oceancat11

LiveJournal: The First Decade

Just in time for holiday shopping, we're thrilled to announce the release of our ten-year anniversary anthology. Published by Blurb.com, the book showcases a decade of extraordinary talent drawn from LiveJournal users around the world. This must-read compilation features stories, memes, photos, comics, editorials, graphic content, and more, including:

1. Excerpts from Oh No They Didn't (a/k/a ohnotheydidnt), the largest community on LiveJournal, covering celebrity gossip, entertainment news, and pop culture
2. A look at post-Katrina New Orleans from the journal of Poppy Z. Brite
3. Gripping narratives, including a poignant reverie on a blind date
4. Photography that spans the globe, ranging from old-fashioned Polaroids to underwater photography
5. Mouthwatering dishes from food_porn

What began as a late-night inspiration back in Brad Fitzpatrick's college dorm in 1999 has grown to encompass nearly 25 million users worldwide, with journals and communities covering every conceivable hobby, passion, and topic. To get your copy, please visit the Blurb Bookstore. For updates and entries from book contributors, please join lj_turns10.

Tweaks and enhancements

• You can now ban a user from all of your communities and journals at once. To access this feature, hover over the person's userpic and choose Ban user everywhere from the drop-down menu.
• Follow LiveJournal on Twitter!

Give a little to help a lot!

In honor of National AIDS Awareness month, we've added a new charitable vgift. For each red ribbon you purchase for $2.99, we'll donate 100 percent of gross proceeds to IAVI.org (the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative) to support the development and global distribution of an affordable HIV vaccine (we'll cover credit card fees). You can read more about IAVI at lj_cares. While we're on the subject, we raised $740 from our November fundraiser for Love Without Boundaries, which supports emergency healthcare and adoption of Chinese orphans. We thank you for helping us help others.

Photos of the week

We're back with more incredible pictures from our super-talented LiveJournal photographers. Congratulations to ilya_gorokhov, who is the winner of our very first lj_photophile poll.

We hope you'll continue to post, vote, and comment! A gentle request: Please post only one photo at a time and limit size to 350x350 (so images display properly on friends pages). And now, without further ado, get ready to cast your ballot and view more awesome user content after the jump!

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Curtains

Thanks, again, for joining us. Stay safe and snug out there!

This is an inquiry post, my Gentle Readers, an inquiry that may turn into a rant later.

Are you aware of any webpages acting as author databases and bibliographies, especially genre-specific ones, that DO NOT reference Amazon.com as a buying source?

It's my contrarian independent bookseller streak showing, I know, and I truly do not wish to offend those of my Gentle Readers who are authors and depend on Amazon.com listings to impress their publishers with book sales.

But I am trying not to have to make my own database, and would love to find one that suggests IndieBound.org as a place to help customers shop locally for their favourites. I wouldn't even mind if it had IndieBound alongside Amazon, as long as Amazon wasn't considered the be-all and end-all of book shopping.

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can offer me.

---pmc2

[Mirrored at Bookseller By Night @ WordPress.com. Comments are welcome there as well as here.]

**EDIT Thu Dec 3 23:24:15 UTC 2009 **

Hey Everyone, we are about to run the last alter job that we need to on our database servers. This will effect userpics / scrapbook / vgift images for the next few hours. Have no fear, your images aren't lost, there is just a really intensive process running on the servers which store the information for mogilefs. Thank you for your understanding and all the LJ love...

Hey LJers,

I just wanted to let you all know that we are going to be performing some mogilefs maintenance over the next few days. We will be upgrading our current version to latest stable as well as changing some db config information to better handle the amount of files we are currently hosting. This shouldn't cause a big impact on site stability, but you may see some minor delays with userpic / scrapbook images appearing or other requests associated with our mogilefs. We would love to not have that happen, but unfortunately with some of the steps we need to take we have to cause a delay with images. I figured this was a better solution than taking down all of LiveJournal because well lets face it, we all need our daily LJ fix ;)

Thanks,

Thought I was getting better, and now my voice is gone, my tonsils want to eat my head, and I still need to put in another hour at the Desk of Doom before I can justify shuffling off to my cocoon.

It took me four tries to spell "cocoon", and none of them look right.

Feh, I say, with the sensation that I am gargling gravel. Feh.

backpacking
Want to embrace your wanderlust on the cheap? If you're high on adventurous spirit, but low on funds, this community can help you plan a trip to anywhere. Offering plentiful tips on how to travel light, you can post about inexpensive hotels and youth hostels if you're into urban exploration or discuss camping gear and mosquito netting for the great outdoors. Hitch your backpack, pitch your tent, and carpe diem!

bookfails
Planning to do your part to help boost the declining publishing industry this holiday? Better check here first. Sure, there are plenty of folks who post glowing reviews of their favorite books. But what about the epic fails? Compose and/or discuss snarky, incisive critiques on the books you despise most.

foundphotos
Ever stumble across a frayed photo in your grandmother's attic? How about a faded picture tucked in the sleeve of an old novel at a used book sale? This is the place to post them. An amazing, eclectic collection of photographs sure to delight anyone with a penchant for history or nostalgic memorabilia.

note_to_cat
Having trouble conveying the concept of accountability to your cat? Now you can share letters to your significant felines and give public witness to your declarations of love and domestic negotiations. Whether you want to publish an apology for falling short on your cat-nip obligations or you need to raise a delicate hygiene issue.

Subtitled: It is a sad fact that when people are really enjoying themselves and laughing immoderately, they can afterwards remember very little of the conversation, very few of the jokes. --- Richard Ingrams

I lie in the blessedly hot depths of my clawfoot tub and contemplate the events of a week past, as I prepare to write up my day-by-day recounting of Philcon 2009.

By going back to Philcon after an absence of three years, I was reclaiming a part of myself.

I got to say "kthxbai" to my need to litanize all the dark sordid secrets of my colorful past while spending extended periods of time with my kindly host and boon companion. There were one or two references that slipped out, but I no longer feel the need to grab people by the shoulders and beg them to understand me and pity me.

I got to say "kthxbai" to the feeling of being an alien outcast when I reference such things as my ritual of donning George Spiggott socks, or my need to channel a combination of Robert Preston as Toddy, Roy Scheider as Joe Gideon, and Phyllis Diller in stand-up mode, before facing crowds of people at a panel or even to hold a conversation in a hotel hallway or lobby.

I got to say "kthxbai" to the worried look in the eyes of my previous kindly host from 2006, who got to enjoy my company without needing to bring in any EMTs.

I got to say "kthxbai" to hours lost to panic and solitary misery whenever my inner voices of negativity piped up during the weekend. While I couldn't say "kthxbai" to the voices themselves - I'm not that strong yet, and I doubt that the Imp of the Perverse will ever leave me alone on a permanent basis - I could say "au revoir" to those voices, could say "au revoir" to that Imp, while talking zombie audio dramas with a roguish producer and talking college assignment travails with his ravishing wife, while perched on a bar stool and knitting away with a publishing industry reviewer and keen observer of society, while rattling down a hallway with a red-haired raconteur and fabulist, while sharing sandwiches and good red wine with spiritkin, while breaking fast with librarians and lunching with shindig-mistresses, and while sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with Supergirl and a medieval minx, across the table from "that guy from the Internet", as we created our own island amidst more everyday celebrations.

Goodbyes can sometimes lead to some very, very pleasant hellos, not to mention "until we meet again".

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This is an entry for the Season 6 edition of therealljidol. Other entries and related topics can be found by clicking on the tag "lj idol". Thanks for reading!

Last night involved fever dreams featuring eating tacos with Jon Pertwee, anthrax envelopes as a result of an online comics industry feud, and boarding schools that did not teach wizardry.

It was all sore throat and body aches yesterday... today is productive coughing and head congestion. I am drinking lots of juice and am sitting up, as that seems to do more for me than staying in bed. I'm wearing a sweater over my PJs, and wearing my little half-gloves on my cold paws.

I promised firesign10 that I would not wield any heavy machinery more involved than a laundry basket or a keyboard today while under the influence of non-drowsy cold meds, which have me feeling like I could happily finish a certain infamous Coleridge poem.

The "bottled lightning" icon has been brought out of retirement to signify the year's turn towards varying celebrations that involve seasons of light. I have many friends who walk many paths... Buddhism, Wicca, Judaism, Islam, Christianity, and others individuated to their needs. But most, if not all, involve light, love, sharing, peace.

Wishing you all light in your lives, whatever you may celebrate.

These are probably bits of randomness that would be better off on Twitter, but my day is not set up to be a Twitter day today. I'm really only on Twitter for spans of time when I have data entry to do, and today is a scanning-and-updating day, not a data-entry day.

So you get the benefits of brain-bit-ness here on LJ, my Gentle Readers.

* Whoever invents a collapsible, telescoping QUAD cane that can fit in a backpack, versus my sleek and sexy folding spy cane, will have my undying love and gratitude. Today feels like snow and signals the return of Cyborg Proserpina.

* This happened a week or so ago, but is still having ripple effects on my psyche, especially when cooking meals as involved as yesterday's. I can break Pyrex BY SHEER FORCE OF WILL. Fear me.

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Hope you are safe and warm wherever you are.

Continuing the theme of "Don't go to the malls today, Gentle Readers. Shop online". Now in "it's all about me" flavour.

Mike's Comics at http://www.mikescomics.com. Bookmark it, baybee.

Sells the following:

1] BLAKE'S 7 titles, with special emphasis on BLAKE'S 7: THE AUDIO ADVENTURES and BLAKE'S 7: THE EARLY YEARS.

2] DOCTOR WHO merchandise:

* toys

* audio productions

* books [including the SHORT TRIPS anthologies featuring more than a few of my Gentle Readers]

* DVDs

* odds and ends

3] TORCHWOOD merchandise

* books

* DVDs

* magazines

* toys and gifts

4] Horror merchandise such as FAMOUS MONSTER, the biopic of Forrest J Ackerman.

5] Fantasy and art greeting cards from Dragon Tales and Pomegranate Publications.

6] Roleplaying game modules and miniatures that you just won't find anywhere else.

7] Music from REVELS, including stuff that's great for the holidays.

8] Treasures from our private collection.

And lots, lots more.

Don't go to the malls today, Gentle Readers. Shop online.

Let me point out others' works and livelihoods, before I go into my own spiel for my own stuph. And one disclaimer... I ***am*** going to be forgetting someone. I know that going in, because I know myself too well and I know my own degree of brain-fuzz. [I knew the job was dangerous when I took it.] Please do not feel offended if I leave you off; just give a gentle reminder in comments, and I will edit you in.

1] The Interstital Arts Foundation auctions

2] A selection of writers, visual artists, tactile artists, retailers and convention promoters I support [visit their LJs to find their websites]:

* http://norda.livejournal.com/profile

* http://booksbynight.livejournal.com/profile

* http://mikescomics.livejournal.com/profile

3] A selection of publishers I support [may be some overlap with above]:

* Apex Book Company - http://www.apexbookcompany.com

* Night Shade Books - http://www.nightshadebooks.com

* MonkeyBrain Books - http://www.monkeybrainbooks.com

* Pulpwork Press - http://www.pulpworkpress.com

* Lethe Press - http://www.lethepressbooks.com

* By Light Unseen Media - http://bylightunseenmedia.com

* Fey Publishing - http://fey-publishing.com

4] A selection of musical artists I like who sell their works online:

* Rambling Sailors - http://ramblingsailors.com/

* Dizzi - http://www.dizzi.co.uk/

5] Various round-ups from some more of my Gentle Readers, which include even more folks I support who are not mentioned above:

* http://valarltd.livejournal.com/1056992.html

* http://rm.livejournal.com/1759687.html

* http://shadesong.livejournal.com/4012381.html

* http://hughcasey.livejournal.com/1153650.html

6] Everybody in my LJ sidebar [will edit in links later, but go look now!]

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We can all make a difference in this electronic village. If you want to have your work highlighted here, separate from what you promote in your own LiveJournals or not found on the sites I list above, please put in a link in comments.

I am cooking a big meal today, not merely because it's a calendar-dictated holiday, but because today's the first day since I returned from my trip that I've actually had time to cook. I usually cook one big meal a week, and then we eat little meals based around that big meal, with supplemental pasta here and there. Today's big meal happens to be turkey, because that's the cheapest per pound right now.

Our traditions are based more around just having time to be together than on a calendar-based system that commands us to be thankful NOW.

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In all the franticness of the last few weeks, I neglected to welcome new Gentle Reader perrie, whom I met through therealljidol. All of Perrie's tales are good ones, but the entry about pantomime really making it feel like Christmas won me over. [Which might sound completely contradictory to my statement above about not observing calendar-based traditions, but c'mon, give my inner child some slack... she doesn't get out as much as she should.]

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Welcome also to new Gentle Reader jongibbs, who was introduced to me at Philcon by my friend and colleague garyfrank. It turns out we also have a mutual friend in alycewilson, which shows what an intertwined world this is. Jon and I had a memorable small introductory adventure in which we found the convention hotel's mezzanine via the fourth floor while in search of closely-guarded carafes of water.

================================

I've worked my way in reading backlogged LJ entries from "Z" through "V". We shall see how much further I get today in catching up to all of you.

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For those of you who are travelling today, be safe, and for those of you staying at home, be well.

Tweaks and enhancements

1. In order to improve site security, we've temporarily suspended the ability to change passwords for old email addresses that haven't been used for over six months. For further information and support, please visit our customer care page.
2. We've launched a new mobile site with an enhanced UI at m.livejournal.com. View spotlights, post to your journal, read and post to friends pages, and more, no matter where you roam! Please let us know what you think, since this will eventually replace our existing mobile interface. You can update your mobile preferences on your account page.
3. We've upgraded from Beacon to Facebook Connect to improve dual posting. If you've already signed up for Facebook Beacon, you're good to go. If you wish to update your Facebook Connect setting, visit Account Privacy settings and scroll down to the option labeled: "Send information about my updates to Facebook." You can choose Always or Ask each time. Remember to save (on the bottom left corner of the page). To learn more, check out FAQ 249. While we're on the subject, if you happen to be visiting that side of town, please join our Facebook fan page for a touch of home away from home.
4. You'll now receive the Writer's Block Question of the Day in the body of email notifications. To sign up for Writer's Block notifications, visit writersblock and choose the Watch Community option. Next, update your Writer's Block notification settings by checking the box to the right of "Someone posts a new entry to writersblock."
5. Paid and permanent users can now view, add, and edit Notes of commenters. Notes will appear beside the username of comment posters (instead of stars) on S1-themed comment pages.

Send some lovin' thanks to your friends with our holiday vgifts!

Photos of the week

We're so delighted with the immense talent of our growing, global lj_photophile community that we've decided to introduce a poll. Each week, we'll choose a half-dozen photos (based on user comments and staff feedback) and ask you to select a photo of the week. The winning photo will be announced in the next newsletter. If possible, please limit photo size to 350x350 to ensure that images display properly on friends pages. We want to thank you again (and again!) for sharing your passion.

Check out this week's photo poll and more fantastic user content after the jump!

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Curtains

Thanks for joining us. To our American friends, have a fantastic Thanksgiving. To all of our international neighbors, we'll eat a little extra for you!

I have lost so much time this month in odd little corners of the Internet that I'm going to have to do a group birthday post even for those who already got their wishes.

Here's November on my LiveJournal in a nutshell, not forgetting two VERY important birthdays for my eldest brother Swa and my second-eldest sister ziyda.

01: chris_walsh - Chris Walsh
01: ellakite - Ellakite
02: finding_bliss - Finding_Bliss
03: oberonia - Oberonia
07: jarien - jarien
08: pghbekka - pghbekka
08: snacky - Poor Clares breeding wee horses!
11: smartassremarks - SmartAssRemarks
12: xo_kizzy_xo - Kizzy
13: miintikwa - Passionately decaying organic matter
13: shadowwolf13 - Shadow Wolf Byrd
14: marjory - Marjory Frauts
15: angelic_mystic - angelic_mystic
15: leborcham - Leborcham
16: maxymyllyn - Wesley Rundell
17: valarltd - Angel
18: roadnotes - I'll come up singing for you
20: asynjur - asynjur
21: witchofthedogs - When it is darkest, men see the stars.
21: weds - Wednesday
22: mamaboid - MamaBird
23: passe__compose - passe__compose
25: dlobok - Sucker Love
25: secretlysara - Secretly Sara
29: cypherindigo - cypherindigo
30: razzle - Razzle

Loosely-connected thoughts and randomalia for the social side of Philcon...

* Apologies to blogula, firesign10, furuba9, inner_linbo and n_decisive, for not spending the time with you that I should have and wanted to. You got stuck with the me that is me at a working con versus the me you should have gotten to hang out with at a fun con. I hope you all did enjoy yourselves to some degree, and let's try to get together at some other point.

* Even more apologies to harknell and onezumi, whom I did not get to see AT ALL the entire weekend. I had plans to find you at the Sat. 5PM panel, I truly did, and then Murphy's Law slipped in and I was waylaid. I am so sorry!

* systris is the most forgiving person ever. 'Nuff said.

* alycewilson made me giggle by saying she didn't expect me to be so short in person because I seem so large on the Internet. My inner RuPaul is mightily, mightily pleased.

* For briansiano, anthems one, two, three and four.

* I may literally have only had two moments with transversecity, but they were two very lovely moments.

* Breakfast with cypherindigo should be required by the FDA.

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There's more. A lot more. If I saw you at this convention and know your LJ handle, you WILL get a shout-out here. But I need to get offline and do errandy things.

I tried to go back through entries from 11/18/09 to this morning by using my alphabetical reading filters, and it's just too much.

I will try to do what I did after BookExpo America and read each journal singly for the last seven days, starting with Z and going backwards.

It may take some time, since there are now more than 350 of you who actively write on my LJ reading list just for **this** journal, not to mention the reading list I have for booksbynight, which does not cross over anywhere near as much as one might think.

Please be patient. And if there is any entry of yours you think might need my IMMEDIATE attention, please link it here.

Thank you.

I need to do a full Philcon report, but I'm going to start off with one of the better photos taken of me. It just sums up our personalities so well, and shows why we complement each other, even from opposite ends of the emotional spectrum.

Doctor Sardonica and O Positive...
they fight crime.
Photo by the lovely Mrs. popfiend

I liked this photo so much, I didn't even get my usual urge to greyscale it.

Beware, evildoers, wherever you are!

If I met you at Philcon, please give me a shout-out here!

Lots and lots of bookish news to compile from the convention weekend, but I must first unpack my bags and try to make some sense of my piles in my office. Therefore, a full con report remains forthcoming.

---pmc2

[Mirrored at Bookseller By Night @ WordPress.com. Comments are welcome there as well as here.]