methodwriter85

Vice President Joe Biden's son, Beau Biden, has died at the age of 46. Beau Biden Passes Away at the Age of 46 It's weird. I'm pretty shocked by it, although not shocked. His health had seemed sketchy for the past couple of years, but I didn't think it was like life-threatening because he was still so active. I have a very vivid memory of watching the 2008 Democratic National Convention on the t.v. with the Delaware Young Democrats Club at Kildare's Pub in Newark, DE, and just the beaming amount of pride we all felt as Democrats and Delawareans when we saw Beau Biden give his speech about his father. I still remember the typo they had, where they captioned him as "Bo Biden" instead of "Beau", and our club president basically clutching her peals while they fixed it. I honestly thought that Beau was going to continue his father's legacy, and the Biden family was going to become its own little mini-political dynasty. He for damn sure was going to be governor of Delaware in 2016. It's such a friggin' shame. Beau really seemed like he was poised for big political greatness.He had the chops and the know-how. And to be honest, I was excited at the thought that maybe, just maybe, Beau could've become president someday and we'd have our first First State president. I can't imagine what it would be like to have outlived two of your own four children. My condolences to the Biden family. It does go to show you though- cancer doesn't really care who you are or what your father is. If it wants you, it'll take you. America seems SO divided these days- along class, along race, along political lines- that this is kind of a little reminder that there are some things that are universal and bond us all. Man though ,what a waste. Forty-six is too damn young to go out.

I've never really been an album guy, but these were my favorite tunes the year I was 20/21 (2006-2007): "Where'd You Go?" by Fort Minor "When You Were Young" by The Killers "Phantom Limb" by The Shins "Open Your Eyes" by Snow Patrol "Stolen" by Dashboard Confessional "It Ends Tonight" by All American Rejects "Objects of My Affection" by Peter, Bjorn, and John And by the same guys... "Young Folks" by Peter, Bjorn, and John Yep, those are my favorite tunes from circa 2006-2007.

I'm just got off my third shift as a concessions guy at a large movie theater. I can't stand it. I don't feel like I'm particularly good at this and I'm just not feeling it. I also don't really fit in as a guy who's 29 among a bunch of teenagers. Should I just up and quit? Or should I just see it through to the end of the probation period, and then quit? I do really need the money but I really don't know if they'll keep me. I'm thinking about asking the managers for advice so they know I'm trying. Luckily if they do decide not to keep me at the probation mark I don't need to mark this on my future job applications but eh. This is just not fun. The training has been almost non-existent...you were pretty much just thrown out there, and the first two days were okay, but today just flat-out sucked. The main idea was to work this job to pay the bills, and hopefully get some money set aside to take some computer classes. But man, I do not know if I can make it. Part of me wants to gut it out, do my hardest, and seek out feedback to see how I can be better, but the other part wants to get out now.

Hey guys, this movie's currently on my radar right now...it's called Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, and it won the Grand Prize at Sundance Film Festival. I'm always on the lookout for a good new indie film, and this is looking good. It's the story of a guy in his senior year of high school, who is forced by his parents to befriend a classmate that has cancer. Here's the trailer: I'm digging it. It's a well-done trailer- letting you know just enough to know what kind of movie this is, but also leaving out enough so that you're intrigued about seeing it. I also like that this doesn't seem to be a romance at all- don't get me wrong, I loved The Fault in Our Stars, but a straight guy and a straight girl CAN be friends, after all. And I like that it seems to be going with a sardonic indie humor to it. In any event, Olivia Cooke is great on Bates Motel and I'm looking forward to seeing her in this.

People born in the late 1970's/early 1980's (say about 1977 to 1983) are often seen as being somewhat of an "in-between" generation- not quite Gen Xers, not quite Millennials, although they're often lumped in between the two generations. I remember Scott telling me once that he kind of feel like an "in-betweener" when it came to the generation that Adam represented( the Xers) and the one I represent (the Millennials.) Anyway, here's this article that talks about the influence of technology/social media/etc that created this schism: Why Early 80's Babies Are Different From Other Millennials Oregon Trail. I'm going to admit I vaguely remember hearing about it, but the computer game I was excited about was Where In the World in Carmen SanDiego? It's interesting to think that Adam's co-horts really did exist as kind of that bridge between an analog and digital world. Here's another article that argues that those born in the late 1970's/early 1980's are their own microgeneration, displaying characteristics that overlap between Gen Xers and Millennials, and coins this group Xennials. Reasonable People Disagree About the Post-Gen X/Pre-Millennial Generation It's interesting to think that this "micro-group" existed at just the right time to have gotten into the work world for a few years before the start of the Great Recession, and were able to recover better than the people who graduated college just a few years later. Also the idea that this group largely spent their coming-of-age in a Pre-Colombine/Pre-9/11 Era, whereas for me, Colombine hit in middle school and 9/11 hit during the opening weeks of high school, so those were two big fears I was forced to grow up with, as opposed to my oldest sister, who was born in 1977. Anyway...I'm curious for people born in the late 70's/early 80's...do you consider yourself a Gen Xer? A Millennial? Or something else entirely?

Can we be honest? It's not going to be a big deal unless someone on the level of Aaron Rodgers comes out.

I'm guessing. I remember your comments about how the rich white founding families wrote off Los Angeles proper as a loss fifty years ago. LOL. There is gentrification happening, so I guess it's working? The Gentrification of Skid Row Skid Row, according to the article, is rather resistant to any real gentrification attempts. Anyway, to move this to happier stuff.... Disneyland is Celebrating 60th Anniversary Disneyland just always seemed so quaint next to Disney World. I don't think I know anybody from the East Coast who actually went to Disneyland over Disney World. Back when Daisy and I were plotting JJ's career, we always thought it would have been hilarious for him to have a puff video piece of him taking one of his nieces or nephews (or Little Cousin Courtney) to Disneyland. I would pay to see Disneyland JJ smile for the cameras, and then scream at a kid for spitting on his designer shoes as soon as the cameras were off. I'm assuming both Private Tim and Blue likely spent a lot of time there as children. I mean, I probably would, too. I had to make do with Dorney Park/Hersey Park/Six Flags Over Texas, though.

Yeah, that was kind of the point of the article more than anything- the big money isn't in single-family subdivisions, duplexes, or 3-story apartment buildings. The big money are in skyscapers, and it's a time when less people are demanding to live in big single -family homes with a lawn, and there's renewed interest in urban lifestyles. (I was about the date- it's actually from 2007. I wonder how the author reacted to the housing crash, and if that impacted the move towards skyscapers in Los Angeles.) This blog argues that a better model for Los Angeles to follow would be Tokyo: On The Manhattanization of Los Angeles (February 2015) I mean, is there this concern in Los Angeles that all the single-family homes will get bulldozed over to make skyscrapers? That doesn't really make a lot of sense, as this article argues. It does seem like it's inevitable that Los Angeles has to build up if they want to keep growing at the high rate they've always grown out. There's nowhere left to expand the suburbs, are there?

I nominate R.C. as Baby Robert's nickname. It would be such a family thing to do. Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how the Iraq War affects the family. It's nice that they set up a contracting plant in Claremont.

I like how it's evolved, too. I think Will is the only person that seems to truly get and understand JJ. JJ needs that, badly. Alex is a sweet boyfriend but they are FAR from a 'warts and all' relationship, and someone like JJ really could use that. I can't see Will going back to Harvard Westlake just be near Zach. That's Darius's m.o.- it's not Will's. Will's going into senior year, he really likes Menlo and the friends he's made there over what it was like at HW, and I think he likes that he'll graduate with Marie in the class of '04. The question here though is whether or not JJ joins Will at Menlo, or he stays and Boston and goes to prep school there, because like I said, there's no way his family is going to let him get away with homeschooling when he's a senior and no longer needs to be focused on figure skating. They'll want him to have a diploma from an esteemed high school. They might let him get away with putting off college, but they'd definitely insist that he finishes high school with a reputable school. I also think that if JJ and Alex stay together, he'd probably insist on JJ taking education more seriously. I mean, I suggested that JJ should have gotten an GED when he turned 16 but Blue and then Mark pretty much shut me down on that, so there has to be some schooling in the future for JJ. His breeding and environment pretty much mandates it. As for the Iraq War...I really want to see how Claremont reacts to it, what with their new defense plants and all that tech stuff they're doing there.

The idea of the Manhattanization of San Francisco goes back to the 1970's and 1980's, when people were worried about the big cement highrises like the Transamerica, and that it would turn SF into a mini-version of Manhattan, away from its heritage of Mediterrean-style buildings on hills. There are places in SF where super-tall skyscapers can go up....they're currently building Transbay Tower, which will be over a 1,000 feet tall, and according to this article, there's a new wave of Manhattanization coming. Anyway, on the other side of the state...do you guys see some kind of move towards L.A. trying to be more like Manhattan, as this article suggests? Why The Rush to Manhattanization? (Los Angeles Times, February 2015) It's funny. Philadelphia also wants to create a Times Square for their city, too.

This is like the softer, celebrity-friendly version of the look: Honestly though, it's kind of hard to differentiate between this look and hipsters. I do think some guys can pull it off, like MLB prospect/Triple A-Leaguer Daniel Norris: It's funny, without the beard, I think he looks like a loveable college slacker: I guess it is more of an East Coast thing. TetRefine has bitched about how much he hates this look. LOL.

CAP TIMELINE 1903: Tonto is born. April 1925: Jim Crampton is born. May 27, 1925: Steven Schluter is born. 1936: Billy Schluter is born. June 20, 1936: J.P. Crampton is born, the result of an affair between Marie Crampton and Bill Hendrickson. December 17,1944: Steven Schluter dies in World War II. July 14, 1945: Stefan Schluter, the son of Steven Schluter, is born. November 12, 1945: Jeff Hayes is born. 1962-1963 School Year: J.P. Crampton begins teaching at Northwestern University. October 4, 1962: Brad Schluter is born. He is the adoptive son of Billy Schluter, and the biological son of Kevin Carmicheal. December 1962: Andre, JP's partner, is killed in action in Vietnam. March 6, 1963: Ace is born to Isidore, having been fathered by J.P.'s lover Andre. March 1963: Robbie Hayes is born, the youngest of three children. He is the son of Frank and Brenda Hayes. April 10, 1963: Billy Schulter dies at sea on USS Thresher October 27, 1964: Clare and Billy Crampton are born. Clare is JP's biological daughter, and Billy is Jeff Hayes's biological son. 1968: J.P. Crampton begins teaching at Stanford. July 13, 1968: Jeff Hayes dies of an heroin overdose. March 8, 1969: Marcel is born. He is the biological son of Jeff Hayes, but is raised in France. April 24, 1980: Matt Carrswold is born. He is the biological son of Robbie Hayes, but is adopted by the Carrswolds and grows up in Shaker Heights, Ohio. May 15, 1980: Wade Danfield is born. He becomes Matt Carrswold's boyfriend after meeting him on the hockey team at Stanford during the 1998-1999 school year. October 19, 1980: Billy dies in a car accident on the night of a party at Escorial. January 19, 1982: Darius Schluter is born. He is the son of Bitty Schluter and a random Iranian man, but is raised by Brad, Robbie, and Jeanine. He has one biological half-brother, JJ, and one adopted brother, Will Schluter. July 25, 1982: Gathan Hayes is born. He was raised in Claremont, Ohio by his uncle and aunt, Wally and Clara Hayes. February 1983: Kristin Hendrickson is born. August 26, 1983: Ella Hayes, daughter of Richard Crampton, is born. June 12, 1985: Zach Hayes is born. 1985: J.P.'s lover Roger, and one-time lover Sam, both die of AIDS that year. December 7, 1985: Jeremy Schluter, aka J.J., is born. He is the biological son of Jim Crampton and Bitty Schluter, and has been raised in Malibu, CA with Brad, Robbie, and Jeanine. February 19, 1986: Marie Crampton, aka Maman, dies of natural causes. April 18, 1986: Marie Hobart, daughter of Jack and Clare Hobart, is born. September 14, 1986: Will Schluter, son of Brad and Jeanine, is born. July 21, 1987: John Hobart, son of Jack and Clare Hobart, is born. Between 1991 to 1995: Tonto Schluter dies an old woman, warm in her bed surrounded by grandchildren and great-grandchildren. A death we should all hope to have. March 28, 1995: Greg, Stefan's long-time companion, dies of a heart attack. September 4, 1995: Ace's daughter, Courtney, is born. August 7, 1998: Robbie Hayes reunites with his long-lost son, Matt Carrswold. September 13, 2000: Madison Graves, daughter of Jeanine Graves and Cody Warren, is born. September 14, 2000: Riley van den Boss Danfield, son of Wade Danfield and Tiffany van den Boss is born. September 11, 2001: Robbie Hayes, as well as Jeanine and her partner Hank, die in the Towers for 9/11. Senator Danfield dies at the Pentagon. March 24, 2003: Robert Edward van den Boss Carrswold is born. *** We retroactively gave Robbie a birthdate. It's always been March, 1963, but we never actually saw Robbie celebrate a birthday. To pick a day, I went through the stories from Be Rad to Millennium that covered March, and tried to find a day in March that was never covered. Mark picked March 24th. I feel tempted to edit out Gathan and Ella. Kristin can stay. LOL.

Chapter 50 -When Will shows off the American and French meals. "American National Anthem"/"French National Anthem" -When the gang watches the start of Operation Enduring Iraqi Freedom. "God Bless America" by Celine Dion (Live at the 2003 Super Bowl) -When the baby is born, and Will names him. "Such Great Heights" by The Postal Service You're probably going to see this get used several more times throughout the stories. I'm thrilled that it "exists" now in Cap-world. I consider it a generation anthem- it really set a tone for the kind of 80's New Wave-inspired music that was going to become so popular with indie rock in this decade. And it just sounded like something wouldn't have heard in the 90's, and it really felt fresh and new and different.

Blue, is the Lumbersexual look a thing in California, or is it just an East Coast thing? It can be mistaken for the hipster look, but the idea is that you're like a rugged lumberjack, and more of an earthy look: Confessions of A Lumbersexual (Time Magazine, November 2014) I can see JJ and Stefan being absolutely horrified at thought of this being sexy: The look seems very popular for whatever reason right now- going into the whole current "big bushy beard" trendy going on right now. Anyway, the term is relatively new, coined on Urban Dictionary in 2010, and gaining media notice in 2014. I wonder if Zach would become a lumbersexual on the off-season from football with a big bushy beard and lots of plaid....which CAP characters can you see becoming lumbersexual? In any event, I feel like the 20-something/30-something guy who is clean-shaven and without any tattoos or piercings is becoming a rare breed indeed. LOL. I can claim the last two but even I tend to rock scruff, because I'm too lazy to shave every day. We're a long way from the Queer Eye look that was so popular and so, so JJ.

There's this really funny anecdote in a book called Freakanomics, about naming babies and what they say about one's racial/socioeconomic background. One black mother wanted to name her daughter after Tempest Bledsoe on the Cosby Show. But she spelled it wrong and the baby was called Temptress, without the realization that it was A.) a misspelling, and B.) Temptress means a manipulative slut. I've joked to people that my name sounds like a Witness Protection Program name it's so generic.

I'm pretty sure the indication was that in the Mad Men universe, Don came up with the ad.

Chapter 49 -When JJ arrives in Palo Alto, utterly depressed about his career. "Moon River" from Breakfast At Tiffany's Alternate, to get REALLY depressing: "Asleep" from The Perks Of Being A Wallflower Anybody else remember this tune from the Perks of Being A Wallflower? It's an obscure 80's tune. -When JJ and Will have their talk about life. "Orange Sky" by Alexei Murdoch Thank you, the O.C. Soundtrack Mix 1. I'm excited now that we've hit the point in time where more songs that came from the O.C. soundtrack exist. -When JJ arrives at the Boston house, with the knowledge that his career is basically over for the next year, and his relationship with Alex is going to come to an end. Basically, a completely depressed mess. "Guess I'm Doing Fine" by Beck -When JJ tries to get through the dinner by putting on his fun persona, and then makes love with Alex as a distraction. "How To Fight Loneliness" by Wilco I dug deep for these, Mark.I hope you enjoyed it. I do think that doing music recs for JJ chapters usually allows me to use much more depressing music than I'd ever use for Will. LOL.

Tim and Mark's quotes from the reviews: Does he try to be a regular (for a 1 percenter) teenager? Can he do things he's never really done before- like getting drunk at a party, getting high because he no longer has to worry about drug tests, and do normal stupid kid stuff? You're written JJ as a very uptight guy who's that way mostly because he's very concerned about the image he has to project. (And, well, he's also a major snob.) I'd love to see him loosen up a little bit now that the pressure is off him to be the Disney-friendly JJ Schluter, Elite Figure Skater. Probably still won't go anything near as NC-17 wild as Will in Rome, but maybe something like Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. (God, I am so gay.) I like JJ being more proper than his brothers and I hope we keep it that way! LOL. Another thing from the chapter I loved: I loved the insight here. Absolutely loved it. It's bang-on true about the differences between Will, Darius, and JJ. Will's anchor is the place where his family came from. He's pretty much the only family member of his generation that seems to give any kind of shit about Claremont. Darius's anchor is where he grew up- where he was Mr. Popular at Malibu High School and had his fun as the Prince of the Colony. (And I'm sure he did an awful lot of partying around the Los Angeles social scene.) JJ's different. His adolescence years have been shaped by hotels and competitions and traveling, not having things like best friends or favorite hang-outs, etc etc. He doesn't have that kind of anchor, or feel that he belongs to a place. Maybe part of it is just JJ's sign- he's a Sagittarius, and a big part of that is a real love of traveling and experiencing new places. I think JJ's ultimately winding up a jet-setting Continental type, but we'll see.

Rihanna is just the mis-spelling of a pagan goddess, Rhiannon. And the name of a kick-ass song by Fleetwood Mac:

Since JJ's figure skating career is on hold for a year,I vote for JJ to go back to high school, and become a Corbin-from-The-English-Year-inspired head-bitch-in-charge. (I've always thought Corbin would have made a great CAP character.) Or at least along the lines of Blair Waldorf. Also, Tiffany's baby is due in March, as has been said in the story, so we should be seeing Baby Van Den Boss 2. I think it will be a girl, to give some balance...I'd like her to be named Hailey. That was really a really popular name for the time period. There are currently a lot of girls named Hailey who were born in the late 90's/early 2000's.

So if any of you are expectant, or you're like me and just fascinated by naming trends and what they say about contemporary society, check out this list of 12 obscure baby names that might end up on the rise: 12 Cool Baby Names That Are on the Rise I'm digging Collins, Holland, Ford, and Bode.

In honor of Mad Men...

JJ being out for the 2003-2004 season basically lines up with his senior year of high school- would he go to a school in Boston, or would he try to finish at a school in California? As Mark and Blue have pointed out, this family isn't going to let him get away with a GED, and they'd want him to have a diploma from a good high school. He no longer has the excuse of skating to keep from attending school. I don't think his family would be cool with him continuing to home school when it's not necessary anymore. I wonder what's going to happen there. I personally like the idea of JJ at a bitchy East Coast private school ala Gossip Girl or Cruel Intentions. I'd love to see him become the Blair Waldorf of his school. LOL. (He is SOOOO the Blair to Will's Serena.) I kinda feel like JJ has been in this LONG character arc about how he can't really just hide in a safe cocoon away from the rest of the world. That is JJ's natural instinct. His life started to get dominated by skating in 1998, with Jeanine as his stage mother and Tiffany as his coach/other mother. Then Jeanine went crazy, and his coach started molesting him. Then Robbie got involved with JJ's life and JJ made him into his replacement Jeanine, and things got worse. Then 9/11 happened, with Jeanine and Robbie both being gone, and the end result is that Will has taken a big interest in JJ's life and won't let him just stomp off onto his own. Now JJ's in the blush of his first love, but at the same time, he can't just pull Alex into his own world and make everything about him because Alex has his own family. And now JJ doesn't have the refuge of the ice anymore- who is he away from being JJ the Figure Skater? He doesn't have any place to hide anymore. Now he really has to deal with himself. It'll be interesting to see what his life is going to be like now that he can't just go the ice whenever he doesn't want to deal with something. I'm kind of assuming that's why Mark decided to give JJ this injury and not just something that might have kept him away for a few months.

The iconic show about advertising ended with the most iconic commercial of the 20th century. In honor of the finale...check out the single version of Seriously though, I'm thrilled Mad Men referenced that ad. I think it's such a brilliant piece of advertising with a message that still resonates today- share a Coke with a friend and make a bond for a little while regardless of who they are. Here's the real origin story behind the ad- Bill Backer was on a flight layover, and noticed that the people who were irritated by the delayed made the best of the situation by sitting down and sharing stories over Coke. That's why it was the Real Thing- coke presented a common bond for people to relate to one another. Anyway, here's the actual ad: I mean really, just brilliant. Who doesn't feel good just by watching all these cheerful happy people of varying nations getting along as they bond over their love of Coke? Although I do think it's interesting when you consider the impact of globalization/Westernization, and the people who argue that it has led to the erosion of foreign cultures. The Coke kind of represents the incoming Westernization of the world, and the idea that these native cultures are going to be touched by things like Coke and McDonald's and KFC and other Western thing. Who here remembers the ad?