methodwriter85

In a bid to end street sexual harassment, the non-profit Hollaback has released a video that shows a portion of the catcalls and sexually suggestive comments that a woman receives during 10 hours of silently walking through Manhattan while wearing a relatively modest outfit. The video has gone viral, having received over 20 million views. Check it out: 10 Hours of Walking In NYC As A Woman As a man, I definitely find that pretty eye-opening. I just don't get why some men feel like they're entitled to treat some random woman they don't even know like she's obligated to flirt back with them.

I remember being in the library once, and this good-looking college guy was ranting on the phone to what I'm assuming was his now-ex as he ranted that he would rather spend a night in the homeless shelter than spend any more time with his ex.

Yeah, like I said- I don't think Will, Darius, and JJ would have strong Malibu accents/dialects. JJ especially- he travels around a lot, doesn't go to school anymore, and he's transplanted himself to Boston. Awhile back, I pointed out to Mark that JJ referred to a Boston expressway as a "freeway", and he told me that he did that because JJ's a Californian. Still, I'm not sure I entirely agree with that- I think JJ would actually pick up different ways of slang and talking as a result of his travels, and maybe the idea that he wants to seem worldly and continental as opposed to just being seen as some California kid. I think he'd pick up on Boston slang at this point, and he'd definitely say British slang as a result of Alex. For sure. I mean, I lived in Western P.A., and I learned to say "pop" instead of soda. At least while I was there. I can't see JJ stubbornly hanging on to his California accent, now that he's living in Boston.

Chapter 20 -When Brad celebrates his 40th birthday at the gay bar. "Rising" by Elle Patrice The Queer As Folk soundtrack is really, really useful for these kind of scenes. -When Brad and Cam go at it. "Fell In Love With A Girl" by The White Stripes -When JJ wins the New England Regionals "A Moment Like This" by Kelly Clarkson I wasn't wild on this song and found it bland compared to the stuff that Kelly would do later, but still, American Idol was a hugggeee part of 2002 pop culture, and I can't think of any other American Idol that has topped Kelly Clarkson. America really did chose right that year.

Tim, you reminded me of a story that E.G. Daley said about when she was making 1983's Valley Girl....she absolutely refused to do a Valley Girl accent, and instead decided that her supporting character Loryn was a Malibu transplant. In any event, I see your point, but "sick" and "rager" are pretty universal...and Will's first boyfriend WAS from Orange County, so he could have picked it up that way. Still, you do have a point. We might just wait until The O.C. comes out in August 2003 before we start having these characters throw around those terms. And, of course, Laguna Beach. Oh my god it was like every teenager was watching that show. These characters should actually have pretty wide-ranging accents/dialect, because they travel so much, and they're exposed to so many parts of the country and the world. I doubt Will, JJ, and Darius have pure Malibu accents even though they grew up there. It'd be funny to picture Will having an accent like Chad Rogers from Million Dollar Listing, though: Can you picture Will having his big, "Fear of God" speeches in that slurred, slow Malibu accent? That would actually be kind of funny, but again, I don't think Will is going to have any kind of definitive accent because of how continental and worldly he is. Are most SoCal accents slow like this? The Valley Girl accent is actually pretty fast and lyrical, while the Calabasas accent seems to have this "whine" to it. The O.C. accent seems more slow like Malibu's, at least if you go by Laguna Beach. Northern East Coast accents generally tend to go fast, although that's not quite true of Southern New Jersey/Philly/Northern Delaware...it's not quite as fast-sounding. I remember getting off the bus at New York City and having a hard time understanding what this cop was saying when I asked him for directions. LOL.

We're starting to get oh-so close to 2003. The O.C. premieres in 10 months, and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy in 9 months. Both had enormous pop culture impact, although Queer Eye's impact lasted for a longer period. I can't wait for when these characters start referring to things as "sick", and for JJ to "tszuj" (zhuj) his hair. I really feel like 2003 was when the 2000's really started feeling like a different decade than the 90's, and the last vestiges of the late 1990's were fading out. Bright colors and preppier styles made a big comeback that year. Also, Birkenstocks. For some odd reason though, Birkenstocks stopped being a hippie symbol, and it became something that preppie kids would wear with their distressed Abercrombie jeans and Hollister t-shirts.

So it's late 2002 in California...people should be saying things like "sick" and "rager", right? I got those terms from watching The O.C., which is going to premiere in about 10 months.

I just realized that we've seen Brad go from being a baby, to being 40 years old. This is a strange feeling. It's like I watched a nephew go for babyhood to middle age, without having to hit my elder years myself.

I like my trashy entertainment and I'm not ashamed to admit I'll read total crap for shits n giggles.

For this Throwback Thursday, I wanted to take a moment to remember the 1989 World Series Quake. Check it out these videos: I've always been fascinated by earthquakes...I wonder what it must have been like to have experienced one that big. I was only 3 years old when this one hit, but I do remember the episode of Full House that was about this. It's said that the fact that so many people were at Game 3 of the "Battle of the Bay" series (62k) is the reason why casualties weren't as heavy as they could have been, because the roads were usually light for peak rush hour. Do any of you have strong memories of this quake?

Chapter 19 -When Brad gets "arrested." "Breaking the Law" by Judas Priest -When the cops turn out to be strippers. "Pour Some Sugar On Me" by Def Leppard I kind of wished Mark could've had a story set circa 1987-1989. It would have been fun to have done a lot of hair band tunes.

I just got finished with two books, very different, but very enjoyable reads. The first was The Wolf Of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort, where he details his experiences as the leader of the circus that was his stockbroker firm Stratton Oakmont during the heady days of the 1990's economic boom. Its 500 pages and pretty dense, and it took me awhile to read...I started back in August, took a break until a couple weeks ago, and then go to the end. It was a pretty eye-opening read, dealing in a world where men earn and lose millions of dollars a day. The hedonism was pretty cool to read about as well, especially since it didn't come with the kind of moralizing you expect. Jordan doesn't go, "Well, you know, I feel really horrible about the bad things I did." It's more like, "I did it, I lived it, and it was one hell of a ride that I'm lucky to have survived." He might be a greedy slimeball, but you can't help but like his candor. I would beg Mark Arbour to read it, but I'm assuming he already has. The guy who wrote Millennium would enjoy the hell out of The Wolf of Wall Street- all that financial mumbo-jumbo greed stuff. I'm sure he probably knew quite a lot of Jordan Belfort types in his former life. The second was Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, which follows the story of Louisa Clark, a small-town English woman who takes a job caring for Will Traynor, a former high-powered businessman who became a quadriplegic after an accident. Having lost his will to live, Louisa takes it upon herself to show him that life is still worth living. Which is a pretty cheesy premise, but the book manages to elevate itself by refusing to make things clear-cut or easy, and the way in which we get to see Louisa come out of her shell as she starts to take steps beyond the provincial life she has cocooned herself in. Definitely worth a read if you're into romantic stuff.

On more serious stuff, I really liked that Mark included references to the D.C. sniper shootings. I remember that being pretty big news over here. I mean, I live about 90 minutes away from D.C. and it was a pretty big deal when it happened. Protests against the proposed War in Iraq should be coming up as well. I remember the following March, just when it was about to happen, I took part in a student walk-out against war and stayed there chanting anti-war stuff until our Dean threatened to expel us. I mean, Wade goes to college in the world's biggest college town. There HAS to be some protesting going on in Boston.

See, Blue, aren't you glad you still pass for 25? Well, I'm guessing you look young for your age. You seem the type who would be. I can sense these things because I can still pass for about 23 or 24 and I always get asked if I'm in college.

Firstly, I grew up during the 80's revival, and I remember a lot of pastel polos with upturned collars. Secondly, agreed, Tom is a seriously cute guy. (Thank god he's legal. LOL.)

In this episode of Teens React, the teens try on some 1980's clothing and laughter is had by all. I'm a HUGGGGGEEEEEEE fan of 80's nostalgia, so I totally wish I could've been there, trying on neon sweatbands and the like. I actually even bought a vintage 1980's blue Members Only jacket once. I tried to find a fanny pack for a tourist Halloween costume, but I couldn't find it. It's fun to see how things that were considered really stylish at one time become hilariously bad after twenty or thirty years. Like nowadays, grunge fashion is getting laughed at. I'm pretty sure in another ten years, the stuff from my time will be laughed at. For those of you old enough to have partaken in 80's fashion, are there any hilariously bad trends you want to admit wearing?

Chapter 17 -When JJ and Alex have some nice early morning fun. "Down 4 U" by Ja Rule ft. Ashanti Ashanti was like everywhere in 2002. -When Brad and Cam have their own fun. "Oops, Oh My" by Tweet There's absolutely no shortage of sexual R&B/hip-hop tunes from the early 2000's.

Yeah. It's good shit. Although I had to take out some big ol' emo tunes out because I thought about the fact that you're just not going to get people to dance to "Screaming Infidelities" by Dashboard Confessional.

I just got a FB message from a former classmate, who wanted me to pick up to 20 songs that make me feel nostalgic for high school. So, here are my picks: 1.) " 2.) 3.) 4.) 5.) 6.) 7.) 8.) " 9.) 11.) 12.) 13.) 14.) 15.) 16.) "" 17.) " 18.) 19.) 20.) Damn, this was hard to limit to 20 songs. There were some picks I had in there that I had to take out because there were a little too dark or they were kind of just too obscure. But yeah...'05 forever!

Damn, your nephew had to have been pretty hot if he was getting screentested for it. Pictures or it didn't happen.

See, I thought she did a great song in making it sound like it belonged in the 60's. I didn't even realize that was the cover- I thought it WAS Dusty Springfield. That was such an awesome movie opening, in any event.

I think it's safe to say that JJ won't be having kids for a long, long time, if he does at all. He seems like he can barely stand to be in the same room with kids. Hell, I can see JJ deciding to get a vasectomy in his 20's just to make sure he doesn't spawn them. LOL. Darius and Will, definitely will...Darius especially. Remember how he was kind of disappointed that Ella's pregnancy scare wasn't real? (Although he's gotta be glad now, considering what Ella turned out to be like.) I wouldn't be surprised if Darius was a husband and father before the age of 25. Although...I mean, Brad seems to consider Matt a son, Matt considers Riley his son, so Brad's already kind of a grandfather. I don't know if Brad actually has referred to Riley as a grandson, though. He'll definitely do that with the upcoming kid, though. It's rooted in the fact that JJ was born 6 weeks premature (he was actually due in February 1986), and Will was always bigger and taller than him. Jeanine was especially protective of JJ because of how small he was, and Will wasn't given the "baby" treatment because Will wasn't that small. JJ really is a relatively a "good kid" compared to his brothers, despite his bitchy attitude. He may lash out and say shit, but ultimately he falls in line with what people expect of him.

I think what I'm saying is that it'd be impossible to replicate a Will-kind of rebellion against Brad with JJ, not just because JJ's a different person, but because JJ didn't grow up as being incredibly close to Brad and seeing himself as Brad's best friend. Will did, and the fact that Will went from being upset that Brad didn't make him his best man at his commitment ceremony to fling for emancipation in the span of about eight CAP months was what drove so much of the emotions there. And as they pointed out to Brad, JJ's rage burns cold. It's not like he'd blow up, work through it, and then come back to Brad when he's over being pissed. He very much could sever all ties with Brad and not look back, kind of similar to what Zach's doing here with his parents because they're getting in the way of what he wants. Will at his core lives and breathes family, and though he may have huffed and puffed and acted out, I don't think he could have ever totally severed things with his parents. JJ could, and Zach has. That's what I like about the story here- you've got two athletes, in very different sports, who are nonetheless capable of being utterly ruthless when it comes to getting what they want. It's very different from when we followed Matt and Wade's experiences in sports. I've been working out JJ's career timeline with someone who knows a lot about the sport. We based JJ's advancement roughly on Johnny Weir, who started skating at around 12. By the time Johnny Weir was 16, he won the Junior World Championship. So JJ advancing from skating first at age 12 and then becoming in contention for senior competition titles by 16 is pretty rare, but not impossible. 2001-2002 was JJ's first senior season, and this one is his second senior-level season. I'm hoping like hell we see them at the U.S. "Disaster" championship of January 2003, where Johnny Weir was leading but then completely choked, and the men's free program then saw a lot of that. Alex is about 22 at most, while JJ is nearly 17. There's maybe a 6-year gap at the most. JJ's coach was 45 when he was molesting JJ, who was 14/15 and an immature 15 at that. It's not really comparable. It'd be a lot harder for them to make Alex disappear. Alex is British nobility, remember? If he disappeared, people would miss him. Alex seems to be an only child, so it doesn't seem like his family would have a spare, either. And if you think about it, the Cramptons/Schluters don't really seem to mess with the people who are on their level socially, or even higher up. I think that's the reason why Elizabeth Danfield is still breathing- she's on a higher level socially than the Cramptons/Schluters are. What they could do is financially ruin the family.

I'm glad that Mark spared us a JJ meltdown. It just would have been too much of a redux of the Brad/Will rebellion stuff, which spanned over three stories. And in all honesty, Brad just did not earn the right to play "protective dad" now, when JJ's almost 17, after the many years that JJ was just an afterthought to Brad, who was almost always focused on Will. That's why I don't think that kind of story would have worked for them, because Brad/JJ don't have the baggage of having once been extremely close and best buddies, which is what drove so much of the Brad/Will drama. I really liked JJ wondering if and when he's going to tell Alex about his molestation. I also liked that Brad pointed out how limited the future is with JJ and Alex, which JJ didn't really want to hear but knows that he's right.

Chapter 16 -When Brad and JJ come to some sort of understanding. "I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman" by Britney Spears The song title still makes me laugh all these years later. After that though, it really does fit if you think about it. JJ's on his way to becoming a man, but he's still very much a boy in many ways, and these are his "in-between days." And Britney Spears was the ultimate in the whole "Look at me, I'm a good girl who just can't help acting bad sometimes!" act. -When JJ and Alex continue their courtship. "Wishin' & Hopin'" by Ani DiFranco The throwbacks just feel really appropriate for them. -When Brad gets called by NYC Hook-up, and has some fun. "Hey, Baby" by No Doubt