This is AMAZING.

EDIT:  What do you take for granted? What are the small things in life that you DO appreciate?

After last night's random acts of kindness post i got thinking about how many campers live close to eachother without even realising it.

So tell me campers/rangers/woodland creatures..

WHERE DO YOU LIVE?

Have you always lived there?or only moved later in life etc?where are you originally from?

What is your hometown famous for?Do you enjoy living there?Where is your ideal place to live?

omg questions galore.

I live in London, the land of double decker buses, and red telephone boxes.

So come on campers, enlighten me.

I was having one of my old work friends and her husband over for dinner earlier in the week, and I went into a panic.  Why you ask?  Because of all the Twilight stuff slung about my house.  From my multiple copies of the DVD, to the books, right down to my Edward lunch box my home was obviously a Twilight zone (hehe).  See, my work friends aren't aware of my obsession, and until they bring it up, I'm not sharing.

It got me to thinking about other stuff.  There are movies and music, that I love, that I am way more embarrassed about.  I'm talking about movies and cds that I keep hidden in my closet like my husband's porn collection.  These are pieces of media that even some of my very best friends don't know I enjoy.  I want to know what kind of things you enjoy that you keep to yourself.  I want to see pictures, videos, and I want silly comments.

Me first.  *deep breath*

and.....oh, the shame....

P.S.  Sorry to desecrate the forest with Britney Spears.  If it makes it any better, this was the only album I liked.  I listen in secret...not anymore.

Wow.  I feel so much better.  That takes a load off.  I have an even worse one, but I need to see some other embarrassing stuff before I can divulge it.

Your turn!  :)

I'm just posting this here because I could watch it over and over and it makes me laugh every single time so I thought maybe some of you could use a good laugh on a Friday afternoon. 

So, a couple of months ago, my younger sister introduced me to "fanfictions" and I was over the moon. You see, I had just finished watching New Moon in theaters a grand 3 times [never ever did that with any movie in all of my 25 years on planet earth] and THEN watched Twilight a bazillion times AND made my husband buy me the entire series to re-read [and tried to get him into it..but, poor guy just couldn't do it - he's a writer/head of english and thus, could not deal with Meyer's uh, very, "straight-forward"style]...anyway, back to my introduction to FF, I was over the moon and the first FF I read was Wide Awake then all of Jandco.

I am really particular when i read and if I don't like a description...I choose to ignore it or skip over it..., so, I decided to write my own FF. I've got the whole story and I go over it - again and again - nothing fantastic but, I enjoy playing with Edward [tee hee]...

Anyway, work's been really hectic [read: cutthroat promotion time] and I've been feeling lousy and can NOT write.

Excuses Excuses.

Help me, Oh beautiful Nymphs of this here ADF...how do you motivate/inspire yourself?!

Also reccommend some fluff. Please.

So what's in a werewolf? I think we all know the basics, little red riding hood has instilled as much in us despite being a simple wolf according to the story. But how about the twilight werewolves? Technically shapeshifters but come on. We all think of them as werewolves. However, do they really make the cut? Personally, when I think of werewolves I want something primal, dangerous, and...not cuddly. I can appreciate the work that went into the giant dogs on the NM screen, but that's NOT a beast in my eyes. This isn't the first popular series to cock up werewolves either.

Really WB? You made how much money off of the harry potter series and this giant rat is the best your design team could come up with? I understand that perhaps this could be seen as a more "realistic" version of a werewolf, but that's bullshit when you've got wizards flying around everywhere, mermaids in your loch, unicorns and centaurs in your forest, and FREAKING MAGIC out the yin yang. This (along with the centaurs) was supposed to be one of the highlights of the HP franchise for me. Imagine my reaction seeing that on the big screen. I may have let a few versus fly that parents and their children didn't appreciate.

Then we've got the beasties from Van Helsing. i like the teeth, but something still isn't working. Probably the obvious use of CGI. Granted you can only do so much but, these still don't do it for me. It wasn't until the final werewolf of the movie that I felt any of the power behind these creatures that they should really exude.  Up until that point they were merely pawns and that's just not how a beast of nature operates m'kay?

Of course we have the old classics and some of the campier films like "ginger snaps" and the horribly designed werewolves in the Underworld series. movie aside, was anyone else shocked that they were basically guys running around in fur suits? Even when we did get CGI they had that giant hairless rat look again. What the hell?!

To be fair, i haven't seen the new wolfman but I don't expect that design to meet my horror standards either. If only because it's working off of the classics. When I think werewolf, these are the best examples I've got of the monsters I picture in my head. You know, something that would actually be a real threat to a vampire. Sad that I was only able to find illustrations no? Deviant art has some good stuff as well but it's usually not like this.

So ladies and gentlemen (I know you're out there), what did you think of the werewolves in NM? Do you think hollywood will ever get it right? What is a werewolf to you? If you've got a good example, post it. Given that it's friday, say whatever the hell you want.

...or a nurse, or an EMT?

I need some medical advice for the current chapter of my fic.  One of the characters has taken a bad fall, and there are broken bones involved.  I want to make sure I'm accurate in terms of treatment at the scene, moving the patient, and so forth.  (Fortunately, I have never broken a bone, so I don't have personal experience!)

If you can help, I promise I won't take up too much of your time.  Either respond here or PM me.

Thanks!

So, being that it’s Friday Free for All I’ve decided to make my very first A Different Forest post.

With all the anger and fic-drama going on, I think we should all take a step back and look at the fandom appreciatively.

What do you like about fandom or fanfiction? What makes you smile or laugh? Why do you come on day after day even though sometimes the bad seems to outweigh the good?

Personally, I love the critiques and my readers. Even if I want to cry over something stupid, it’s amazing how one reader can lift my spirits and make me forget about it. And becoming a better writer is why I post. In order to build up you have to be torn down.

Come and share :)

We were just talking about this with my friends today and it was so much fun, plus I really don't know that many people here, so I thought it would be interesting to ask:

Imagine your life was made into a movie. Who would you cast as you? 

 In regards to my earlier post about a stolen fic...

...the plot seems to have thickened and I am looking to you oh wise campers for help/advice/knowledge.  

The 'original' story, if it was indeed the original and now I'm starting to wonder, has been pulled off of FFnet.  The original was called A Little Piece of Heaven by vampgirl18.  Her Twitter account has also been removed.  I had sent her a pm last night about her fic to which she did not reply though obviously she has been online.  I've sent her another e-mail asking her what's going on but I doubt I'll get a reply.  This is very odd behavior to me.  If someone stole my fic I would thank the person who gave me a heads up.  I wouldn't just disappear.

The woman who 'stole' the fic (maybe she didn't?) is upset, possibly rightly so.  I admit I never pm'd her directly.  I felt that would be too catty and wouldn't result in anything productive.  However if something shifty is going on here (a la vampgirl) then I am willing to eat crow and apologize.  I can only go on what I had and what I had is this:

I had started reading A Little Piece of Heaven months ago.  It was on my alert list.  LadyExcalibur2010 didn't create her FFnet account until January 20th of this year and she already has seven fics up.  This seems fishy to me.  It would be awesome if people could go and look and see if the premise of any of her other stories are the same as ones already out there.  For example, the summary of her story The Legacy looks really familiar to me but I'm not sure.

Either way something here is hinky.  Maybe on both ends?  I'd love to know more because if it turns out that somehow vampgirl was the one that stole the fic (maybe from another site?) then she should be reported.  Or if LadyExcalibur is totally innocent (which I'm not yet convinced of) then I will apologize to her.

Anyone here know any additional info?

EDIT: I just received this message from vampgirl18.

Myself and LadyExcalibur2010 have talked and resolved the issue. Our stories
may have been very similar, but after we compared notes on the matter, we
found that they were both going in very seperate directions. Aspects of my
story were not present in hers, and some of hers were not present in mine. I
really want to thank you for looking out for me, but in the future if this
happens again (hopefully not =] ) can you tell me before you report someone? I
would rather talk to the author and find a resolution before reporting them.

I was going to delete the story anyway, prior to this incident. I was
neglecting my others in lue of this one, and I was starting to resent it. I
hated the way it read and I'm doing a massie overhaul on the whole story. It
will be back! Don't worry, I deffinetly plan on reposting it in the future.

This is still very weird to me and I wish I had copy and pasted Vampgirl's story because I read through the first three chapters of both stories last night to make sure I was right and they were WORD FOR WORD exactly the same not just "similar".  The hell?  Guess that's what I get for trying to help someone.  So no.  At the moment I'm still not going to apologize because I still think something weird is going on here.  Maybe they both stole the damn thing?  *throws hands up in the air*

With the release of Remember Me just around the corner, and all the guest spots that Robert Pattinson is going to be doing in the next couple weeks, I have a moral dilemma that I will present to the forest.

You see, I have Rob Pattinson in a box. Now, not the real Rob Pattinson, mind you. No... I would keep the real Rob Pattinson in a cage... a fancy cage... with shag carpet and a fireplace and a big white bed and little Ooompa Loompas to bring us room service... but I digress. No, I mean I have a box that I keep in my closet in which there are several teen magazines, that issue of Vanity Fair, copies of various movies including Little Ashes and The Haunted Airman and even that film Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King in which he has a minor role. I will be adding to that box really soon, with the new issue of Details and the impending release of New Moon.

My husband works seven straight nights once a month, and that is usually when I take out the box. Do I do anything while the box is out? No, because this is not that kind of post. But is there is a certain Gollum-esque nature to my monthly treasure box raid (my presssssccccious [strokes a photo of Rob] my presssssccccious). So my question is, is this healthy? Is this wrong? Probably won't stop me from doing it, but what you ladies think?

And while we are on the topic, is it wrong for a 40-year-old woman to think Sterling Knight from the Disney Channel is really really cute?

 Hey 

So I had fallen behind but have just caught up with one of my favs High Anxiety and now I'm like......

WTF!!!!!!!!!!!

So what did you guys think of it?

Were you shocked or did you see Edward going back to his old ways?

Ok, so i recently got my driver's licence and along with it a new car. And since i cannot drive without listening to music, i'm burning CD's with the current songs i like. The problem is , i'm stuck. I'm kind of sick of listening to the same shit every day and i need new songs.

So, i want you to rec me your currently favorite song. BUT, only ONE song. I know it's tough coz when i think about it, i have a whole list to rec, but i want you to rec me ONE and ONLY ONE!

ETA: My currently favorite is this

Choose wisely ;)

Hello all... Happy Friday to you. I'm just stuck here in NW Pennsylvania where it's a complete white out.

No work? Check. No school? Check. No place to get takeout?? Holy eff it's going to be a long weekend.

Anyway... Three weeks ago, I treated myself to a new phone. Yep, that's right. The iPhone. However, I am quite technically incompetent.

The only App I have is Facebook. I attempt to surf the interwebs with it, but have found I can't post here (le gasp!) and it's quite difficult to read any fic from.

So, I was wondering, fellow campers, if you could be of some assistance to me.

What apps do you have on your phone?
How do you read fanfiction from it?
What else can I do with this $200 piece of crap?

I would bribe you all with pictures of our favorite Twiguys or a certain rangers Bones obsession, but alas, I am illequipt.

and omg, can someone please effing teach me how to use twitter...?

I'm currently writing a fic that takes place primarily in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Khartoum, Sudan. However, there's also snippets from other countries. Anyway, I tend to try to write what I know, because I think it comes off more authentic that way. However, I am beginning to exhaust my list of interesting travel anecdotes. SO TELL ME SOME STORIES. ANYTHING FUNNY OR SCARY OR RIDICULOUS EVER HAPPEN TO YOU?

STORIES FROM SUDAN OR CAMBODIA ARE ESPECIALLY USEFUL.

I will start and tell a story that some of you may recognize (blah blah self insert whatever):

When I was on safari in Kenya, we camped at Lake Baringo our first night, where we had gone hippo spotting. They warned us when we went to sleep that if we needed to get up in the middle of the night or something, that we should shout for one of the night watchmen so that they could escort us. Why? Because there might be hippos. Hippos liked to come out at night and tromp through campsites sometimes looking for food. Apparently hippos can be pretty deadly. Of course, when my friend/travel companion heard this, she started flipping out. She was all "Ginny, pee now! You are NOT getting up in the middle of the night! I do not want to be trampled by a rampaging hippo!" And I was all like "Yeah right." Rolling my eyes and stuff. Anyway, I wake up in the middle of the night. Why? Because I hear...snorting. It was weird. It sounded like a gigantic pig. And I mean GIGANTIC. And then there was sniffing. And that's when I realized--they TOTES weren't lying about the hippos. Not only that--my friend was TOTES snoring. Like LOUD. And then the sniffing was getting CLOSER. And then there was GRUNTING. And more SNORTING. And then it was like FIVE feet from me. I almost pissed myself, swear to god. I wanted to smack the shit out of my friend for snoring so loud and ATTRACTING them. Oh, the irony. THEN, I heard a splash. Like a big one. Like a dump truck had been dropped in the lake. And then I realized it was a hippo getting back in the water. And then I heard another splash. And then I heard twigs snapping as the HUGE HIPPO that had been sniffing at our tent walked away to follow suit. By the end of it, I counted SIX splashes. There were SIX hippos all up in our campsite. And of course my friend slept through the whole thing.

 I've just finished the second book and i need the next one now!!!!!

Checked on Amazon it's not released till August, NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

I need to know what happens to Katniss and Peeta.

I feel i have developed an unhealthy obsession with these books.

Not reading series any more, just one book with a beginning, middle and end. So much easier, lol.

In honor of Free For All Friday, I have a confession to make.

For the last month....I've been hiding in my office.

I come in early, leave late, avoid all common areas at my company, like the cafeteria and gym. 

Why you may ask?  My EX has started working here and I'm avoiding the awkward run in.

To give this a little prespective, this is my EX from years and years ago.  I've been with my SO for nearly 13 years now, we have an 2 kids, a stinky dog and a ridic mortgage. 

Basically - I have no reason to be such a chicken.  Yet I am.

*Phew* Feels good to get that off my chest!  LOL. 

Soooooo....tell me about a time you were less than brave, or better than brave or explain to me why EXes drive us all batty or just call me a chicken and we'll call it a day.

: )  

Rob can't wait to hear your stories!

And you all know what that means right?

FREE FOR ALL FRIDAY IS HERE!!!!!

The NEW reigning Super Bowl Champs are set to take on the cast of Twilight in New Orleans next month for a charity softball game. 

Here's the article from Nola.com:

He's battled Vikings, he's kicked Colts, and now New Orleans Saints kickerGarrett Hartley is turning his attention to a new foe: vampires.

Ted Jackson/The Times-PicayuneNew Orleans Saints kicker Garrett Hartley celebrates after his 40-yard field goal against he Vikings sent his team tot he Super Bowl.The golden-toed fan favorite has been added to the lineup of local celebrities and athletes who will play against cast members of the "Twilight" movies in a celebrity baseball game set for March 20 at Zephyr Field.

He will be joined on the local team by Saints teammates Lynell Hamilton and Kyle Eckel.

Some of the proceeds from the game will benefit earthquake relief efforts in Haiti, as well as to the Blood Center of Southeast Louisiana and the 9th Ward Field of Dreams.

Rosters still are being finalized, but the "Twilight" team will include actor Peter Facinelli, who plays Carlisle Cullen in the "Twilight" movies. He will be joined by Chaske Spencer, Alex Meraz and Tyson Houseman, all of whom appeared in last year's "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" and are scheduled to appear in June's "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse."

Tickets to the game -- which will include admission to a post-game autograph session and a concert -- are $25 and are available online atwww.fantrips.travel/twilightfantrips/.

Nom nom nom nom nom.....

http://theslashawards.blogspot.com/

Accepting nominations until Feb. 28th. Go nom your favorite slash fics!