2010
Looks like everyone stopped using LJ at around the same time--2010.
The internet used to have safe havens to unload your mind... but though I want to start blogging again, it seems that every medium these days is meant for:
1. Monetization
2. Likes, Shares, and Comments
3. Professional gains
What if I don't want to post share-worthy content? What if I just want to unload my anxieties without tying my vitriol to my professional identity? I think that's what Live Journal was for.
I'm in the middle of taking a month off work (all the vacation days... and then some weeks unpaid) to recover from a tumultuous, toxic (yet, exciting) year of 80 hour work weeks. I learned an unbelievable amount that year. The experience of a lifetime. But it was baptism by fire and it burned me out completely.
I feel like Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were, except my Robert Redford was Technical Writing, and I feel like I understand it too profoundly now, and I might never be able to not bleed myself dry for that work, now knowing how most software docs are lacking. It's really hard (and painful) to explain, but hopefully I'll get it written down someday.
Anyway, cheers, LJ.