A Holidailies prompt from a couple weeks ago asked how each person got his/her start in blogging online. I'm pretty sure I told this story a couple years ago, but it's lost somewhere in the Diaryland backup of my defunct Diary-X journal...
I opened my first online blog account in 1999 on Diaryland. It was just before the turn of the new year, and like everyone else hyped up about the year 2000, I figured I'd start being good about keeping a record of my life for absolutely no reason other than to write. Three days later, I forgot about it. It sat there until I discovered it about three years later.
In the meantime, I began using a paper journal in late 2000 to vent some frustrations I was having with a friend. I found, however, that my brain was trying to rush through a lot more than my hands could keep up with... so I decided to try my computer. If I recall, I was looking for some downloadable software to make it feel more like a book as I typed on-screen. Somehow, I was led to Diary-X. I opened an account immediately and began my online journal on March 29, 2001.
In 2002, I decided to start a backup mirror of my journal on Diaryland (when I discovered my original account over there) based upon a bad experience with the owner of Diary-X on another website he was running called Nervousness.org. From that point forward, I kept an updated mirror of my journal running on both sites-- and thankfully because I did that, I didn't lose anything but unpublished drafts during the fatal Diary-X crash in early 2006.
Despite griping about it and its elitism invite-only format at the time, I gave in and joined Livejournal after attending Arisia in 2003, mostly to keep up wtih many of my friends who used the service. I never really cared for the layout of the site. The most valuable part of it to me was the friends' lists. But it was handy.
And suddenly, I was posting to three accounts at a time, which was stupid. After a few months, it was time to pare down.
Starting in 2005, I started posting at my own webspace, using Blogger as the formatting engine. Issues with both owners of Diary-X had led me to move on from the forms two months prior, and I couldn't continue to use the service in good faith due to the ethics and behavior I experienced as a customer(which turned out to be a very good choice, based on what ultimately happened to DX). With few exceptions, I've also stopped posting on LiveJournal, only popping in to catch up on friends' pages from time to time.
I kept my archive at Diaryland, although I haven't posted to the site since I stopped posting at Diary-X. It remains my journal archive for my older entries. I plan to slowly bring everything over to my personal webspace... but it takes time to go through entries, delete dead links, and add tags to the posts for archiving. It's definitely an "as I have time for it" project, which lately has been mostly non-existent.
Over the years, my blogging has recorded my entire relationship with my fiance, the adoption of four cats, two apartment moves, purchasing my first home, buying my first car, my experiences on 9/11, a big job move, and all of the little stuff in-between. It transitions between triteness and deep thought, almost always written freeform with little editing (I prefer "raw" writing). I can see how I've changed and how I've stayed the same as I look back through my archives. It's a good thing-- I'm glad I found the outlet online. :)
27 December 2006
26 December 2006
Addictions not needed
So for the past three hours, I've had the Doctor Who theme stuck in my head. Add to that a rather late night (*shitfaced grin inserted here*), and I'm a tad cranky this morning. More tired than cranky, actually. And I'm definitely NOT interested in having the Doctor Who theme whistling through my brain all day.
But I have a feeling it's here to stay today. I'm the only admin at work today. No one to chat with to take my mind away. More than likely, not a lot of work to divert my concentration, either.
Dammit.
The problem is, I know exactly why it's here, too. The 2nd season finale of the show was on Friday night, and despite being a very casual viewer of the show... I was roped in, and then VERY PISSED OFF at the ending (in both a good and bad way). Then my brain, being pissed off, kept mulling it, kept thinking about it... and then we watched it again on Christmas Day with Erich's dad and Matt... and then it firmly stuck.
Crap. I really don't want to start mulling a show over again and getting addicted to it. I thought I'd learned my lesson after nine years of the X-Files, seven years of Star Trek:TNG. Getting invested in characters, begrudgingly (and then not so begrudgingly) getting interested in fanfic.
What is it about Sci-Fi, anyway? Despite watching a lot of the series, I don't get addicted to Law & Order like this. What the hell?
*sigh*
In any case, share my pain-- get the Doctor Who theme stuck in your head for a while.
Grrrr....
But I have a feeling it's here to stay today. I'm the only admin at work today. No one to chat with to take my mind away. More than likely, not a lot of work to divert my concentration, either.
Dammit.
The problem is, I know exactly why it's here, too. The 2nd season finale of the show was on Friday night, and despite being a very casual viewer of the show... I was roped in, and then VERY PISSED OFF at the ending (in both a good and bad way). Then my brain, being pissed off, kept mulling it, kept thinking about it... and then we watched it again on Christmas Day with Erich's dad and Matt... and then it firmly stuck.
Crap. I really don't want to start mulling a show over again and getting addicted to it. I thought I'd learned my lesson after nine years of the X-Files, seven years of Star Trek:TNG. Getting invested in characters, begrudgingly (and then not so begrudgingly) getting interested in fanfic.
What is it about Sci-Fi, anyway? Despite watching a lot of the series, I don't get addicted to Law & Order like this. What the hell?
*sigh*
In any case, share my pain-- get the Doctor Who theme stuck in your head for a while.
Grrrr....
24 December 2006
The Evolution of Christmas
The weather outside belies the fact that it's Christmas Eve-- it's sunny. The grass on our lawn is still half green. It's surprisingly mild out. Two nights ago, we slept all night with the windows wide open. In December. In freaking New England.
So I admit that I just don't feel like I'm in the holiday spirit this year. It feels like Easter, to be honest. Yet here we are, the day before Christmas. Granted, Christmas hasn't been a religious holiday for me for over a decade now. But I still view it as a separate holiday from Yule and still important to me. Yule is for personal reflection. It's a quiet spiritual retreat. Often I celebrate it in little moments throughout the day-- even in the middle of holiday parties where I'm surrounded by coworkers or friends. Christmas, on the other hand, I see as a celebration of community. For me, it's not just the 25th-- the 24th was always more important to my family. So now Christmas has evolved into a two day celebration of love and connection with others. I honestly need people around me at Christmas.
As a child, Christmas Eve began with two yearly traditions. The first was the luminaries that every house in our neighborhood used to display on Christmas eve. The day before Christmas Eve- my father would grab his wheelbarrow (on snowless years) or empty white buckets left over from the pool chlorine and head up to the northern street of our neighborhood to get a hefty amount of sand, candles, and paper lunch bags. He'd then come home, bring my brother and I into his workshop, and we'd help him pour a measured portion of sand into each bag. Then we'd help him carry them and place them along our property-- one would help with the bags. The other would place a candle into the center of each bag. And my father would finally follow, adjusting the spacing and lighting the bags just before nightfall. On Christmas Eve, no one in our neighborhood would turn on their Christmas lights (other than the tree inside). Only the luminaries lit up the night. Every house had them, lining the gutters along every property line, creating a candlelit runway (which was my parents original explanation... we were creating a runway for Santa to come).
The other happened at six o'clock exactly every Christmas Eve. Dinners were planned to make sure the kids were all outside about five minutes before to witness Santa flying around Billings on his sleigh. It was a fantastic sight-- he'd make two huge circles around Billings so all of the children could see that he'd be coming that night... and then would disappear (we children presumed he was heading elsewhere to show other kids he was coming, too). In reality, Santa was a big wire framed light display, hooked onto the side of a helicopter. It was one family's treat for the city every year.
Still this year, I'm finding it very hard to get in the spirit. Something's not right... and I think my blaming the weather is just a cop-out.
Maybe it's because I have an itch to fill luminaries...
So I admit that I just don't feel like I'm in the holiday spirit this year. It feels like Easter, to be honest. Yet here we are, the day before Christmas. Granted, Christmas hasn't been a religious holiday for me for over a decade now. But I still view it as a separate holiday from Yule and still important to me. Yule is for personal reflection. It's a quiet spiritual retreat. Often I celebrate it in little moments throughout the day-- even in the middle of holiday parties where I'm surrounded by coworkers or friends. Christmas, on the other hand, I see as a celebration of community. For me, it's not just the 25th-- the 24th was always more important to my family. So now Christmas has evolved into a two day celebration of love and connection with others. I honestly need people around me at Christmas.
As a child, Christmas Eve began with two yearly traditions. The first was the luminaries that every house in our neighborhood used to display on Christmas eve. The day before Christmas Eve- my father would grab his wheelbarrow (on snowless years) or empty white buckets left over from the pool chlorine and head up to the northern street of our neighborhood to get a hefty amount of sand, candles, and paper lunch bags. He'd then come home, bring my brother and I into his workshop, and we'd help him pour a measured portion of sand into each bag. Then we'd help him carry them and place them along our property-- one would help with the bags. The other would place a candle into the center of each bag. And my father would finally follow, adjusting the spacing and lighting the bags just before nightfall. On Christmas Eve, no one in our neighborhood would turn on their Christmas lights (other than the tree inside). Only the luminaries lit up the night. Every house had them, lining the gutters along every property line, creating a candlelit runway (which was my parents original explanation... we were creating a runway for Santa to come).
The other happened at six o'clock exactly every Christmas Eve. Dinners were planned to make sure the kids were all outside about five minutes before to witness Santa flying around Billings on his sleigh. It was a fantastic sight-- he'd make two huge circles around Billings so all of the children could see that he'd be coming that night... and then would disappear (we children presumed he was heading elsewhere to show other kids he was coming, too). In reality, Santa was a big wire framed light display, hooked onto the side of a helicopter. It was one family's treat for the city every year.
Still this year, I'm finding it very hard to get in the spirit. Something's not right... and I think my blaming the weather is just a cop-out.
Maybe it's because I have an itch to fill luminaries...
22 December 2006
Points with the fiance
I just became the best fiancee in the world-- Erich has a gleaming new XBox360. :)
This was a Christmas present that he knew he was getting. He doesn't know what games he's getting yet-- those will be under the tree on Monday morning. But in the meantime, he can play Halo and any of his other XBox games (of which I don't think there are many... he just plays a LOT of Halo online with the guys...).
The reason he got it early was because I traded in his old XBox and his Gamecube toward the purchase of the new system-- with his blessing. He bundled everything up for me this morning. But he realized over the course of the day that his XBox Live account would still be on the old box. To make sure everything was transferred safely, I gave it to him tonight.
(talk about acting like a kid in a candy store... he even did that excited little bodance)
It was a good day overall. I dropped Erich off at the commuter train this morning, and then went about enjoying the first day of my four day weekend. I have all but one gift bought. I just need to wrap presents, but I won't do that until Sunday morning-- with five cats who are in love with playing under the tree, wrapping paper would be shredded by Monday. So for now, things are tucked away.
Tomorrow morning I'll finish writing out my cards and get them dropped off at the post office. They're all going to points in the USA, so hopefully they'll arrive by New Year's at this point. *sigh* Still, it's better than some years, where I'm debating whether I'm just entirely too late and then just don't wind up sending them at all.
My hopes for a snowy Christmas are completely gone. We're going to have an Easter-like Christmas this year in New England, complete with April showers tonight through tomorrow. It's supposed to be about 50 degrees on Christmas Day. Global warming? Never heard of it. Maybe we'll grill ribs for Christmas dinner this year. :)
This was a Christmas present that he knew he was getting. He doesn't know what games he's getting yet-- those will be under the tree on Monday morning. But in the meantime, he can play Halo and any of his other XBox games (of which I don't think there are many... he just plays a LOT of Halo online with the guys...).
The reason he got it early was because I traded in his old XBox and his Gamecube toward the purchase of the new system-- with his blessing. He bundled everything up for me this morning. But he realized over the course of the day that his XBox Live account would still be on the old box. To make sure everything was transferred safely, I gave it to him tonight.
(talk about acting like a kid in a candy store... he even did that excited little bodance)
It was a good day overall. I dropped Erich off at the commuter train this morning, and then went about enjoying the first day of my four day weekend. I have all but one gift bought. I just need to wrap presents, but I won't do that until Sunday morning-- with five cats who are in love with playing under the tree, wrapping paper would be shredded by Monday. So for now, things are tucked away.
Tomorrow morning I'll finish writing out my cards and get them dropped off at the post office. They're all going to points in the USA, so hopefully they'll arrive by New Year's at this point. *sigh* Still, it's better than some years, where I'm debating whether I'm just entirely too late and then just don't wind up sending them at all.
My hopes for a snowy Christmas are completely gone. We're going to have an Easter-like Christmas this year in New England, complete with April showers tonight through tomorrow. It's supposed to be about 50 degrees on Christmas Day. Global warming? Never heard of it. Maybe we'll grill ribs for Christmas dinner this year. :)
21 December 2006
Thursday Thirteen #15: Holiday Movies
Blessed Yule, all! :)
My original plan for this week's T13 was to share thirteen of my favorite ornaments on our tree, but I tend to misplace things-- and my digital camera has gone on walkabout for the week. I figure it disappeared on vacation before the craziness of the holidays.
So instead, I'm using yesterday's Holidailies prompt about required seasonal movies... Here are thirteen that I think are requied viewing sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.
Thirteen Required Holiday Movies
1. A Christmas Story- Not to difficult to find the past few years, is it? But seriously, it was an instant classic, even if it did take the world several years to discover this sleeper hit. Fah-rah-rah-rah-rah...
2. A Charlie Brown Christmas- How many things about Christmas, both good and bad, are summed up here? And the music? It's not Christmas until I hear that soft jazz of the Charlie Brown special float from my TV speakers.
3. Home Alone- This was overplayed for a few years and I got sick of it. But I found myself watching it a couple weeks ago and enjoying it once again. But the mystery still remains- what boy would ever clean up that mess? And how would he really get it all cleaned up so quickly? (but forget to fix the shelves in his brother's room...)
4. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer- Remember how tragic it was if you missed the airing of Rudolph in any year? It was only shown ONCE per season, and as a child, it often wound up being on the night I had dance class. Thank goodness for the Betamax and later the VCR.
5. Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas- I haven't seen this in years and I don't think it's well-known anymore, but it was one of my favorites as a child. It was a sweet story about a little otter who wanted to make Christmas special for his mother. He and friends want to compete in a talent contest as a jug band. But in order to enter, he'd have to ruin the washtub that his mother uses to make all of the money their family has. At the same time, Ma Otter has a similar idea to make Christmas special for her son by entering the same contest.
6. The Nutcracker- There are a dozen versions of the Nutcracker out there, but the one I always watched as a child- and still prefer today-is the 1977 version with Mikhail Baryshnikov, broadcast every year on PBS among their year-end fundraising drives... By the end, I was usually twirling along with the Flowers. :)
7. How the Grinch Stole Christmas- The original Dr. Seuss version. Still blows Jim Carrey out of the water, in much less than half the time. :)
8. It's a Wonderful Life- It's funny, but I always prefer to watch this after Christmas, but before New Year's. It's so heartwarming at the end-- the perfect way to ring in a new year.
9. Moonstruck- Not usually thought of as a holiday movie... but the references are quietly in the background everywhere. The decorations, the first snowflakes of winter, the connection and celebration of family... it's a story of falling in love over the holidays, and love her or hate her, Cher is absolutely stunning when she meets with Nicolas Cage in front of the Met. Each time I watch it, I'm just a bit older... and I "get" more of the jokes.
10. Mickey's Christmas Carol- My favorite version of the classic... :)
11. A Mom for Christmas- It's actually a very corny movie. But it came out the year after my parents were divorced, and it was just the sappiness that my teenager heart needed. And I was (and still am) a big ONJ fan.
12. Miracle on 34th Street- Again-original version. It's never, ever Christmas without watching this. :)
13. Rudolph's Shiny New Year- This one's always been a bit more obscure, but it always signified the LAST holiday special of the season. I always got a kick out of Happy and his big ears... and loved how they visualized the progression of Time...
Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)
Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
My original plan for this week's T13 was to share thirteen of my favorite ornaments on our tree, but I tend to misplace things-- and my digital camera has gone on walkabout for the week. I figure it disappeared on vacation before the craziness of the holidays.
So instead, I'm using yesterday's Holidailies prompt about required seasonal movies... Here are thirteen that I think are requied viewing sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.
1. A Christmas Story- Not to difficult to find the past few years, is it? But seriously, it was an instant classic, even if it did take the world several years to discover this sleeper hit. Fah-rah-rah-rah-rah...
2. A Charlie Brown Christmas- How many things about Christmas, both good and bad, are summed up here? And the music? It's not Christmas until I hear that soft jazz of the Charlie Brown special float from my TV speakers.
3. Home Alone- This was overplayed for a few years and I got sick of it. But I found myself watching it a couple weeks ago and enjoying it once again. But the mystery still remains- what boy would ever clean up that mess? And how would he really get it all cleaned up so quickly? (but forget to fix the shelves in his brother's room...)
4. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer- Remember how tragic it was if you missed the airing of Rudolph in any year? It was only shown ONCE per season, and as a child, it often wound up being on the night I had dance class. Thank goodness for the Betamax and later the VCR.
5. Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas- I haven't seen this in years and I don't think it's well-known anymore, but it was one of my favorites as a child. It was a sweet story about a little otter who wanted to make Christmas special for his mother. He and friends want to compete in a talent contest as a jug band. But in order to enter, he'd have to ruin the washtub that his mother uses to make all of the money their family has. At the same time, Ma Otter has a similar idea to make Christmas special for her son by entering the same contest.
6. The Nutcracker- There are a dozen versions of the Nutcracker out there, but the one I always watched as a child- and still prefer today-is the 1977 version with Mikhail Baryshnikov, broadcast every year on PBS among their year-end fundraising drives... By the end, I was usually twirling along with the Flowers. :)
7. How the Grinch Stole Christmas- The original Dr. Seuss version. Still blows Jim Carrey out of the water, in much less than half the time. :)
8. It's a Wonderful Life- It's funny, but I always prefer to watch this after Christmas, but before New Year's. It's so heartwarming at the end-- the perfect way to ring in a new year.
9. Moonstruck- Not usually thought of as a holiday movie... but the references are quietly in the background everywhere. The decorations, the first snowflakes of winter, the connection and celebration of family... it's a story of falling in love over the holidays, and love her or hate her, Cher is absolutely stunning when she meets with Nicolas Cage in front of the Met. Each time I watch it, I'm just a bit older... and I "get" more of the jokes.
10. Mickey's Christmas Carol- My favorite version of the classic... :)
11. A Mom for Christmas- It's actually a very corny movie. But it came out the year after my parents were divorced, and it was just the sappiness that my teenager heart needed. And I was (and still am) a big ONJ fan.
12. Miracle on 34th Street- Again-original version. It's never, ever Christmas without watching this. :)
13. Rudolph's Shiny New Year- This one's always been a bit more obscure, but it always signified the LAST holiday special of the season. I always got a kick out of Happy and his big ears... and loved how they visualized the progression of Time...
Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
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