Week 2: VOTE NOW!

[JennaGlatzer]

Okay, folks! The time has come!

Click here to read the entries (http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10699) and click here to send your vote to Melina (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/private.php?do=newpm&userid=201)!

You have from now through Monday (April 25) at 10 p.m. ET to vote. You may vote for one person only. Please put the name of the person you're voting for in the subject line.

Good luck to the finalists!
(http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/private.php?do=newpm&userid=201)

[Birol]

I guess you're suggesting I take the "VOTE OFTEN" out of my sig line before someone takes it seriously?

Heard and understood, AW Goddess Jenna. Will do.

[JennaGlatzer]

I thought your sig was funny. :)

[Birol]

I'm sure you did. You have that wicked sense of humor thing down pat.

[Mr Underhill]

Okay, folks! The time has come!

Click here to read the entries (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=166663) (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/private.php?do=newpm&userid=201)Right, done.

Oh my. This is going to be even more difficult than last week.

:Thumbs: Well done, all.

[jdkiggins]

OK, does someone want to tell me how to put the "read entries" link in my sig?

I'd copy and paste one of the many “click here to read entries” but all those listed bring up the finalist thread and then point directly to Firehorse's entry. Not exactly what I had in mind. :) No offense, Sarah.

[Birol]

There may be an easier way to do it, but this is the way I accomplish links on this board:

1) Open up whatever you want to link to.
2) Highlight the URL (the address) of whatever it is.
3) Right click and select copy.
4) Go to your Reply Box, Sig Line, etc. (You do not have to keep the window open of the thing you want to link to.)
5) Type the text as you would like it to appear.
6) Highly the text that you would like to individuals to click on to link back to whatever.
7) Click the globe with the chain link from the toolbar. (If you hover over it "Insert Link") appears as the help text.
8) In the box marked "URL", delete the text that pops up automatically. (You can do this before or after step 9. If you don't do it, you end up with an extra "http://" if you use this method.)
9) Right click in the box marked "URL" and select paste.
10) Click "OK" and finish your reply, sig line, etc. as normal.

[Birol]

Sorry about all the "whatevers". They may make the instructions a little confusing. For your specific question, substitute "the entries" for the "whatevers". ;)

[jdkiggins]

Thanks Birol. :)

[JennaGlatzer]

all those listed bring up the finalist thread and then point directly to Firehorse's entry

Yeah, I wasn't too fond of that happening, either-- made it look like the entries started there-- so I altered firehorse's signature to fix that. Are there others with that same link? I can fix them, too. I'm sure it was not intentional.

[jdkiggins]

I'm sure it wasn't. Jenna, I think mine goes to the thread at the top of the page so those clicking can begin reading with the first entry. That way you can just copy and paste it to those you want to change. :)

[jdkiggins]

Actually, Jenna, yes there are others. Your sig line and the VOTE thread do the same thing. :D

I think Mr. Underhill's does also. These are just the ones I notice, because I was going to copy and paste and I wanted mine to come up to the beginning of the thread. There may be others, I haven't checked them all.

[Birol]

I wasn't certain where to point mine, so I pointed it to the AW Idol forum as whole.

[jdkiggins]

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10699

This is the url for the thread that holds the entries for the
Click here to read entries.
I followed your instructions, Birol, and it linked to the top of the Week 2 entry page.

[JennaGlatzer]

That is the weirdest. I got my link by opening the whole thread in a new window and pasting it in. No idea why it wouldn't start from the top.

This link works, too: http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9993

Why are there two different thread numbers for the same thread?!

[jdkiggins]

Jenna, you must be tired. You click on the week one entry thread, not week 2. LOL

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10699

Here's week 2

[JennaGlatzer]

Aw, damn! I AM tired! :Smack:

I've been checking everyone else's sigs, though, and I don't see any problems...

[trumancoyote]

What time is it up there anyway, Jenna?

It's pretty late where I am right now, so it necessarily follows that you should be pretty damn tired :)

Ooh! Oooh! We need a tired emoticon.

[JennaGlatzer]

It's 3 here. I'm normally not tired by this time, but I took cold medicine about 3 hours ago... my brain functioning is not at its best. :faint:

OK, did I fix everything right now? The vote link, my sig, and firehorse's sigs have been fixed (I hope) to point to the top of the thread. Mr Underhill's sig just says "Writer, Burglar, Adventurer."

[jdkiggins]

Awh, My mistake about Mr. Underhill, his was a quote of yours, I believe.
Unless you change Firehorse in the last few minutes, hers goes to the thread and jumps to her post rather than staying at the top of the thread. Other than that, I think you've changed the rest. :) Now, young lady, go get some rest. That's where I'm headed.

[trumancoyote]

Sheesh. I wish I was capable of staying up that late.

I used to stay up 'til four all the time in High School, but once I entered college and got a job, etc, I found myself passing out by midnight.

I'm already turning into an old man: at the ripe age of 21.

IHOP at sunrise, here I come!

[JennaGlatzer]

I did (re)change hers in the last few minutes. Thought I had fixed it earlier, but it was a stubborn link. ;)

Sigh. Deadlines. Still more work to do tonight. God bless tomorrow's proofreaders. :)

[jdkiggins]

I think they're all correct to the top of the thread now.
G'night/morning, Jenna. Please get some shut eye. You remind me way too much of myself at your age. You need rest. :)

[JennaGlatzer]

Truman, my bizarre hours are just a really, really bad habit stemming from when I lived with my parents-- the computer was in the middle of the living room, and the house was always bustling with activity. My younger brother and sister always had friends over, the TV was on right next to the computer, etc., and when I was starting my writing career, I needed to wait until everyone else went to bed before I could get any work done. Began working from midnight to about 9 a.m. and sleeping days. Never really fixed that since then, though I've tried every method you can imagine. I am a bit better these days, though-- usually in bed by about 5 or 6 instead of 9 or 10. Aiming for 2-3 a.m. as my "bedtime." (She says wistfully.)

[jdkiggins]

Just be careful how much you push yourself, and don't burn those candles at both ends for too too long. Please. Oh my, now I'm mothering you. Sorry. But you have so so much going for you, you don't need to get ill over pushing yourself too hard. We all need you around here. :) :kiss:
See you around tomorrow. Speaking of which, I'm going now to follow my own healthy advice.
:sleepy:

[JennaGlatzer]

:Hug2: Thanks, Mom. G'nite!

[trumancoyote]

I really envy that, as crazy as it sounds. I enjoy the nighttime like nobody's business -- the weather's better, that evil sun of ours is hiding, things are more creepy so the imagination goes wild. All of it!

But alas, I can't enjoy it.

That, and if I sit still for too long I fall aslepp >.< Heheh.

A habit that's that hard to beat, Jenna, is just not worth beating :)

[trumancoyote]

Speaking of which, I'm tired.

Sleep well :) I gots me a Chinese test in the morning :Headbang:

[JennaGlatzer]

Nah. Then you turn translucent and lack vitamin K and can't make it to stores at normal hours and miss your brother's Special Olympics tournaments and have intense trouble scheduling phone interviews during the day and can't walk outdoors without sunglasses because your eyes are unaccustomed to sunlight and you drive your mom crazy an' stuff. Nights are good. Seeing dawn through your office window every day before you go to bed = bad.

Kiddies, don't be like me! Go to bed like normal people! :D

[firehorse]

Sorry about that, Joanne and everybody! The first time I created a link to that thread, it went top of the page, paused, then automatically jumped to someone else's entry; I thought I'd corrected it to stay at the top of the page.

Stay, cursor! http://www.coolsmilies.net/animals/dog.gif STAY!

It was not intentional. Please don't hold it against me :scared: And good luck to everyone!

[Melina]

Just checking my sig, to see if I got the link right.

Melina

[jdkiggins]

Sorry about that, Joanne and everybody!
It was not intentional. Please don't hold it against me :scared:
The only thing I'll hold against you is
a :Hug2: for good luck.
Joanne

[firehorse]

The only thing I'll hold against you is
a :Hug2: for good luck. :kiss: Thanks. You, too - I think I'd over-repped you, so I couldn't tell you how much I enjoyed your story.

[awatkins]

I think I cast my vote wrong. Instead of putting the author's name in the subject line, I put the story title. I did include both in the body of the message.

I'm sorry! Do I need to vote again? Between thunderstorms, ringing phones, and just having a rotten day, it's a wonder I even found this thread, much less attempted to vote!

*sigh*

[Mr Underhill]

There may be an easier way to do it, but this is the way I accomplish links on this board:Instead of using the URL, I use vBulletin's formatting when making links to threads or posts.

My reply pane doesn't seem to work as a real WYSIWYG interface, so I just type it out. vBulletin uses formatting that is pseudo-HTML, but uses [square brackets] instead of <angle brackets>.

To link to a thread, one types:
What you want to call the link

You will need the thread number to do this. Look in the URL for "t=####" to find this. For example, the Week 2 entry thread's URL is:
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10699
so it is thread number 10699.

Put [thred=10699]Week 2 Entries[/thread] in your reply, and it will show up as Week 2 Entries. (You of course, will spell "thread" correctly to get it to work.)

Does that make sense? More of this here (http://absolutewrite.com/forums/misc.php?do=bbcode).

To get to a specific post, you can find the post number by clicking or mousing over the number in the upper right corner of the post. So, for firehorse's post on that thread, the link that says #7 (http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=166663&postcount=7) tells me it is post 166663. So firehorse's entry gets me firehorse's entry. Just don't leave spaces inside the [brackets].

[BlakeOvard]

Well, just like last week there were many well written pieces. Not a surprise given those who are finalists. While they were all were well written, I'm not sure that they all got what the "misunderstanding" concept was/is. Like last week I narrowed it down to around three I thought were the strongest (kind of like I do every week when I watch American Idol -thanks Jenna for getting me hooked on a show I never watched before), and eventually got it down to the one I thought was the strongest. I will e-mail the person I am voting for privately, so as to maintain the integrity of the vote.

PS - Jenna, are you sure I can't vote more than once? I REALLY want too!

[firehorse]

I think I figured out what I did wrong. From the User CP, I right-clicked on the thread title and hit "copy link location." I didn't realize that takes you to the last posted/first unread/something like that - so the link I copied was to my story directly. Oops.

Mr. Underhill's idea is much better, though from now on I'll just cut-n-paste the URL at the top of the thread.

Whew!

[mommie4a]

Ok - I'm struggling with the vote. I've got it narrowed to 3-5 entries but can't decide whether to choose based on the excellence of the misunderstanding or the excellence of the writing, because, for me, I didn't find one that was solid across those two elements.

HELP?

[Renee]

Ok, I just read through all the week 2 entries! I'm going now to send my vote in to Melina.

Some great work, (and stiff competition) folks!

[JennaGlatzer]

I saw only one where I was really unsure of how it fit the "misunderstanding" theme.

Today I've narrowed it down to two stories that really stuck with me. Sheesh! Couldn't some of you people write worse so it would be an easier decision? ;)

[BlueTexas]

I had a hard time deciding which entry to vote for as well. Two really stuck out.

[Melina]

Oh, Melina, Jenna!
I think I cast my vote wrong. Instead of putting the author's name in the subject line, I put the story title. I did include both in the body of the message.

I'm sorry! Do I need to vote again? Between thunderstorms, ringing phones, and just having a rotten day, it's a wonder I even found this thread, much less attempted to vote!



It's ok, Anne, it was easy to figure out. But I'm glad you mentioned it, because I'd like to address others who have voted, and those who haven't yet voted. I had several people give me the title of the story they were voting for, without including the name of the author. I don't have the titles of everyone's entries memorized, so I had to close my message box, open the entries thread and scroll thru until I found the appropriate author to match the title. Not a huge deal, but enough to throw off my rhythm. One person voted by using the author's real name, instead of their AW handle, which threw me for a second. I'd just like to remind everyone to put the author's AW handle in the subject line of the message when you vote. That will keep things quick and easy for me. Thanks to all who have voted! To those who have not yet voted--good luck making a decision!

Melina

[awatkins]

Thanks, Melina! Glad I didn't give you too much of a headache. :)

[Birol]

I had a hard time deciding which entry to vote for as well. Two really stuck out.

Blue, you're not the only contestant I've seen say something like this and I just think it is hysterical the contestants are having trouble deciding who to vote for. :ROFL:

[BlueTexas]

Blue, you're not the only contestant I've seen say something like this and I just think it is hysterical the contestants are having trouble deciding who to vote for. :ROFL:

It's a double-edged sword. Honesty or strategy? I've been honest and voted for the entries I thought were the strongest. I wonder what the other eight are doing!

[William Haskins]

I wonder what the other eight are doing!

i voted for bluetexas. and i'm about to eat a corndog.

[firehorse]

It was definitely a tough call (between the other eight, not between honesty and strategy). Melina knows I voted for someone else, and I'll let that person know. There was one that really grabbed me - powerful, well-written - but I didn't see the misunderstanding. The one I eventually went for was emotionally evocative, well-written (that's a given, though), clear in both the misunderstanding and conflict - and I wanted to know what happened next.

[BlueTexas]

By strategy I meant whether to vote for the best or the worst, rather than voting for one's self. Is that even allowed?

[William Haskins]

i wouldn't vote for myself, even if allowed to. but then, i have a significant history of self-loathing.

[BlueTexas]

I hope none of us would vote for ourselves. That's not much in the way of spirited competition. If I squeak by with one vote more than someone else, I don't want it to be my vote. It wouldn't mean a thing if it was my vote!

[brokenfingers]

I don't see what's wrong with it at all.

I voted for myself.

[firehorse]

By strategy I meant whether to vote for the best or the worst, rather than voting for one's self. Is that even allowed?I agree about not voting for oneself, but what would be the strategy of voting for the weakest entry? If I were to strategize (which I haven't so far - just gone with the strongest), and if I were to assume that mine was the weakest entry (which is my tendency), I'd want to vote for the strongest, because that's someone who is going to stay in regardless of how I vote, I wouldn't see that person as my competition, whereas if I voted for a weaker entry, that person - with my vote - could bump me out of the running. Unless this is based on cumulative votes (is it?).

I'm asking this purely as an intellectual exercise :)

[maestrowork]

There's no reason why you can't vote for yourself -- I don't think. I am sure George Bush or John Kerry voted for themselves...

[JennaGlatzer]

Melina checked in to let me know that some of the contestants have voted for themselves, some have voted for others. I left it open because, honestly, I assumed all the contestants would vote for themselves. ;) But since y'all are cute and stuff, I'll make it a rule starting next round that contestants can't vote for themselves. It would be a little uncool if one self-vote made the difference for someone.

[William Haskins]

any idea on the number of votes cast thus far?

[JennaGlatzer]

No, I don't know that yet.

[William Haskins]

what about the total number of angels who can dance on the head of a pin?

[firehorse]

2,536,827

I thought everyone knew that ;)

[William Haskins]

what if it's line-dancing, like the achy-breaky heart or something?

[BlueTexas]

It would be a little uncool if one self-vote made the difference for someone.

Yep. Who wants to win by their own vote? It wouldn't mean as much that way. Besides, it's much more fun to have someone else to root for, too!

[BlakeOvard]

what if it's line-dancing, like the achy-breaky heart or something?
Then you can actually add 4 more for a total of 2,536,831

[Marisa Louise]

Okay! I'm an "Absolute Write Idol" addict, now! Just read the entries and I was glued to the screen and even, I recall, made verbal comments that could be heard all the way out into the living room! I'm WOWed, everyone! Kudos!

(goes to cast vote).

[Rhush]

Im an addict too Marisa! Thanks for reading the entries and taking the time to vote!

[brokenfingers]

You know what? This is just too tough!

It's driving me crazy - I can't make up my mind!!

I'm not voting. It's just not fair. To me as a reader. It's not. There's only one thing to do:

I say throw them all in a pit and let them fight to the death.



Oh, and Haskins has to be manacled....

[Rhush]

I've watched enough Xena Warrior Princess to whip some moves if forced into a fight to the death pit....may all be warned.

[MacAllister]

What I want to know, Becky, is how come we don't see more of you over in the Horror forum! Great creepy story this week. :)

[Marisa Louise]

...and let them fight to the death.

For some reason, that just reminded me of The Godfather, and "You've Got Mail" all at the same time! :Shrug: Mostly "You've Got Mail," actually.

[Rhush]

Hey MacAllister! Thanks! Hmmm...I don't know. You got a good point there I better start checking it out.

[Sarita]

what about the total number of angels who can dance on the head of a pin?
Technically speaking, 1. Aziraphale.

(I like the idea of not voting for yourself.)

[bkrrh85]

As a newbie, I read the entries. But nothing told me if I was voting for the one I liked the best, or the least!!!

[firehorse]

As a newbie, I read the entries. But nothing told me if I was voting for the one I liked the best, or the least!!!Ooh, good point! You're voting for your favourite, and the person with the fewest votes will be eliminated.

[bkrrh85]

Thanks so much for the prompt help!

[MacAllister]

heh--the finalists will all be at fever pitch to help folks out with the voting until the voting closes tomorrow night, bkrrh85. Although I certainly can't blame 'em a bit.


:D

[firehorse]

heh--the finalists will all be at fever pitch to help folks out with the voting until the voting closes tomorrow night, bkrrh85. Although I certainly can't blame 'em a bit. :DMac! Are you questioning the sincerity of my... whatchamacallit... advice-giving? Just trying to help out a newbie http://www.coolsmilies.net/affection/angel.gif
(bkrrh85, you are going to vote for me, right? http://www.coolsmilies.net/wink/thumbsup5.gif)
Anyone have babies I should kiss http://bestsmileys.com/kissing1/25.gif or honour that needs defending http://bestsmileys.com/oneofakind/9.gif?

[MacAllister]

Not at all, Sarah! Taking it for granted ya'll just wanna help get the vote out, with purely altruistic motives...<g>

[tjwriter]

How in the heck can anyone decide who to vote for? I have managed to narrow it down to two that struck a chord with me. As to which one I will cast my vote for.... who knows? It is seriously making my head hurt. I am trying. If I can't come to a decision, how can I vote? I really want to vote.

[rhymegirl]

If I can't come to a decision, how can I vote? I really want to vote.


It's easy. You just say: Eenie, meenie, miney, moe....

[Sarita]

It's easy. You just say: Eenie, meenie, miney, moe....
I know that's how I picked my top 10... *ducking and running*

:ROFL:

[maestrowork]

I used a most analytical, objective and critical approach. Maybe it's not that good an idea, but I don't want to let personal bias get in the way (for example, I prefer certain types of stories over others).

Kind of like American Idol. I don't vote because the girl's cute or (only) she has a great voice, or "ooh, I like/hate that song." I look at everything: style, stage presence, voice, charisma, range, consistency, if they pick the right song for their voices, etc. etc. To be an IDOL you need to have it all. That's why I stopped watching that show a LONG time ago because I think the groupies are ruining it -- remember the voting issues during the Clay/Rueben final? It became a battle of the groupies -- I didn't like that.

[brinkett]

Stories that stick in my mind go on my short list. Then I try to think analytically from there. This week, it was a choice between two. I felt one was more realistic/plausible and a little more original than the other, so that's the one I voted for.

[Cassie88]

I never read all the pieces at one sitting....choosing to read them as soon as they're posted. Two of the stories had me glued, first word to last....then, I waited and sure enough, one of them kept haunting me......still is....that's the one that got my vote.

[Mr Underhill]

Just checking my sig, to see if I got the link right.

MelinaJust so y'all know, this link you're using doesn't work for me. When I click on
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/private.php?do=newpm&userid=201
I get an error message saying:vBulletin Message

You are not logged in or you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:
You are not logged in. Fill in the form at the bottom of this page and try again.
You may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.
I am logged in, and my account seems to be working in all other respects, so I think you may be linking to a function which only works for mods.

Oddly, if I click on Melina's name here in the thread, and select "Send a private message to Melina" from the pop-down menu, it seems to generate the same URL/PHP command, but it does open a PM panel. It just doesn't work as a free-standing link for some reason. :Hammer:

What I did was to go to my User Control Panel and use the Send New Message (http://absolutewrite.com/forums/private.php?do=newpm) feature, then I typed in Melina as the addressee. I think you can also go to Melina's (http://absolutewrite.com/forums/member.php?userid=201) profile page and PM her from there. That link does work normally.

[brinkett]

It works fine for me and I'm not a mod. I've received that message before when private messaging. I don't think it has anything to do with the link specifically.

[Mr Underhill]

It works fine for me and I'm not a mod. I've received that message before when private messaging. I don't think it has anything to do with the link specifically.
The version Saritams8 has in her sig works: link. (http://absolutewrite.com/forums/private.php?do=newpm&u=201) That is, it ends with "u=201" vice "userid=201".

The second does actually work, I guess, it just makes me log in again for some reason.

[Sarita]

The version Saritams8 has in her sig works: link. (http://absolutewrite.com/forums/private.php?do=newpm&u=201) That is, it ends with "u=201" vice "userid=201".

:)

[Mr Underhill]

Only fifteen minutes left!

Hurry up and VOTE! (http://absolutewrite.com/forums/private.php?do=newpm&u=201)

If you've done that, you can come check out our Just For Fun entries. Week 2 starts here.

[Mr Underhill]

Tuesday now, so disregard my last.

We have to all vote AGAIN! (Vote early and vote often, my Uncle Al used to say).

Details here.