Twilight, Travel, and Treats

Nice to add some colour to the sidebar, don't ya think?

A big pat on the back (or ass) for ME! It was twilightcupcake versus Mrs. P. and I think I spanked her! Okay, she didn't say it in so many terms but I left her speechless. I am proud to wear the same badge as some of my twiblog elders (sorry, ladies you are all older, it's true), many of whom I revere.

Okay, for those of you who don't know, the Twibite challenge is a little game put on by Mrs. P. at the Twibite blog! She sends you a list of questions, or in my case, with tasks and you answer as best you can. Sounds simple enough right? You must head to her blog to understand that this woman is as fast as a whip, her mind is dirtier than Tanya's twat, and she wears the highest leather boots this side of slutsville.You don't want to mess with her. I worship at her feet and was delighted when she agreed to challenge me.

But, yours truly, standing as tall as Alice with a tiny whip and little boots - SURVIVED!

Check out her post here to read my answers (all family members who don't want to see me use the words suck and f*ck leave right now).

I am proud that I left her so speechless she gave me my own button on her sidebar that looks like this

New Moon Breakup Log & my button on the Twibite blog

All of you who know me well will be in amazement that I actually went into the woods of my own volition. No, I didn't wear my nice jeans and yes, I own galoshes that I use once a year for the pumpkin patch so no Prada shoes were ruined. Thanks to Lulu for spending time on my cell talking me through getting there and to MK and DQ for talking me down so I didn't have a heart attack coming out of the woods thinking I'd get kidnapped. Now you see what I was up to?

So, if you haven't already, go check out my answers NOW. I put a lot of hard work into those. Btw, Mr. TC does not know I went into the woods alone and hasn't read my challenge answers yet. No one tell him okay? He'll be pissed.

This post comes from a thread on twitarded where prstlk brought up that she uses a fanfic downloader. A what?? And how do you then get it onto your mobile device? Lisa @17forever put me on a quest to find out.

What's the benefit? You can read while offline, it splits the fanfic into chapters, it actually looks nicer than reading on the computer, and it's free.

What it doesn't do? Automatically update your fanfic for you into your mobile ereader. I don't think that's been invented yet (please tell me if it has). For now, you'll have to manually update each time.

Note that when you use this method it is great for complete books and if you are willing to download each update yourself onto your iphone then it is totally worth it for the partials too.

Of note, I use Windows XP but all this would work with Vista. I have an iphone and an ipod touch and this method works on both devices. If you have a Blackberry or Palm then stay with me until you get to the Stanza part and you should use Mobipocket ereader instead.

This works with stories from www.fanfiction.net but not http://www.twilighted.net/

Last thing, I am assuming you are using a wireless network and that your ipod touch or iphone (set on Wifi) is on the same wireless network as your PC.

If you are not using a wireless network then see the Stanza FAQ here. You may need to save as a different file type as well in fanfic downloader so take a look at the FAQ first before embarking further.

Things you need to do:

part 1

This first step takes the whole fanfic story you like from www.fanfiction.net and converts it into an electronic book (in this case a Mobipocket ebook) using fanfic downloader.

1) Download and install fanfic downloader from this site Raimonds Homepage.

2) Once you have installed it, open up the application Fanfiction Downloader.

3) Before you do anything else go to the Settings at the top and pull down to Settings. I will uncheck the box that says "###" separator at beginning of each chapter. Leave this alone if you want the whole book to be one big file without individual chapters. Press Save.

Untick the box "###" separator at beginning of each chapter

4) Go to www.fanfiction.net and get the URL for the story you want to convert. I chose Master of the Universe by Snowqueens Icedragon because it's my favourite. It has now been removed from fanfiction.net so I'm glad I got it when I could.

URL in this pic http:www.fanfiction.net/s/5368782

5) In "Step 1: Source URL and ID" copy and paste the URL of the fanfic you want into the field "Story URL."  Then, click continue.

6) In "Step 2: Check download" you can change which chapters you want to download. If you want the whole book then don't change any of the numbers. Next to the "Name" there is a field where you can change what Title this book will have on your computer. I also just leave the default here.

7) Click "Save As" and change which folder you would like this file saved in. Don't worry about the "Save as Type" field and leave it as whatever it shows up as. Then, click continue.



8) In "Step 3: Configuration" choose between having chapters or having one long book. I usually like to have the book broken up into chapters.

9) Next box choose "Save as Mobipocket ebook."

Your screen should now look like this

10) Press Download and wait until you see a black screen zooming by with lots of text. When that finishes then you are done.

Your story is now a mobi file stored in whatever folder you put for "Save As."

part 2

If you have a Blackberry or Palm just go to Mobipocket eReader and follow their instructions.

If you have an ipod touch or iphone then I'll walk you through.

You need to find a way to open this mobi file and then you can read it on your PC. You use Stanza desktop to achieve that. When you have opened a book on Stanza desktop then you can share it with any ipod touch or iphone that is sharing the same wireless network.

1) Download Stanza desktop for your Microsoft Windows PC here and install.

2) Open Stanza desktop and go to File, pull down the menu to Open File. Go to the folder where you have stored the mobi file and select the file itself. Remember choose the file that has the .mobi extension.




3) It should take less than 20 seconds to load and you should be able to see the story now in Stanza Desktop. You can minimize Stanza desktop now but don't close it.

Not always tall and skinny; can change to full screen

transferring from PC desktop to ipod/touch - the tricky part

4) Now you need to transfer it to your ipod touch or iphone. You do this through the wireless network.

5) On your ipod touch or iphone download the free Stanza app.

6) Now on your PC on Stanza Desktop go to the Tools on the pull down menu and go to Enable Sharing. Make sure that there is now a checkmark next to Enable Sharing. This allows Stanza on your iphone or ipod to get any story that is open on your Stanza desktop.



Now Stanza says there are many ways of sharing your books with your mobile - ways listed here.

7) This is the step that gave me the most trouble - sharing your books from the desktop to the ipod/iphone. For this part at first I needed to turn off the firewall on my PC for a very short time. I can't let my husband find out since he is a network security specialist by trade. Please don't email me that we shouldn't turn off our firewalls - I know already...

*********long technical part***********
If you have trouble here see this Troubleshooting FAQ from Stanza.

They will suggest that if you have a firewall enabled (you can find it in the Control Panel under Windows security) make sure that it allows traffic over TCP port 9652. You do this by going to Exceptions and then "Add Port" and typing in name "Stanza" and Port "9562" and tick off the TCP box. They will also ask you to check that the program Bonjour is also ticked off (see Stanza support).




The thing that I finally fixed to get it to work with the firewall enabled was that I made it so JAVA(TM) PLATFORM SE BINARY was allowed to access the internet (it asked if I wanted to keep it blocked and I said no). I actually couldn't find a way to get that step but the computer prompted me.

If you get frustrated remember that in the end I ended up turning OFF my firewall for a few minutes. Just remember to turn it back on after you transfer your fanfic to your ipod/iphone.

*********************************************

8) On your ipod/iphone click on your Stanza app. You should see this screen.


9) Still on the iphone click on the bottom middle "Get Books"

Click bottom left - Get Books

and then go to Shared at the top.

Click Share at the Top and you should see your computer listed below.

You should see your computer listed there under "Computers Sharing Books" so click on your PC name.

Surprised my netbook is named Isabella? How many of yours are too?

10) It should say "Loading" and eventually your story should show up.


11) Click on the green arrow to the right of the title and it will download the file into the Stanza app and put it in your library. When it is downloaded the green arrow changes to a grey circle.

12) Once the gray circle appears, click on the story and voila!


You should be able to flip pages and also be able to touch the screen once to get here

Bottom left Book Icon leads you to Table of Contents

and then if you click on the lower left Book Icon it should take you to this Table of Contents.

what to do about updates?

Every time there is an update you have two choices

1) This way keeps the whole thing together all the time but still with chapter markings. Before you add an update, delete the book off your ipod Stanza. Then go through all my instructions from the top again starting with copying and pasting the URL into fanfic downloader. You will have the whole book every time all as one file.

2) The second way keeps the already existing partial and new updates will appear each as a separate book from the original eg. not adding to the original partial book file. Do the exact same thing as above but in the fanfic downloader step 2 input only Chapter Number "X" for the updated chapter and also change your Save As file to a different filename otherwise you will get confused eg. Master of the Universe 2. Finish the process as above to get it on your ipod.

I am not a techie by any means so I hope this makes sense. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I'll do my best to answer.

Phew! No letting me write technical posts again.

love breaking out the martini glasses at home

I don't know about you but most of family and friends think that I am crazy. This twilight obsession has taken over my life and most of the people around me don't share my passion. So, instead of curing myself of this malady I decided to throw a party. The main purpose was to bring together the disconnected friends I had that were also twihards. Keep in mind there is minimal debauchery at this party as a few of the guests had just had babies. All good clean and elegant fun despite the super strong martinis - I swear I followed the recipe exactly.

invites

First thing I did of course was went shopping. After all, I needed a new machine to make invites. Why

I was inspired by these beautiful handmade twilightations from Lyssabz's etsy shop. Very pretty.

twilightations from Lyssabz's on etsy

But when it comes to crafts I like to make my own and I love a good trip to Michael's. There on the shelf for 40% off was the last pink Cricut machine in stock. For those of you non scrapbookers the Cricut is a personal electronic cutter.

special pink edition for The Cure

It's like a CAD machine that you use in drafting except that it cuts instead of draws. You can buy pricey cartridges for it or you can buy a software called Sure Cuts A Lot that lets you design, and hence cut, anything you want.

That's how I made these

Black paper cut out with the Cricut

See the shiny paper I used underneath?

My first party with a dress code

After all the spray glue fumes, I had a headache for two days. Worth it for pretty cards sent out in the mail to my friends.

food

I don't cook. I can reheat and follow a basic recipe for lasagna but dinner parties are my husband's thing. There was no way I was asking him to cook for this soiree since he was helping to get the kids out of the house.  So, I enlisted the help of a good girlfriend JR. She is a party planner/caterer when she is not at her full time job in health care and caring for her two teenage boys.

JR is not a twilight fan. She might have seen the first film once? (I think she has now become a Taycob fan since New Moon.) But she loves a dinner party and was super excited.

Here's what she came up with

Twilight Dinner Menu

Assorted Cheese platter

Edward’s Red Apple Amuse Bouche

Bella’s Spinach Salad

Cullen Family Blood Orange Granita

Port Angeles Mushroom Ravioli

Chocolate Fountain

Twilight Red Velvet Cupcakes

These are the only twilight cupcakes I've ever made *shock.* I'll have to devote a whole post to the process of getting the edible silver twilight on there.

goodies

I am a fan of favour bags. My friend DQ is kind of an expert at them but I went these alone.


I filled these bags I bought at Michaels with

strawberry shampoo (on sale for a buck each at save-on foods)

For non-twihards, this is Bella's shampoo

new moon chocolate from Dazzled by Twilight in Forks

Only 5 Edwards in a bag of 22 chocolates

twilight magnets from Chapters

DQ went all over town getting these

apple candles from Ikea

Don't mind the 3 - yes, I know you can count

I would have loved to put some jewelry in there but I put my money into buying the decorations :)

decor

I spent my money on this

Edward in my living room

Sorry about the fuzzy image but I figure it was more real than a stock web pic. I ordered him online before new moon was released. Tough bugger to get a hold of since it seemed to be only sold in the UK. Managed to order it from Yahoo through some guy in the US. Did not want to ask how he got one because I didn't care.

Mr. TC was kind enough to drive me down across to Point Roberts, WA to pick up Edward. When the border guard asked me what we were picking up he had trouble understanding "vampire cardboard cut-out." He was not happy looking. As soon as we said "twilight" he started howling with laughter and asking if it was this Edward guy. Apparently his daughter loves twilight and he even asked me where I ordered it from. Twilight saves the day again!

My friend ML brought along her mini Edward and Bella to the party to keep big Edward company.



Mr. TC also brought the TV down from our room into the living room so we had the Twilight movie running in the background all night.

Lovely tablecloth from JR

Tea lights everywhere and I had wonderful help stringing glowing Christmas lights all over. I wanted to reproduce the dance scene lighting from the movie and it worked.

My mom and son helped me set the table (that is the most enabling I've ever had from them).



I put a small selection of my twilight stuff out too.

Top right - framed KStew and RPattz autographed photo next to my Stephenie Meyer autographed book - nice to bring them out of the safe.

I usually have my autographed stuff locked up away from the kiddies. So nice to let them out to be loved. Oh, the red booklet is a copy of a rough draft script from Twilight.

stuff I made them do (nothing nasty)

Just coming back from Forks the week before I was armed with the most kick ass quiz encompassing all four books. I'm not going to post it here because I want you all to head to Forks with the Twitarded crew and get your own copy at the Chamber of Commerce.

Prizes included a New Moon movie companion guide


and a 5X7 photo autographed by Nikki Reed and Elizabeth Reaser. Both generously donated by dinner guests. Other things were stickers from Dazzled by Twilight and also, my personal favourite, Twilight Magnetic Poetry (note they don't sell this online anymore, photo below is only one I can find nowadays).

Twilight magnetic poetry

Lastly we cracked open my new Twilight Scene It game.

Everyone drove home sober but full of JR's yummy food and loaded up prizes and goodies.


To the women in this photo, thank you ladies for a lovely time. We'll have to throw another one for the release of Eclipse. I'm guessing there will be more drinking now that the kiddies are growing up.