[Ghostwriter's webpage contains approximately 500 links to all kinds of HTML help and tools, midis, wav's, cards, poetry, pagebuilding, gifs, graphics and links to many helpful sites. She also authored a tribute to Native Americans!--ck]

We are here today to meet and get to know MaryAnn. No, not Maryann from Gilligan's Island, but "Ghost Writer" who is a very talented lady with an excellent website. MaryAnn also communicates well with others, so writing this story about her was a cinch.

MaryAnn actually bought the WebTV for her son in October of 1998. She had no desire to do anything on it and it just looked confusing to her anyway. One day, MaryAnn's son went to a chatroom and showed his Mom how you can chat with people. "Interesting," she said, "but scary for some reason. LOL. Well, one night I turned it on and found 'Parents with Special Needs and Parenting' in a teenager's chatroom. I went in and didn't know a thing, but met the nicest and warmest people I ever met." Well, from that moment on, MaryAnn was hooked and she went in almost every night to chat. MaryAnn has remained very close friends with so many people. "It came at a time when I was kinda down with all my good friends moving out of town." And here she met so many new friends who she never knew were out there, and they all are so special to MaryAnn.

When MaryAnn bought the WebTV unit from Wal-Mart, she took it home and hooked it up easily. (That's the best part about WebTV...the hooking up part.) It soon became so popular in MaryAnn's family, she had to buy another WebTV unit at Christmas for her and her husband, because her family was fighting over it. LOL. So MaryAnn's son has his own now!

MaryAnn is from NY and lives in a small farming town. "Nothing but farms all around. It's so peaceful here. Our house is located away from all major roads, so the only sounds here are birds and katydids. And it's as black as night can be what with no lights anywhere." (Great for star gazing, unlike Elmira!)

MaryAnn is new to the town where they have lived for less than a year. "I don't know too much about the area. It's an 'Indian named town' with the mountains we have here by the same name." MaryAnn still hasn't been out exploring too much as it's mainly farmland with few houses. The only place that MaryAnn did get to visit was a breathtaking farm "with miles of green grass and white fences on both sides of the road, as far as one can see and horses everywhere!" MaryAnn doesn't get much time to get around due to no car in the day and working at night.

MaryAnn learned about HTML from Draacs. "I was so set on making great e-mail pages that I was up all night looking for gifs and music, finding a theme and getting a few gifs here and there and putting it altogether. It sometimes took me a week because I messed up so much! But MaryAnn kept at it. She always had a few friends to help her and before long, she was creating e-mail pages in a matter of minutes, and helping many people. MaryAnn receives great joy from knowing she has finally mastered basic HTML and can now help others who are lost like she was once. Someone told MaryAnn she made great e-mail pages and encouraged her to do a website. That scared MaryAnn silly. "Transloading was a nightmare until I finally learned that and tried a website. It was easier then I thought. Very time consuming though. I still have a lot to learn and am doing that slowly."

MaryAnn first started out with the intent to only have links that would help out the beginner on WebTV. She wanted to make it easy for them to learn HTML or put gifs and midis on their e-mails. So, that's where MaryAnn concentrated her efforts. And then, she started adding tool pages and found she loves everything having to do with tools. It's like Christmas to her when she would be sent these great sites. So it got to be anything good she received, she would just add it to her site. Many poems touch MaryAnn's heart, so MaryAnn had to get those on her website as well. She just couldn't stop adding.

Then the Native American page was made when a friend, Koda Wolf, suggested it. It was only to be a tribute and then, she couldn't help adding links. So now, it's a tribute and links page. MaryAnn just can't get enough of this.

MaryAnn's advice to newbies is to read everything you can on the subject of HTML. "So many ask so many questions. And this can be very draining as much as I love to help, but for the newbies to get all the basics pretty much down is very helpful to themselves and easier on those whose help they ask for. Read, read, read," says MaryAnn. Someone told her once that you have to crawl before you can walk, so you have to learn the basics before you tackle the difficult tasks. "And once you learn the basics, then and only then attempt a webpage because when things go wrong, you can fix it. If a code is off, you know what to look for. Also, practice with your e-mails where you can do all sorts of neat things and when they look good, then attempt a webpage if you want!" (Good advice)

The things MaryAnn didn't like about WebTV and the one she disliked the most are the "slow connection times, being disconnected a lot and their upgrades. When there's an upgrade, something always goes wrong. Something we have to give up that I liked." Sometimes, MaryAnn wishes they would just leave things alone unless they know for sure it's not going to affect something else that we already have. And waiting so long to connect to sites and e-mails...well, it takes up time that I could be doing other things. I feel it is a waste of time to sit and stare at the screen, but it's the truth and we all know it."

MaryAnn likes all the friends she has met on WebTV. "We get to know each others soul here and it doesn't matter what we look like or what we have, we get to know the inner being of people and that is more precious to me and it makes for closer friends." MaryAnn met most of her closest friends in a chatroom and others through their e-mails. And MaryAnn usually remains a good friend with them. MaryAnn likes always knowing she has someone she can write to if she needs to "which is not so easy in her life to do that," says MaryAnn, "and we are all hooked here, so we keep in touch. LOL"

MaryAnn also likes being able to look up anything she wants and needs with a click of a button. "It sure has made things easier for me," says MaryAnn. "There is so much to learn here that I will never, ever, in my lifetime ever be able to see all that's on here!"

You can enjoy MaryAnn's webpage here.

E-mail MaryAnn

[Community Editor's Notes: So many links, MaryAnn! This is wonderful!! The links are very helpful and the tribute to Native Americans was lovely!--ck]