methodwriter85

I have a master's degree in history that I'm not really doing anything paid with, though I do volunteer at a museum so I can keep my skills current. I might go back to school someday- either to get another master's degree in urban planning, so that I can create a niche for myself as a urban renewal history guy, or get a PhD in public history. I haven't really decided yet- in any event, I want to live real life for at least 5 years out of grad school- if by 31 I'm still not going anywhere in my field, I'm probably going to go back to school. Grad school's a bitch, though. I don't know if I can do it again.

Well, if they care, they're not THAT concerned since it seems like a lot of them drive SUV's. Mark's reflected the popularity of them for the early/mid-part of the decade. Anyway... I kinda figure the meltdown of 2007-2009 should figure into CAP, and Matt's a good person to be part of that lense. 2008 will be such an insane year to work with. It's interesting how people are positioned- Brad and Stefan are positioned to profit from the Iraq War. If/when Will/the kids start to have friends who became veterans of the war, will that amp up conflicts between them and JP/Will? Will seems like he's best positioned for the Proposition 8 fight- I can see him being a big part of the No H8 campaign. Also, if Will has maintained his interest in marine life, I can see him being part of the clean-up effort for the 2010 BP Oil Spill. Wade being at Harvard means he'll be there when Facebook is invented in 2004. (God, I miss old-school Facebook.) And JJ being on the East Coast puts him into the cross-hairs of the bitchy Johnny Weir/Evan Lysacek rivalry, which was really fun to read about.

Eh. I do think it's cool that Pittsburgh is becoming a popular filming location- it's a beautiful city. The scenery is just gorgeous. So do you not have an opinion on the Bode Miller custody case? Should it be decided by New York only, or does California have jurisdiction? Is it fair to say that his baby mama "shopped" for a more favorable jurisdiction by moving to New York at 7 months pregnant? You seem to me like a very pro-paternal rights guy, so I thought you'd have an opinion on it.

At gay rave clubs and in truck rest stop bathrooms.

*shrugs* He's an asshole, but what guy wasn't when they were 19? His face is still too effeminate for me. I think Austin Mahone will be much better-looking when he's 19. I think as someone said, the problem with Justin Bieber is that he tries to dress in thug wear, and it doesn't look good on a twink. He'd look so much better in Burberry and the like. As for the actual deposition, I was kinda with Justin at the end with, "Is this a deposition or an interview? I'm confused."

Annnnddddd it's a clothing ad. Still cute, but I feel kind of tainted. Still, the concept was pretty awesome and my hat's off to whoever came up with this. It was pretty innovative.

LOL. Yeah. Adam, has anyone ever told you that you're kind of quirky? I WISH the gay couple had been into it, because as the other one noted, one of them had really pretty eyes, but eh. It was interesting to see the pairings- it was funny to see the 20-something tattooed hipster getting into it with the 60-something Jill Larson. Get it, gurl. LOL.

They don't seem all that concerned with the environment, so I'm not sure I see any of these people getting a Prius. Maaaayyybbbeee Will, but that depends on whether or not he gets in with the GreenPeace crowd in college. This is still the SUV era and Mark's been reflecting that. I don't see Wade becoming the crusading lawyer type. I mean, I'm sure he'll support the effort to get DADT and Prop 8 overturned, but Wade is pretty cynical after 22 years of being raised in politics, and I think his approach to politics is more along the lines of, "change only happens when you hurt a politician's bottom line" as opposed to, "I can change hearts and minds!" He also seems more like a moderate Republican than a liberal democrat. I think the only card-carrying liberals I can see in this family are JP, Will, and probably Marie. Brad and Stefan are getting themselves into war contracting, Ace and Claire seem like staunch Republicans left over from the Reagan Era, and JJ/Darius/Matt don't seem like they'd be politically motivated. Gathan, from how he described his political views in Poor Man's Son, was a middle-of-the-road type who didn't think either side really mattered and was more focused on just the small town he wanted to govern someday. I can see him being a corporate lawyer, on retainer for whatever the hell the conglomeration of Schluter/Crampton companies are called. I can't even remember all the names and affiliations. As for Boston, I'm excited because that means that JJ and Johnny Weir have to battle each other for spots in Nationals, and apparently Johnny Weir had a boyfriend, Drew Meekins, who skated at Boston. So it's a natural, organic way to have the guy pop up and get into bitchy catfights with JJ. LOL.

I feel like Matt's slowly starting to get that things are over, but he's not 100 percent there yet. What a messy, drawn-out break-up.

Well, Adam, "Cross-Currents" is indeed high art, in my mind. That the two sex scenes between Brad and Andy is hot as hell is a nice bonus. (Interestingly enough, while the Andy/Matt scene are hot, because it's based on a deeper bond than just sex, I can't really get off on it. It's almost too intimate.)

Chapter 4 -When Matt leaves his college dorm, for good, and contemplates while leaving behind that life forever. "Forever Young" by Alphaville I danced to this song at my high school prom. It's still emblazoned in my mind- it was the tune from Napoleon Dynamite. -When Wade and Matt have some hot, rough sex. "Control" by Puddle of Mudd -When Matt and Wade talk about his plans for graduate school, and Matt realizes that it really is ending, and soon. "If You Leave" by OMD

Twenty strangers are asked to kiss. This is the result. I loved when you can tell they weren't into it at all, like the gay couple who just pecked and the blonde woman who kept leaning back while she was getting kissed, and the people you figured probably went on a date afterwards.

I was really hoping they'd do a Fault in Our Stars reaction, and they did! Woo-hoo! Good on John Green for his cameo. He's a really funny, intelligent guy. Check out his YouTube videos if you have a chance.

Yeah. I mean, they'll have a quasi-sibling bond because she's being raised by Tiffany, but it's not like anybody in this family has ever let quasi or real-incest stop them. (Thankfully, Mark hasn't gone there with JJ and Will. *whew*) Didn't Jeanine, when we met her, have kind of a punk thing going on? It'd be hilarious if Maddy was like that, amping up Mrs. Danfield's horror. Given Mark's penchant for long-lost people crawling out of the woodwork, I wonder if, once the Marie/JJ/Will generation are in their 20's, he'll introduce male teenagers to go along with Courtney's co-hort (early/mid-90's born people) or if he'll retire the teen scene. He's usually tried to maintain a teen storyline in CAP- but it might recede into the background like it did for Man In Motion and A Summer Love.

For some reason I keep thinking that Ace was born in March 1962. Alrighty then- it does look like Brad hits the big milestone first. Robbie actually had the same birth month and year that Ace had, but we never actually settled on a definite birthday for him. I don't think Mark ever gave a specific age for Jeff or Elizabeth Danfield- I kinda always assumed that they were in their mid/late 40's. I think they'd have to be older than Brad and Robbie were because people Brad's age don't usually have college-aged kids. Mid/late 40's tends to be more in line with that. And plus, for Jeff to be a senior senator like he was, he'd have to be older than 40. Early 50's might be more likely. Matt's parents, I believe, we set them up as being in their late 30's when they adopted Matt, so they should be just about 60 or 61 now. In any event, I'm glad that Marie/JJ/Ethan are 16 now, and Will's almost 16. (And will probably be referred to by other characters as 16.) I feel less squeamish about 16-year olds having sex and doing drugs than I do about 13-year olds doing it. (Well, I can't remember if Marie does drugs..we know that JJ doesn't go near it because it's coarse and his ass is subjected to random drug testing.) I wonder if we'll follow the younger ones into their teenaged years. (Like, it'll be 2026 for us but 2014 for them.) Courtney is exactly the right age- 13 in 2008- to get into Twilight mania. And I'll admit, I'll love it if Riley and Maddy wind up becoming a teenaged puppy love couple when they're 13, because Elizabeth Danfield (if she's still alive) really would hit the roof.

Yeah, toddlers are adorable when they're in good moods. I've watched four nieces and 1 nephew grow up, ranging in age from 19 to the nephew, who's 14 months. I have a set of twin nieces that are 2 and a half and they're freaking adorable. (Again, when they're not moody.) I think the cute age is about 1 year to 7 years old. By 8, they start heading into tween territory and it's not quite as cute anymore. As for Marie and JJ, they're both 16 now. I think Mark told me that JJ won't get a car because he prefers being chauffeured around, but Marie strikes me as an independent type who'd want one. (Not quite as fervent as Will, but the independent streak is still there.) I can't see Marie driving a BMW because that seems like the car her mother would drive, so maybe an Audi? Or it could be something really quirky. I'd love for a scene where Marie and Will hang out and do the talk and drive...I really like that friendship.

Bring Blockbusters Back To California With Increased Film Incentives I think it's interesting that the California film industry has ceded some ground. It's been pretty cool to hear about the rise of the film industry in Georgia, Louisiana, and Pittsburgh over the past decade. I do think its kind of funny that there are movies or t.v. shows that are actually set in California but filmed elsewhere- the first two seasons of Teen Wolf filmed in Georgia, and the show Graceland was filmed in Florida. I'm so used to seeing California locations double for other places. Like, you know, Simi Valley doubling for Minnesota prairie land.

I don't think Tony is an actively malicious person. I think he's very selfish but at the same time, tries to talk a good game about being a good guy without actually being one, but I don't think he's in evil territory. Tony just strikes me as a guy who never really had to bother developing a personality because his looks alone attracted people, and he became a very "surface" person. Tony's issues about his father didn't make him a deeper person- it just kind of explains why he's not a very genuine person. He's good at telling people what they want to hear, but he can't follow through on it because it requires him to actually consider the feelings of other people. Anyway, as for this chapter, I really liked Matt taking Wade on Memory Lane. That was sweet and I loved all the callbacks to Be Rad. Oh, and I forgot to do what I normally do when we start new story...update the ages! So as of this point in the story... JP- About to turn 66 (Frank's gotta be around the same age- I think Isidore is 63) Stefan- Closing in on 57 Ace- 40 Brad- 39 Jack- 38 or 39 Claire- 37 Cody- About 32 Tiffany- 26 Matt- 22 Wade- 22 MaryEllen- About 21 Darius- 20 Gathan- 20 Beau- 19 or so Ella- 18, 19 in August Zach- About to turn 17 JJ- 16 Marie- 16 Will- 15 John- Almost 15 Courtney- 6 Maddy- 21 months Riley- 21 months

Chapter 3 -When Wade and Matt argue in the morning after. "Blurry" by Puddle of Mudd -When Matt tries to lead down Wade on Memory Lane, and remind them of when they fell deeply in love in 1998-1999, and we montage over their happy moments. "Because of You" by 98 Degrees I actually went back to the Bloodlines Music thread and picked this tune from a Matt/Wade moment from when Wade decides to move into Escorial in chapter 50 of Bloodlines. - When Wade and Matt have sex again, after reminding him of the night that they cuddled together after Cole knocked him out at the hockey game back in '98. "2 Become 1" by The Spice Girls Browising the Bloodlines Music thread, I realized that I did actually score that moment. This was the tune for it. -When Matt announces that he's going to move back into Escorial, and discovers that he got into U. of Chicago. "A New Day" by Celine Dion

Colton Haynes just posted a link to his Abercrombie and Fitch photo shoot. Let's take a moment and drool. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-fn5i0h0zU (He's our John Hobart, in case you guys didn't know.) Damn, the kid is beautiful. How Adam doesn't find him beautiful I'll never know.

I meant in Philadelphia. Of course there'd be ones in other places. Philadelphia doesn't have as many skyscapers as other cities...it had the Gentlement's Agreement until the 1980's, the city size wise is actually pretty large for an East Coast city (152 square miles), and of course the whole economic crash did a lot to halt skyscaper construction here. It's nice to see that they're playing catch-up. It'll never be Manhatten, but that might be a good thing. Like I said, Philly's only recently started building tall skyscapers again- there was a rush in the 1980's/early 1990's, then there was some activity again the early/mid-2000's, but the economic crash really halted it. (There was once a plan to build a 1,500 feet tall skyscaper here.) It's a sign that the city's moving up again.

Unfortunately University of Delaware is rather sports apathetic. Kinda disappointing.

First Look At The Plans for the Restaurant Atop New Comcast Tower There's never been a restaurant at 900 feet in the air before...pretty cool.

Something about the backing music of this tune sounds really familiar, and I can't figure out what it comes from. Thoughts?

I'm good with it, especially if it means that Claire looks like Vera Farmiga. Talent definitely abounds in that family. Good job, Blue.