65 Books in a Year: Book #17 Class of '88 Junior (2013 Read)

In an effort to review books that I've read in the past four years, but haven't reviewed I'm digging into my Goodreads archive and hacking away at it. If we're lucky, I'll be all caught up with the reviews by the end of the year. I'll be sure to put the year I read it in parenthesis in the title.

Here's a gem, that I've had sitting in the queue waiting to be finished up.

I've been reading With Rigor for All: Meeting Common Core Standards for Reading Literature. I feel like I could've written the book (if I'd ever had my act together) as Jago says things that I either do in my classroom or believe. In one of these instances she talks about the importance of reading literature true, but she also talks about the joys of re-reading.

One of my favorite quotes:

"Books ask readers to look inward, to examine our beliefs in light of new information, to consider the world through different eyes, to take time for reverie and reflection."

After reading that don't you want to just reread every book you've ever read as just the act of reading has made you look at the themes, characters and life in generally differently.

I'm looking at this series in two ways 1] as a piece of nostalgia and 2] as a how-to manual of sorts. I'll be talking about each book in this manner.

Class of '88 Sophomore

The Story

Allie comes back from New York full of piss and vinegar. I didn't care much for Allie's character from this point on. It's also during this book that Celia begins to show the worst of her true back-stabbing colors. Um, everything is out of whack, the guy that Allie is seeing starts seeing that chick from the Class of '89 series, Nick is dating Darcy and Meg is trying to be cool and popular and smart. The only good thing is that Sean gets a girl and Brooke is just lovely.

As A Piece of Nostalgia

Until this last year I didn't really care for this book much. Rereading it now, I realized that your Junior year is the hardest. Frankly, year three of anything is the hardest. But, your Junior year of high school is when you can't really be a kid anymore, but you aren't really an adult and oh, all of the decisions!

As A How to Manual

I've learned...er...remember that Juniors have a lot of crap going on and coming to class is only one of those things.

I'm not sure that Celia grew up to be all that nice. 

Looks Like I Have to Re-Read that Darned Gatsby

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There is a joy in teaching honors-level kids that are actually honors material (and, while I have a post talking about what it takes to be an honors teacher, I don't have one that talks about what makes a great honors student...hmmm, I suppose I should get on that). For now, let's just say that being a successful honors kid has nothing to do with how smart you are, but how willing you are to let your teacher push you to your limits, get you out of your comfort zone and how willing you are to learn regardless of what grade you will receive in the end. Each semester I have students transfer out of my class because they have Bs and don't want to hurt their GPAs, but I have kids who know how challenging, but rewarding it was to make a B or an A or even a C stay in the class for Round 2. I like what a kid said the other day, "I figured I made it through the first half of this class, I can make it through the second." Being an honors kid means having the right attitude and part of that attitude is this nerdy delight in all things literature.

Queue this post.

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I usually teach The Great Gatsby (GG) in a broader Modern American Dream unit where kids get to choose whether they want to read The Sun Also Rises (SAR) or GG, sometimes I teach SAR or GG, sometimes I don't teach GG at all, but give it as an option for an independent read. I was telling the kids this and so many of them were so upset...'what do you mean, we aren't going to read The Great Gatsby!?' and 'please can we read The Great Gatsby!' that I spent Christmas Break revamping my units to incorporate both SAR and GG. For those of you who want to see what my 2nd semester looks like you can click on my working calendars here (January is missing, well, because I didn't need to work on it, we're already doing it and it's Ethan Frome and Our Town and Small Town America), if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Sources for my GG unit (because, um, why reinvent the wheel):
The Great Gatsby 4-Week Bundle (I love TpT)
ShareMyLesson (free site for lessons and they have some delicious ones!)
Stuff from when I taught it in years past or want to add:

• The Center of Learning: The Great Gatsby
• "Ordeal by Cheque" (The American Dream/Death of the American Dream and Inference Skills)
•  The Great Gatsby Latitudes (linking fiction and non-fiction books to social studies)
•  "Richard Cory", "Lucinda Matlock", "Mr. Flood's Party", "Miniver Cheevy", "George Gray", "Fiddler Jones"
• Letter to Scottie

Aside from that little bit with the Age of Reason/Transcendentalism/Realism-Naturalism (we are a strangely American Literature based Honors Sophomore English class-don't ask it's a long story) and May as the all encompassing month for JC, the 2nd semester is pretty Modern, and I'm OK with that!

It's Better to Marry A Ben Over a Noel...This Does Not Hold True for Dylans, Paceys or Deans

The Intro

[The only time I ever wanted to work at a place called "The Peach Pit"]

First, I will be talking about the following shows: Beverly Hills 90210 (the one from the 90s not that crappy one from the CW!) , Dawson's Creek, Felicity and The Gilmore Girls. I could add The OC (Seth or Ryan?), but seriously, what the heck happened at the end there? Besides too many triangles and not enough time. And, this is the only time I will mention vampire infused love triangles via Twilight or The Vampire Diaries...as they are too idiotic to even contemplate as viable options! I'm also not going to be mentioning the delicious triangle in Hart of Dixie as I love both George and Wade... a lot.

The first triangle I ever noticed as a plot device is the Brandon, Dylan, Kelly drama...which eventually turned into a Brandon/Dylan venn diagram of awesome (and, began a lifetime devotion to Lord Byron), which eventually turned into a cluster of...I don't even know what and I stopped watching.

Every good TV drama will have some sort of love triangle and if there isn't an out and out triangle there will be two guys who form a great venn diagram of lust/love and awesome good looks that we, the viewer, must contemplate on a weekly basis even when the show is trying to tackle tough issues like teen suicide and alcoholism.

Watching Felicity in its entirety as an adult who knew the ending made me realize that I may always root for the bad guy in the love triangle, but truly Ben is the only bad guy with a genuine heart of gold...sigh...

Why I'd pick Ben every day of the week and twice on Sunday

Felicity is a pretty good judge of character and she realizes early on that Ben is a good guy. Sure she spends some time trying to reform him, she comes to accept him for who he is and he, in turn, grows to love the girl who is obsessed with him.

Bens
Character Analysis
Ben is not the best guy. He will tell you that. But, he also shows you that he actual is the best guy. He will tell you he loves you, actual once you break down that wall (and there is a big one...think Great Wall of China) he will tell you pretty much all about who he is and how he feels all of the time. Ben is the best guy friend, as he will punch any one who hurts you, and he will tell you like it is...even when you really don't want him to do so. I liked watching as Ben became more than this unattainable boy who Felicity didn't even know enough about to be obsessed over.
Pros
Tells you how he feels, isn't scared of you and your intelligence, he knows how to win your heart and is willing to learn from you how to keep your heart. He is a hard worker who learns from his mistakes, he has loads of friends, he will do anything for you and he will keep you on your toes.
Cons
Baggage...he, um, drinks and may or may not cheat on you, while he may tell you how he feels, he doesn't tell you what is on his mind, you have to be patient while he reforms, but he will reform and that's what makes him great marriage material. He will appreciate every moment with you and he will be honest with you, but he will still be that bad boy who first possessed your heart.

Noels
Character Analysis
Plays a mean game of boggle, and perfect RA material.
Pros
Bows out gracefully, finally.
Cons
Doesn't really know what it means to love someone, he does however, know what it means to be a wee bit obsessed about someone. This good marriage material does not make. I knew he wasn't the guy for Felicity the second he began to sabotage her relationship with Ben...if she really wanted him, she would have gone to him all on her own.

Why it doesn't hold true for Dylan, Pacey or Dean

"The right kind of love..." er...not really...

Dylans
Character Analysis
"Mad, bad and dangerous to know" I never understood why girls kept flocking to Dylan.
Pros
Drive a kick-butt car...um, is a good friend to Brandon most of the time...um...
Cons
Spoiled, trust-fund kid who throws money at problems. He will never understand why his money isn't buying your happiness.

"Whine, whine, whine..."

Paceys and Deans
Character Analysis
Pacey and Dean are the same character for the most part. Moon-eyed and love struck, they are kind of wimpy. I still don't understand why Joey picked Pacey over Dawson, well, that is I don't understand until I remember that Dawson didn't really like people or girls and had a pechant for being mopey and a wee bit selfish. Gosh, Joey really didn't have much of a choice. I can't believe Dean ruined his marriage to be with Rory and I can't believe Pacey pined for Joey...I don't know how long, one million years?
Pros
sweet, thoughtful, kind, patient, never say 'no', hardly ever get angry
Cons

"Could he be any nicer!?"

Their pros are also ALWAYS their cons, as all those traits make them so easy to be walked on...and, are the very reasons they don't make good marriage material. I remember reading/watching "The Joy Luck Club" and there is this scene where a wife confronts her husband about his affair and he says something about the fact that they used to argue and talk and contemplate things all the time and she began to always agree. No one likes to be told they're right all the time. No person with any self-respect likes to be followed without question.

More fun via...

FAB and FAN here

Wade and Zoe and George here

Joey and Pacey and Dawson here

If you have found more posts or want to talk about your favorite love triangle, feel free to convo with me in the comments below, I can totally geek out about this topic forever...

Books I've Read in the Past Four Years that Need to be Reviewed ASAP

This is just a place for me to keep track of the books that I've read and need to be reviewed...it's good to

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have goals!

2013

*Did I review any books at all this year? Lord knows I didn't really read very many!

1. The Cay
2. Kindred
3. The Prophet
4. Things Fall Apart
5. Nantucket Blue
6. Life As We Knew It
7. Dancing at the Harvest Moon
8. Fahrenheit 451
9. Allegiant
10. Quantum of Solace
11. The Painted Veil
12. Hard Sell
13. The Last Little Blue Envelope
14. Losing It
15. The Key to College Success
16. A Modern Girls' Guide to Bible Study
17. 13 Little Blue Envelopes
18. Workshops that Work
19. So, What Do They Really Know?
20. The Great Gatsby
21. Eleanor and Park
22. Image Grammar
23. Class of '88: Senior

2012

*Wow, only three! That's awesome!

1. Flapper
2. Infinite Jest
3. The Vincent Boys #1

2011

*It would seem I give up reviewing once the school year starts...hmmm...?

1. Midnight Cowboy
2. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
3. 22 Things...
4. A Repair Kit for Grading
5. Readicide
6. Vanity Fair
7. Horns
8. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
9. Maisie Dobbs
10. Ragtime
11. Vanity Fair

Educational Ins and Outs

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So, my friend sent this article to a few of us and I jokingly (not really joking at all) said that we should cut out the traits and have any new hires put them in order of importance, 9 out of 12 equals a new hire, anything less gets the door. I thought I'd take this opportunity to give my 2 cents on the educational "Ins and Outs".

1] Learners vs. Content as the Center of Instruction
This the trickest one I think, as I think some people interpret this as 1] only use what the kids want and 2] only do what the kids want, when that really isn't the case at all. If we treat our learners as people, if build a relationship with them, they are more likely to do what needs to be done. We know this to be true right!? I know I work better for someone who allows me to be human than for someone who is always nick-picking and not allowing me to grow as a learner.  In my aspect of education I hear often, "Well, the kids won't do that." or "The kids won't read that."...um, of course, they won't they're teenagers who still don't understand the importance of keeping their clothes on before posting selfies, they don't want to read classic literature or do something that makes their brains work...um, it's our job to make them to figure out how to get them to get it, to (as my friend Amanda says) 'drink the kool-aid'. I think it's a Jim Jones reference, but it works! I want my students to buy into the fact that I am educating them and that independent thinking and reading [fill in the blank classic piece of lit] makes them better, well-rounded people. I think it's important to know when content takes the back burner to the learner and when content has to be front and center. We no longer teach The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (I don't really know why, it wasn't in my grade-level), I hate that people graduating from my high school will not have read that book going in to college.

2] Educator as Coach and Lead Learner vs. as Expert and deliverer of content
In a perfect world a student understands that he/she must learn what is being taught, will do what needs to be done at home and in the classroom to make it happen and will then show evidence of learning on a regular basis without testing and quizzing. In the real world testing will always be the most direct way to show evidence of mastery, how we approach that testing shows whether we are a coach or dictator in our classroom. In Rick Wormeli's book Fair Isn't Always Equal he addresses how differentiated instruction is a way to help students master standardized tests, it doesn't talk about getting rid of them entirely, but using the test as a tool, and Marzano understands it when he says in Classroom Assessments and Grading that Works, “The score a student receives on a test is more dependent on who scores the test and how they score it than it is on what the student knows and understands.” Many students and parents get frustrated with this concept, however, it is up to us, the teacher, to guide them to understand the difference between a teacher who doesn't teach and a teacher who is facilitating the learning...when the teacher is the guide, the student will struggle, but he/she will not be alone. When a student facilitates the learning, he or she better understands the assessments given. They are masters of their learning.

3] Pluralistic education via the internet vs. single textbook
I've bought this one from day one...when the internet was a new and shiny concept! I love the access that internet affords us. I use my textbook, the internet, old textbooks, and my colleagues as resources for my students. The internet has leveled the playing field of education, students no longer have to go to London, Paris or Cairo to see priceless works of art and artifacts they can assess these finds via the internet. It is our responsible as public educators to make sure that our students have this access and it is our responsibility to help students understand the internet as an educational tool.

4] Failure as part of the process vs. perfection for students and teachers
Um...if you fail in my classroom it is because you refused (yes, not can't...can't is something else entirely and it is my job to figure out how or why they can't and then figure out how to get them to be able to succeed) to do any work to show that you have mastered the concept. If you make a D, it shows even more that you have not done work to master the concept. In my classroom an F or a D can be seen as failure. While I don't want to put a percentage on mastery, I'll tell you right now a student who receives a 60-69 in my classroom is in part lazy, has a large amount of truancy and down right refuses to do what it takes to learn. They are not college or career ready.

5] Differentiated and Personal Curriculum vs. One Size Fits All Curriculum
Curriculum should be used to guide instruction. Instruction should be in the hands of the teacher and the teacher alone as he/she knows what's best in his/her classroom for his/her students. I know what I need to do to get there, I've been given the pacing guides, I've been given the formatives, the summative, now give suggestions and leave me alone to teach. By the way differentiation is quite hard and timely...don't let anyone tell you different. Differentiation is not a quick fix. It is, however, the best and true answer.

6] Ongoing, formative assessments vs. summative assessments for accountability of teachers and school
I don't mind summative assessments, as college and life in some way or another is all about culminating events of learning. I abhor the fact that these tests (especially the end of the year standardized tests) seem to matter more to administration as indicators of success than whether students have 21st century skills. It is this myopic view that got us into the educational mess we are in as a nation in the first place. Let's not throw these out entirely, as I can use the data to help me become better, but let's not base funding and the overall success of a school and my happiness on this one shot test!

7] Multi-sensory learning vs. learning with only the brain in mind may not be relevant
I would love to meet the 'teacher' (in quotes on purpose) who does not teach in myriad ways to address the whole learner. Skill and drill, train and drain teachers have no place in education, ever. Wow, um, I didn't realize that I felt that passionately about it.

8] Producing and consuming content vs. just consuming
The hardest part of teaching is getting students to understand that they are the 'masters of their fates'...they are capable of doing all the things that I ask them to do. In fact, they are capable of doing more. They are so used to just regurgitating information without computing that it's quite a task to get to this next stage.

9] Learners do most of the talking and working vs. the teacher doing more
Of course, this goes back to the teacher is teaching, but some may think that the teacher is not. I'd like to know how to get over this hump with some parents and students. If you have any suggestions that would be awesome.

10] Technology integrated seamlessly vs. as an afterthought
Show me the money and I'll show you a teacher who integrates technology seamlessly. 

11] Misbehavior as an opportunity for growth vs. just discipline
I've also believed this since day one. A student should not be punished so much that he/she cannot come back from that punishment to succeed. I've never understood OSS as a form of discipline and in my classroom I would much prefer a student to be in my classroom than be in ISS or ASC (alternative school suspension center) as a form of punishment. Don't do something right? You get to do it again. I say to students and I mean it, "As long as you are in my classroom you will not fail." Like I've said before students have to go out of their way to do so. Just in case you were wondering students do and can fail, or make a grade they aren't used to making.

12] Social emotional learning as an integral part of education vs. being viewed as minimal or not integral 
We have to build relationships with our students before we can teach them. This is the most important aspect of teaching. Being shown how to communicate with oneself and others in an atmosphere of learning and education is ideal. This cannot be mandated to teachers as is differs by class and by teacher.

Books and articles that may help you think about how you feel about these processes:

A Repair Kit for Grading: 15 Fixes for Broken Grades-Ken O’Connor

Fair Isn’t Always Equal-Rick Wormeli

Formative Assessments and Standards-Based Grading-Robert Marzano

I Read It, But I Don’t Get It-Cris Tovani

Layered Curriculum-Kathy Nunley

Living Your Colors-Tom Maddron

P21 Skills (can be found at: p21.org)

Professional Learning Communities at Work-DuFour and Eaker

Readicide-Kelly Gallagher

Teach Like A Champion: Field Guide-Doug Lemov

“What is a PLC?”-DuFour

With Rigor For All-Carol Jago

What Teachers Make-Taylor Mali

And, if you are ready or want to dig in because you like forms and lists...feel free to make a copy of this Google Doc I created to record and solidify your own grading philosophy and core beliefs.

What's up with Ulysseus and his darned Odyssey?

I have always loved The Iliad and The Odyssey and have always been a little sad that we don't get to teach

[Ulysseus Deriding Polyphemus, Homer's Odyssey- JMW Turner, 1826]

one or both of them at my high school. Needless to say, (I love using that phrase as it is the pet peeve of many...if it's needless to say than why are saying it? but, I digress) I was really excited when my friend Kate tagged me on FB when one of her friends (a person I do not know) had this really great post analyzing The Odyssey .

Her comment was:

"You should talk to my friend, Stephanie!"

And, I had so much to say that I had to put it in a blog post!

1] Feelings about Ulysses

Here's what was said

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I wanted to abandonedly, thoughtlessly pull for the protagonist Odysseus the entire time. But I couldn't. Does anybody else have conflicted feelings about him? Does he ever seem just like a jerk, really? I loved the Odysseus of the Iliad-- always the coolest head in the room, always the smartest guy in the debate, and absolutely deadly in battle. He was all of those things in the Odyssey. But he was a jerk about it. Right?

My thoughts

Odysseus is a tragic hero and we're supposed to like him as much as we hate him. His hubris is the very fact that we know that he will not have the best go of it. We know that hubris is the downfall of many a tragic hero and while Odysseus may not die, he does spend 20 years wandering away from his family, he does have to get to know his son and understand that his mother died while he was gone. He has to save his family and his honor and kill the suitors, all while learning to be less prideful.

2] Ulysses subterfuge with his father

Here's what was said

[Spoiler alert.] If I were drafted into the service tomorrow, and I left (which I would), and only returned home after 20 years to find my mother dead from grieving my assumed death and my highly aged father literally throwing ashes over his head at the mention of my name, upon seeing him for the first time, I don't think I'd play games with him by "testing him" with a story, pretending I was someone else, and mentioning that I'd seen his son. Does that just seem really cruel to anyone else? Or am I missing something? I get the approach with Penelope-- a literal horde of men is waiting day and night outside the house to marry his wife, and threatening violence, and Agamemnon returned home from Troy to find Clytemnestra having taken up with another man, or another man having taken up with her, or both, or something, and the two of them offing him. So a ginger approach is prudent. But with your ancient father Laertes? Is there just too much subterfuge? Is Odysseus too cute by half?

My thoughts

Odysseus is not being 'too cute by half' nor is he playing games. He understands that his father is going through a tough time, but does not excuse the way he has been acting in the absence of his son. Laertes is a great king and leader who does not seem to understand that morality is part of what it means to be alive. Odysseus needs to know that his father accepts this, has a proper cry about the death of his son, remembers the good and then is willing to move on. Odysseus knows that his father must accept that he is dead before he can appreciate that he can he is actual back, alive and well.

3] Those pesky suitors

Here's what was said

[Telemachus: All of the heroics none of the hubris]

Was hacking or shooting every Suitor entirely necessary, especially as they begged for mercy in a locked room with no defense?

My thoughts

This seen isn't really for the benefit of Odysseus but the benefit of Telemachus. In some/most/all ways The Odyssey is as much the story of Telemachus as it is Odysseus. Telemachus learns how to be a man on his quest to find his father. The killing of the suitors is a 'rite of passage' for him and proves to his father and others that he is just as much a man as Odysseus. They were all given a chance to leave and instead of doing that they just kind of set up camp around the home, and, like those people who state at your house long after the party is over, they were becoming a nuisance and they were definitely pests. Because they did not leave, because they did not believe the warnings and because they wanted to cause Odysseus' family hard, they all had to be taught a lesson. In sum: they deserved it. They had to be shown who was in charge and, well, now, should Odysseus ever leave again nobody's bothering his wife and family.

4] The Ending

Here's what was said

[Another spoiler alert.] What was with the ending? Does it feel like waking up from a particularly vivid dream to anyone else? Weird. The Suitors' families are approaching to attack Odysseus and his family. Athena, Odysseus' patron goddess, asks Zeus what to do. Zeus tells her to urge both sides to make peace. So Athena urges Odysseus to attack. Once the fight starts actually killing people, Athena urges Odysseus to make peace, at which point Zeus throws a thunderbolt at her, and the story is over with only the mention that everyone decided to go into town to talk. Bizarre. Right?

My Thoughts
Who's in charge of it all? The Gods. How do we know? This scene. Who's in charge of the Gods? Zeus. How do we know? This scene. Who dies in this scene? The father of Antinous, a person we are led to believe deserves it, just like Antinous deserves his demise. Antinous, after all, was the voice of all the suitors.

Just in case you haven't gotten enough of this story, here are my two favorite poems about it. 

"Ulysses" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson and "Penelope" by Dorothy Parker

Gosh, writing this just made me want to teach it more, and maybe read it again or at least read The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood! sigh...

I Am and Will Always be a Sucker for Guys like Jake Barnes, Nick Carraway and Holden Caulfield

First, the guys

Jake Barnes

• “You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another.” (understands running is not a way to solve problems)
• "'Nobody ever lives their life all the way up except bull-fighters.'" (knows that unless we have a job that puts our lives on the line on a daily basis, literally, we don't truly live)
• "This was Brett that I had felt like crying about. Then I thought of her walking up the street and stepping into the car, as I had last seen her, and of course in a little while I felt like hell again. It is awfully easy to be hard-boiled about everything in the daytime, but at night is another thing." (knows how to love and write about love and feel love, also honest about his feelings)
• "I was a little ashamed, and regretted that I was such a rotten Catholic, but realized there was nothing I could do about it, at least for a while, and maybe never, but that anyway it was a grand religion, and I only wished I felt religious and maybe I would the next time...." (fights with his spiritual self and sometimes his not so spiritual wins, how human)
• "Enjoying living was learning to get your money's worth and knowing when you had it." (learns how to enjoy the life he's been given)

Nick Carraway

• "Every one suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known." (understands the aspects of him that have virtue)
• "There was no difference between men, in intelligence or race" (neither racist nor elitist) 
• "They're a rotten crowd," I shouted across the lawn. "You're worth the whole damn bunch put together." (understands what it means to be a true friend)

Holden Caulfield

• “Certain things, they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone.” (understands that there are things that should remain constant, also understands that not everything should remain constant)
• “People always clap for the wrong things.” (not interested in being shallow)
• “I don’t give a damn, except that I get bored sometimes when people tell me to act my age. Sometimes I act a lot older than I am - I really do - but people never notice it. People never notice anything.” (knows that people don't always notice the right things, also realistic)

Why I Love Them

1. Honesty: while they may not be the most upright of men (OK, I get it Holden isn't really a man, but the first time I read that book he and I were the same age, so I feel like we're still the same age...whatever), they are in fact quite honest about that. They do what they know to be right, even if the world may not think that's what they should be doing.
2. Intelligence: all three narrate their own stories and so we can a sense of their thought processes and what thought processes they are. We learn about phony people, what they value in their fellow men and in women, we learn who they are and we learn that they have a code and honor and a sense of what is right and wrong, even if they don't always know or care to know how to fix it.
3. Challenging: all three of these guys are tough nuts...who will keep any gal on their toes and I like that. I like the idea of being the person who can not only see past that hard shell, but also be the one that does the cracking...they may not be the best listeners, but isn't helping them learn how to be part of the challenge?
4. Manliness (yes, even Holden Caulfield): in the way they talk, what they say, how they act, who they associate with...sigh...
5. Naivete (yes, even Jake Barnes): even the strongest, toughest man has a place in his mind and heart that still acts and reacts as a boy. Each one of these guys has that part of him who hurts, doesn't mind crying and doesn't really understand the world. They are not hardened. 

Why It Will Never Work

Just in case you were wondering, no these traits don't translate over to real life very well. You see:

The Jakes are always out late, drinking and then want to philosophize with you forever about things not in your control or power to change. Then they self-loath for a minute and then...well, nothing.

The Nicks are runners and when they run, they run all the way home.

The Holdens are just as phony as they think everyone else is, only they'd rather talk to you ad nauseam about your faults and how you need to change. Oh, and they're also usually a little too young to be that cynical and mean.

I guess, I'll just stick to Chandler Bing...oh, wait...

And, then there's this little thing I found: Marry, Date, Dump?
My answer: Jake, Holden, Nick