It has been a crazy couple of weeks... and I'd like to share.

For those of you who have been around as long as me, my baby girl, Heavens.Immortal, Ally has graduated high school.  We started on this crazy train together when she was just barely 13.  She's grown up with these lovely strong women (Smellyia, WTVoC, Jandco, Halo, SiDeadde) influencing her, giving her guidance and helping her hone the craft of writing.  I fell like I've shared her with all of you!  Well, the baby done gone and grow'd up.

More Pics inside :)

Last week my youngest, Cassidy, and her soccer team won a tournament that has spread over 6 weeks and they were "crowned" the best team in the State of Connecticut in their age bracket.  HUGE thing, has only happened 4 other times in the history of our time.  So proud of her.

Tomorrow we have Ally's graduation party and then maybe things can start to get back to normal around here and I can find time to write again.

CAUTION- THERE BE SPOILERS INSIDE... OF A VERY STEAMY KIND.

The clip is inside the CF.

I. Dropped. My. iPhone. In. Paint.

Yes, paint. Straight down into the inch or so of white Behr combination paint/primer (the stuff that's so thick it's almost the consistency of pudding) that was left in the bottom of the paint cup. The long hole where the charger thingy plugs in was completely filled with the stuff, which necessitated using a toothpick to try and clean it out--then, when that didn't work, a toothbrush and water. Which meant--you guessed it--water pushed up into the internals (at least it was a water-based paint, so I didn't have to use mineral spirits). THEN, my usually intelligent hubby did the one thing you should NEVER to to an electronic device that has gotten wet, and pressed the home button to see if it would still turn on. Surprisingly, it did...but the backlight stayed dark.

Phone is now sitting in a ziploc baggie filled with that silica-crystal kitty litter, and I am going out of my mind. In the six months I've had the silly thing, I have grown ridiculously attached--not to mention the fact that I really can't afford to buy a new one. The only reason I even got this one is because the 3gs was only $.99 with an upgrade and a new 2-year contract--which I still have 18 months to go on.

Sooooo....

Let's make this an all-purpose campfire. Anything goes. Come in and tell me the horrible things that have befallen your own phones (or iPods, or cameras, or whatever), and whether they survived or not. Come in and rage about your own c****y day...or, rave about something great that happened that just made your day/week/month/life. Or just come in and say hi--I could use a few "friendly faces" right now.

Sorry I don't have any appropriate pics or gifs to add, but I wouldn't have the first idea of how to even go about trying to find one...

UPDATE: It Lives! The rescue mission was a success! Pulled the phone out of the bag tonight when I got home, inserted the sim card, and placed it on the docking station...powered right up. Everything seems to be functioning correctly, although there is a tiny bit of paint still stuck in one of the speakers (doesn't seem to hurt anything, though). The camera lens seems to be a little bit cloudy, too, but on the whole it seems like a small price to pay. Happy happy, joy joy!

freeforall is on

hey, why don't you feed a tree since you're here?

so, my kids are officially on summer vacation. already, i want to die.

i'm taking them to the aquarium of the pacific today, then we're gonna picnic at the beach and visit daddy at work (he fixes helicopters nearby). 

what're you guys up to? got any good suggestions for free or cheap summer entertainment for a bunch of kids? in general, or in your state/country? remember, there are lots of people lurking who might benefit from your frugality~

iconic funnyman chris farley in one of the funniest movies of the 90s fyt:

This is the campfire of Self Promotion:

THE PIMP CAMPFIRE.

Tell us about what you or a friend write. If you beta something fantastic, let us know. If you are hosting a contest, tell us about it.

Don't be shy! Give us a link. Give us a sample. Show us your banner.

We want to read what you write!

My weekly cfs may run early or late for the summer. I have a weird schedule these next few months so be patient with me!

You know when you find an amazing story and you gobble up the available chapters in one night, hit the alert function and then...there's nothing for ages...

...And then you begin to feel like this:

You're refreshing your email every ten minutes, hoping for an update from your favorite story THAT JUST NEVER COMES.

Well, pestering the author probably won't help (and anyway, I'd rather wait for something good than get a rushed piece o' crap), BUT maybe talking about your addiction will?

Stop in here and tell us what wonderful drug fic has been making you feel like an addict going through withdrawal.

Any fandom, any pairing, whatever floats your boat.

And maybe after you tell us why the story you're obsessing over is so great, you'll entice more people to jump that bandwagon, review like crazy, and INSPIRE THE AUTHOR TO WRITE.

Ask away the spoilery details you've wanted to know about fics. But yeah, there are rules-

• Look in the banner, you'd see that this particular CF is open for WIP fics only. You cannot ask about Completed fics here. (Worry not, there will be a Spoiler CF for Completed fics the week after next, i.e., on 5th July.)
   
• You can not only ask questions, but start spoilery discussions here as well. Example- If a plot twist excites/annoys you, you can come out and talk about it. That way we can keep the spoilers in one CF only.
•  
• White out the spoilery part of your post.

This CF will be a regular feature on ADF from now onwards. It will be posted on every other Thursday, alternating between Completed fics and WIP fics. See the banner for which one it is and you'd be clear, like the current one is for WIPs.

Now come out and ask away. I hope someone eases your curiosity.

On the internet, in the Twilight fandom, in ANY community, there is a special language. 

Here, it's all about the acronyms!

For folks new to the community, or folks who haven't wanted to say "IDEK what y'all are talking about..." I thought I'd start an acronym-related CF.

Er, Campfire.

Share your acronymic knowledge within. Ask questions.  

Could be about fics:

"WA? What's that?"

or people:

"Wtvoc? Who's that?"

Or twitter shortcuts:

"TJ? Tijuana?  Huh?"

POST, LINK AND CHAT ABOUT TODAYS UPDATES!

As always, the weekly help desk is your place to ask questions:

Did you forget the name of a fanfic?

Do you have a request for a special kind of fanfic?

Do you want to know what happened to an author or a story?

Do you have a question about ADF's rules and how it works?

This is your campfire. Ask away! Many people like to answer!

You can ask about anything here, not just questions about fanfic. ALL questions are fair game!

WELCOME TO HELP DESK WEDNESDAY!

Wondering if anyone can remember the name and auth of this e/b fic, I dont remember too much but here goes....

I think these are some points in the fic???

Bella starts working for edward or somewhere in the building he has his company or where he works i think alice also works there or owns part of the company.Alice and Bella met at a coffee shop or something while bella was job hunting

I think edward asks bella out but she declines and then she runs into him at a show with his date i think it was victoria and bella was there with sam??

There is some kind of gala or ball or something and edward dances with bella and then his date (victoria or Tanya??) comes up and steps on bella borrowed dress and it rips and I think she runs out.

some other points in this fic i think are.. bella has friend who lives on a ranch or something and bella goes there when she runs away from everything, there is also a house that she has fell in love with and come to find out that it is actually edwards house.

Bella was riding a horse after she fled from edward and he was coming to find her and he drove past her on the road he was driving on to locate her

also bellas roommate is angela and the dress that she borrowed that was ruined was a dress that i think rosalie designed.

If any of this sounds familar please let me know, for some reason i kept thinking it was black silk tie but its not.

Thanks so much
amber

Fic rec...

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8182137/1/Coming_Home

Coming Home
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author: Sarge's Girls PM
School teacher Bella sends a care package and letter to Army sergeant Edward, who is stationed in Afghanistan. They begin a relationship through letters, phone calls, and video chats. There's love, there's language, and there's adult situations, plus a strong, independent Bella and the Edward we all know and love.
Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Friendship - Bella & Edward - Reviews: 1,817 - Chapters: 30 - Words: 32,276 - Updated: 06-20-12 - Published: 06-04-12
 

Background:

So, this past weekend myself and a few friends went out for a quick weekend to the beach. Thanks to hubs he ended up meeting a small crew of colleagues who are all aboard the no kids train like us so we hang out because everyone else our age is knee deep in elementary school. Our guys hung out at my house Friday then we girls came back Sunday. Between 4pm Friday and 5 pm Sunday I was contemplating some commandment breaking things.

So, I decided to be the DD just because. We're driving, shotgun rider friend pulls out her Nook to read on the drive and starts asking for book recs. Books get tossed then she yells "Oooo! Have you guys read 50 Shades of Grey!?!?! Everyone keeps telling me to read it because it's the best thing ever?"

Now, I'm the driver.

I swerve. Literally. It's OMFG Sarah! What was in the road??? Nothing. I just lose my you know what.

This thing has officially infiltrated my life. I honestly wanted to pull over and open the door and chunk her out of my truck.

My BFF is behind me squealing a muffled "Noooo!" because she knows I'm wiggng out. I start ranting about it being Twific and this friend, let's call her Kelly goes WTF is fanfiction? SO that's another story.

But my question is to you campers: Give me some valid reasons why this book is a menace to society and the most awful thing ever.

1. NO. Absolutely NO mention of it being P2P. That's a can of worms on it's own. But besides that give me some help because I'm getting texts from Kelly and today we met up for lunch and she doesn't get why I hate it so much.

Who's dished out the money to read the actually "books" here?

How much of it is carbon copy? She didn't see the problem in P2P so that is a lost cause. Is crack whore mommy still in the book? The tampon? Kelly went bug eyed on the tampon in the fic explanation.

For a split second I wants to hurt her.

But I need some reasons. Valid reasons why do you hate it so? And go...

Note: this isn't meant for a "I don't see why people hate it so much" we know. A LOT love it to death and a LOT hate it to death. Different strokes. But I need my fellow haters to help me out here on compiling a list to explain to someone 50+ reasons why 50 Shades of Gray is just plain awful.

If you hate it, BESIDES P2P because that's a dead horse, WHY????????

SUMMERTIME.

the livin's easy.

this post is dedicated to summertime and tree nourishment.

post your favorite summertime drinks, songs, activities, pictures, stories, fic recs, summer plans, whatever, so long as it's summer related.

it's 96 degrees here, there's water on the horizon and i want to spread the summertime like the clap in a frat house. only in a good way.

while you're here spreading the sunshine, feed a tree. or the whole dang forest.

whoever knows what sucker-dipping is gets my eternal respect.

It's Hump Day! Let's Play a game!

I'm sure we're all aware that today is Edward Cullen's 111th birthday!

I thought about playing Pin the Tail on the Wolf....

But that won't work!

How about we play Fan-Fictionary?

Rules:

Find 1 or 2 images (MAX) that are related to a fic and post them. Others will try and guess which fic you are talking about. Get creative, have fun.

PSA: When replying to someone's guess, i.e. telling them they are right or good job, to the extent possible, don't use images there. It will just take longer for the campfire to update and load and all that stuff !

Here's an example:

(Answer: Semper Paratus: That Others May Live)

Also remember, I'm always looking for new ideas for games to play! So, if you have a game that you think would be fun, send me a pm!

POST, LINK AND CHAT ABOUT TODAYS UPDATES!!

Hey guys,

I'm from Egnland and I just logged in on Facebook and this book is clogging up my news feed!! I knew it was around, my boyfriend sent me a news article about it because he knows I read fanfiction, but it seems now everyone is reading it! I'm kinda annoyed, because everyone takes the mick out of fic writers, but now it's published everyone loves it?? Also, I heard it's based on Master of the Universe, which I remember reading, but don't remember much about, is it still around??

Just wanted to hear your thoughts :) Anyone read it? It similar to fic or not??

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11381643-playing-for-keeps

I found this book yesterday on Goodreads. I am thinking it was a fic, and I am thinking that the author of this book is not the author of the fic.

I cannot remember the fic name. This is driving me crazy because I am worried this author may have taken this fic and published it. I could be paranoid, but just in case?? I know it happens.  Maybe the author was the fic writer and we have nothing to worry about..but who knows?

The fic was from one of our more popular authors..I think.  Bella and Edward are neighbors who do not get along. AT ALL. They leave each other notes which develops into pranks. Of course, once they meet they like each other. Lots of UST. Bella is the uptight type. Edward is the party type.  She goes to complain about his loud party noises in her pajamas one night....ring any bells anyone? It would have been updating about a year ago, I think.

The pranks were hilarious...something about doing something to his door??

As for my rec...I am using the book link because fic or no fic, it sounds like a fun read.

** Also- I have not read this book. It just sounds like this fic. I am not sure about anything other than I am probably just being paranoid.  AND I know that it may not be the fic at all, but the story seems so similar to me.

ETA: I am about 1/2 through the book. It is NOT like the fic. The summary and a picture of the book that I saw on Amazon that had a note to the neighbor about the trash cans is what led me to believe it was like the fic in question.  I daresay that the fic, Embrace, is much better. It is by Rochelle, and the link is in one of the comments.

To make this interactive....fill this campfire up with crazy neighbor stories.

It's Edward's birthday!

Let's organize a party! What do you think of these plates?

To make this interactive. Have you ever written (or read) about Edward's birthday in a fic?

I wrote about it in Fountain of Time, and in the 8th chapter of An Italian Winter.

Dear Edward, we wish you...

Tell us what you are reading RIGHT NOW!

Books and Fanfiction alike

I have been reading so much lately that I need new stuff!! One week into my summer vacation and I am totally depleted. How is that possible? 

Please link if you are reading fanfiction or give us a nice summary if you are reading a book. We also LOVE reviews and discussing stories, so tell us what you think of what you are reading!

Special Assignment:

What is your GUILTY PLEASURE when reading? It could be a genre, a character trait or any number or things that you just LOVE to read about even if you are not sure why. Give us an example of a story or a book that fulfills that pleasure.

But, as always,

ANY recs are GOOD recs in the WEEKLY REC!

As always, read, review, and let 'em know you saw their fic rec'd on ADF.