Born to write wrong...

[f4f3]

Ok, so there have been folk disappearing from LJ, and lots more folk talking about folk disappearing from LJ, and I noticed yesterday that I hadn't posted anything for a couple of weeks. That got me thinking about why I use LJ, what brought me here, and what keeps me here.
What brought me here is probably easiest - Frankie introduced me to the site almost five years ago. She was seeing one of my best friends at the time, and I think the second, maybe the third thing she said to me was "You must join Live Journal". So I did.
My initial thoughts were that I'd use it as an online diary, and that I'd be able to read my friends' entries and keep up with them (then, as now, my friends were a geographically spread lot). It worked well for that - I enjoy writing (in some ways it is what I am) and I enjoy keeping up with friends.
What I hadn't realised was how the comments function would open out my entries, and open me out to a lot more friendships.
Some of those online friendships have become amongst the most important in my life. I met my partner here - it's possible unblinkered  and I would have met up anyway, through mutual friends, but unlikely. I was blessed with the friendship of rparvaaz , possibly the wisest, funniest person I know, and with on line friendships across the globe and across the West End.
I've had my share of LJ drama, of arguments that spilled into real life, and those that stayed rooted in cyberspace. I've had good arguments - starting from first principles and ranging far and wide, and I've had the odd and quickly terminated argument that ended quickly, generally in a flurry of Anglo-Saxon.
I've written chunks of a novel here, and reviewed more bands, plays, movies and albums than the most ardent NME columnist.
As a virtual community, this place has changed quite a bit for me in the last 4 years. Close friends have moved on - I miss pshtaku's nonesense, and her common sense, particularly. Some people post less, or not at all. My own days of posting three or four times a day, of threads that ran to comment s in three figures (mostly puns, it has to be said) seem to be gone. I also write far fewer personal posts. Partly that's because my life isn't as chaotic as it was four years back, and partly it's because I have people close to me now that I can have those conversations with. I don't need LJ as much as I did then, or as much as I thought I needed it.

But I'll still be posting here. Because those original reasons are still there - I like to write, and I like to hear how my friends are doing.
Sites like Twitter and Facebook are fine for what they are - bite sized morsels (in the case of Facebook, morsels almost covered by kitty-litter). I had dinner with James and Kay last night, who've just discovered Twitter. James, who is a wise old owl (even if he is younger than me) said that he loves Twitter because it forces him to be pithy. He likened it to haiku. Well I don't have time to be pithy, and I don't necessarily want to be all the time. Sometimes, like now, I want to sprawl out with a cup of coffee and let the words roll out.
So looks like you're stuck with me.

Comments

[nicnac.livejournal.com]

Good :o)

I'm still around, mostly in a reading and commenting capacity. Haven't been posting much, but I think that's more to do with how hard the last couple of years have been emotionally than disenchantment with LJ itself.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

s'funny, I posted more during the hard times - but I also filtered quite a bit, which is something I don't do anymore.
Oh, and you were my first friend here that I didn't know already - I haven't forgotten that :-)

[nicnac.livejournal.com]

Gosh, really? I didn't know that - you must have wondered who the mad stalker was :o)

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

I still do, darlin', I still do...