LiveJournal is 25: interesting facts about me and my blog
1. LJ appeared in April 1999, the year when I…partied like it was 1999! Also, I was living in Austria at the time, hoping Y2K wouldn't mess everything up. Thanks to a lot of hard, advance work, everything was not messed up. If only we'd prepared as well for Covid getting out and into the world. But no.
2. As a child, I wanted to become a…long haul truck driver. But that's mostly because I like road trips. And the idea of sleeping in small spaces. I used to sleep in the closet. Now, I've turned a room into a closet, so... I'm not sure what I'm doing.
3. My favorite school subject was…I guess English. That's what I ended up majoring in, but I liked school in general, so I'm not really sure what the answer is here.
4. The tune of my carefree youth is...I'm Gen X, so were we really carefree? Well, we weren't as afraid. How about Sophie B. Hawkins - Did We Not Choose Each Other? Came out in the 90's. BEFORE LIVEJOURNAL, if you can imagine such a thing.
5. A book (or an author) that influenced me: Percival Everett ended up being a big influence. I like that he writes all kinds of different styles, and what with a recent movie, more people know about him. Craig Johnson is another favorite. Sure he writes mystery/thriller/western sort of things, but that doesn't stop him from writing in a literary style.
6. A city (or cities) I truly love: Portland will always be my first love, but I loved it more when LiveJournal was just beginning. It has changed SO MUCH since the 90s. And not for the better, in my opinion. People flock to Portland now, and what they love about Portland isn't what Portland used to be. But the Portland of the 90s lives in my head. I also love Clarksdale, Mississippi. That's some great blues country.
I love the city (in general) less and less. I moved to a town. I don't know if it's a city, per se. Maybe. 3500 people.
7. I started an LJ blog in … because I wanted... I think I started it in 2004. My friend maighread brought me into the LiveJournal family. I wanted to meet people with shared interests and to share my life.
8. The catch phrase that nearest and dearest recognize me by… um... "fuckin' a!" ? I also say "May the horse be with you" to say goodbye.
9. A movie I’m never [too] tired to watch again is Shawshank Redemption, yo.
10. When I was 25, I liked to… do the same things I do now. I mean, do folks' interests change much? I suppose I had more sex. Maybe.
11. I can’t live a day without…sleep. Everything else I thought of (except air) seemed live-without-able. At least for a day. I skip coffee on the weekends. I won't always have my cat. I skip water and food at least once a year. But I love me some sleep, and things aren't going to go well if I don't get any within 24 hours. Just no.
12. An LJ post I’d like to recommend to everyone… well, if any of my LJ friends were still around, I'd recommend theirs. But when I click my friends page to read posts? There are no posts. :-( So, I guess I recommend this post.
13. I’m proud of… pursuing my dream to move onto Route 66, install a goat statue, and add a sign that says "GOAT YOUR KICKS ON ROUTE 66". So far, I've picked up and moved across the country, buying the house on Route 66. The rest is in the works.
14. If I could give advice to myself from 1999, I’d… well, I don't know if I'd listen to myself, but I'd tell myself how important a good metabolism is and to hold on to it dearly. I also didn't know a lot of good eating strategies. I'd go for that. _sigh_
15. My favorite LJ blog(s) don't exist anymore. And that makes me really sad. I wish LJ could be the new community if TikTok is really going to be banned.
16. My favorite LJ community (-ies) don't exist. But we did take the damnportlanders to Facebook, and then met a bunch of folks in real life, too! So, that was/is nice.
17. A dish (or a food product) I learned to like only as an adult... well, I didn't start drinking coffee until I was in my very late (adult) teens. That's also about when I was exposed to sushi. I stopped liking sushi, but I do appreciate sushimi. Oh! Indian food! I wasn't exposed to it as a kid. But I love it as an adult.
18. Within these 25 years I’ve visited… Well, I started before the 25 years, but during LJ's 25 years I visited the rest of the United States's states that I had not visited, so I've been to them all now! So, that's great. Also, I was in Austria in 1999, so that means I've also been to a bunch of European countries, and I've lived in Oregon, Massachusetts, Ohio, Virginia, and Illinois during that time. That's pretty cool.
19. My favorite cure for sadness is… it's okay to be sad. It doesn't need a cure. So, I suppose my "cure" is to not let the world strongly affect my overall well-being. i.e. climate vs. weather. I am privileged to not have a climate of sad, and I don't let a bit of sad weather affect my overall climate, which is not sad. And I think weather fronts are normal and okay. As long as your climate isn't sad, you don't need a cure. If your climate needs a cure, then that's beyond my pay grade/expertise.
20. If I didn’t have to work, I’d do… a lot more sleeping, traveling, and probably tv watching and cleaning, too. Also more activities, errands, and general life stuff. Maybe I'd teach myself to build a deck/porch!
21. My superpower is… I mean, superpowers aren't real. But maybe... being willing to say the weird thing in order to make other people's lives more interesting (and mine)?
22. A useful skill I’d like to teach younger generations is… I mean, so many things. I don't necessarily want to teach it, but I suppose if they asked: Cursive, how to work old-timey (HA!) electronics, and some other cultural literacy things. I would also teach them that we don't care if they don't like the ellipsis or all kinds of other emoji.
23. If I could spend a day as an animal, that would be… great? I mean, I wouldn't mind being a napping housecat for the day.
24. The way I’d like to grow old is… healthy. At my age, I'm now realizing I best get myself in shape, as I'm already in bad shape with various things feeling like I'll need surgery. So... I should get myself more agile. I need to be able to take care of myself as long as I can.
25. I’m grateful to LJ for…introducing me to good people and friends, and I'm very grateful for when LJ was really hopping. I really celebrate how important LJ has been to me and my life even as I wonder how y'all are still here. I hope it's still in use in a way that fulfills you. And brings meaning to some communities. I really miss it--much like I miss the Portland of the 90s. It was so great.