LJ Idol - Week 10 - Open Topic
I made it to week 10, yay. This was my personal goal, so thanks to everyone who has voted for me so far.
Long Live LJ
Over the course of the last few months in LJ Idol, I have talked a lot about me, my family, my husband and in particular my child. I find so much pleasure in my family that I sometimes find it hard to remind myself that there are other things worth talking about. I am totally the woman on the bus who bores you rigid with stories of her ‘beautiful boy’.
But there are other things I love; I have an overwhelming obsession with Supernatural, a passion for reading, and writing and a fixation for go-karting. There is also the fact that I am a Star Wars fanatic but until recently had to be forcibly held down to watch an episode of Star Trek (This changed with the reboot movie, yes I am one of those fans). I have an all consuming love for all things Joss Whedon and Terminator, and there is of course the fact that I am more geeky than my husband, who plays online gaming.
But when I sat down and tried to start writing about any of these things, nothing was coming to me. Then inspiration hit and I realised that for my open topic entry in the Live Journal idol competition I wanted to write about Live Journal.
About a little over a year ago, I decided to do a part time degree in literature. As it was a long distance course, and the only computer we had in the house was a PS3, my hubby bought me the lovely laptop on which I’m typing (it is a wonderful, if sometimes unreliable little bunny that I have named Jimmy. No I have no idea why). As I bought the laptop about a month before my course started I first used it to have some fun. As everyone knows the most fun you can have with a computer is on the internet and at the time, my main obsession was Supernatural. So I went to ‘ye old trusty google’ and did a quick search. Most of the links it brought back were for Livejournal. Now although I had been involved in fandom before, it had been a long while ago, way back when LJ was in its infancy, so the world of lj was, if not a stranger then definitely a distant cousin that I didn’t really know very well.
The first link I clicked took me to a community looking for people to beta read their fiction stories, and my first instinct was that this would be pretty good practise for my degree. Editing work in a genre that I enjoy sounded both fun and educational, so I signed up. The first person to message me was autumn_lilacs (known forever more as Ames, lemonade woman, ASS, Hey You and various other affectionate names, but very rarely by her actual name), the rest was pretty much history. I got myself a livejournal in November 2008, joined some communities and jumped into the fray.
Nowadays, I help moderate and maintain a writers community, I have a wonderfully entertaining flist on not one but two journals and I now find myself writing for a Live Journal writing competition. Live journal and the people who are part of it, have entertained me, encouraged me, inspired me and befuddled me. I have found a wealth of knowledge and opinions that have made me grow, challenged my ideas and beliefs and opened my eyes to a much larger and far more interesting world.
But that hasn’t been LJ’s best gift to me. No the best gift of all is the people I have met along the way. My wonderful already mentioned Ames who never lets me put myself down, no matter what stupid mistakes I make. My awesomely amazing internet wives faithbeckett and veritas_st who love me regardless of what nonsense comes out of my mouth and who go out of their way to make my day. My other fellow mod rebekahfair who loves her obsessions (new and old) with a passion that always makes me smile. The awesomely wonderful mahret83 who believed in my writing so much she pestered me until I caved and joined lj idol. The amazingly talented and beautiful Zombie crew who are never too busy to lend an ear, and are always ready with a shoulder to cry on. The divinely funny Laura whose sardonic sense of humour masks the heart of a true sweetheart, and everyone else, far too many to name who have gone out of their way to make me smile, share my sorrows and brighten my day. Then there are the new friends I have made here on magsscribbles the amazingly talented rejeneration who shares my supernatural obsession and whose entries never fail to blow me away. oneonthefence whose entries always move me and whose kindness and interest always make me smile, and every other person who has taken the time to comment on my entries and vote for me along the way.
All of these people have taught me that the only difference between your ‘real life’ friends and your ‘online friends’ is simple geography. They have been my rocks, my heart and my inspiration through a truly horrible year, and have surrounded me with a love that makes me feel blessed to know each and every one of them.
I started off 2009 with a vague interest in the internet, and some fun new acquaintances. But I ended it with a wealth of knowledge, a more open outlook, a lot more friends than I ever dreamed of having, and a few soul mates that, despite the oceans and miles separating us, are truly some of the greatest friends a person could ever hope to have.
So my thanks go out to live journal and to the talented and amazing people that keep it as alive and vibrant as it. Thank you for inspiring me, entertaining me, stimulating me and always giving me something new to write about.
Long Live LJ
Over the course of the last few months in LJ Idol, I have talked a lot about me, my family, my husband and in particular my child. I find so much pleasure in my family that I sometimes find it hard to remind myself that there are other things worth talking about. I am totally the woman on the bus who bores you rigid with stories of her ‘beautiful boy’.
But there are other things I love; I have an overwhelming obsession with Supernatural, a passion for reading, and writing and a fixation for go-karting. There is also the fact that I am a Star Wars fanatic but until recently had to be forcibly held down to watch an episode of Star Trek (This changed with the reboot movie, yes I am one of those fans). I have an all consuming love for all things Joss Whedon and Terminator, and there is of course the fact that I am more geeky than my husband, who plays online gaming.
But when I sat down and tried to start writing about any of these things, nothing was coming to me. Then inspiration hit and I realised that for my open topic entry in the Live Journal idol competition I wanted to write about Live Journal.
About a little over a year ago, I decided to do a part time degree in literature. As it was a long distance course, and the only computer we had in the house was a PS3, my hubby bought me the lovely laptop on which I’m typing (it is a wonderful, if sometimes unreliable little bunny that I have named Jimmy. No I have no idea why). As I bought the laptop about a month before my course started I first used it to have some fun. As everyone knows the most fun you can have with a computer is on the internet and at the time, my main obsession was Supernatural. So I went to ‘ye old trusty google’ and did a quick search. Most of the links it brought back were for Livejournal. Now although I had been involved in fandom before, it had been a long while ago, way back when LJ was in its infancy, so the world of lj was, if not a stranger then definitely a distant cousin that I didn’t really know very well.
The first link I clicked took me to a community looking for people to beta read their fiction stories, and my first instinct was that this would be pretty good practise for my degree. Editing work in a genre that I enjoy sounded both fun and educational, so I signed up. The first person to message me was autumn_lilacs (known forever more as Ames, lemonade woman, ASS, Hey You and various other affectionate names, but very rarely by her actual name), the rest was pretty much history. I got myself a livejournal in November 2008, joined some communities and jumped into the fray.
Nowadays, I help moderate and maintain a writers community, I have a wonderfully entertaining flist on not one but two journals and I now find myself writing for a Live Journal writing competition. Live journal and the people who are part of it, have entertained me, encouraged me, inspired me and befuddled me. I have found a wealth of knowledge and opinions that have made me grow, challenged my ideas and beliefs and opened my eyes to a much larger and far more interesting world.
But that hasn’t been LJ’s best gift to me. No the best gift of all is the people I have met along the way. My wonderful already mentioned Ames who never lets me put myself down, no matter what stupid mistakes I make. My awesomely amazing internet wives faithbeckett and veritas_st who love me regardless of what nonsense comes out of my mouth and who go out of their way to make my day. My other fellow mod rebekahfair who loves her obsessions (new and old) with a passion that always makes me smile. The awesomely wonderful mahret83 who believed in my writing so much she pestered me until I caved and joined lj idol. The amazingly talented and beautiful Zombie crew who are never too busy to lend an ear, and are always ready with a shoulder to cry on. The divinely funny Laura whose sardonic sense of humour masks the heart of a true sweetheart, and everyone else, far too many to name who have gone out of their way to make me smile, share my sorrows and brighten my day. Then there are the new friends I have made here on magsscribbles the amazingly talented rejeneration who shares my supernatural obsession and whose entries never fail to blow me away. oneonthefence whose entries always move me and whose kindness and interest always make me smile, and every other person who has taken the time to comment on my entries and vote for me along the way.
All of these people have taught me that the only difference between your ‘real life’ friends and your ‘online friends’ is simple geography. They have been my rocks, my heart and my inspiration through a truly horrible year, and have surrounded me with a love that makes me feel blessed to know each and every one of them.
I started off 2009 with a vague interest in the internet, and some fun new acquaintances. But I ended it with a wealth of knowledge, a more open outlook, a lot more friends than I ever dreamed of having, and a few soul mates that, despite the oceans and miles separating us, are truly some of the greatest friends a person could ever hope to have.
So my thanks go out to live journal and to the talented and amazing people that keep it as alive and vibrant as it. Thank you for inspiring me, entertaining me, stimulating me and always giving me something new to write about.