If I were married to LJ, according to the etiquette books, we would be jointly receiving gifts of bronze today. I have no idea what sorts of gifts. The only things I’ve ever seen in bronze are bronzed baby shoes. Does anyone even do that anymore? Anyway… Yep, this LJ turned the Big 8 today, and I don’t mean CKLW AM 800 from the 1970s. (Dammit. I miss them, in that weird nostalgic way one comes to miss the annoying things from youth. See, I was a WJR listener, which really fits with the photo of me with the little old man hat. My sister listened to The Big 8. No more needs to be said.)
Well, now that I’ve lost everyone except altivo…. See, people used to listen to AM radio because it played music and wasn’t full of talk show hosts with agendas and … oh never mind.
Three years ago, I explained how I got here and why I stayed. That’s all still applicable. Last year I bemoaned the slow subsidence of the LJ cult; unfortunately that’s still applicable too. I’m surprised the Russian political scene has not interrupted more on LJ than it has (though I suppose were I in, I dunno, St. Petersburg, I might have a different opinion). But the loud sucking sound coming from Facebook hoovering up the social media devotees continues unabated, I think. There’s only so many hours in a day, and after checking the status of your cousins for the 34th time in a day and seeing the latest round of cat, dog, and weasel macros, one really must put in some time on work. That gets in the way of LJ. Or maybe that’s just me.
I’m trying (maybe not succeeding) to not wax elegiac on LJ. It’s premature for that, though I’d be lying if I tried to tell you I wasn’t afraid the thing will disappear on me, either from some cataclysmic hacker-caused crash this coming March (Russian elections are then) or the slow departure of every friend I have here. I can’t do much in either event. But I am trying to figure out what I can do to try to provide a reason for a few people to stay and even interact. Are there subjects I could write here that I haven’t before? Post more photos? Comment more? I think I hold back from commenting in other LJs, and maybe if I did write comments it would be welcome. It isn’t that I want to collect readers and comments for numbers’ sake. I still hope to write things that readers might enjoy and comment on. It’s harder than it looked eight years ago, it seems.
So now that I’ve made myself sound needy, thank you for sticking around here another year, and I hope you’re still here for a long time. I do read everything my friends post, as well as some things my friends’ friends post. Thank you for allowing me to do that.
And now, to reward you for getting this far….
It’s the annual statistical thingie, brought to you by LJ Comment Stats!
Generated by LJ Comment Stats.
Notes:
- I again declined to remove myself from the list, due to sloth.
- #2 and #23 are the same person; combined total of 445 comments.
- #9 and #24 are the same person, combined total of 112 comments, which would be good for #8
- #1 and #52 are the same person; combined total of 1832 comments. Those two under my Facebook Open ID were tests to figure out how the Open ID worked.
Woohoo! 22nd!
What do I win?
I’m not sure. Let me see if I can find any duct tape.
“I’m your number three fan…!!!”
I didn’t quite know how to do a demented Kathy Bates voice, but consider me as having attempted to do so…!
I’m not exactly “lost” on LJ – just generally too distracted, busy, or without much to commit to writing. I *do* still read your posts, though… and comment when I have something intelligent (or at least humorous) to add to the conversation. Be who you are, write whatever you write – I’ll read it all. 🙂 (And I’ll try to do likewise soon.)
Re: “I’m your number three fan…!!!”
I will count your attempt as good, and be happy you can’t really impersonate Kathy Bates. 🙂
I definitely know the distraction issue. It seems I’m getting better and better at being distracted as time goes by. It doesn’t help that there are so many attractive nuisances on the Internet. Looking forward to anything you post here or elsewhere. 🙂
I gotta pad my stats on that list.
My biggest problems are that I don’t have that much that’s interesting to write about, and I don’t have nearly as much time these days to write about the uninteresting parts of my life.
I don’t talk about work online anywhere. And there’s enough private stuff that goes on outside of work, that whatever is left is pretty mundane.
The only things left would be my opinions, which are subject to change and can adversely affect many of my friendships, so I don’t bother with those most of the time.
You’re doing all right. Always like to hear from you, but I’m not giving out grades. 🙂
One thing to consider perhaps: You have a collection of friends/readers, and they’re probably interested in things you’d write that a complete stranger wouldn’t care about. That’s not to say you’re obligated to tell us everything, just that we’re more likely to find the details valuable in some way. Of course, there are strangers who might blunder into your journal, and you might not want to broadcast some things. It’s a balancing act.
I understand not wanting to write about work. I rarely do so myself, due in part to guidelines my employer has about what I should say. It’s kind of too bad, because it would be fun to write “I got to work on this really cool book today!” except I don’t know what I can disclose before publication, among other things.
The time thing is the biggie, of course. You seem to be too busy living life to write about it. That ain’t bad at all.