wonder what the mid/late 2000's country music landscape would have looked like if the Dixie Chicks had remained popular with that fanbase and had not been turned into outcasts. I feel like it's kind of a shame that blue grass is REALLY popular right now and they're kinda nowhere in sight. - The New York City Blackout...apparently, it turned into a big drunk fun night because bars couldn't keep their liquor cool. In any event, in my opinion, 2003 is when things really stopped feeling and looking like the late 90's.

Only JJ could become the youngest U.S. National Figure Skating Champion and still have a miserable night. Johnny Weir was gold. I can imagine it's only going to get nastier when the Olympics are around the corner.

Chapter 47 -When JJ does his final skate. "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera -When JJ, Tiffany, and Alex watch what will be referred to as the "Disaster in Dallas" unfold as skater after skater chokes. "We Will Rock You" from the musical We Will Rock You -When JJ wins the 2003 U.S. Championships. "We Are the Champions" by Queen -When JJ learns that Tiffany is quitting on him at a press conference. "Smile" by Judy Garland JJ was born under some bad star. Seriously, the kid just can't catch a break and maintain happiness for any extended period of time. LOL.

When Daisy and I were plotting out JJ's career, years ago, the idea was that Jeremy would be along the vein of a "close but no cigar" contender, meaning that he's always in the top 3 or top 4 and always a threat, but not actually winning the whole thing, kind of like how the Philadelphia Eagles are always contenders but never wins the Super Bowl. This was with the idea that it would preserve the winners of the big events like U.S. Nationals, Worlds, Olympics, etc. but at the same time make JJ a realistic threat to real skaters at the time like Johnny Weir or Timothy Goebel. I mean, Johnny Weir would never bother with someone who was placing 7th or 8 at all events, you know? Then Mark overruled us on that when he decided to make a story about athletes on a winning streak. LOL. I think it was a good move- as Westie pointed out to me, sports history doesn't really need to be set in stone here in CAP. It's not Mark having 9/11 not happen or something like that. So we're going to take a bit more liberty with sports history as opposed to political/social history. In any event, I've been waiting forever for Johnny Weir and JJ to interact, and damn that didn't disappoint. Talk about two hissing cats. LOL.

I'm not entirely in disagreement with you. Mid-2000's guys with their stripped colored polos and cargo shorts were infinitely hotter. Still, as someone once put it, the 1970's had such great films and music to make up for hideous the aesthetics were. LOL. One thing we have going for us now is that shorts are getting shorter and jeans are getting tighter.

God, the 70's was an ugly fashion decade. I've never really been that big of a fan of Star Wars. I liked Star Trek: The Next Generation more.

Prince William and Princess Kate present their new daughter How wonderful! *Please refrain from making any political comments, thank you.

YouTube is celebrating its 10th anniversary this month, and to celebrate, I thought I'd post my favorite 10 videos from YouTube. What are yours? 10. by Jenna Marbles, 2010 I love how Jenna Marbles packs insightful social commentary into a dumb blonde persona. Well-done. 9. " , 2008 Twilight brought much laughter during its run, least of all the many, many spoofs that existed. 8. , 2007 For context: Britney Spears 2007 VMA's 7. "Oakland!", 2009 (A Tourism Guide) 6. ", 2014 5. , 2012 4. by MainStayPro, 2011 Fan film that imagines Haymitch's time in the Hunger Games. Really well-done. 3. ", 2008 Obama's election to the tune of "One Day More" from Les Miserables. 'Nuff Said. 2. I watched Simon Cowell be a nasty piece of work towards people who aren't conventionally good-looking for years on American Idol, and it was amazing to watch all these people who were laughing at her because of her looks shut up when they realized how good she was. Talk about ripping through all cynical. And one is of course.... 1. , 2011 So what are your favorite videos?

Alright, this one's for our NorCal people!: I'm scared of driving on roads that have more than 3 lanes, and I'm scared of heights, so yeah, I would have never done this. LOL. Have you been to SF since the new span opened, Mark?

Yeah, you can tell it was inspired by that smooth, smoky sexy video aesthetic of the late 80's/early 90's. And Dominic Sherwood's eyes are pretty damn unique and cool.

I don't think Mary Ellen wants to be Fergie. I think she's like Kathryn from Cruel Intentions- she wants to be a nasty bitch, but she doesn't want the reputation for it. She wants the image of being Lady Bridgemont, respectable and classy.

Two tunes, one from the 80's and one inspired by the 80's: I gotta say, Taylor did a great job of capturing that classic late 80's/early 90's slick video feel to it, but made to feel contemporary. Dominic Sherwood isn't as hot as Sean O'Pry, but I really think his eyes are pretty cool.