A few things occurred to me earlier this morning.

1. LiveJournal is blocked at work.
2. Dreamwidth is not.
3. Dreamwidth allows you to cross-post to LJ.

And thus, a use for my DW account was born! Assuming this works and isn't thwarted in some way by my devious work deviously deviating my devious plan of deviousness.

Other things that likewise occurred to me this morning (listed in random order of importance): IT'S FRIDAY; I don't like it when people just sit there and watch me; semi-colons (when used well) are beautiful things; my hair looks kinda cute; a crumpet with peanut butter truly is the breakfast of champions... or at least, people with good taste and a toaster.

A final thing that occurred to me recently is that I'd like my journal to be neater or more consistent or cohesive or better co-ordinated with its curtains or something. A quick glance over my most recent entries reveals that they've been about vlogging, LorF, vlogging, a bit more LorF and then some extra vlogging added in at no extra cost. Which, I'll grant you, is consistent, if nothing else.

But I'd like to expand it into other concepts such as, oh, I don't know, writing?

(Speaking of which: I've actually been engaging in said activity of stringing words together into sentences! Amazing, but true. At this rate, I'll have achieved at least ten percent of my GYWO target by the end of the year...)

I'm due to write an essay on breaking the rules of grammar for getyourwordsout this month, which will inevitably spill over into this journal. So it's entirely possible my next few entries will actually be about this whole writing process.

And breaking the rules thereof.

Which will inevitably involve running with scissors at some point.

However. I'd like to know what my flist would like to see. Would you like a chance to discuss writing in my journal? Would you like me to write informative pieces about it? Would you like to read more rants wherein I am driven to such insanity by writing/writers block/characters misbehaving/things going spectacularly wrong/etc. that I end up typing my entry by bashing my head repeatedly against the keyboard?

And if you read writers' blogs on a regular basis, what are your favourite elements of them? What keeps you reading? (And are there any you'd recommend to me?)

Ah well, the bell has tolled: back to work for me.

Thanks to the splendid traycer_, I have a Dreamwidth.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with said Dreamwidth, but I have one - that's the main thing.  Who else has an account?  Let me know so I can add you and thereafter stalk you.  With cupcakes.  Stalky cupcakes.

Which is not to say they're cupcakes with stalks in.  Indeed, no.  They're cupcakes with delicious things baked within... served in a stalkery manner.

What does one do with a Dreamwidth account, though?  If you have one, what are your plans for it?  Are you going to conduct a mass migration there?  Uh... if you can do that by yourself, that is.  Will you just run two accounts concurrently?  Or are you planning to use it in a different way from LJ?

I'd really like to get an idea of what other people are planning to do when it comes to Dreamwidth.

I think I'm in love with my computer. Is that wrong? I mean, sure, I've been quite fond of computers in the past, despite their tendency to be incredibly irritating and/or stop working entirely. And I do like my netbook quite a lot, mostly due to its smallness, cuteness and general state of shininess.

But I think I've fallen in love with my notebook.

Maybe it's because I've always had a desktop computer as my main machine. It's rather difficult to fall in love with one of those: they're giant, they get in the way and they're damned noisy. Whereas, there's my HP, with its pretteh swirly cover, its shiny screen, its generously-sized keyboard and its relative lack of noise. Not to mention its remote control. I won't go in to how excited I was to discover the remote lets me control whatever music programme I happen to be using at the time, not just Windows Media Centre.

And I subsequently won't go in to the fact that I was excited about this despite being fully aware of the fact that I usually won't need to use said remote, because I'll be sitting right in front of my computer while I'm playing music on it.

But you never know. Maybe, one day, I'll need to use that remote and it will be so convenient when that day arrives. Provided I've remembered to keep the remote with me, rather than leaving it slotted in its housing in the computer.

EVEN SO.

I'm not alone in this laptop-love, though, am I? There must be other people out there who adore their computers and fret about them if they ever have to be sent away. Yes? Yes? Tell me yes.


P.S. I wrote more words! And I have many more stuck in my head which shall be extracted tonight, assuming I don't get distracted by the shininess that is my computer. :D

Yes, it's that time again when I force you all to watch as I make an idiot out of myself on the internets. Huzzah! And I make even more of an idiot of myself this time, because this is my punishment video. Said punishment was dictated by theemdash, sopdetly and momebie for the very modest crime of going over the four minute time limit by the tiniest little bit.

One minute and forty-six seconds is the tiniest little bit in my book.

Also, I thought it was more of a guideline than a rule, but there you go. We are not pirates, we are fivedotnerds.

My punishment consisted of three parts: firstly, I had to spend the main part of my vlog facing in the wrong direction; secondly, I was required to provide a dramatic re-enactment of my national anthem; and finally, I was to finish off by providing everyone with pictures of Australian animals.

It was kinda fun, actually. Don't tell anyone. :D And here it is...



I wasn't the only one being punished, though - surferartchick suffered as well. Watch as she proves to us that she's not a couch here.

I'm still after questions about writing, too. Anything from how to decide how long your paragraphs should be to how to format dialogue. Anything. I have all this knowledge in my head and I figure it's time I started sharing it before my brain explodes or something.

Is it just me, or is this week going incredibly slooooooooowly?

I still can't believe that yesterday was only Tuesday. It feels like I've done at least six days' worth of work already, so why is it still only Wednesday? Surely it should be some time next week by now.

Also, I just wrote "work of work", instead of "worth of work". Work is working over my work!

And on top of this slowness, I have a complete inability to work (gah, that word again!) out which day it is. I thought Monday was Tuesday. And I thought the fourth was Thursday, when it's actually today. I have no idea how I'm managing to stay organised throughout all of this... but I am! For instance, I already have my vlog recorded, edited and ready to go.

Before I go (back to work), I have a question. Well, it's more of a request for help, really. One of the problems with my writing at the moment is that a major character in my story remains nameless. It's... a slight difficulty. So I was hoping my lovely flist might be able to help me out with some suggestions. He's an old-ish, Winston Churchill-ish type figure and he needs a name. If you could tell me what sort of names you think would fit that type of character, you will earn my eternal gratitude. And I might even eat some double-coat tim tams in your honour.

:D

Additionally, I'd love to know how other writers come up with names for their characters. Do they just come to you, or do you have tips for working out the perfect name?

As for me, I have to return to my long, sloooow week... but I'll be seeing you all tomorrow for Thursnesday and my vlog.

Please let me introduce you all to my new workspace, viz:



Yes, it is a) outside, b) sharing space with a spade and broom, and c) awesome. And that lovely little EeePC there answers the question of whether I switched my laptop for a netbook quite nicely. I haven't regretted that for a minute - it's even been inadvertently useful for my vlogging, due to its possessing a (completely rubbish) webcam. My intention was to buy an Acer Aspire One... but the ten inch screen of the EeePC kept calling to me, telling me how... big it was.

Well, ten inches is big when compared with eight point nine...

What innuendo?

I like being outside. I like having my own space. I like being able to sit there in that incredibly ugly yet unbelievably comfortable chair and think.

Oh, and write, maybe.

And I definitely like the bit where I receive an excellent wireless signal from my router. That's important.

I feel as though I can write out there - as though I have enough space to be creative. It's a different story inside, where I'm sharing space with noise and televisions and people. Which I don't really mind, per se, but that environment doesn't seem to be very conducive to creativity. Sometimes, I wish I were able to write anywhere, but it turns out I can be incredibly picky about my surroundings.

So, before I go off to work on my next vlog, I'm going to ask you all a question: Can you write anywhere? Do you have a place where your writing just seems to flow effortlessly? Conversely, are there places where you just can't write, no matter how hard you try?

Yes, one question in three parts.

brb, vlogging

:D

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