So I've been thinking about this whole Great LJ Disaster and how the Russian Bear Is Sacking Everyone and soon the whole thing will be run by a small chicken with a Microsoft certification and an uncanny ability to peck exactly the wrong keys at exactly the wrong time.

Obviously, I'm unsure what I'd do without LJ. I mean, I'm guessing we'd all get together and discuss an exit strategy so we end up somewhere else... but would it be the same? I'm just so accustomed to LJ being there, even when I'm not. Even when I abandon it for months on end and then come sidling back in through a side door whilst pretending I never left. LJ practically is the internet for me.

These thoughts inevitably lead to the whole backing-up phenomenon and I began to wonder if I should follow suit.

And I decided that no. No, I won't. Thanks for asking, but I'm good.

Even though I made this decision myself, I was a little surprised by it. "But..." I asked myself, "what about all of those memories? What about all of those lovely comments? What about all the fun you had playing with words in some of your posts?"

To which, I replied: "What about them?"

Don't get me wrong - I've loved these years on LJ and I have some great memories to cherish... but it's all in the past. It's happened; it was savoured... and now I'm moving on. I'm more interested in what's going to happen, in the people I'm going to meet or get to know better, in the memories I'm going to make in the future.

And I think that's emblematic of my entire approach to 2009. 2009 is about possibilities. 2009 is about letting go of the old me and seeing what I can actually do if I stop living with the expectation of failure instead of the anticipation of success. 2009 is all about "what if" instead of "that'll never happen".

All in all, I'd say I'm doing pretty well so far. But what about all of you? How is your new year going? Has your mindset changed? Are your resolutions on track? And have you backed up your LJ yet? :D

Well, that was an unsettling couple of hours - for most of yesterday, I didn’t have a paid LJ account.  And for a while, I was quite blasé about it.  Who needs one? I asked myself, although asking yourself rhetorical questions is always fraught with existential concerns.  Am I asking myself a question or not?  And should I ignore myself or what?  I ended up answering the question when I was introduced to the unfortunate reality of six icons.  Which, admittedly, is double what I used to have waaaaay back at the start of my LJing days... but considerably fewer than the 113 that were available to me for 2007.

So I caved in.  Also, I might want to run a random poll or make an ill-advised voice post at some stage in the future, who knows? (Oooh, let’s not forget the fact I can’t make email posts unless I have a paid account... That’s important.)

I would also like the following things to be known:

• In complete disregard of the Hippocratic oath, crazedturkey is going around killing people.  First Edmund Hilary, now Soeharto... who knows who’ll be in her sights next.
  
  
• If I’d been able to get to a bank last week, I could have been one of the lucky ones with a copy of The Stone Key in my hands.  I’m still not sure how to feel about this book; expectations are low, so it might manage to impress me.
  
  
• My holidays will be over as of 6:30am tomorrow morning.  I’m dragging them out for as long as possible, although I will most likely be sleeping for the greater portion of the time that remains.  I can’t help but feel that this is a great waste of time.  On the other hand, I can’t help but feel that sleeping will definitely aid with wakefulness at work.
  
  
• I am frustrated at myself for not devoting myself whole-heartedly to searching for a new job over the holidays.  Hopefully, the irritation of work will change that attitude.
  
  
• flippyfrog and emerald85 are making me extremely envious of their adventures in Greece.  But I love their updates and the millions of photos they keep providing, so I shall forgive them with all of my heart.  It’s just wonderful to see them living out a dream.
  
  

I would like to finish off this post of randomness with a picture of randomness.  ( Thus: )

I’m alive!

I think...

*checks*

Yes - that seems to be all in order there.

Still, I seem to be keeping up my pattern of posting once every fortnight or so.  At least it’s sort semi-regular, if not terribly active.  I’ve just been feeling weird on LJ, ever since the whole Strikethrough ’07 business.  It didn’t actually affect me directly, but it completely changed the way I feel about LJ and my presence therein.  Here’s my analogy:

It’s like spending a lot of time living on your own, being all grown-up and independent... only to come home from work one day and find that your parents have turned up and have gone through all of your stuff while you were out.  And to further find out that they’ve decided to move in with you.

That’s how it feels.  Every time I post something on LJ, I feel as though someone’s standing over my shoulder, watching everything I type.  It’s a tiny bit of an over-reaction, I know, but I just can’t shake it.

So instead, I’ve been spending my time beta-ing or mucking about on messageboards or talking to various people for fifteen hours straight like I did yesterday.

I’m even thinking of doing some writing.

Dear LJ,

Thanks for the good times, but I’m seriously considering saying goodbye to you.  Yes, even with some seven or eight months left on my PAID ACCOUNT.

I have always felt safe here... right up until some no-name, non-government-supported, vigilante group tried to make it even “safer”.  I don’t feel that sense of safety and homeliness any more.  Now I feel as though I should watch what I say; that I should be looking over my shoulder nervously every time I write a post or a comment.  I’ve even removed some of my interests out of paranoia.*

Oh, I added one, too: free speech.

I’m so sorry you felt pressured into doing what you’ve done and I’m sorry you made mistakes in doing that.  I’m sorry that an organisation with an essentially admirable aim has potentially alienated some thirteen million people across the globe.  I’m sorry that I just made a GJ account in case this all gets out of hand.

Communicate, LJ.  Tell us what’s going on.  Isn’t that what your news account is for?

Yours in frustration,
Katie.

EDIT> Want to protest? Here are some suggestions. And if you currently have a Plus account, consider switching back to basic. Perhaps a loss of ad-generated revenue will make LJ and 6A sit up and take notice.

EDITx2> Finally, an explanation from news... from the head of Six Apart. I guess we know for sure that LJ was not responsible now.




* And who wouldn’t be paranoid when there are rumours abounding that simply listing an interest in certain mangas is enough to get your journal deleted?

It’s been quite some time since I last updated my LJ… and even then, it was just a ficlet.  This is mostly because I suspect that not many people want to hear about my exciting morning doing the laundry or the thrills of standing over the central heating vent in the kitchen in order to defrost myself (usually after coming in from taking the laundry to the dryer – non-stop thrills!).

I could be wrong, but I doubt it.

And of course, it’s around this time that LJ tells us they’ll be providing permanent accounts for sale soon.  I’ve longed for a permanent account since just about forever but I don’t think I could justify it if I’m only updating once a fortnight.  If that.  Of course, irony will ensure that I’ll start updating like mad the minute the permanent acccount sale is over, but I’m prepared for that.

So, what have I been doing?

Apart from the laundry?

Well, yesterday, I spent quite some time wailing, yelling and swearing at my iPod mini, due to the fact that it decided to die.  Again.  CURSED PIECE OF PINK RUBBISH.

No, I take that back.  Well, not the bit about its being pink… but everything else.  I adore you, little (unfortunately pink) iPod.  Won’t you consider coming back to life?  Again?

Because if it doesn’t, I’m seriously going to consider smashing it into many, many pieces with the nearest available heavy object.  Or perhaps I could take it outside and throw it against a wall – either way, I’m sure I’d feel better after getting all that frustrated rage out.

So I have no iPod and my iriver player is still being daft, on top of having the worst shuffle function in the whole of existence.  Oh, it’s nothing but angst around here.

In less angsty news, it seems as though our landlords have decided not to sell right now.  How much this has to do with the fact that a developer has put in an application to build four townhouses directly across the road is anyone’s guess… but my guess is that it was a major factor in changing our landlords’ minds.  Of course, this means we’ll have to put up with the sound and disruption of construction but I’d far rather do that than move.

Then again, I’d far rather coat my head in honey and stick it in a bucket of ants than move, so that’s not saying very much.

The rest of my time seems to be taken up with being a beta.  Which I still love.  If I could do that and be paid for it, then I’d be very happy indeed.  I very rarely find my brain falling asleep during beta-ing.  And I never have to deal with the sort of students I was dealing with last Thursday when I’m beta-ing.  That’s a huge appeal all in itself.

And that is why I haven’t been updating.  Unless you want to hear all about commas and how fascinated I am by the way people use them.

Well, I said I wouldn’t change my username without letting everyone know in advance... so I’m letting you all know in advance.  I’m almost 99% certain that I’ll be changing my username to katiefoolery within the next couple of days.  Probably tomorrow night, in fact.

So if Katiefoolery suddenly shows up on your profile page or leaves comments on your LJ, then that’s me!  Or, it could be a creepy stalker using my identity, you never know

Of course, there’s always that un-decided one percent of me that hasn’t quite been convinced yet.  It might be able to summon up some last-minute support and render this post completely redundant.

No matter what I decide, I think there’ll still be a bit of Buneater in me, especially the bit that’s thankful for the friends I’ve met with that username.  I know a fair few of you will always think of me as Buneater or Bunne and you’re quite welcome to do that!  In fact (and I’m looking at the LorFers here), I fully expect to be called Bunne over New Years.  :P

Number of times I grinned inanely today: too many to count.  What can I say?  I was having a good day.

Number of grade five children who invaded our library: *in denial*  We’re not getting more tomorrow!  Tell me we’re not getting more tomorrow!

Actually, it’s not that bad.  They're kind of cute, really. I thought I was incredibly grown up when I was in grade five; after all, I was ten years old!  That’s double figures!  It’s a little odd to realise how small I actually was.

Number of silly things accidentally posted to LJ: only one, thank goodness.  I blame my stupid work for blocking LJ, as this forced me to use email to post work-written entries in.  Formerly, if I typed “b” into the address box while composing an email, it brought up my home email first.  Now, it brings up my posting-to-LJ email and I entirely forgot this when I quickly typed in a sentence I wanted to send home.

It wasn’t until I was waiting for my second bus that I realised what I’d done.

Number of people who stared at me while I tried not to laugh out loud at my mistake: uncertain.

Number of times I was grateful it wasn’t a line from the other fic that already involves the description “half-naked” (and is probably going to go downhill from there): Many.  Many!

Number of car number-plates sniggered at on the way home: one.  But it said ‘PWP’!  I’m allowed to snigger at that.  Maturity of mind is over-rated.

Number of Timothies accidentally snubbed: one.  I couldn’t help it.  I’d just logged into msn, was talking to two people (one of whom was my dad) and was trying to get rid of sundry evidence of earlier LJ-related stupidity.  Also, there was the small matter of the cup of tea I was trying to make.  There’s only so much multi-tasking a girl can do.