I think LJ may have "screwed the *****" with the bruhaha last week.

Let me explain:

I was a paying customer of LJ and had been for 4 years. Paid journal, extra icons, v-gifts, and such going into the bank account of the company behind LJ. Notice that I am so uninformed that I don't even know who owns LJ (IIRC, the company is based in Russia...somewhere).

No, I was a completely apathetic user of LJ as far as its policies, practices, and general attitude. I, of course, was upset about Strikethrough '07, but LJ eventually partially recanted and I returned to my apathetic ways. No, the only thing LJ had that I wanted was my f-list and my fandom. RL got in my way of posting/commenting, so the few f-list people I stayed in contact with were and are very important to me.

However...the recent bruhaha drove many of my f-list to Dreamwidth and other assorted journals and has caused division amongst f-list friends. Like many lurkers, I didn't want to lose touch with my f-list, so I decided to use my accounts on other journals to stay in contact with them. Now, with the partial concession of LJ, many of the LJ f-list are relieved and anticipating the return of the so-called "lj-refugees." Indeed, if I had never tried Dreamwidth, I would have returned to my apathetic ways and continued my lurking on LJ.

But, I did try Dreamwidth and in the course of one week, DW has won me. Let me say to all of my LJ friends that haven't tried DW, you are missing out. The tech support, features, community, and ease of use are unparalleled.

During this week, I have met more new people than I met in four years at LJ. That's not a slam against the people at LJ, btw, more of a commentary on me. DW feels like a place I can make my own; I feel more needed at DW than I ever did at LJ. For some reason, I feel like I'm more a part of the community; I have a voice. The "owners" of DW listen to the users and maybe that's why DW has way cooler features and ease of use. In a nutshell, DW's just better than LJ.

As a poor academic, I can't support both LJ and DW, and I've decided to give monetary support to DW. [I still have an account at LJ, but I've downgraded to a free account. Afterall, I still have a few friends that didn't make the jump to DW, and I don't want to lose touch with them completely.] Who knows? Maybe the f-list at DW will migrate back to LJ. But I won't. I'll keep cross-posting and checking comments at LJ, but DW will be my main journal.

It's that much better than LJ.

So...yes, LJ screwed up. They lost my $50 or more a year because they gave me a reason to investigate another journal. My reason wasn't grand and grounded in social justice or privacy. No, it was because LJ gave many of my f-list a reason to leave and I didn't want to lose contact with them. I had no intention of changing my main journal to DW. But I have changed, now. I wonder how many lurkers people are like me? LJ has lost out. But, then, out of the estimated however many million users, maybe journalers like me don't amount to much of a loss. At LJ. I think it would be different for the management of DW if the scenario were reversed. They're that hands-on. Srsly.

I know I could have cut this [DW has the coolest journal cut, evah, btw] but I wanted it all laid out. So, I apologize for the tl;dr post, but, then, I post mainly for myself and I feel the need to leave the post as it is. So, it will stay tl;dr.

So long Paid LJ account, hello DW!

I've been so disconnected I was completely unaware of the LJ/FB/Twitter integration. I have been studying/working toward my competency exams at the university with such intensity that I haven't checked LJ or the e-mail I assigned to it since around July.

My main concern about leaving LJ, I guess, is losing the wealth of knowledge collected by the fandom and all of the wonderful people with whom I somehow feel connected. I know that many will move to dreamwidth, but who and how much will be lost? As someone said previously, I would hate for everyone to scatter. :(

However, it can be said that anything can be rebuilt if you are willing to work hard enough. I'm not a fan works contributor, but perhaps I can encourage? Competancy exams will soon be over so I'll have more time for online connecting. Also, there are far fewer comms on dreamwidth so perhaps I can make stronger connections with those that are here. Sometimes I feel like a small voice at LJ and what I could say has already been far better stated by another user. Maybe I will feel more ownership at dreamwidth. I've liked it enough to purchase a subscription to it.

We'll see.

It is a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Vader is off duty this weekend so I have been pulled from my perusal of the finite element method and into the bright sunlight. I guess my digital reclusivity has also came to an end. Hello, world.

Mom asked me today if I was happier this year than I was last year. I replied with something along the line of "Last year this time I didn't realize how awful Monticello High School would be. I still had hope of making a difference." Mom replied that I was unhappy then, I just didn't remember.

After I posted just a little bit ago, I stumbled across some private posts from last year and one of them was from September 3, 2009. I can say now, with great authority, that I am much happier this year than I was last year. I was miserable last year. I am so glad I got out of that school!

I love my job, now. I love having the chance to work on my doctorate. I love the students I teach and I don't think I'll leave my current job for a very, very long time.

:)

Much happier.

Ahh, things have changed since 2007. Three years have passed and I'm not the same person I used to be. First, and foremost, I find myself of a more spiritual nature. I tend to avoid romantic fictions and seldom, in truth, have time to read fanfics anymore. My focus for my life has shifted dramatically and I find that I am more satisfied.

I've changed jobs; I no longer teach in a high school setting. I've moved into the position as a college instructor of mathematics and am working diligently on my doctorate in computational science.

Many of my current musings seem to be largely introspective and I don't see that trend changing. The rest of my posts should deal with fannish stuff, the trials and tribulations of a poor graduate student, and real life. Not terribly interesting to most people, but then I don't post for others at IJ. This journal is for me. :)

I've avoided LJ for about a year now and found that my former fannish obsessions are not so obsessive these days. I'm not sure if it's healthy to let a fandom dominate your creativity and free-time. I still love the fandom; it's just not as important in my life as it used to be. Of course, the people in the fandom are absolutely wonderful and I do miss them. I wish I had more time to spend online just to connect with them, again. :( It would be nice to know if we connected because of who we are or because we enjoyed the same fandom...depressing thoughts, really. It would be best to leave them for now. After all, I'm the one that stopped visiting LJ....

I don't check FB very much either. I guess I've turned into a digital recluse.

::snort::

I'm getting confused. I knew I would with three different blogs (and I'm waiting on scribblit to go live so I can jump on that one, too). Oh well, if LJ hadn't been a class A prat, then this wouldn't be neccessary.

On my to-do list for today: I'm going to try to customize my layout on IJ. I haven't even looked at the CSS layout features and I'm a little worried. It took a while for me to get comfortable with LJ's input method.

I uploaded 1 user pic last night: chibi!Sanzo with cookies. I need to work on uploading my other pics, too...


Oh, and I need to get a moodtheme uploaded, too.


Busy, busy, busy

School starts in exactly one week. ::sob::

Well...here I am. I'm an LJ evacuee. Well, not quite. I'm still watching my LJ account and I seriously doubt I'll toss it completely. However, many, many, many people in my favorite fandom (Saiyuki) are heading to different blog spots, so I thought I'd set up some accounts and keep up with them. I'm hoping that these different blog spots will build comms for fandoms I love. The lack of these comms is what is keeping me from fully committing to GJ or IJ. However, I fully intend to help build them here by participating in discussions and recommending great bloggers and fanfic writers!

I must admit that I love many, many fandoms but Saiyuki has caught my total attention and has kept it for most of a year. Sanzo is my favorite character and I am a 393 shipper. I seldom look at 838 fics and I avoid 535 fics like the plague.

Anyone who wants to friend me, friend away! I'll return the favor. I love to chat and can get a little excited about some things, but I never flame and I hate flamers!