is happening over on Dreamwidth! 

Sign-ups are still happening until Tuesday Sept 22nd at 7pm ET. (The same time as the Week 1 entries are due!) 

There's still time to join in on the celebration!  https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1219874.html

I can't guarantee I'm going to listen. But I'm asking both here and at DW to get some input. Probably FB as well. (so some of you will have the chance to answer 3 times! :D)  Just taking the temp, and also seeing how the polling system has changed at each site. It DEFINITELY has. 

I've received notifications about people using this site "for the first time in ____ months" so I know there are people who are using it.

I just want you to know that there is a new Mini season happening over at https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/

Come on over and have some fun with us!

Livejournal has a long history of mass departures. Some have been momentary blips. Others were a series of cuts that helped the long form of social media bleed out.
Throughout all of them, my rule was always the same. I'd listen to the people leaving and to those staying. Most importantly, I'd listen to the people who were actually impacted.

Because if there is one thing that a site that flourished with anonymous content is known for, it's the ability to make a self righteous, and dramatic exit. And let's not kid ourselves, there have definitely been some over the years. Of course, there were also some people walking away who really hadn't done much with the site in years and were just looking for an excuse for why they were reducing the number of characters in their interactions with the world.

There have been a lot more cases though where good people just decided "No" and walked away. I've always respected that decision, but in every case, there were more voices saying "please stay and fight for this place." So I did.

One of those major tipping points was when the company was purchased by a Russian company. There were worries about "what might happen?"... and then again those voices came when the servers moved. But, the counter argument always brought up, "Why was it OK for non-Americans to trust US servers and laws, and it wasn't OK for Americans to have to do the same?"

In the current global situation, it's easy to forget that it wasn't that long ago that Russia was seen as a changing culture and a potential force for good.

The war crimes being committed at the direction of Vladimir Putin are absolutely horrifying to anyone with the ability to comprehend the world around us. Even then though, there were enough voices who wanted us to stay and fight, to be that place where people could come together.

That changed when I heard that people within Russia were not able to access the non-Russian parts of this site. Paid accounts started being directed to pay in rubles, which go to the owners, who are a bank with direct ties to Putin's inner circle.

It was basically everything that people had been worried about for years, coming together in a "We told you so."

A few weeks back, someone I admire a great deal sent a simple message "It's morally indefensible to keep using LJ"

Livejournal is our home, and that sort of thing is worth fighting for... but you also have to have the sense to look around and cut your losses.

I was hoping to avoid this. I was hoping that the world could make sense again and we would, once again be able to enjoy this space. If we just held on for a little longer... but I've held this decision off for too long.

3 STRIKES IS CONTINUING - on Dreamwidth.
I'm not wild about that site. I think it's a clearly inferior version. But at their worst, they still aren't directly funding atrocities.

What this means for this week - I'll answer that in a post over there.

Your decision is your decision, and I respect you doing whatever you feel comfortable. But FOR ME, and thus for Idol, it's morally indefensible to keep using LJ.

I googled "saying goodbye" in Russian, and one of the first sites offered a variety of options. I've spent some time considering what one to use, before settling on Прощай.
"You can only say it when it will be a really long time until you see the other person again, or if you’re not sure if you ever will see each other again. It’s a very heavy word, just like the English ‘farewell’, so be sure to only use it in the appropriate situations. "

I won't lie, there's a big part of me that also wants to say "До скорого" which is "Just like you would in English after saying goodbye to a good friend who you won’t see again for a long time, but wish you would."

The world is too much of an unpredictable place to ever completely close a door. But for now, I just can't justify staying here.

I hope to see you all over at https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/ for the rest of LJ Idol: 3 Strikes.

Just a reminder that your entries are due on the 9th - https://therealljidol.livejournal.com/1182999.html

and you don't HAVE to be the perverts that I know you are. ;)

You have self-restraint. I know it. Deep in my heart. I have faith in you.

****

Also, a reminder that Russia is committing war crimes - for those of our friends who might just scrolling by and who might not be seeing that in your feeds due to sites being blocked. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60987358

People in Russia continue to protest, despite the government cracking down https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/03/red-is-dead-russian-anti-war-protesters-fly-a-new-flag-for-peace

Because if we're staying here on Livejournal, we will continue to support our Ukrainian, and Russian, friends and community members to speak up against what is happening.

The new prompt is up: https://therealljidol.livejournal.com/1182999.html

and it's the start to a new week.

For me, one of the other departments just let us borrow one of their financial analysts to help. On one hand - yay help. On the other, it's short term and he has zero experience actually working on the platform. He's been pulling reports and letting everyone else know what mistakes they've been making. :) Well, OK, that part might be good that his hands are going to get dirty and see the actual process.

Not really any other updates other than work. It feels like that's most of what I do these days. I took the day off today to rest, but then made the mistake of looking at my email and now want to go in to deal with some stuff. :D

Anyway- how are YOU doing today/this week/whenever it is that you read this? What's exciting in your life?

People are sitting around, just mindless snacking while they wait for me to post a new prompt, so I guess I should post one!

This week's prompt is

Kuchisabishii

The deadline to link your entry back here is April 9th at noon ET.

Have fun!

Another week comes to an end as the polls close and the dust settles.

The two with the fewest votes this week will be receiving a strike. 1 of those spots however was a tie between 3 people.
Which means that all 4 people at the bottom will be receiving a strike. Which is just another reminder about how close things are at this point this mini season.
Receiving strikes are:
beldarzfixon
emo_snal
md_meezer
vik_thor

Unfortunately, this was the third strike for vik_thor, which means we will be saying goodbye to him this week.

Thank you so much for coming out and letting us enjoy your writing! I hope you will continue to play the Home Game!

The poll closes tonight - https://therealljidol.livejournal.com/1181965.html

So if you haven't already done so, now is the time to actually get out and do it!

***

I finally finished a freelance article that I was writing, and my usual editor/beta reader wasn't available. So I asked my wife to help.

Nothing properly humbles you about your ability to write quite like someone with a natural gift for grammar getting angry about how lazy your sentence structure is in a specific paragraph! :D

She's just so good at it that it always surprises her when someone else isn't up to that level! :)

In her defense, she was completely right (of course), it WAS just thrown together and that paragraph was one that I had changed several times, but still had bits and pieces from all the different versions so when *I* read it, I saw what it should be. But that's not what was on the screen! Revising has always been a challenge area for me.

What techniques do YOU have to proof your own work? Or do you bring in another set of eyes? What are some areas of writing that you struggle with?

So how about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock???

I don't really care all that much about the act itself, but it sure seems to get a LOT of people talking about all of the underlying issues - and I'm all about finding ways to get people talking!

So, how about that slap???

Another thing that people should be talking about is these entries! https://therealljidol.livejournal.com/1181965.html

There's some great stuff this week. What have been some of your personal favorites?