Watch the tangent form

[nfotxn]

I feel mildly better this morning. I actually had tea and crumpets for breakfast, yeah motherfsckin' tea and crumpets. Pass the marm! Actually, I had them with maple syrup.

Yeah know, I'm pretty happy lately aside from the physical ailments which are passing. Additionally if you look at the average incubation period of a flu it's off by a few weeks for me to have contracted it on NYE (will I ever stop talking about it ;)? ). So I won't be going all celebate. Muhaha.

One thing I have noticed having had muyo muyo time to read journals is that there's a lot of people on LJ just trying to incite a response from people rather than write a journal. It's my personal belief that if you stay true to form and write about the happenings in your life (however boring) that you'll ultimately create something more entertaining to your readers than if you let the journal become your life. I mean, there's no denial here I often think about events (sometimes somewhat imappropriately) that "this'll make a great LJ post!" 'cause it probably would. I think this is because the people we write to on this journal are a very select and far-flung group. Mostly other husky queers and some of my best friends.

It's funny, without the internet and applications that run on it I really couldn't imagine my life at all. I mean, first-and-foremost I wouldn't have an extensive collection of pornography that so accurately fulfills my intrinsic beauty esthetic so accurately.

Ya know, those new iMacs look an awful lot like a curling stone.

Comments

[mattycub.livejournal.com]

I fight that battle in my head all the time. "Do I want to try to be entertaining/provoking, or do I want to just write about the day to day stuff that is my life?" This whole medium is a such a weird combination of mass communication/personal reflection that I often have a hard time figuring out just what I'm using it for anyway. Lately I have been trying to be more thoughtful about what I post and try to keep my intentions in mind when I write, make it more for me and less for my audience. I'm finding I'm getting less comments, but I'm ultimately happier with the process. Still, there are times when I just want to write something to all my friends and here and see the reaction, or just broadcast an announcement or whatever....

I think about this stuff WAY too much. It's sad when your first reaction to major events in your life is "dude, this will make a fantastic LJ post!". Heh.

[five0xpres.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with you. It's not strictly a journal or diary, since those are closed to the outside world for the most part and you can't get direct immediate feedback on what you post. It's like a strange combination of journal/message board/chat medium/whatever. Sometimes I post just for myself and not care if I get a response, other times I'll post a joke or something and hope for a comment or two. It's all very strange and takes some time to work out how you want LiveJournal to work for you.

It is pretty funny though when something happens in our lives and we all think "Oooh, this would make a great LJ post." I don't know whether to be impressed by that or totally scared. LOL

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

I think it's not so wrong to think about posting to LJ all the time. Because it's kinda like thniking "Oh, I can't wait to tell my friends about this and see what their reactions are!" as opposed to the initial inferrence that it's somehow a website running your life. People have have, initially, low esteem for digital communication when it's not obviously making life simplified. Mostly because it is sorta lame, text can represent the two biases (reader and writer) in a really harsh way. But, to the point, LJ does facilitate intimate communication between highly unqiue groups of people.

There's nothing wrong with being excited about that.

intersting points....

[imattv.livejournal.com]

I've been doing this since July, never interacted with anybody until Sept or Oct...I'm going to say here and now... I think if you're writing for a response you're not writing at all, you're button pushing, and certainly not journaling...

Now, I'm not sure who invented this forum...because I certainly appreciate it...it helps me clear out my head speculate, record cross reference...it's great...but it does seem to be kind of "abused" a lot, if that makes any sense?
I'm mean certainly I'm not the boss, I never said how it's supposed to be or even asked...or anything like that, each person out there can use anything or anyone any damn well they feel like or can get away with, if that's there deal, cuz it's no skin off my ass...I'm not judging.
BUT... shouldn't journaling be about experential, personal and creative development?

I mean, I can see the value of keeping in touch, of making new friends and associates of similiar tastes and interests...and just blowing off steam and telling jokes for fun, that's one of lifes great joys...But first and foremost, the value of recording your thoughts and actions, should be primary in journaling, not an afterthought...

I also think this is a great resource for bouncing ideas and thoughts off of other people...(hey...like I'm doing right now)--but more often than not, it seems to take on a "just another chat room" feel.

It loses the sense of any kind of a literary or personal development tool and takes on a feel like that of a social event. (Which, I can imagine a lot of people in lj land must really need...given tastes, or geographic constraints, social abillities, and the like..) But surely, with all the tech savvy people out there, and with IM'ing and AOL and IBR or whatever the hell it is that took the place of postcards and letters or the phone....
..shouldn't it be a little more than the latest on line quiz? or a virtiual nurses office to hide out in and get your ego stroked? or a soap box to preech to the choir?

more often than not, I hesitate to get into the mix as it seems to negate the purpose of this from my point of view and perspective....which is to keep a journal.

maybe it's just the next level of technology and socialogy...a communication break through...what the hell do I know? It's not my club, and I'm only a guest subscriber.
Most of the men I've gotten to know through this are so very smart and interesting...But it just seems kind of...counter productive?.... sometimes?

I dunno...

At any rate...I will concur that the call-and-response factor gets a little high sometimes, ...and again, It's not a critticism so much as it is an observation, It's just one I'm not sure I agree with.

and again, I have to stress...I don't claim to know how it should be exactly or anything, but I guess I just expect more from such a diverse group of educated people.

I mean if this is just about sex, mating and dating, and the fellowsip of the bear....why keep a journal at all?...let's throw another bear run and just use this site or grouping for the directions and comments on the matter, like any other chat room?

Re: intersting points....

[mattycub.livejournal.com]

Interesting points, for sure. Thanks for the food for thought.

I think it's important to keep in mind that if all we wanted here was to journal for ourselves, we'd be doing it in a little notebook, or in a text file on our own computer, or making all of our entries private. We wouldn't be making public entries on a website. The medium affects the intention, if not the message itself. Surely the opportunities for sharing and communicating have a lot to do with why we're here.

I think there's plenty of room to accomplish many goals here: keep a journal to record your thoughts and feelings and actions, stay in touch with friends, make new ones, goof off, flirt with some cute guys, etc.... Anf fortunately there is no boss and no rules and everybody can make of it what they want without stepping on aynbody else's toes.

I will admit, however, that the journals I enjoy reading the most are the ones that are the least concerned with how they come of to other people. The ones that really let you into the head of the author and see what it's like looking at the world through their eyes. That's just cool. It's what attracted me to LJ to begin with.

I guess all I'm saying is that I definitely see what you're saying, in that sometimes it seems that journalling takes a back seat to the more social uses of the system. Sometimes I too would like to see more insight and less chatter...but I love the chatter as much as the next guy. I guess in an ideal situation all the aspects of LJ would be exploited to their utmost ability...journal, messageboard, party! Of course, that would mean LJ would consume our lives and we'd spend way too much time on it....

Oh.

Re: intersting points....

[imattv.livejournal.com]

More points to think about...you're aboslutely right on some levels...the main draw for me is the cross refernecing functions...I can go out and see what a mllion people think about things at the moment I'm thinking about it...so the little book concept isn't quite what I'm going for. (QUICK TANGENT---though the little books are just as valuable...personally and as a record.....and I hope people never forget about the little books, because when you're old and gray and want to look back on your life...you'll have long since changed computers or servers, and your printed copiesof the good stuff in the three ring binder will get lost and not feel so personal...that and your children and children's children...or the nieces and nephews... what have you...they're not gonna find your postings on line 50 years from now, but they might come across the little books...with the little thoughts and pearls and moments that right now, may not make sense or seem interesting, but those are pricesless...,when trying to figure out who you are....I mean don't oyu wish you're gay uncle phil left you a journal to help you find your way....?...anyway.).......BUT as you aptly point out, it's the postings not just our own records that makes this worthwhile.... it's the voyeur meets newspaper column feel,-- meets a poetry reading meets the caucuses kind of experience that I really love about lj...(does that make any sense?) also...I love seeing people with their own opinions and reflections and experiences, as opposed to people just living out some prefabbed techno gay man's life.... flowing down stream saying "yes, this is good" and "no this is bad" and this is who and where I have to be because I'm this old, I make this amount of money, I weigh this much, or have this much hair on my chest, and well darn it, everybody else is doing it...so I have to too...don't I?....iyyie-yie-yie..OY!

Thnanks for the insites, Mattycub, I'll be thinking about these things.

llllater...

Re: intersting points....

[haenck.livejournal.com]

You have a point, Matt, about the voyeur feel. But at times it is not titillating or compelling, sometimes it is just disturbing.

Maybe it is my inborn reserve talking, but there are times that the amounts of disclosure here give me the heebie-jeebies. This is in part because I think it takes a lot longer (for me, anyhow) to "know" a person based on this kind of virtual interaction, and suddenly there will be an intensely personal disclosure.

In, a message to a friend about this very subject, I likened it to being on an elevator and having a distant aquaintance step on and say,

"Four, please... did you know I was sexually abused by a family member since I was six. He likes anal sex... Comfort me!"

"How 'bout those Lions?" *painful pause*

"I like to hurt animals."

The elevator stops at the fourth floor.

I exaggerate, but only a little. I can never quite parse if this sort of thing is sincere disclosure, a ham-fisted ploy for validation or Tom Green-style humor run amok. At times, I feel totally empathetic and sympathetic, at others, I get irritated because it seems coercive. Is it expression or is it manipulation?

Re: intersting points....

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

Your reservation is understandable and infact very level-headed and appropriate but at the same time I think it isn't all sycophantic intentions that drive somebody to reveal their darkest secrets. Some people's "personal entries" you learn to take with a grain of salt, but it's really on an individual basis. Just hoping you don't generalize those types of entries, as I think the interactive journaling medium (blog, lj, whatever) is pretty effective at dealing with long lasting personal psychological issues of pretty large impact by providing the perspective of an archive and the advice of peers.

Re: interesting points....

[haenck.livejournal.com]

With time I can figure out who is sincere and who likes to jerk people around.

Life is too short to get too worked up over it, regardless.

[dizzi-d.livejournal.com]

What's a crumpet?

Strumpet I know. Crumpet... I realize I haven't ever tasted one.

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

Hmm.. they're sorta like pancakes only more spongey. I assume that means they have more eggs.

They're really good.

[mathan.livejournal.com]

They've got holes in the top so when you spread butter on them, they fill up. Mmm! Great with jam.

http://www.wolfermans.com/
There is a picture in the top left corner.

An even better picture is at:
http://www.wolfermans.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=8873&prmenbr=2&cgrfnbr=31

[dizzi-d.livejournal.com]

They kinda look like open-faced English muffins... I like English muffins :)

[haenck.livejournal.com]

Lemon curd.

Garrrrrrrgh...

[etherlad.livejournal.com]

I toast 'em and then spread peanut butter on 'em.

<homer>
Crumpets.... Mraarrargh...
</homer>

Crumpet.

[haenck.livejournal.com]

A pancakey thing in the shape of an English Muffin. Except, the English don't have English Muffins, they have crumpets.

Of course, what the British call "American-style" muffins are not like any muffin I have had in America.

Go figure.

Re: Crumpet.

[cpratt.livejournal.com]

I assure you that I've bought "English muffins" (although they were called something different - I can't remember what) at Waitrose in London.

They don't have Trader Joe's in Michigan yet, do they? They have excellent crumpets there. And (shudder) lemon curd, if you really want some.

[sultmhoor.livejournal.com]

A quetzalcoatl poop after it ate a vacuum cleaner!