M.P.

If you were a very skilled artist who was good at perfectly reproducing a photo but who had no style or inspiration to produce a truly original work of art AND a mediocre writer who had inctedible stories to tell but who steam rolled over puncutation & grammar and struggled to piece their ideas into a coherent story...which direction would you follow???

My hips spread a bit after my 1st pregnancy so after the second I want to try hip binding before the relaxin leaves my system and they stay like that forever. I know bck in the day it was done w/ corseting and more recently practiced by dancers but it's hard to find information on it or any products. I'm using my husband's velcro back brace which is hard and wide enough for my lower hip. But I'd like to know how often I should wear it, how tight it should be and when to stop for best results. Thanks in advance for answers from anyone with a good experience.

I m trying to use MistyFuse to patch a tear in a black jacket, the fabric is fraying a lot and impossible to patch with thread. I came up with the idea to use MistyFuse to hopefully fuse it over the outside of the tear to mask it but since the fuse sticks to the iron I can only do that on the inside of the jacket and the outside is still fraying. I tried ironing the MistyFuse over a fabric (to test) with wax paper and aluminium foil but both got stuck to the fuse. Is there ANYTHING I can iron through that will let me apply the fuse without itself sticking to it??? Please HELP, it was a really expensive jacket and now it looks like junk!

I'm going to the Governor's Ball on Randall's Island this Saturday and Sunday. The problem is that I was planning on driving there from NJ and just read that there will be no parking passes available to purchase on the island due to construction! I am completely unfamiliar with that area, can anyone who is experienced at navigating the Manhattan & the boroughs area suggest a place I can park the car and how to reach the island from there? I don't even know where to begin, and I know I procrastinated too long with this but I don't get out much so this is freaking me out! Also I read that the ferry tickets are all sold out. Please tell me I'm not screwed - it's my little son's first concert and he is so excited to see his and our favorite bands! I thank you so much in advance for any suggestions, even a starting point.

I can't figure it out! I go through all the steps but then end up in a window that gives me 3 options Facebook, upload (from personal files) or no photo! Only these options appear when I click on the avatar and no way to get into the Avatar library with all the outfits and backgrounds. Help!

We had a virus on my PC and ended up having to get it all wiped out, including the programs. I used to Have a Word program on it and for writing I used to switch between the PC and my Notebook lap top which has Microsoft Office Word 2007. But now my PC has some weird Open Office program (blue icon with 2 birds) which can open my Word files but cannot save the changes to them - they have to be saved as new documents. When I go to open these new documents in my lap top, Word can't open them without turning all the characters into gibberish. I need to install Microsoft office word onto my PC but can't find it in stores to buy. Shopping on the internet for computer stuff is terrifying to me, especially after losing everything to a virus despite supposed firewalls and virus protection (Norton sucks). If anyone knows where I can just buy a friggin disc with Microsoft Office Word 2007 on it, it would be awesome - I rather just pay a hundred bucks for it in a store than get another virus downloading from some shady site on the internet. Thanks.

I want to take my mother to see Phantom of the Opera in 2 weeks for her 60th birthday. What is a good site to get cheapest tickets?

Just looking for some inspiration for my book, it makes it easier to see and hear the characters as you're writing them, that's why I already have piles of sketches depicting them, but I need voices.

I can't open my Photoshop files that another designer from my team has worked on on her MAC - I work on a PC (don't ask....). The thumbnails of these files look sort of transparent and every time I try to open one of them a window pops up and says "Could not complete your request because it's not a valid Photoshop file". It is a valid photoshop file, because she can open them on the MAC just fine but I can't open any of the files created or opened with her computer. Please help, how do I open them????

Is there a way to warp several curved lines next to each other at the same time, like to select several direction lines at the same time (not anchor points, but direction lines)? I'd hate to have to curve each one separately....

I don't want to post this, it's in a differnt language, I just wanted to contact my friends in Europe to tell them that I will be visiting soon. Is there any way to select them and send them a message without posting this thing to the rest of the world who would find it irrelavant? If so, please walk me through the steps, I'd really appreciate it.

I've been writing this story, which turned into an over 500 page book very quickly, without the slightest knowledge on how the writing process actually works! I've been at it for 2 years, I loved every minute of writing it and then suddenly...I began to second guess myself. Questions like these began to pop into my head: "Who exactly is my audience?" "Am I offending anyone?" "Who the hell do I think I am to be speaking for this particular group of people?" "Are my characters true to themselves?" "Have I done enough research?" "How could I have missed THIS mistake???" "Am I too PG?" "Am I too graphic?" "Why the ef am I doing this again? I need to sleep" I don't know what I was thinking, but I have gotten myself well in over my head - on a project that is essentially fan fiction and cannot ever be published! And yet, I love my story, I loved the challenges that the continuation of an existing story brought on, I loved going nuts on it and having fun with it...until now. I started thinking about the fact that I will have to eventually post this and the fact that people will read this, criticize it and find faults with it I didn't even know it had - no matter how polished I think it is! And it is FAR from polished. I have been editing this thing for a year now - changing the story, embellishing it, adding new hooks, moving commas around - everything somehow perfectly fitting in. But now I feel like the editing will never stop, because I will never be able to stop changing my mind about the direction of this thing - half innocent and half twisted (kind of like my main character....). And who the hell gets stuck in the middle of editing??? I've written a frigging encyclopedia without a hitch and I get stuck in EDITING??? But that's what happens when you decide to take a minor character into the majors and enhance her - the entire story now has to be rearranged to fit her depth (I've done it w/ other characters and aside from sleepless nights and a stint with alcoholism, I had no problem) - but this one's giving me insomnia! She has become the antagonist and the reader's connection to this character is so important that it must be done, the changes must be implemented if it kills me, otherwise the story will suffer. I have become so intimidated by this task, that I have done the unthinkable - stopped writing. I can't remember a night in the past 2 years when I haven't written, so this is a big deal. How do I solve a problem only I can solve? How can I do this, get the courage to undertake her again and start loving writing this behemoth again? And is it really worth it, am I being ridiculous? Who the hell reads fan fic anyway???? Any word of encouragement from fellow writers (if I even deserve to be called one)would be helpful, anyone who has ever been stuck between the creative and the practical, anyone who understands how the heart of the story begins to die when you think too much about the "why" and the "what if"....

I have windows vista, I am trying to search my photo files only for photos taken in 2011. I am confused by vista's search options as even the advanced search doesn't allow me to choose to search for files by year the picture was taken. There appears to be an option box in the advanced search,to search by year, but it is grayed out and I cannot enter anything into it. Help from anyone proficient in this logic-absent program would be greatly appreciated.

I wrote an entire story completely ignoring format and now I'm wondering if I will have to indent everything manually or is there a function that will do it for me? I'm not very familiar with this program beyond the basics so any help from an experienced user would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Does anyone remember if both wolf packs or just Jacob's were present at the stand off with the Volturi in Forks? I think I remember both of them being present and one of the characters noticing the increased number of wolves, but I can't be sure. Thank you for your answer and any detail you might remember.

My friend's stepdaughter is 7 (Yes, my friend - not me - I don't know how to advise her because I haven't encountered that problem yet w/ my 3 yr. old.). She crawls into bed w/ the adults at night and refuses to sleep by herself. They have tried everything, from pleading, to bribing, to blatant enforcement or getting a special teddy to keep her company at night, but nothing worked so far. She throws fits when she is locked out of their room, and comes back to their bed if she is placed in hers after falling asleep. I hear she snores and kicks, not to mention wakes up throughout the night and disrupts everyone's sleep schedule. I theorized that perhaps she does it to spend time with her busy father, as the the refusal to sleep by herself doesn't seem to be fear driven, but I could be wrong. My friend comes to work tired and agitated every day. In her desperation she went as far as making up a bedbug infestation to deter the kid from climbing into bed with them - but to no avail - it didn't seem to bother her one bit! Has anyone dealt with a child who had just gotten too accustomed to sleeping w/ her parents and refused to stop? Is there a way to get her to sleep in her own room?