So I was at work today, feeling emo and pissed about moving my office. Again. I went from having my own, to sharing with 4, now sharing with 12.  Goodbye privacy, hello fanfic on the phone. Plus, we're getting really close to negotiation time and I REALLY don't want to strike and I know it's gonna happen.  This is not how a non-profit agency should work. *sigh*

Anyway, it dawned on me, as I was trolling Twitter, as usual, and not working, as usual, that lots of poeple live close and are trying to have meet ups. I know lots of people live in my area (ohio) but it's not always convienent.  So, I WANNA GO ON AN ADF CRUISE!  Let's do it! 

I used to listen to a podcast and they had a cruise every year.  I wanted to go cause it was really cheap and to the Bahamas, but they pissed me off with one too many racist jokes.  Anyway, I think we should do it.

This made a lot of sense earlier and I've had LOTS of wine tonight, but I still want to go.  Can someone pleeze make this happen?  I'll help plan it.

Or, we can all meet up in NYC. I've always wanted to go there too.

I was wondering if any of you have LEARNED anything from the fics that you have read and/or written.  I am talking about LIFE LESSONS.  Being 34 and all (I know you are all just rolling your eyes at this post asking what the eff am I DOING here again...) well, I have been around the block a few times.  But I am never too old to learn something.  Nor am I too proud to admit it.

One of the most major things I learned last year was about "Friends With Benefits".  We never had stuff like this when I was in school, at least, I was too much of a goody two shoes to notice or be involved.(or too ugly, probably)

Wanna know who I learned it from? (everyone shouts, "No, we don't give a damn, now get outta the way!")

I learned about it from jandco in her story, "The Teenage Angst Brigade" www.adifferentforest.com/Fiction/default.aspx. 

I would have NEVER been able to go to the school board meeting and talk about this topic that the students wrote about in their school paper if it were not for her.  I would have never been able to support my 18 year old friend in her first foray with a boy if it were not for this story.

jandco has a way of teaching us about life, while we have NO IDEA we are even LEARNING, in fact.  I feel like, because she taught me something, we maybe could be friends.  Well, even if that is not the case, I wanna to be HER friend.

Halo(just Halo here on ADF) Jones is another writer who has left me open-mouthed in ignorance(which is not difficult in my case).   www.fanfiction.net/s/4161407/1/I_Hate_Myself_For_Loving_You

Fruit roll up underwear anyone?  Not to mention using lecithin to slick the hair follicles so as to be able to get the sticky off later...geebus, where have I ever been that this has escaped me!?

So, tell me. 

WHAT SEX LIFE LESSONS HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM OUR BELOVED AUTHORS AND SMUT GURUS?

Make sure it is POSITIVE, nothing negative.

I deem this the

"EVERY AUTHOR HAS SOMETHING TO ADD FOR THE BETTERMENT OF SOCIETY"

post.  You know, in support of the awesomesauce thread from last night.

Speaking of, I offered a door poster of Edward and no one took me up on it...so it is still up for grabs...

Hi *waves*

Err...this is a really really weird topic for a first campfire, but...I have a handwriting fetish and I want to see all your pretty writing.

I mean, I wish we all still wrote like that ^

I've never started a campfire before, but my hubby just sent this to me, and I thought you all would appreciate.

So, I ask you: Buffy or Edward?  My money's on the Slayer, but my Buffy loyalty knows no bounds (and stretches back to the Kristy Swanson days). 

Better question: What other pop culture icons would you like to see in a death match (or battle of wits)?

So, this is my first campfire and yeah, it's about writer's block. Obviously.

I saw a post about writer's block a few days ago, but it didn't apply to me then. Now it does. So, how do you deal with writer's block? I haven't updated since around July... (I suck). And I need to get on with the update, but I just can't make it get to where I need it too. Any tips?

I am totally whoring myself out.

I literally just posted a new story and would DIE if you checked it out.

Reviews are nice, but not necessary.

But still nice.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5778230/1/Things_Are_Getting_Closer_To_The_Sun

i will enjoy you forever if you read this.

I originally posted this in the Pay It Forward/Good Deeds giganta-thread last night, but was asked to re-post it as a separate campfire...there were already around 600 posts on the thread and I was advised it could easily get overlooked. So, I am reposting here and hope that anybody who needs it will see it :-)

For anyone going through a tough time financially due to an unexpected set-back, please check out the website www.modestneeds.org .

2 and 1/2 years ago, my daughter was in the hospital for a month, and I stayed there with her. Obviously I used up my days off of work really quickly. So basically I had a month where I didn't get a paycheck. As a struggling single mom of two kids, I already lived paycheck to paycheck. When it was time to pay the next month's rent I simply didn't have the money. I heard about this website and went and filled out the application. It is not an easy process, as I had to send them documentation such as my lease agreement and proof of monthly rent, a letter from my HR deparment detailing the days I had missed work, and a letter from the hospital social worker documenting my daughter's stay in the hospital. However, I was approved and with the gracious support of donors, my rent was covered for that month. They mailed a check directly to my landlord, and I cried tears of joy and relief when I got the email stating the donation was made and a check was on its way.

They will not pay money directly to you, and I feel that they take excellent steps to make sure no one is taking advantage of their help. Some things I have seen people request help for are money for funeral expenses for a stillborn child, money for necessary repairs of a vehicle, a lady who wanted to buy a twin bed for her child so he would have his own bed...They do not offer long-term help, FYI.

I will never forget the assistance they provided me during a time when I was already overwhelmed with my daughter's health and hospital bills. I am now in a position where I can make regular donations to them in order to help others. You can read through the applications and decide if you want to put your donation towards specific cases or let the group apply it where they choose. They are totally legit and have been featured on Oprah and several national magazines.

If you need help, please go to their website and see if you qualify to fill out an application. If you are in a position to help, please consider making a donation.

Oh my budah, guys!!! I seriously need some dadward!! Can you guys rec some good fics with daddy edward? I've already read a rough start (update!!!!!!) but if you kknow any others, please please tell me!!! I prefer AH too. Thanks!

Charlie is my favourite character in the films (not so much in the books - I think Billy Burke really brought a personality to him), and I was wondering how much my affection for the character stems from him reminding me of my own dad.

• They're both cops.
• They both have awesome 'staches.
• They both have a really dry sense of humour.
• They both have the ability to stand dumbfounded in the face of their teenaged daughter's moodswings (erm, sorry about that one Dad).

You know the scene in Twilight with the shotgun aka the best single moment in the whole movie?  That's why I'm thankful it's so hard to get hold of guns legally in the UK and why I've always taken my parents to meet boys in very public places.

I'm wondering - is it just me, or does anyone else see parts of their own fathers in Charlie?

in the random acts of kindness campfire last night,

someone mentioned something about the mumford&sons album

is it not out in the US?

EDIT: if anybody wants it, lemme know

obnoxious ranger edit: M&S is the current new obsession of both rangers wtvoc & emibella.

So hi. (this is my first campfire, woohoo!)

I'm beginning my Spring Break and I REALLY need good stories to read. I know that there is soooo many choices but give me something, the fiction you are currently reading , or a classic one. I want them ALL. =D

Good weekend/spring break! 

So do any campers wanna discuss their undying love for the retro video game Oregon Trail? I myself spent many a junior high computer lab day aiding the members of New Kids on the Block through the perils of the covered wagon trip from hell. Don't know the game, you say? Well wiki that sh*t!!

Oregon Trail Video Game

Or perhaps this little screen nugget will jog your addled middle school memory banks:

Honestly, I haven't thought of this game in ages. A fellow ADF camper smacked me right back down memory lane posting it on another board we're on. She posted the link to download the BESTEST GAME ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH and mentioned she was playing with the Twilight characters. THEN she said it would be her dream to have an Oregon Trail/Twi crackfic. Well that just about made me bust a floppy disk drive! Because waiting to see which Twilight party member succumbed to dysentery, exhaustion or diarrhea would complete me. Like Circle of Life completion. 

So get on that, writers!! A free prompt. And YOU'RE WELCOME!!

My Girl Scout cookies just arrived and made me smile. :-)

Do you order or buy gs cookies? What are your favorites? Was anyone a GS?

my favorite are:

I was a Brownie and a GS all the way through elementary school. My troop leader took us camping and almost drove over a cliff in her camper.  Oh the memories :)

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.