A rose by any other....
1. The results from last night's LJ poll were really interesting.
I'm especially pleased about the age thing, since LJ seems to be targeting the younger crowd -- which is fine, sure, but I like seeing us "old folks" around here. And, of course, this isn't a true representation of LJ at large. Still, the numbers have been a nice surprise.
2. I've finished a rough draft of the Writercon Restaurant Guide. (Just did the .html version from the original .doc -- must clean up that formatting. Yikes.) Would love for y'all to check it out so that I can incorporate edits and suggestions before sending it off to the con organizers!
3. Last night I read the NY Times Magazine's profile on Gnarls Barkley, both because I love "Crazy" and because Chuck Klosterman is always worth a read. Did not know that Danger Mouse went to UGA and met Cee-Lo at an Athens bar, where they bonded over a shared love of Portishead. This amuses me greatly.
4. The Meow Mix House's webcams have also brought me much joy today. Live nude kittens!
5. Salon has an article about how girl-on-girl kissing has become popular at teen/college parties. Hmm. The talkback responses are disappointing, with many saying, "Hey, some horndogs get turned on by that. What's the harm?" But the article's point appears to be not that it titillates the boys, but that (self-identifying) heterosexual girls use it as a form of currency, almost as if its trivializing women who are genuinely lesbian or bisexual. Must think about this some more.
6. Pitchfork lists 100 Awesome Music Videos. So glad to see my beloved "Coffee & TV" by Blur on there. And whee! Milky has a fansite! (Found this one via Salon, but luna_k also has it listed on today's excellent links list.)
7. The Move continues apace. Thanks to a very convoluted chain of events, I'm saving $540 on next month's rent. WHEE! This will definitely help with all the stuff I'll need to buy. I'm picking up my key on 6/30, and I'll have a week to vacate this place. Will only have four days to pack after I get back from TX, but hell, I don't really need to pack for a 1/4 mile move. ;) Plus, I should be settled in the new place by Writercon. Excellent.
8. dtissagirl shares some great LJ-related bookmarklets, including how to insert "?style=mine" on every URL. Absolutely invaluable, especially with some of the frightening entry layouts I've seen while randomly following links. Hey, people should use whatever floats their boat (even if the colors hurt my eyes), but I've always been fondest of the simple LJ default. ;)
9. Trinnifer and I got to talking about names, and it reminded me of a post I've been wanting to do. My first and middle names are rather unusual. I used to make fun of soap opera characters until I realized I had no room to talk. ;) I tend to get picky about character names -- I understand that creators want them to stand out, but many are unrealistic to the point of laughability. So, I decided to do a commentary....
Veronica Mars: Generally good. "Veronica" really stood out to me in the beginning, because it was a somewhat old-fashioned name that had lessened in popularity (and yes, I know Rob Thomas' reasons for choosing it.) Since the show premiered, I keep seeing Veronicas everywhere on TV. ;) The other names are mostly realistic. "Logan" and "Duncan" are a bit trendy for characters born in the mid-'80s, but not to the point of implausibility. The adults' names are great and exactly what I would expect for characters of that age.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Definitely skews toward the unrealistic side. ;) Tara, (Ale)Xander, and Dawn all have realistic names for their ages, but the others? Not so much. I don't mind at all, though, because names like "Buffy" and "Willow" were meant as representations of character traits.
Galactica: I *love* the names. Most of the surnames are unusual enough to feel like another world, and the first names are nicely realistic. Though we don't know where the show fits into our timeline, it's obviously intended as a reflection of our contemporary society. I'm roughly the same age as Kara, Sharon, Lee, and Karl, and those are all names I would expect for characters born in the mid-'70s.
Doctor Who: Also great with the realism. "Rose" is timeless, and most of the others have names reflecting their age and place in society.
Lost: "Boone" is iffy, but the others have realistic names. The show's main problem is that they tend to use surnames way too symbolically, with Locke and Shepherd and such.
Gilmore Girls: Rory-Lorelai is a bit silly, but I handwave it because it's still quite lovely. Most of the others are trendy without being TOO much. While I've heard rumors that it's a traditional name in some areas, "Sookie" leaves me with a grand case of WTF?
And a note to show creators: Yes, "Jack" and "Will" are very popular male names, but do you *really* need to use them so damn often? Also, "Logan" is a great name, but it's getting very old very fast. ;)
I'd thought of other examples earlier, but of course I'm coming up blanks now. Will update later if I can remember them.
- At least 48% of you identify yourselves as 28-and-older; that number might be higher because I accidentally put "23-28" and "28-34", but LJ won't let me edit polls. So much for 6Apart assuming that LJ's "a teen-oriented website".
- 61% of you have been on LJ since at least 2003 -- who else remembers begging for invite codes? ;)
- 75.7% have paid or permanent accounts; most of you bought them for the extra icons.
- 76.1% of you would stay on LJ as long as they let you keep your account the way you want it, and 17% are ambivalent about the changes. Only 6% of responders said you'd back off or leave LJ.
I'm especially pleased about the age thing, since LJ seems to be targeting the younger crowd -- which is fine, sure, but I like seeing us "old folks" around here. And, of course, this isn't a true representation of LJ at large. Still, the numbers have been a nice surprise.
2. I've finished a rough draft of the Writercon Restaurant Guide. (Just did the .html version from the original .doc -- must clean up that formatting. Yikes.) Would love for y'all to check it out so that I can incorporate edits and suggestions before sending it off to the con organizers!
3. Last night I read the NY Times Magazine's profile on Gnarls Barkley, both because I love "Crazy" and because Chuck Klosterman is always worth a read. Did not know that Danger Mouse went to UGA and met Cee-Lo at an Athens bar, where they bonded over a shared love of Portishead. This amuses me greatly.
4. The Meow Mix House's webcams have also brought me much joy today. Live nude kittens!
5. Salon has an article about how girl-on-girl kissing has become popular at teen/college parties. Hmm. The talkback responses are disappointing, with many saying, "Hey, some horndogs get turned on by that. What's the harm?" But the article's point appears to be not that it titillates the boys, but that (self-identifying) heterosexual girls use it as a form of currency, almost as if its trivializing women who are genuinely lesbian or bisexual. Must think about this some more.
6. Pitchfork lists 100 Awesome Music Videos. So glad to see my beloved "Coffee & TV" by Blur on there. And whee! Milky has a fansite! (Found this one via Salon, but luna_k also has it listed on today's excellent links list.)
7. The Move continues apace. Thanks to a very convoluted chain of events, I'm saving $540 on next month's rent. WHEE! This will definitely help with all the stuff I'll need to buy. I'm picking up my key on 6/30, and I'll have a week to vacate this place. Will only have four days to pack after I get back from TX, but hell, I don't really need to pack for a 1/4 mile move. ;) Plus, I should be settled in the new place by Writercon. Excellent.
8. dtissagirl shares some great LJ-related bookmarklets, including how to insert "?style=mine" on every URL. Absolutely invaluable, especially with some of the frightening entry layouts I've seen while randomly following links. Hey, people should use whatever floats their boat (even if the colors hurt my eyes), but I've always been fondest of the simple LJ default. ;)
9. Trinnifer and I got to talking about names, and it reminded me of a post I've been wanting to do. My first and middle names are rather unusual. I used to make fun of soap opera characters until I realized I had no room to talk. ;) I tend to get picky about character names -- I understand that creators want them to stand out, but many are unrealistic to the point of laughability. So, I decided to do a commentary....
Veronica Mars: Generally good. "Veronica" really stood out to me in the beginning, because it was a somewhat old-fashioned name that had lessened in popularity (and yes, I know Rob Thomas' reasons for choosing it.) Since the show premiered, I keep seeing Veronicas everywhere on TV. ;) The other names are mostly realistic. "Logan" and "Duncan" are a bit trendy for characters born in the mid-'80s, but not to the point of implausibility. The adults' names are great and exactly what I would expect for characters of that age.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Definitely skews toward the unrealistic side. ;) Tara, (Ale)Xander, and Dawn all have realistic names for their ages, but the others? Not so much. I don't mind at all, though, because names like "Buffy" and "Willow" were meant as representations of character traits.
Galactica: I *love* the names. Most of the surnames are unusual enough to feel like another world, and the first names are nicely realistic. Though we don't know where the show fits into our timeline, it's obviously intended as a reflection of our contemporary society. I'm roughly the same age as Kara, Sharon, Lee, and Karl, and those are all names I would expect for characters born in the mid-'70s.
Doctor Who: Also great with the realism. "Rose" is timeless, and most of the others have names reflecting their age and place in society.
Lost: "Boone" is iffy, but the others have realistic names. The show's main problem is that they tend to use surnames way too symbolically, with Locke and Shepherd and such.
Gilmore Girls: Rory-Lorelai is a bit silly, but I handwave it because it's still quite lovely. Most of the others are trendy without being TOO much. While I've heard rumors that it's a traditional name in some areas, "Sookie" leaves me with a grand case of WTF?
And a note to show creators: Yes, "Jack" and "Will" are very popular male names, but do you *really* need to use them so damn often? Also, "Logan" is a great name, but it's getting very old very fast. ;)
I'd thought of other examples earlier, but of course I'm coming up blanks now. Will update later if I can remember them.