When I went to go check in here yesterday the site was down again! Luckily it wasn't for too long this time.

I hate when we turn to another page on here before I respond because at least when everything is on one page I can constantly go back and read what people said, now I have to depend on my memory, and we all know how that goes. lol

I only have one and a half more chapters to go for this story and yes, even though I am taking a break, I do have another story all plotted out. I am going to work on it from time to time over the summer and hope to start posting it either in August or September. I want to make sure, I have enough of an idea for an entire story. There's also this little fear in me, that the farther we get away from the actual show the less people will want to read, but every fandom still seems to have a good amount of readers even long after the show fades away. We shall see.

The Sims does sound like a fun way to bring your characters to life. I have thought about getting into video games a bunch of times, but I remember even with the Sims when I did have it set up on my desktop forever ago, I lost interest pretty quickly. We shall see. Getting a game console might be worth it. Maybe when it's time to get a new laptop I'd just download some games, but this one is getting up there.

At least the Vegas heat is dry. It's the humidity that tends to kill me. And like you guys said, pretty much everything is indoors. I can understand why you'd skip the VIP. I was pretty sure it would be outrageously expensive, especially because of the nostalgia of it all. The show is probably going to be spectacular in that place. I hope you guys have the best time. I'm sad I never got the chance to do anything like that with you guys. I even have the panda skunk tee-shirt and everything. lol

I hope you had a great birthday, Lindsey. I'm glad you got a chance to see my videos. For some reason the Kieran one was fuzzy on the You Tube one. It's clear everywhere else. I've always had a love hate relationship with You Tube.

I haven't heard Nick's album, but I know he's released cartoons to go along with it. I thought I'd be inclined to want to listen to it on the train ride there or back, but nope. Didn't happen. I still haven't watched part two of that documentary yet. I keep forgetting about it. I really do keep waiting for my BSB spark to light up again. I thought maybe with everyone talking about the new album and them showing back up in the spotlight it might have happened, but not a thing. Maybe I need them to intertwine with Kieran. Maybe if they work on the Hungar Games soundtrack? I have no idea how my brain works. I am happy for their success though.

Dee, I've heard The Outsiders is a great play. I think the younger girls are attracted to the cast because they are all pretty young and cute. I loved that book. It would be one of the musicals I'd be interested in seeing. It's hard for me to picture it as a musical though.

Okay, I need to get a little writing done and then catch up on my book.

A'ight, I tried to catch up in one post. 

Happy (belated) birthday! Hope it was a great one!

All this makes me happy to hear!

What are your favorite tracks from Nick's album?  My favorite of the new ones is Storms.  I could definitely see that one inspiring a story someday.

I actually wrote about 450 words on Friday, so I'm calling it a good start. I was at least able to finish off a chapter I've been working on on-and-off for... oof, looks like four years.  Well, little celebrations. lol

I also really enjoy Storms from the newer ones! I'm sure y'all have chatted ad nauseam already, but I overall enjoy the rawness of the album. It feels like a journey through trauma responses, but with a hope spot and some catharsis mixed in. I think that's what I enjoy in Storms is the narrative that you've got your guard up, but you're trying to take action, and also still believing there's some peace in the end. Very beautiful stuff.

Don't Let Go gets me, because I always feel myself saying, "You're so right, Nick. If you do your job correctly, you're raising a person who'd got their own stuff to do besides being your baby." I don't think it was intended, but it also makes me think of the opposite, being the child who's, in some ways, also not wanting their parent(s) to let go.

I still love Hey Kid, even though it wasn't "new" when the album dropped. Right before the song came out, I got asked what I'd go back and tell myself in high school or what I'd try to change for myself. And you know I love a good joke, so I said "Don't worry, you still get to go to Backstreet Boys concerts, but you didn't get to marry Nick Carter." But my actual more serious answer was that we're who we are because of our journey and the people who help us through. And it's not so much that life only gives us things we can handle, it's that we're able to handle things and get stronger because of our journey. I did say I would tell myself to be less hard on my mom though.

And you know I love a good bop, so Made For Us is my jam. I think the only songs I'm lukewarm about are Easy and Dirty Laundry. And it's not that they're bad, they just feel kind of "eh" compared to everything else. Could be chord progression maybe?

According to comments I've seen on Reddit, there are definitely teenagers who type all their fanfics on their phones.

I hate the typos too! Those kids are brave. Especially the ones that use their phones to write on AO3 like you said. The rookiest rookie mistake. You forget to save one draft and poof! Good on you making your kids practice typing. I have the opposite problem where families will ask me for tech options for helping fine-motor skills and I'm like, uh, no... An app won't help with that. Go play with play dough or climb the monkey bars. 

There was an elevator and a ramp leading into the gym, but there was no way for someone in a wheelchair to get to the main school from the gym without having to climb steps. 

"Have the art teacher carry her" was the answer I got the last time I had a student who used a wheelchair and couldn't walk at all.

These sound like nightmares! Schools that are multi-level make me so nervous for ADA stuff. I'm so blessed that my kids are small, so our bathroom is in our classroom. Add to that that our school is only one level, except the gym/auditorium is a bit sunken, but has a ramp no issue.

"Just carry the kid" makes me so angry on multiple levels. That's not a feasible emergency solution and probably a clear violation of many ADA or OSHA policies. When I had a classroom on the garden level (see: basement), I had a student that was very concerned about what would happen if a fire was in our hallway and we couldn't get out our door. They were adamant about getting an answer, so I ended up saying that I would probably throw a chair at the window and we'd all climb out that way. I was never positive that the chair would break the window, but a couple years later, a car did crash into that window and break it (luckily, no one was in the room at the time, so there were not injuries), so my solution may have been feasible.

Stage Door has become a whole culture now. I know the Outsiders, even though there's no one famous in that show, they have a bunch of groupies that go to the plays all the time and religiously wait for them afterwards. Apparently, they are rude as well. They treat the play like a rock concert and yell out the actors' names. Since Broadway is right now comprised of a lot of A list celebrities it's been kind of crazy, although not many do stage door regularly. I think George Clooney comes out once in a while. No offense to Joey Fatone, but nobody seems to care about him. I don't even think they have a barricade for & Juliet. I might be wrong, but who knows? lol

I've only been to two Broadway shows (on actual Broadway), and both times, I was on a bus trip with a big group of people, so I don't think waiting at the stage door was an option, if that was even a thing back then.  I haven't been to NYC since 2009, so I'm sure the culture has grown since then.  That's crazy that people are yelling out the actors' names during the show.  No matter what kind of music it is, a musical is not the same as a concert.  I've been to musicals where I know every lyric and would love to sing along, but I don't because we paid to hear the actors sing, not random people in the audience LOL.  I do sing along at concerts, but quietly - and not when someone is recording next to me.

The Outsiders is part of our touring ticket package this year. I'm pretty excited for that one. For better or for worse, as far as I know, stage doors aren't a thing locally, so it's not really an issue. I've only been to one show on actual Broadway and I probably couldn't have convinced hubs to go to a stage door if I tried.

I was this person. I'm normally very good for all musicals I love. Like I've seen Les Mis several times and have never sung. But my Backstreet-loving heart could not help mouthing the words to the Backstreet Boys songs during & Juliet. I didn't actually say a word, so hopefully I did not bother the people next to us, but my BFF about died trying to hold in her laughter. There was a woman that sat in front of us when we saw The Wiz and she was dancing and having a great time; we joked about how many times she must have seen it or whether she was a huge MJ or Diana Ross fan. And my BFF was definitely like "You're The Wiz lady" after the show.  Don't judge me too much. 

The last time I went to Broadway before seeing this one was when I went to see Kevin in Chicago. There were only a small handful of people waiting at the backstage door and no barricades at all. When I was very young and living in the Bronx, we used to go very often to see a lot of shows and we almost always waited backstage afterwards. I was so young though, I don't really remember caring about anything except getting a NYC pretzel afterwards. lol

Snacks afterward are the best part. 100%.

YouTube is a great starting point!  I learn so much from YouTube LOL.

I have learned so much useless junk from YouTube and it has been wonderful. How much it helps my normal life is iffy. In theory, I could mount a horse without a saddle. But, I have also gotten some great cleaning and simple repair tips. lol

The only thing I miss about Word is that there's no limit to how long documents can be. Google Docs can't handle some of my docs. 🙃

And Julie, if you need a more powerful word replacement libre office is a free open source word clone. I personally use scrivener on both my iPad and my Mac. But my brother uses the google suite stuff a lot. I had no clue about the word cap.

Yeah, phone is definitely short and sweet. If I could text it, I can use my phone. If it's serious, even emails, it's a computer thing.

I used Scrivner once upon a time when it used to be free. Oh the good old days. I think the limit on Google Docs is less about how many words you've written and how much data you're storing. So if you get into the habit of "suggesting" changes to your work, so you can see your original thoughts and also your edited thoughts, it takes more data storage than just deleting and starting over. If you're also making several changes over several days, it will store a new version each time, making more data storage. So if you write it all in one go and edit it all in one go (or don't edit thirteen-year-old style), then you can probably fit more words into one document without it lagging. If you're writing and doing anything else that would hold extra data, you can fit less words.

It's not an exact science, but I've gotten about 15-20 chapters into one document before it lags, but then it may or may not open. The longer the word count of each chapter plus the amount of edits could make it less. I find ten chapters per document is usually a good chunk when I've mostly finalized things -- feels like an even amount of work and the document still works the way I want it to.

I'm glad you're both writing. I have about two more chapters to write on this one and then I think I'm taking a break. I've been wanting to paint again, and I can't do both.

You've got this Mare! May inspiration strike you! Painting would be fun too. Sounds relaxing.

I wish I was talented enough to paint freestyle. When I say painting, I mean those elaborate paint by number ones I make. They are hard and look really good when I'm done but I could never do it freeform. I would love to do that. I have so many visual images in my mind of certain scenes in my stories that I'd love to see come alive.

Ah, paint by number sounds fun!  I'm not a good freestyle painter or drawer either.  It is fun to bring your stories to life in a visual way.  That's what I do with The Sims.  My characters and settings never look quite the same as they do in my head, but I still have fun creating them and playing with them in my game.

I think painting by numbers are great! You get the relaxing bit of painting and end up with something cool. Freestyle painting feels more difficult than all other 2-D art forms and I have no idea why that is. I've drawn a few things for stories to work things out, but they are never immaculately beautiful, they're just sketchy. Julie can vouch for this. lol

I know there's people who are really dedicated to seeing their stories visually and commission people to help them out. I think there's many of us who think of our stories in a visual medium when conceiving them and not just as words on a page, so I think it makes sense that we'd want to see certain things visually.

Yes, the Vegas trip will be a nice way to sort of close out my summer before August hits and I have to get into back to school mode.  We are not doing a meet and greet because of how expensive it is.  The last time I went to Vegas in July, it was 120 degrees, so that's what I'm preparing myself for.  It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be because of the lack of humidity.  I never felt sweaty because it was so dry that the sweat evaporated instantly, and we were only outside for a few minutes at a time while walking between casinos.  The only thing we're hoping to do that's outside is the Neon Museum, which we'll do at night if it's not too hot.

It's going to be hot as hell, but the lack of humidity out west 100% helps! It's supposed to be 105 here by the weekend and I just want to hide in my house. Luckily, Vegas makes it really easy to avoid the outdoors whenever possible.

Thank you so much for the birthday wishes (I noticed that the main page said the most online the other day was like 900 something… have bots finally discovered the forums?)

Mare, I watched through your vids so cool!

And Julie, if you need a more powerful word replacement libre office is a free open source word clone. I personally use scrivener on both my iPad and my Mac. But my brother uses the google suite stuff a lot. I had no clue about the word cap.

Happy birthday, Lindsey!

Ah, paint by number sounds fun!  I'm not a good freestyle painter or drawer either.  It is fun to bring your stories to life in a visual way.  That's what I do with The Sims.  My characters and settings never look quite the same as they do in my head, but I still have fun creating them and playing with them in my game.

Yay for being so close to finishing your story!  I know you said you'll probably take a break to paint, but do you have more ideas waiting to be written when you're ready?

Yep, no one had a better answer than to have someone carry the kid down the stairs.  Let's hope there's never an actual fire. 😳  Putting the art room on the second floor (with no windows, I might add) was a dumb decision in the first place.  But he has a kiln in there and his own storage closet, so moving it downstairs isn't really an option either.  Clearly, no one considered the logistics of having students with disabilities, beyond meeting the basic ADA requirements with the ramp and elevator.  That's terrible that your students who depended on a wheelchair, even temporarily, couldn't even go to music!  I'm glad they've since moved the music room to a more accessible location.

Yes, the Vegas trip will be a nice way to sort of close out my summer before August hits and I have to get into back to school mode.  We are not doing a meet and greet because of how expensive it is.  The last time I went to Vegas in July, it was 120 degrees, so that's what I'm preparing myself for.  It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be because of the lack of humidity.  I never felt sweaty because it was so dry that the sweat evaporated instantly, and we were only outside for a few minutes at a time while walking between casinos.  The only thing we're hoping to do that's outside is the Neon Museum, which we'll do at night if it's not too hot.

Happy Brithday, Lindsey! If you haven't disappeared again because the forum is being stupid! lol

I wish I was talented enough to paint freestyle. When I say painting, I mean those elaborate paint by number ones I make. They are hard and look really good when I'm done but I could never do it freeform. I would love to do that. I have so many visual images in my mind of certain scenes in my stories that I'd love to see come alive. Yes, I only have two chapters left of this story I'm working on. Technically I could finish in one, but I have had an ending in my mind from the start and time has to go by between the second to last chapter and the last chapter, so I'm stretching to two more.

The last time I went to Broadway before seeing this one was when I went to see Kevin in Chicago. There were only a small handful of people waiting at the backstage door and no barricades at all. When I was very young and living in the Bronx, we used to go very often to see a lot of shows and we almost always waited backstage afterwards. I was so young though, I don't really remember caring about anything except getting a NYC pretzel afterwards. lol

We did quite a few trips into the city to see shows when I was in high school, but like you, because it was an entire marching band or chorus, we never did the stage door.

You were told that the art teacher should carry them down? Wtf? Jesus! The kids who were in wheelchairs because of injuries wouldn't even be able to come to music class at all because the only way to get up to my classroom was an entire flight of steps. I used to physically wince when a kid came up on crutches. Afriad that they'd fall and break their little necks. I know they have since FINALLY moved the music room into the main building where there is an elevator and they turned my old room into a storage closet, which is what it should've have always been in the first place.

End of July is a good time for a concert. I don't know about heat wise with Vegas, but it'll be a nice way to bring your summer to an end. Are you guys doing the whole Meet and Greet thing? I'm sure if they are even doing those, it will be off the wall expensive.

YouTube is a great starting point!  I learn so much from YouTube LOL.

Ugh, the bathroom situation at your old school sounds like a nightmare.  I am fortunate to be in a fairly new school building (built in 2001), where there is a staff bathroom located in each hall.  The building is also very accessible; it has two stories, but there is an elevator to get to the second floor and a ramp anywhere that requires a few steps up or down.  My classroom is on the first floor and is closest to the nurse's office, so I tend to get the students with physical disabilities.  The one problematic thing is that the art room is on the second floor, so once a week, those students have to take the elevator to get upstairs to art.  Not a big deal, except for that if there were ever a fire and the elevator were out of order, no one has ever been able to give me a satisfactory answer as to how we would get students who are, say, full-time wheelchair users downstairs and out of the building.  "Have the art teacher carry her" was the answer I got the last time I had a student who used a wheelchair and couldn't walk at all.  Our art teacher is close to retirement; I'm not sure he could carry some of these kids.  They really need some kind of stair lift that could be operated manually in case of an emergency.

Glad to hear Kieran is back!

I've only been to two Broadway shows (on actual Broadway), and both times, I was on a bus trip with a big group of people, so I don't think waiting at the stage door was an option, if that was even a thing back then.  I haven't been to NYC since 2009, so I'm sure the culture has grown since then.  That's crazy that people are yelling out the actors' names during the show.  No matter what kind of music it is, a musical is not the same as a concert.  I've been to musicals where I know every lyric and would love to sing along, but I don't because we paid to hear the actors sing, not random people in the audience LOL.  I do sing along at concerts, but quietly - and not when someone is recording next to me.  We're doing the July 27 and 28 shows in Vegas.

I only post here on my computer too. I occasionally tweet or comment on Reddit from my phone, but that's about it. Writing directly on AO3 is idiotic! Rookie mistake! Wait until they accidentally lose everything, and they'll learn. I've switched to Google Docs out of convenience; I don't even have Word on my desktop computer anymore (well, I do, but I haven't paid for it, so I can't edit documents on it). The only thing I miss about Word is that there's no limit to how long documents can be. Google Docs can't handle some of my docs. 🙃

Does that mean you're two chapters away from finishing your story?  That's exciting!  Painting sounds nice.  Maybe you could paint something related to your stories and say it's inspiration for writing.  That's sometimes how I justify playing The Sims instead of writing in the summer LOL.

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I don't have a team of anyone to help with anything, but I have been looking up YouTube videos for building upper arm strength. We'll see how it goes. When I taught, my classroom was up a flight of steps and to get to the bathroom, I had to go down and walk across the gym floor to get to the bathrooms behind the bleachers. I only had about a five-minute gap between classes and it would take me that long just to make it down the steps, so I would have to wait until the end of the school day before I got to go. I can't even tell you the number of times I almost peed myself. That was another place that was not handicap accessible. They were the barest minimum to get the ADA approval. There was an elevator and a ramp leading into the gym, but there was no way for someone in a wheelchair to get to the main school from the gym without having to climb steps. 

Kieran was at the play yesterday, so it was probably a stomach bug or something. I'm sure a video of a fan asking will pop up at some point.

I love that you are lurking on my videos, Dee. lol I keep forgetting to ask my sister for the one where I actually interact with Bill Burr.

Stage Door has become a whole culture now. I know the Outsiders, even though there's no one famous in that show, they have a bunch of groupies that go to the plays all the time and religiously wait for them afterwards. Apparently, they are rude as well. They treat the play like a rock concert and yell out the actors' names. Since Broadway is right now comprised of a lot of A list celebrities it's been kind of crazy, although not many do stage door regularly. I think George Clooney comes out once in a while. No offense to Joey Fatone, but nobody seems to care about him. I don't even think they have a barricade for & Juliet. I might be wrong, but who knows? lol

When do you guys go to Vegas?

I can't type anything on my phone. Even to post here, I have to be on the computer. The only time I post from my phone is on Twitter and sometimes FB. I don't know how people write on their phones, but I guess if that's all your used to. So many people I know who write also don't do it on Word, but directly on the AO3 site. I would be way too paranoid to do that.

I'm glad you're both writing. I have about two more chapters to write on this one and then I think I'm taking a break. I've been wanting to paint again, and I can't do both.

I'm glad the forum is back!

Hopefully all is well with Kieran and his family.  Good thing you went last week, just in case!

Good idea to write a Yelp review for the hotel!  I'm sure other people who are looking for accessible rooms will appreciate knowing about your experience.  That's crazy that there weren't even curb cuts at every intersection in NYC.  Of all the ways to add accessibility, that seems like it should be one of the easiest ones to do.  But you're right; until you've been in that situation or known someone who is, you don't even think about it.

Trying the wrist weights sounds like a good idea, as does Dee's PT suggestion.  Hopefully you can find some simple exercises to help you maintain and build on the function and strength you have.

I have a couple of things in-progress that I'm bouncing around... PBox,  snails, that 5 POV thing I started a few summers ago. Also considering a horror-movie watch and dropping a snippet in on you and Rose. We'll see.  I did take my computer on our little vacation and opened it exactly zero times, so I'm doing great! But I have been percolating a lot on Nick's new album and how it resonates with me and my thoughts.

All this makes me happy to hear!  Especially the horror movie plan!  You sound just like me whenever I'm between projects, bouncing here and there and everywhere.  It always takes me some time to settle into a new story (or back into an old one I started and didn't finish).  Keep percolating!  No pressure to write on vacation though.  I can never focus well enough to get much done when I'm away from home.

What are your favorite tracks from Nick's album?  My favorite of the new ones is Storms.  I could definitely see that one inspiring a story someday.

According to comments I've seen on Reddit, there are definitely teenagers who type all their fanfics on their phones.  Maybe they're better at typing that way because they grew up with it, whereas we didn't have smartphones with full keyboards until we were adults.  The phone keyboard is just too small for me; I make so many typos that I would be incredibly frustrated trying to use it as my main writing device.  We've been one-to-one with Chromebooks at school since Covid, and I use Typing.com with my students for keyboarding lessons and practice.  I have them type all their published pieces in writing, so they get faster at it over the course of the year.

Hey guys! Here is my rather long review of my trip to NYC!

Mare, I also loved lurking on your video. What an amazing experience -- I'm so happy for you! I think a lot of shows are busy at the stage door like that depending on the star power of the show and/or the performers. Like I would imagine something like Hamilton or & Juliet right now with Joey Fatone in it is crazy busy like that, but maybe not something like Avenue Q? lol I'm so glad that the extra 20-minute wait ended up positively! How exciting that he was still wearing your bracelet a few days later!!

That hotel and train experience is wild! I'm so sorry you had to deal with that. That Amtrak from the city to upstate is the worst. And now I feel vindicated in that belief outside of the horrible hangover I had that day. lol Which I realize is not the same thing, but I did complain to my husband about the size of the bathroom door for ADA accessibility. For the hotel, could also be worth it to call their corporate customer service number? If for nothing but the cavalierness of "it happens all the time."

In addition to the wrist weights, you could also look at getting a resistance band and working your way up to hand weight exercises. If PT is part of your doctors appointments (or if its not), your care team may have some good suggestions on working on arm strength.

ETA: And on the bathroom thing. It's because you weigh: is my day going to be worse if I stop what I'm doing right now to go the bathroom or if I don't stop what I'm doing to go to the bathroom? I usually find that 9/10, my life will be easier if I just put off going to the bathroom. Add to that that for whatever reason, being in the midst of teaching usually makes me forget I have to go to the bathroom anyway.

I have some answers to what went down with Nanowrimo...

I discovered another piece of Nick's acting career... I was reading through the official backstreet boys biography that released in 1997 (Man, I love the internet archive) and in the Nick chapter it mentions an indie art film called Electra.

That's what I'd heard as well. When your main mission is working with kids, you really have to do everything you can to keep that safe and above board. I think a little more transparency in their actions could have helped a lot as well, but it would be difficult to start a new version with the way it ended.

Always love a good Greek mythology-based project. Add that to my watch list this summer.

Sounds like you've done plenty!

I should get paid more for this full time job. The other day, I got yelled at because I kept insisting the letter "eluex" was actually "W, X" in the alphabet song -- the audacity! And for some reason, the argument that I'm an expert on early literacy does not work on a Toddler.

Just brushing up on my French and Japanese! 16 days so far!

I have a couple of things in-progress that I'm bouncing around... PBox,  snails, that 5 POV thing I started a few summers ago. Also considering a horror-movie watch and dropping a snippet in on you and Rose. We'll see.  I did take my computer on our little vacation and opened it exactly zero times, so I'm doing great! But I have been percolating a lot on Nick's new album and how it resonates with me and my thoughts.

Is it because they see phones and fun and computers for school? I know they're basically tiny computers these days, but my thumbs can't type nearly as fast as my fingers on a full keyboard. Even when I had a tablet instead of a computer for a couple of years, I used a Bluetooth keyboard when I wanted to type anything -- a story, an email, lesson plans, whatever. I watch my husband do his weird two finger typing and think that's what the kids are doing. How do they get anything done, let alone in a timely manner. Do schools still have Mavis Beacon? Are the kids just swyping or using auto-predict or are they leaving themselves voice to text notes? I need an AMA with a teenage author. lol