The original theme for ASKOF was actually from the Casper movie. It was a midi file (Remember those?) and it worked at the time. I haven't been able to find the exact file. I probably have it on at least one of my old external hard drives, but I'm not sure where. I did find this one, and it's definitely similar.

I switched to the current theme (below) when I restarted the series. The non-midi version of Casper's Lullaby somehow just didn't work.

When this becomes an available-to-the-general-public thing, how cool would it be to make an actual ASKOF episode? I figure we're still at least a couple of years off, but look how far image generating AI has come in a short matter of time.

Late last spring, we decided to move. We aren't far from our last home, but we are further out in a more undeveloped area and frankly, it's nice to be surrounded by trees instead of a bunch of other houses. We closed on our house in early July and then started the move. It's crazy how much stuff you can accumulate when you live in the same place for 16 years, even if you aren't particularly a pack rat.

One of the lovely things about our new home is I have a dedicated writing nook. I've never set aside space like this for myself before. (Pretty much every Trixie story I have ever written was done either sitting on my bed or couch with my laptop on my lap - which I suppose was the original idea behind the name?)

Equally nice is though I have a long commute to and from work, because of my hours, I'm home between 4:15 and 4:30 and I no longer bring hours of work home with me like I did at my previous job. I actually have - gasp!  - free time again.
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I have spent the past month or so re-reading everything. It's been so long, I actually need all the reminders. And dangit, every time I think surely I've caught all the typos, another read-through reveals even more. Wince.

​There have been frequent moments of, "I wrote that?" And not always in a cringe way. Sometimes, I'm all, "Okay, that's not half bad. Go me!" It's the passage of time that's really astounding me lately, though. When I first stumbled across the Trixie fandom online with Barb's original website, my youngest was a baby. She's now 27. The age I was when she was born. I have to keep reminding myself of when these stories are set - what was going on in the world at that time, what technology was available, what the internet was like, etc. I also have to remember what it was like to be a young 20-something person, which was a lot easier to do when I was writing as a 20-something person myself than my present mid-50s.​

I think I might've mentioned this before, but I can't remember where Clyde originally came from. I'm fairly certain a three-legged cat was a writing circle challenge element, but I don't remember why or who came up with it, or if he was my idea to begin with. I've been slowly plodding away at a story that's set in the 80s, but I can't decide whether or not to add him in. I've included him in so many other things, I feel like he ought to at least pop up in a scene or two. Hmmm...

I genuinely like my new job and my co-workers. But we lost a key person shortly after I started (not lost in a bad way, he just moved to be closer to his aging parents) and I had to absorb his tasks as the only one with the (marginal) computer/tech skills to take them on. We have been trying even since to fill that position. We have some new applicants so *crosses fingers* maybe we'll get someone in soon. And in defense of my co-workers? They have absolutely done their best to help me by taking on as many of my actual duties as they can to free me up for this, but it has been definitely a slog here.

This story has been going on for so long, there are parts where I'm all, "I don't remember writing this. Weird." I'm almost through season 4, and pretty soon will be able to start adding new episodes. :)

For over a year, my previous employer promised me my department would get the additional positions it needed. I was working many, many hours of overtime (unpaid because I was a salaried employee) and still couldn't keep up. But when the time came? Other departments gained positions in the re-org and mine? Nothing. So, I finally had enough and left. Tomorrow, I start a new job. The work is basically the same, but in another county. There will be a longer commute, but the trade-off is this department is fully, reasonably staffed. I will be doing the work of one person, not three or four.

I am looking forward to having my evenings and weekends back and one of the first things I can't wait to jump back into is writing. Yay!

Fanfiction is dying. It's still there if you look for it, but its heyday has passed. Something that began as a way for fans to continue/expand upon stories and universes they loved grew into active online forums and groups, then slowly saw its popularity wane again as the world seemingly moved on.

I have a theory, though. Fanfiction is dying... because in many ways it went mainstream. Whether they call it "reboots" or "alternate universes," a large number of fandoms saw themselves reborn in book, TV, and movie form. As such, what was once a free offering online by dedicated fans became the new canon of "official" publication/release and the line between the original creation and additional fan contributions has been heavily blurred.

For me, I've always wrote Trixie stories for my own amusement. If people enjoy them, I'm very glad, but in the end, they serve as escapism for me and in that way, I'm actually glad the Trixie Belden series has mostly stayed under the radar where the copyright holder is (as far as I can tell) content to let sites like mine go unnoticed and unremarked.

That said, I do think TV Trixie would've kicked TV Nancy Drew's rear end, if she'd ever had the chance.

For literally half a year now, the folks at the top of the food chain where I work have been promising to hire more people because we desperately need help. They have continued to fail spectacularly at the task. They haven't even posted the open positions to accept applications and resumes, much less gotten any further in the process. Meanwhile, I'm supposed to have Fridays off for the summer, but that keeps not happening as well. I still intend to start writing again, even if it's only a half hour or so a day, because I miss it very much.

I also do want to see what happens if I ask ChatAI to write a Trixie mystery...

Really love the deals at Humble Bundle. Just got PaintShop Pro 2022, VideoStudio 2022, Painter 2022 and a whole lot of bonus brushes and effects for $35, with lifetime user licenses. I'm especially happy about VideoStudio, because MovieMaker seems to suck more and more with each new version.