xkcd_rss:

http://xkcd.com/671/

theljstaff, posting in news:

LiveJournal: The First Decade

Just in time for holiday shopping, we're thrilled to announce the release of our ten-year anniversary anthology. Published by Blurb.com, the book showcases a decade of extraordinary talent drawn from LiveJournal users around the world. This must-read compilation features stories, memes, photos, comics, editorials, graphic content, and more, including:

1. Excerpts from Oh No They Didn't (a/k/a ohnotheydidnt), the largest community on LiveJournal, covering celebrity gossip, entertainment news, and pop culture
2. A look at post-Katrina New Orleans from the journal of Poppy Z. Brite
3. Gripping narratives, including a poignant reverie on a blind date
4. Photography that spans the globe, ranging from old-fashioned Polaroids to underwater photography
5. Mouthwatering dishes from food_porn

What began as a late-night inspiration back in Brad Fitzpatrick's college dorm in 1999 has grown to encompass nearly 25 million users worldwide, with journals and communities covering every conceivable hobby, passion, and topic. To get your copy, please visit the Blurb Bookstore. For updates and entries from book contributors, please join lj_turns10.

Tweaks and enhancements

• You can now ban a user from all of your communities and journals at once. To access this feature, hover over the person's userpic and choose Ban user everywhere from the drop-down menu.
• Follow LiveJournal on Twitter!

Give a little to help a lot!

In honor of National AIDS Awareness month, we've added a new charitable vgift. For each red ribbon you purchase for $2.99, we'll donate 100 percent of gross proceeds to IAVI.org (the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative) to support the development and global distribution of an affordable HIV vaccine (we'll cover credit card fees). You can read more about IAVI at lj_cares. While we're on the subject, we raised $740 from our November fundraiser for Love Without Boundaries, which supports emergency healthcare and adoption of Chinese orphans. We thank you for helping us help others.

Photos of the week

We're back with more incredible pictures from our super-talented LiveJournal photographers. Congratulations to ilya_gorokhov, who is the winner of our very first lj_photophile poll.

We hope you'll continue to post, vote, and comment! A gentle request: Please post only one photo at a time and limit size to 350x350 (so images display properly on friends pages). And now, without further ado, get ready to cast your ballot and view more awesome user content after the jump!

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Curtains

Thanks, again, for joining us. Stay safe and snug out there!

drgrim:

Somedays you just need to scratch your head, loose your thoughts, and sit back. I've not had one of those days in a long long time.

I call it the maddening. That part of the season where you just are so damned busy you can't help but start feeling a little frustrated. For some of the year I own my time, I make the call on what to do and how it's done.

I own it.

When it comes time for the holidays, I loose it. This time I used to own gets thrown out the window and I just figure out how to make do. It doesn't bother me. Maybe it's the boys, hell I know it's the boys. They find this time so wonderful you can either Grinch your way through every day or live through them to remember the magic. I don't remember the magic and there is no need to go into the details of the past suckage that was my childhood.

In their eyes I see the wonder.

In their eyes I see the awesome.

In their eyes I see the whisper of the word, Santa.

Man I wish I could rediscover that subjective reality!

So like all good parents I let them roam in the dreamtime and I get to hold reality at bay that much longer. Reality is the end of innocence and it's something I want my boys to avoid for as long as I can help it.

Reality isn't always that benevolent, that black and white, or that much fun.....

(It's been some time since I've updated my blog here. I tried my hand at using blogger but found it less than satisfactory. I'll consider that experiment over now.)

Originally published at - Wil. You can comment here or there.

sangwich:

22:48 By the way, my next statement arguably features grammatical number disagreement, and I'm ok with it. This is for you, Aaron Greller.

22:50 Today, my previous employer realized they shouldn't be paying for my unlimited MetroCard anymore... Shucks. :-/

00:52 RT @BreakingNews: Two police officers shot in Rochester, New York, awaiting details--WHEC

14:07 @lexingtonpeach Could be I was paying for it out of my paychecks two months ahead, so that a deduction made in Sep covered my Nov card. :-/

via LoudTwitter

mhwest, posting in lj_maintenance:

**EDIT Thu Dec 3 23:24:15 UTC 2009 **

Hey Everyone, we are about to run the last alter job that we need to on our database servers. This will effect userpics / scrapbook / vgift images for the next few hours. Have no fear, your images aren't lost, there is just a really intensive process running on the servers which store the information for mogilefs. Thank you for your understanding and all the LJ love...

Hey LJers,

I just wanted to let you all know that we are going to be performing some mogilefs maintenance over the next few days. We will be upgrading our current version to latest stable as well as changing some db config information to better handle the amount of files we are currently hosting. This shouldn't cause a big impact on site stability, but you may see some minor delays with userpic / scrapbook images appearing or other requests associated with our mogilefs. We would love to not have that happen, but unfortunately with some of the steps we need to take we have to cause a delay with images. I figured this was a better solution than taking down all of LiveJournal because well lets face it, we all need our daily LJ fix ;)

Thanks,

xkcd_rss:

http://xkcd.com/670/

random_girl:
I remember giving Alex the trump card in the game written for the con crowd room party, "The Mystery of the Empty Keg." Apparently he continued to carry the "I had cancer" card, which, in our game meant any power played against him automatically failed. I remember him trying to use that in real life later, and suggesting he might whip it out in a LARP.

I remember hugging him tight several times before I let him go and left to return to Seattle after Conquest. I wanted it to be important, and to count, because it had to tide us both over until I saw him again. But there was a little voice in the back of my head that made me hold on tighter, just a little longer, just in case.

I'm glad I did.

Tonight I eat pizza, I make jewelry, I let him go, and I hold on tight.

In this vein, may I recommend that others post a memory or two of our dear and sweet friend, so we can share this (no matter how far away we are)?

My heart goes out to all of you, especially Johanna.

dr_nuk:
"But, so what. So what if I'm a bad person. I've noticed that, in general, if a person feels nasty in the morning but is full of plans and dreams and vigor in the evening, he's a very bad person. Mornings, rotten; evenings, fine -- a sure sign of a bad type. But take someone who's full of energy and hope in the morning, but overwhelmed with exhaustion in the evening -- for sure he's a trashy, narrow-minded mediocrity. That sort of person is disgusting to me. I don't know how he strikes you, but to me he's disgusting.

Of course, there are those for whom morning and evening are equally pleasing, who are equally pleased by sunrise and by sunset. These are simply bastards. It's sickening even to talk about them. But then, if someone is equally repulsed by morning and evening, I really don't know what to say about him. That's the ultimate cocksucking scum."

venedikt erofeev ~ moscow to the end of the line

So, that makes me a simple bastard.

drgrim:
Thanksgiving rocked!
I ended up smoking a turkey and enjoyed the hell out of 4 days off.

xkcd_rss:

http://xkcd.com/669/

dr_nuk:
After Bhima has been fired from her job as a house servant and has been told to pack up and leave:

"She looks desultorily at the meager possessions she keeps in a cardboard box in a corner of the kitchen -- a soap dish, Pond's talcum powder, a blue comb with a tooth missing, her metal glass, her tobacco tin. As she lifts the box, the tears fall fast and hot. She looks around at the kitchen, every inch of which she has swept and cleaned so many times. So many evenings she has entered this room without bothering to turn on the lights and still she has known where to find every fork, every dish, every pan. She taks in the cobweb that is forming in the corner near the window -- she had meant to clean that web off yesterday. She feels a second's pride as she notices the shine on the pressure cooker, which she washed earlier today. She sighs as she looks at the high ceiling, such a welcome change from the oppressive weight of the low roof of her hut, which she has to bend to enter."

thrity umrigar ~ the space between us

xkcd_rss:

http://store.xkcd.com/

Hey! A note to anyone interested in buying Christmas gifts from the xkcd store: the deadline for Christmas delivery of domestic orders is December 14th. We'll continue to ship after that, but won't guarantee by-Christmas delivery. (If you haven't been to the xkcd store lately, you might want to check it out. I've got some some new stuff there!)

xkcd_rss:

http://xkcd.com/668/

sangwich:

23:53 Oh wow, Rochester.

00:09 Ah, Tops.

00:27 Ah, Pittsford.

00:38 Ah, Stone Road.

00:40 Ah... Oh right, I have stalkers.

00:46 Were these rooms always this small?

00:48 @greenmelinda I miss you. Want to come over for Thanksgiving? You won't regret it.

02:36 @greenmelinda Hmm, eight hours west on 90?

14:13 @duaba :(

via LoudTwitter

cygnoirnet:

http://cygnoir.net/2009/11/26/thanksjeweled/

http://cygnoir.net/?p=3291

This Thanksgiving, my sole accomplishment has been introducing FunkyPlaid to Bejeweled 2. He is … a little obsessed. The good news is that he is extremely good at visual strategy games, so he has almost exceeded my highest score. The bad news is that I am pretty sure he can just keep going. Forever.

It is traditional in the American blogosphere (and I can’t believe I just typed that) to make a list of things we are thankful for today. I was sifting through my archives in order to link to some old Thanksgiving lists, but not once in eleven years have I written anything during this time of year worth reposting.

That’s just fine. I am sitting on the couch with sunshine on the back of my head, laptop on lapdesk on lap. My fiancé is sitting cross-legged next to me, cursing quietly at his iPhone. The murmur, thud, whistle, roar of football emanates from the TV we aren’t watching. Cats have sought out sunnier or more secluded spots. In a few hours, we will head north to ensconce ourselves with family and friends for the traditional overeating portion of the day.

Today is my list. My life is my list.

bitwise:
Went to buy a lightweight jacket online, just something to wear at work when it's slightly chilly. Was disappointed to find that the one I was looking for (something I'd bought for my brother-in-law two christmases ago) wasn't on their website. Until I googled it and found it was actually there, but was moved from the main part of the website because it's now a cheap-cheap clearance item. Score.

Then got annoyed-out-loud at the $10 they wanted to charge me for shipping, which got T to remind me to look for a coupon code for free shipping, which I found and used. See, had they tried to charge me something reasonable, I would have paid it, but because they tried to be jerks about it they get nothin'.

I'm feeling very satisfied about how this worked out.

sangwich:

13:34 @courtneyBolton Is "alternative" a genre? Also, I believe there's a nice setting to turn shufflability on and off for podcasts specifically.

via LoudTwitter

theljstaff, posting in news:

Tweaks and enhancements

1. In order to improve site security, we've temporarily suspended the ability to change passwords for old email addresses that haven't been used for over six months. For further information and support, please visit our customer care page.
2. We've launched a new mobile site with an enhanced UI at m.livejournal.com. View spotlights, post to your journal, read and post to friends pages, and more, no matter where you roam! Please let us know what you think, since this will eventually replace our existing mobile interface. You can update your mobile preferences on your account page.
3. We've upgraded from Beacon to Facebook Connect to improve dual posting. If you've already signed up for Facebook Beacon, you're good to go. If you wish to update your Facebook Connect setting, visit Account Privacy settings and scroll down to the option labeled: "Send information about my updates to Facebook." You can choose Always or Ask each time. Remember to save (on the bottom left corner of the page). To learn more, check out FAQ 249. While we're on the subject, if you happen to be visiting that side of town, please join our Facebook fan page for a touch of home away from home.
4. You'll now receive the Writer's Block Question of the Day in the body of email notifications. To sign up for Writer's Block notifications, visit writersblock and choose the Watch Community option. Next, update your Writer's Block notification settings by checking the box to the right of "Someone posts a new entry to writersblock."
5. Paid and permanent users can now view, add, and edit Notes of commenters. Notes will appear beside the username of comment posters (instead of stars) on S1-themed comment pages.

Send some lovin' thanks to your friends with our holiday vgifts!

Photos of the week

We're so delighted with the immense talent of our growing, global lj_photophile community that we've decided to introduce a poll. Each week, we'll choose a half-dozen photos (based on user comments and staff feedback) and ask you to select a photo of the week. The winning photo will be announced in the next newsletter. If possible, please limit photo size to 350x350 to ensure that images display properly on friends pages. We want to thank you again (and again!) for sharing your passion.

Check out this week's photo poll and more fantastic user content after the jump!

( Read more... )

Curtains

Thanks for joining us. To our American friends, have a fantastic Thanksgiving. To all of our international neighbors, we'll eat a little extra for you!

cygnoirnet:

http://cygnoir.net/2009/11/24/she-told-me-it-took-a-long-time/

http://cygnoir.net/?p=3289

She told me it took a long time. She told me it took a long time before she stopped seeing him everywhere he wasn’t. She told me it took a long time to unlearn the cringing, to unfurl during the phone ringing. She told me it took almost as long as they were together to be comfortably apart, not to expect the other shoe to drop, his other shoe, when his feet weren’t even near.

She told me it took a long time, not that she expected it to be short. Once you are terrorized in a certain way, she said, your body exists only within boundaries of panic. For long, hollow years later, she would be flooded with adrenaline from a glimpse of the color of his hair. Fight or flight, but of course she did neither.

She told me it took a long time to allow herself a leisurely shower, an indecision over clothing, a detour on the way to the market, a reshuffling of plans. Sometimes, after years of only being grabbed and pulled by the wrist, she would just sit, sit somewhere quiet, and hold her own hand.

xkcd_rss:

http://xkcd.com/667/