to LJ or not to LJ

[dirtylibrarian]

Dear readers, it has been two and a half weeks since my last posting, and I confess I'm considering giving LJ up. Its not so much the posting that gets me...I don't think anyone including myself seriously cares about the intervals between postings. But the reading! I haven't been on top of it for MONTHS. And I feel guilty each time I log in. There is just no way for me to catch up without seriously committing myself to setting aside time every day...and that time is already spoken for. I've been reading a ton for work and committees, and am genuinely trying to learn the drums. Plus, every day I spend writing on LJ, is a day I don't seem to actually do any other sort of writing.

And I've decided, crazy as it seems, to sign up for National Novel Writing Month. Have I ever tried to write a novel? Nope. Do I like writing? Have I secretly dreamed of writing a book? Am I a person who writes better with structured motivation? Yep. Yep. Yep. Worst case scenario? I write one day for a half an hour. Which is more than I would have otherwise.

And speaking of time consuming activities I don't want to give up...my boyfriend is moving up from San Francisco in three weeks! We are actually going to get to date! I can't wait! With this there is a temptation to start worrying about how to find the balance of it all, how to take things at the right tempo and not rush it, etc, etc. But as much as I want to do this right, I don't think worry is the proper technique. So I've been keeping the wise advice of jillbertini, I plan to remember to BREATHE.

What I really want from LJ, is for it to email me my friends posts...so I can just delete them after I read them, or save them until I have time to reply. I really don't like the way the current friends page has no way of managing what you have read already, or keeping track of where you left off. Suggestions anyone?

Comments

[jillbertini.livejournal.com]

But you can now track people and have LJ send you an email when someone posts!

[dirtylibrarian.livejournal.com]

How?!?

[jillbertini.livejournal.com]

You have a paid account, right? If you go look on the user info page, there should be a little icon of a tack. If you click on that, it will give you the option to track the person in various ways. It's also a tag on every entry.

[dirtylibrarian.livejournal.com]

Excellent! Much thanks...I'll give it a try :)

[jillbertini.livejournal.com]

Good luck!

Regardless of what happens with LJ, I'd love to hang out with you sometime. Let me know what looks good :).

[dirtylibrarian.livejournal.com]

Hey...just wanted to let you know that the new system is working out GREAT! Makes me feel much more in control, caught up, and able to get back to things I want to get back with later with no worries. Hooray!

Now...as far as hanging out goes...what about next Sunday...the 5th?

[jillbertini.livejournal.com]

Yippee!

Next Sunday should be okay, as long as it's during the day. We may or may not have plans in the evening :D. What were you thinking? Something low-key?

[dirtylibrarian.livejournal.com]

I'm totally open to ideas. I'd be down with thrift shopping again, or going to see a movie, or ???

[jillbertini.livejournal.com]

Have you seen Jesus Camp? Would you be interested in seeing it? I want to, as does Ann. I would be down for that. Or, another movie if you don't want to do that one.

[telegramsam70.livejournal.com]

yep. works well too.

I like your posts and the span of time between them makes them rather more exciting.

please keep the booklists!

[dirtylibrarian.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It is rather nice to have a place to post the booklist...since I'm keeping the database anyways.

[rebellibrarian.livejournal.com]

I can't say I won't miss you here but I understand your dilemma. Real life should be the priority - especially with the neat-o things you do with your real-life time.

For me, I don't feel obligated to read every post everyone makes. My LJ is more for me to use for my writing than as a tool to keep up with others. At a time where I don't have much/any of a real life, LJ has provided me a social network to feed that need in my psyche but ultimately it's all about me & my needs. If you feel like a slave to the LJ, it's probably not such a good thing for you.

When I've been away from LJ for a while I may drop in to a few select LJs directly and read what someone has been up to but I'm much more likely to just scroll back through my friends' page & skim posts back until I get to something I remember. The only ones I'll read are the ones that interest me.

Also, I don't have a lot of communities that add bulk to my friends' page and I'm selective about the friends I add/keep. I drop people when I realize I've been skimming more of their entries than I'm reading.

There are also Friends' page filters you can use that can allow you to only show a select group of friends entries but I haven't played with that feature so it's all a bit of a mystery to me.

If you do leave LJ, I'll miss getting to know this side of you but then there's all the more reason to socialize with you at conferences...

[dirtylibrarian.livejournal.com]

Aww thanks. I'm thinking that maybe if the writing every day in November thing works out, I'll try and keep writing, and maybe have a bit of that be LJ. Maybe figuring out some of these friends tools would help too.

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

people already mentioned the practical stuff so I'll just say, please don't leave us.

[dirtylibrarian.livejournal.com]

Awwww. Thanks Gordon.

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

I'd really miss the updates and book lists, too. As rebellibrarian does, I only read a few select LJs when I've been away for a while (like yours! ;> -- no, seriously.)

[dirtylibrarian.livejournal.com]

AWWWW. Thanks. Whats this I hear about a party?

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

Email sent. Yeah!

[terriblestorm.livejournal.com]

I know exactly how you feel, I don't have a computer so it is overwhelming every time I read my friend's page at the school PC lab.

So how are the drums coming along?? Did you rent or buy a kit? I am missing my kit so much, all I have is a little practice pad and it does not suffice. ;)

I do enjoy reading your posts, even when they are sporadic. At least that makes them more manageable to read, and they are usually chock-full of good stuff. :)

[dirtylibrarian.livejournal.com]

Can you believe I got a kit for FREE? It needs new heads, fixin' on the high hat pedal, and I could probably still use some instruction, but thanks to the library and the internet, I'm slowly coming along :)