methodwriter85

Maddy and Kennie. Oh my god, that's fucking cute. Mark, we HAVE to give Tiffany and Wade a daughter named Kennedy, nicknamed Kennie. It's just too cute.

Fat chance. Still...Kennedy...I like that one. Kennedy Lincoln. It would work for a boy or a girl. What do you think, Mark? Anyway, back to Blue...I always thought it was funny when skinny jeans somehow manage to be baggy.

Blue, as a guy born in the 1980's, I think it's impossible to have NOT known a Chris, Mike, Dan, or Matt at some point. Josh as well. I have an outlier experience though- I met a LOT of Steve's in my life, but the median age for Steve is mid-40's.

Ooh, Kennedy is a good one. The average age is three, but it looks like the name was rising in popularity in the early/mid-2000's, although it never became a huge top 30 name. But it's just trendy enough without being something that everybody is named, but not so obscure that it's out there. Kennedy Lincoln Van der Boss-Danfield. Elizabeth would shit a brick at her grand-daughter being named that. If we were sticking to the Irish name theme that Wade and Tiffany chose for Riley, we'd have to pick something like Liam, Connor, or Aidan. It's funny how naming goes- my sister went with "Cadence" for her daughter in 2006, which she thought was very obscure. But it's not- it's like a top 250 name or something for that age group. Not that popular, but in the 90's, it wasn't even a top 1000 name. So my niece has apparently met other little girls with that name, but I'd be shocked if she met a grown woman with that name. Meanwhile, another sister named her 3-year old daughters "Sofi" and "Sydney", so yeah, they're pretty much in line with their generation. Their upcoming son is going to be named "Evan", which is also pretty common. But another sister, who favors crazy names because she was named Jennifer in 1977 along with many, many others, named her son "Chaos" with his middle name being "Phoenix." Chaos Phoenix. And yep, my sister used to be a big-time X-Men fan back in the 90's- she had the comics, the figurines, everything. The sister who went for the "common" names for her kids pretty much thinks that Chaos is going to have to be home-schooled. You can't even just initial him- C.P.? That doesn't work. And going by Phoenix probably wouldn't help, either.

I'm just bagging on you. I still have a pair of cargo pants. LOL. You know what I miss, though? Chords. Popular circa 2001-2003, and then just seemed to disappear. Anyway, this feels apropos... How To Tell Someone's Age If You Only Know Their Names So, if Tiffany and Wade do wind up having another kid (they both seem to want another one), here are some popular names for that age group: Boys- Logan, Xavier, Tristan, Connor, Noah Girls- Hailey, Alexa, Emma, Isabelle Or they could be a couple of years ahead and name their daughter "Addison", to go along with "Madison." Seriously though, if they wind up having a daughter, I kind of like "Hailey". It reminds me of my sisters' friends who seemed to name their daughters that quite often.

I have 3-year old nieces named Sydney and Sofi.Sofi is going to be to their generation what "Ashley" and "Jessica" were to mine. The name "Heather" seems like its marching towards middle-age status...the youngest Heather I've known is 22, and it doesn't really seem like a name you hear for teenaged girls/college girls that much anymore. Most of them seem to be in their mid-30's at least. Brad also seems like an "once trendy name becoming middle-aged." I'd also say that for Bruce and Greg, which seems like names that were given mostly to guys born in the 1960's. Amy also seems like a name that you don't hear little kids getting named now. Of course, there old-standbys John, Joey, Matt, Chris, Mike, Sarah, and Kate will probably never go out of style. Everyone, no matter the age, has probably grown up with somebody who had at least one of those names. But the names that feel particular to my generation are Ashley (female, once a male name), Jessica, Brittany, Josh, and Justin.

This article tries to figure out, on average, how many living Americans have certain popular names, and what is the average age of the people with the name. I've always thought it's fascinating how names are often linked to time period trends- like Jennifer exploding in popularity during the 1970's because of the success of Love Story, or the curious surge of the names Leo and Jack once the girls who made Titanic a hit were starting families. And there are some names that are just so linked to their time period, like Doris and Betty instantly making you think of a young adult in the 1950's. Of course, as they count for, there are outliers. Heather was most popular in 1975, and it's not really a young girl name any more- it's steadily heading towards being the name of a woman in her late 30's to mid-40's- but I had a friend named Heather who's only 22. And I knew a guy named Mason in high school, who would be about 28 now. And my high school teacher remarked to this classmate named Susan how unusual that name was for a teenaged girl in the 21st century. My name is fairly close to being "right" for my age...it was most popular in 1976, which would suggest most Jeremy's were born in the 1970's, so I'm probably just a little bit younger than most guys named Jeremy. Meanwhile, I've met very few little kids with that name. Anyway, it's funny to think that someday, there will be bickering Jaydens, Aidens, and Caydens in nursing homes in place of the Bob's, Harry's, etc etc.

....those aren't skinny jeans. They're circa late 90's/early '00s cargo pants.

From Chapter 30: He pulled out a laptop and set it up on the table, so Stef and I could both see, and showed us some of his latest designs. “There is a definite hip-hop influence,” Stef noted. “But also a Bohemian flavor. This is truly unique.” “Bohemian is giving way to the hipster movement,” he said. I looked at him, confused. I’d never heard of that. Stef didn’t say anything, but it looked like he hadn’t either. “They’re a bunch of tortured young people, trying to be individuals,” he joked. I thought this was funny, because I had to explain what a hipster was to a guy who was 47 in 2013, so about close to Brad's age. He was saying I had to dress like Greenwhich Village bohemian for a part in a play he was directing, and I said, "So like a hipster?" He didn't know what that was, or that Brooklyn is now the "cool" borough. Interesting little generation gap moment there. It's going to be interesting to see how Alex affects these guys. Nice way to have a "crossover", of sorts.

Well, okay, Blue can just try to take his shirts to a tailor. Anyway, back to upcoming events, etc etc... With them in Boston, we've got the rise of the Patriots 2000's dynasty (first Super Bowl already won, two more to go), and the rise of the Boston Red Sox, who will finally win a World Series in 2004. I wonder if Wade will become a Pats fan. Boston and Pittsburgh are probably the best sports cities to live in for the 2000's. They can both claim the "City of Champions" title.

Couldn't you just take those shirts to a tailor or a friend that sews? Or learn how to sew yourself. Do you shop H&M? They seem like a pretty slim fit company.

Check out the new W Hotel they're going to build at 15th and Chestnut: I like it. It's got a cool, edgy vibe to it.

5'9" to 5'10" seems like a pretty optimal height- not short, but not too tall. You're probably great at wearing clothing being both skinny and a good height. I wonder if Will would wear skinny jeans. I'm half and half on that. I don't think it'd be a flattering look on him given that he's described as being pretty tall and muscular, rather than tall and lanky. But he might just get into the look anyway- most guys did wind up ditching their baggy jeans for more fitted stuff. If he were about Courtney's age, for sure. Most guys I see in the teenaged/early 20-something range are wearing them, unless they're a bro. Bros seem to stick to their salmon shorts and oxford button-downs with the sleeves rolled up (or a polo) no matter what the decade. JJ probably was an early adopter of the look circa 2007.

Alright, that makes sense. Nice. Although I kind of pictured Alex with more of a "refined", over-bread look to him. Also, his features don't look that pointed to me.

See, on a short, skinny guy like yourself, it's a good look. What I hate is when tall guys with big muscular legs try to fit into them. It's not a good look on them. The funny thing is that the skinny jean look had its roots in emo culture. Back around the early/mid-2000's, emo guys would wear girl jeans as part of their whole "I'm being cool and different" deal. Then at some point, skinny jeans replaced the girl-jeans.

*sigh* Okay. How about here: So his hair there, but mix with how his face looks here:

Talented Mr. Ripley-era Jude Law as Alex Granger? Jude Law circa the late 90's/early 2000's...hot damn.

Alright, so here's another 2002 commercial with Kate Beckinsale and Orlando Bloom shilling for the GAP: I think this commercial does a good job of showing what jeans generally looked like in the time period- low hiphuggers on women, slightly baggy on guys, and darker blue washes on both. Also, denim skirts had made a comeback. If I'm mistaken, correct me, but these jeans were the bootleg cut, right? Uber-popular. I tried bootcut jeans but I can't wear them because my thighs are too muscular and big. I feel like I sound like a crotchety old dude when I bitch about how much I hate the skinny jean look on guys. LOL. Anyway...I can't believe there hasn't been an Orlando Bloom reference yet. He was pretty hot in '02 because of the Lord of the Rings. I cannot tell you the amount of times I heard girls signing over Legolas. I never got into him because I liked big muscular types like Nick Lachey or tall lanky dudes like Eric Balfour rather than the short twink look, but I'm sure one or two of the CAP characters would've dug his look. Orlando Bloom has also been the subject of a LOT of gay rumors. If his moment of fame had begun in 2000 instead of 2001-2002, we so should've seen him at Hollywood orgy party in CAP, LOL.

Congrats to L.A. Kings fans. I bet things are going to get crazy!

Los Angeles had a little Italy? Pretty cool. I knew that the French Dip came from California, and for that I'm eternally grateful. I used to get a French Dip from Deer Park Tavern all the time. Anyway... The Bros of Coachella An Indian headdress at a music festival to go along with your frat boy wear? Seriously?

This is kind of morbid...but I kind of want Zach to end up at Penn State, now that you mention Joe Pa. Although I sure as hell couldn't see Will going there. I always think it's interesting whenever Matt interacts with his biological cousins...it's like he's someone who SHOULD have grown up in the typical working class Hayes way, but instead Matt grew up as a blue blood in a small, affluent and well-respected family. (Like seriously though, were Matt's parents the end of the line for the Carrswolds? I don't think we've ever met Matt's extended family.)

Ansel Elgort as Augustus Waters in The Fault in Our Stars: God, that smile, that tousled wavy hair, and those big puppy-dog eyes. "It would be a privilege to have my heart broken by you." God, where were the 18-year old guys like that when I was in college?

I'm just always really impressed whenever a writer gets an area right. I thought Silver Linings Playbook did a generally good job of showing what Philadelphia is like, although no one did an authentic Philly accent, even Bradley Cooper who is from the area. The Office also did a pretty good job with it- touches like Herr's Potato chips and Yuengling beer. Toni Collette is noted for having done an authentic Philly accent in The Sixth Sense. For some reason people think you can use New York accents to stand in for Philly. Anyway, in honor of The Fault in Our Stars grossing 48 million and toppling Tom Cruise's Edge of Tomorrow this past weekend, check out this early 2002 tearjerker movie, A Walk to Remember. It was okay, but man, I REALLY can't wait until The Notebook comes out in 2004. Ryan Gosling was a wet dream boyfriend in that movie.(Although really, they couldn't have even tried to match him with a better old counterpart than James Garner?) I'm disappointed that Mandy Moore's acting career never really took off. I always thought she could have been a pretty good romantic comedy princess if she had chosen better movies. She was fantastic as the bible-thumpin' bitch in Saved! By the way, seriously, check out The Fault in Our Stars. It was fantastic and cathartic. Here's a clip from it: "It would be a privilege to have my heart broken by you." God, where were 18-year old guys like Augustus Waters when I was that age?

I like how you have quotation marks around "Chinatown." Does that mean your grandfather calls it something else?

I think Tim dated someone like Tony. Not so sure about Will. I think Tim probably had friends like Will, though. I do think Tim doesn't understand Will because Tim is a rule-follower and conventional, while Will marches to the beat of his own drum. Tim reminds me of that college club president who took things WAAAAYYYYY too seriously. I went to a crappy, small liberal arts school for a year with a D3 Program, and even a good-for-D3 program was pretty crazy, though with scaled down perks. I was a tutor for a program that was ostensibly for all freshmen, but really for dumb jocks. If you went to the library and attended this study hall, you would avoid academic suspension for the next semester. So of course you would see jocks check out their Facebook in the computer lounge for an hour, sign the paper, and then go.