No Sleep, Character Obsession and Just Kept Writing

June 26, 2025 / ccsocialcreative / Leave a comment

Hey guys, welcome back! I hope you all got to see the bonus post I did filled with Summer Reading ideas. If not, it can be found in the ‘new posts’ tab, I’l also link it below this post. I am planning to put it up as part of the On the Bookshelf page as well as I’ve been really neglecting the rest of the site this year as far as updated pages. Also, please note that my links show up on this site in a darker color. They are (unfortunately?) not as defined as other sites.

Anywhoo, let’s get the post at hand, shall we?

Just going to say it, I haven’t been sleeping. Part of it is because it’s hotter than the sun here in the Northeast these days (and other places as well) and my AC is struggling to keep things cool. I mean, 90 degrees inside isn’t exactly cooling things off. I did treat myself to some Gatorade so hey, living the dream!

The lack of sleep has had me writing a whole lot. I have the house to myself this week and with my odd sleep schedule of staying up and night and sleeping during the day, I decided the other day to see how long I could go just writing.

I mentioned in a previous post that I’ve developed a pretty regular routine. To give you an idea (read:recap) of how screwed up my schedule is: I always start by reading the previous night’s work and editing as I go. This usually begins around 4am. At 5am I’m most likely done and then I write the new stuff until about 7:30-8am or until I finish a chapter. I type very quickly, so a chapter can sometimes only take me two hours or a little more. For a little perspective though, some of my chapters are short at only 11 pages or so. I take a lot of meds because of medical issues and I need stuff to help me sleep. Sometimes I will take something about an hour into writing so that I can fall asleep by 9-10am. (Boring you yet? Sorry)

The problem with this a lot of times, is that I’m just getting into the story or getting more ideas for where the story can go just as the sleep stuff kicks in. Then I’m stuck replaying it all in my head making it hard to get any actual sleep. Again, I have the place to myself and had nowhere to go the other day. So I decided to try something and not to take anything. To see how long I could keep going with the story. To just keep writing.

When I finished what is a very pivotal chapter, I went to do a page count and I had typed out 31 pages! I started at around 5am and went until 1pm. I just kept writing.

Will I keep a lot of it? Will the chapter be broken up into two? Is any of it good? Well, that’s what editing is for! But to know that I could keep going like that proved to me that I’d like to try doing this more often. That stifling the creativity just as it gets rolling may not be the way to go. And yes, I have tried starting earlier than 4am. It didn’t stick.

This story has really consumed me. Suddenly, scenes I hadn’t really planned on putting in, are taking over and I’ve been surprised at how they fit into the story as a whole. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that this new book is being written in the first person. The main character has invaded my thoughts and when I put everything away at ‘bedtime’, the story continues in my head like a movie. I will lay there trying to clear my head, only to sit back up and write stuff in the notebook I keep near my bed so I don’t forget anything later on. Yet still, the storyline keeps playing in my head like this week’s Netflix trailers.

There’s also a few things I keep going over, especially now that I’m 36 chapters in. Do I change things up? Do I throw in a major surprise? Is it time to start thinking of this as a series rather than a standalone book? I’ve created some characters and a location that has become so real to me now and that has become a great escape for me that frankly, I don’t want to leave it. But that’s me. What will readers think?

These are the things that are now starting to keep me up at night. That and a whole lot of heat.

And that is where I will leave you for today. I’m sorry if this one wasn’t too exciting but as I’ve said before, sometimes I just need to get out the thoughts so I can move on with my life. 😂

I very much appreciate your hanging out with me for a little bit. I hope you are staying cool and hydrated and that if you like it here, you’ll share this site with your friends.

Thanks again and until next time…

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It’s Summer Reading Time! <—Summer reading inspiration by yours truly.

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If you like what I do here and would like to help support this site, you can click the Ko-Fi link on this page.

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Thank you for getting this far and see you next time!! 🥰

Personal Space, Automatic Writing and The Plot Thickens

June 17, 2025June 17, 2025 / ccsocialcreative / Leave a comment

Hey all, welcome back! It’s been quite a week and while I meant to post on Friday, life happens. But here we are and happy to see you all!

A few things in case you are new here…first, welcome to the site. Hope you like your visit and that you’ll check out the ‘new posts’ tab to catch up to see what has been going on around here. Also, I don’t like to add links to the posts themselves, so be sure to check the bottom of the posts to find any relevant links. I was never one for inundating a post with external links. For me, they take away from what the post is about and is distracting, again this is just me. (If that makes any sense.) You can also find my social, shops and more on the right hand side of the page (or under the post if you scroll on the phone). Hope you will check them out while you’re here and be sure to hit the subscribe bar to the right or the pop up at the bottom to add your email so you can get updates on new posts. 🙂

Now that’s out of the way, let’s get to it!

If you know me here, you know I read a lot. Like a lot. One of the things I have taken to doing is carrying a book with me a la Rory Gilmore. For those who may not know the reference, in the old show Gilmore Girls, the daughter Rory famously carried a book with her wherever she went, including her junior dance. While I’m not that over the top, (and way past my junior dance years), I do carry a book to all of my medical appointments. Today included. I knew I’d have a lot of wait time, so instead of playing on the phone, I pulled out my book. It’s always a stress reliever. Let’s face it, going to the doctor or going for medical tests can be stressful. Why not ease that stress by diving into a good story?

I’m not a kindle or ereader person, I’m strictly a paperback girl, well, woman. While I was at one of the medical buildings in town today, I went to a nice, quiet spot in their cafe that was closed at the time, made myself comfy and got back into the story. And then…

Please picture the scene: an open area with tables and chairs, where the staff and visitors there can eat, grab coffee, maybe have a little meeting. But the cafe closes right after lunch, yet they keep the seats available for anyone who would like to use them until the building closes. I found a nice spot near the windows where I’d be able to see when my ride showed up, let out a big contented sigh and thought about how nice it was to just be by myself with my book.

A gentleman walked in and out of all the empty tables in the place, he decides to sit one away from me. At first I thought he was just going to sit there. However, he seemed a little high strung, not being able to sit still and getting up and down and scraping his chair along the floor each time. Again, this was a medical building, all kinds of tests and procedures are done there so I can sympathize if the guy was nervous about something. Then a friend of his shows up. Turns out, they were just meeting there to catch up on some things. They were loud, they kept jumping up and walking around and very loud. In my head I’m thinking, ’I was there first and just keeping to myself.’ The old me? I would have sat there, too embarrassed to get up and end up reading the same sentence over and over again not being able to concentrate. Now? I grabbed my book and the rest of my stuff, got up and as I walked past them, thanked them for ruining a nice moment of my day.

I will never understand why people do such things. The speakerphone calls in the store so we can all hear them. (Heard all about someone’s hemorrhoid surgery in cvs one time.), coming up right next to you when standing in line (I miss the 6ft rule from the covid days) or sitting right next to a person when there are a hundred empty seats in a movie theater or a cafe. I wasn’t bothering anyone, just sitting and reading a rather moving scene in my book and honestly, trying not to tear up as I did so because I was in public and yet, I was the one who moved. I’m thinking of carrying an air horn with me so the next time this happens? I just hit it and make the others move along. Just something to think about.

Anywhoo, enough of that. Sorry for the vent but this therapy, sorry, blog, helps me work stuff out before I get to my writing sessions! 😬

Speaking of, I’ve finally gotten off the second edits of the chapters I’ve written so far. I’m now 32 chapters in and still going strong. As I said in my last post, some of these chapters are short and may end up being combined with others, so don’t let the number fool you just yet.

However, I hit the scenes I’ve been dying to get to for about two weeks. I knew they were coming up, knew the general way they were going to go and yet even I was surprised with how they’ve been writing themselves!

If you’ve ever heard the term ‘automatic writing’, when someone puts pen to paper (or fingers on a keyboard) and just lets the writing go where it will? That is how I tend to write. I know how I want to start the scene, I know the locations and then I just go. Last night in particular, I came up with something I wasn’t expecting and it fit so perfectly into the whole dynamic of the story that it invaded my dreams while I slept and has been on a constant replay in my head all day. I have no idea where this part of the story came from but I am so glad it did. It really helped me tie in a character that has been giving me a lot of trouble incorporating into the storyline.

I also came up with a plot twist that I’ve been trying to figure out and it has also been a problem trying to work into the whole book. All of a sudden it came to me and I was able to introduce the beginning of it last night and now it’s a matter of weaving into the rest of the story and seeing how it will work itself out. This, my friends, is the fun part for me.

After all of the research I’ve been doing for this and all of the build up to get to this point, now is when it gets interesting. I can’t wait to see how this story will develop further and where this automatic writing will take me tonight. Of course all this being said, when I go into what I wrote last night to edit and refresh my memory to get me back into it so I can write the next chapter, it may turn out to be pure crap. It’s happened before it will happen again. I get excited that the story flowed effortlessly and then when I reread it the next night, I wonder if I was on to something to come up with such nonsense. What I love though are the days when I go back in and find that I’ve actually written something that is worth reading. Worth the time it took. Worth the pain of typing as my fingers fly across my beloved keyboard. (For those new here, I have a strange attachment to my keyboard.)

Sometimes the blocks disappear. Sometimes the words come when you least expect it. And sometimes you have to hold your tone when someone invades your personal space. But you know what it can add up to? A new blog post! Ha!

And that is where I will leave you for today. Thanks so much for joining me along for this crazy ride and again, I’m going to throw some links below for you to check out.

Until next time my friends…

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Click on my linktree to follow me on social, shop my linktree shop and find gifts designed by me for readers and writers alike: linktr.ee/promosocially

(you’ll find my keyboard linked in the shop as well)

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Current book: On Second Thought by Kristan Higgins (click on the title to see)

If you don’t know her books, you can start out with If You Only Knew and Good Luck With That. While not technically a series, these books take place in the same town and involve characters from all of them. I found this out by accident and love when I discover that a new find is related to this town. (They are also based in an area near where I grew up so makes them that much more special to me.) Again, click on the titles to check them out.

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If you’ve made it this far, I thank you and will see you next time. 🙂

Opening Day, Writing Hold and a Plot Down the Drain

March 28, 2025 / ccsocialcreative

‘Tis Friday folks and that means, we’re back! Well, I’m back and I hope you are too. 🙂

It has been a week and one I’m kind of happy is over. To get it out of the way, I finally tested Covid negative but still have some kind of bronchitis type of thing going on. So my writing has been an afterthought. To say I’m not disappointed in myself for that would be an understatement, after all, losing an entire week of writing anything is not ideal, but I have been creative in other ways so at least my brain hasn’t totally turned to mush!

I’ve mentioned a few times that while I do other things, whether creating a new design or even something as simple as making dinner, my mind frees up for figuring out where my next chapter is going to lead. I have to admit that writing a sequel to my first book (whose editing process is also just lagging behind) has been more challenging than I anticipated. Mostly because I have memory issues and trying to remember all character names and storylines including background stories, has been slowing me down a bit. I have to keep going back to the original manuscript to make sure I’m keeping the flow and the style the same as well as all the details. My neurologist would be so proud. Lol

I think that so far I’m succeeding in keeping the tone the same. I have become very protective of this little world I’ve created and while I’ve written about many different things across many genres in the past, making sure that this series of mine creates a world that the reader will want to come back to is my sole responsibility. The problem though, is the plot of the second book.

I had said in a previous post that I was so happy because I finally figured out where this particular story was going. Well, the celebration was a bit premature! I’m currently rereading a series I had read last year because the next book just came out and I wanted to refamiliarize myself with the characters. As I got to one of the books, all of a sudden I realized that what I had come up with for my own series was eerily similar to something that happens in that book. A major faux pas if ever there was one!

Let me be completely clear here…I have NEVER stolen an idea from another writer in my life! I think I’ve just read so much over the past year and a half that trying to remember what I’ve read and what I haven’t are getting mixed up. Hey, it happens and I’m sure with the millions of books out there, there are certainly books that have similar themes and plot points just like the movies. But this was a little too close for comfort and now I have to rethink the main plot for this second book of mine. The one good thing here is that I found out when I did! Had I not reread this series, I would have kept writing my own book thinking I’m all kinds of original and it would not have gone over well once it got to the public. So let’s hear it for rereading books! Woo-Hoo! (Have I mentioned I’m on a lot of meds?)

Ok so NOW what? Well, now I have to go back and rewrite a whole bunch, but again, not the entire book. I’m only about a third of the way in and fixing that will be much easier than having to fix an entire book. So really, I’m good with that. I also now need to figure out where my characters are going. It’s funny, as I’m writing this post I’m realizing that this week off from the book has been ideal! Had I been writing, I would have kept going with my original (ok so not so original) idea and all of it would have to be scrapped. But I haven’t been writing, I’ve been reading and because of that, I actually ended up saving myself from the inevitable consequences! So alrighty then. Breaks, I guess, can be a good thing!! (So are breakthroughs apparently!)

So what exactly have I been working on? Well, I created a bunch of new bookmarks for my shop and finally fixed the printer settings to get them as bold and bright as they look on screen. Then proceeded to reprint old ones out so they look better. Now I just have to cut and laminate them which is a lot of work, but at least they look the way I intended them too instead of muted versions of what I envisioned. I’ve listed a bunch of new vintage and estate pieces on eBay and took tons of pics for lots of new stuff to add in the coming weeks. I created two new blank notebooks for Amazon and just waiting for them to go live before I can put them in my new linktree shop. I finished reading one book, read another book and am now a third of the way through a third book since we last met up here…great thing about being sick, you have time to read! And I was also counting down to Opening Day of the 2025 MLB season!

I am a diehard third generation Yankees fan and proud of it. I make those around me who hate baseball regret they even know me throughout a season. I have very strong opinions on the game and the players and especially the management (please oh please fire Boone and Cashman). Now, having said all of that…what I do not do. I never trash talk on someone’s social media posts. What I mean by that is, let’s say I post something about a game. For example, I like to post about who just hit a home run. And say, a Red Sox fan (just for fun of course) decides to comment on my post with something nasty. It makes me crazy because I never do this to them. NEVER. To me, when you post something that makes YOU happy, I don’t go and tear it down. And while I may not like the Red Sox, I am a BASEBALL fan. I can respect other teams and player’s efforts. Hell, I loved watching Big Papi do his thing when he played! I get it’s all part of the sports world but you still should have respect.

Trash talking and such? I’m more for doing that in person. You’re out at a bar watching a game. Guy next to you likes the opposing team, you have fun with the back and forth, right? But you are right there. In person. It’s all in fun and you can hear the tone of the other dude saying stuff. Online, there is always room for speculation and misunderstanding. I’m also not seeking out the guy standing next to me, whereas on social, you can just let the post pass and move on. Once you comment, it is deliberately baiting that poster. Unfortunately, we see it too much these days with the way things are now. Which is the problem of social media in general and that’s for another day and a lot more meds. I’ve even had it happen with just posting something as innocent as “hey the flowers are up today!” No kidding, people will hate on all of it. So now that I’ve just deleted a two paragraph rant on that subject, let me just say this…baseball is back and I’m happy!

Baseball and cherry blossoms just sum up Spring for me. That plus tulips and daffodils. Ok, so the four of them sum up Spring for me! I used to hate this season. As a brutal allergy sufferer, all I could see was the pollen aspect. But in the last few years, I’ve grown to love it. January thru March in the Northeast holds many a gray, lifeless day. We have lost the colorful holiday lights and are left with cold, cloudy skies and brown lawns. And then suddenly we see something pop up out of the ground. Maybe a crocus or we see the beginning buds on a tree. We see the first robin of the season and as our state’s bird, we have tons of them here, all starting to sing their songs sometimes as early as 4am. It is life regenerating in the most literal sense and for us humans, it means new opportunities ahead. New days to get out there and breathe in the fresh air. Take in the sounds. See the colorful flowers that are washing away the gray, cold days. As a Fall person, to me, Spring is the closest to my favorite season as I can find. There are colors to be seen, it is not oppressively hot and there are still cool, crisp nights to be had. Fall leaves have their brief window of time to show off their bright, beautiful shades of reds, yellows and oranges while Spring tulips (my favorite flowers) are also given just as short of a window to give us their pinks, purples and in their case, multitudes of colors before disappearing for the rest of the year. The similarities of the two seasons are there, you just need to stop and take them in. Seeing the new flowers and such can make a bad day much, much better. 🙂

Just one more quick thing before I let you go…I will be adding more to my linktree shop and also want to remind you of the big Amazon Spring sale going on now and appreciate any click through on my affiliate links that help support the site (and me). Any relevant links will always be at the bottom of my posts as I never like to inundate my readers with tons of links or ads if I can help it. Oh and if you come and follow my FB page for the site, new phone wallpaper freebies will be going up in the next few days!!

And with that, I will leave you for now. As always, if you’ve made it this far, I thank you for once again putting up with my rambling. I hope I’ve given you at least one smile this week as well as some things to sit and ponder…but in a good way of course!

Thanks for hanging with me again this week and I hope you all have a great weekend! Until next week…keep writing, keep creating and keep motivated!!! 🙂

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Catch up with my latest posts by hitting the ‘new posts’ or the tab up in the menu bar.

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Linktree shop: linktr.ee/promosocially

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My vintage and estate jewelry listings can be found when you hit the eBay tab in my StuffWeFind linktree: linktr.ee/stuffwefind or my ad block to the right.

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My bookmarks, stickers and soon, art prints on Etsy (for now): linktr.ee/stuffwemade

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Thanks all. Keep being YOU!

Irish Fun, Plot Twist and Sipowicz

March 14, 2025 / ccsocialcreative

Photo credit: soramang on pixabay. As usual, all other relevant links will be under article.

It’s just days before St. Patrick’s Day and everything is just a bit too quiet around these parts. I am a huge Paddy’s day person, I always considered it my second Christmas. The parade days around here have been legendary. The parade usually taking place on a Saturday, early afternoon, usually a week or two before the big day and lasting well past closing time. The day was always a marathon, not a sprint and it was always good times with good friends. Plus, it would usher in the busy seasons for our downtown area. If you’ve ever worked in a bar or restaurant, you know that the slow to a crawl time is from New Year’s Day thru St. Patrick’s.

Our town, like many, would have two celebration days, parade day and the day itself. Being part Irish, I always embraced the days and those leading up to them as well. I have been benched for a few years, with finally making my return back to the fray last year. This year, our parade was held the first day of the month and while I was only able to stay for a little bit, I still loved every second I was amongst those dressed in green from head to toe. Got to hear the music, see the pipers and of course, being it’s like a homecoming day, got to see friends I hadn’t seen since last year. Always a good time and since I won’t be able to go out this Monday for the actual holiday, getting to celebrate even a little bit on the ‘outside’ meant a whole lot.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that I won’t do anything at home! I’ve been listening to a lot of Irish music which I love and will of course be watching Father Ted for my annual marathon. (If you have never seen this hilarious show, it is so worth the watch.) On my FB page for this site, I designed some celebratory phone wallpaper freebies for my followers (I post new ones every month/season/when I come up with a new design, so be sure to follow) with a Paddy’s day theme and what March wouldn’t be complete without a shamrock shake or two!

I grew up with my mom’s side honoring their Irish roots and loving the music and the movies, etc. As I got older, I ended up with a lot of my friends from over there and Irish pubs were my second home for a while. I got to work in one for a while and loved every second of my time there. I still remember being in a pub here in town and one of the guys who was just back from a business trip to Shannon brought in a video of a new dance troupe that was making a splash in the latest Eurovision competition. They asked the owners if they could play it on the projection screen for everyone and the owner cued it right up. That was when we here in the US were introduced to a little known group then called Riverdance! The place erupted with cheers and screams when their dance was over with and then just a few years later, I got to see them live in Radio City on one of their tours.

A few years before that, I was working backstage in a theater and on Monday nights we had special performances unrelated to whatever musical we were putting on at the time. For March, we would have Irish groups come in including the Wolfe Tones and the Clancy Brothers. It was pretty cool to go out to the bar after the gig to shoot darts with the Wolfe Tones and having grown up with the Clancy’s music and it was an honor to work a few of those shows and party with them afterwards backstage as well. What was an even greater surprise, when I went back to the theater after I had left and had gone to a show to see the boys play, I sent a note backstage to see if they’d remember me. How shocked was I to get a note back inviting me to hang out with them after the show for hours of storytelling and belly laughs. That was over 30 years ago now and it still brings the best smiles to my face. They are all gone now and I miss every damned one of those guys. So grateful for the time I had with them and still listen to their music to bring it all back.

Having to stay in this year is once again going to be a bummer. Still battling Covid and it’s been a rough ride. I haven’t written a word since my post last week. It’s been tough to focus and just the idea of typing or editing hasn’t been something I could sit and just do while I’m on meds and all kind of dizzy and such from the illness. It even took me days to finish the last 50 pages of the book I had been reading when normally, I would have finished it several days prior. The words kept jumbling up on me and really not making sense. As for writing anything, it has been nearly impossible. So frustrating for a creative who just wants to sit and write the stories that are coming to her! Even writing this post has been a challenge with lots of stops, starts and edits while my focus has been all over the place.

While I’ve been in my daze this past week, I spent hours playing a game or two on my iPad while living inside of my head. Then somehow, somewhere, the plot twist that has been eluding me for weeks came to me suddenly and from out of nowhere. It was one of those bolts of lightning that happens every blue moon where you literally sit up and go ‘THAT’S IT!’ and have to jot it down quickly before you forget it. I was so worried that the fevers I’ve been having were going to finally pass and I’d forget about where my story was going. That I’d get through these couple of weeks of isolation and then have no clue where the new book was headed. Again, the biggest issue right now is sitting down to focus and get it written out but at least the main hurdle has been jumped and now the fun will be to see where the story leads me.

I’ve talked in the past about being inspired by other writers and during this ‘down time’ has been no exception. One of my favorite shows of all time is NYPD Blue. I found out this week that prime video has a live station dedicated to the show and I’ve been glued to it for the last few days. Now, I know I could stream it on a few other services, but there is something about seeing it live like it’s on regular tv again that brings it all back. It’s funny, the first time I got really sick, years ago, the show had just gone into syndication on TNT and I watched it for the first time and got hooked on it then. Well over a decade later, I had another bout of illness and the show was back on tv in reruns and now, covid time, here we are again. Basically, this show has gotten me through some bad moments in my life and this time around, I am really paying attention to the writing. This show was brilliant and the jargon, the language, the storytelling, it was all done by genius minds. I think NYPE Blue and West Wing are two shows that I could never get tired of just listening to the music that is the dialogue presented on screen. I find myself taking notes on phrasing, humor and of course, the one liners. If ever there was someone to help make me feel better it is the great Dennis Franz playing Andy Sipowicz and for that, I will be forever grateful to the man himself. The perfect marriage of man to character and watching how he evolved throughout the series makes this show must-see tv forever.

All in all it’s been a rough week but one that in some ways, has been a sort of mental vacation. All of the zoning out from covid has partially helped me to rest while also clearing my mind. Now I just hope that I will be able to get my fingers to cooperate with me when all is said and done to keep up with all of the ideas that I’ve been getting during this down time! In the meantime, let’s get ready to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!

Until next week…Sláinte!

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Relevant links for items mentioned in post:

Clancy Brothers Live in Tipperary 1995

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Original 1994 Eurovision perfomance and introduction to Riverdance

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The comedy Father Ted is streaming on several services including Tubi, Peacock and more. If you’d like to catch the first episode of the series: click here

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Free phone wallpaper designed by me available here or click fb page link on the sidebar to the right.