The Friday Five are thinking about journaling and fandom today...

[magnetic_pole]

Whoops! I somehow missed a week there. How have you all been?

* I'm just back from a long weekend in Denver, where my partner had some work meetings and I was able to catch up with my college roommate, whom I hadn't seen for an extended length of time since the 90s. I'd been thinking about her a lot recently because she was the one who convinced me to do a semester in London with her when we were in college and then pushed me to travel with her once we were there. We did so much on a modest budget: dozens of places in London, maybe six or eight overnight trips to locations in England, Scotland, and Ireland. I've often explained our slightly Odd Couple relationship by saying that she's both a homebody and a traveler like me, but before her I was really just a homebody; she's the one who showed me I could travel. We were both in London for a few days earlier this summer, and it was so good to share our love of the city and remember how we got started on this path.

* I've just finished my first babysitting gig with the sweet little we've been walking at noon on weekdays. His humans have arranged for housekeepers to come clean the apartment occasionally and wanted to know if we could take care of him in the apartment for an hour or so while the housekeepers were working. No problem! I said. But he really was a bit anxious, even after introducing him to our apartment several times last week. (We live two doors down, on the same hallway.) Pet aunt-ing is difficult! But he seemed to be fine in the end, after a lot of treats and lot of petting. Dogs aren't so different: new situations are stressful, and positive reinforcement, food, and lots of attention go a long way for both of us.

* I might buy a used Ikea Hemnes wardrobe from a neighbor tomorrow. Would this be too big in a medium-sized room? We have so few closets in this apartment I'm inclined to get it. Surely more storage space will help make the apartment more tidy?

* I have the end-of-the-summer blues. Only two more weeks before classes. I'm treasuring every last moment and writing like a madwoman. If any of you have ever lived on an academic schedule, you'll appreciate this cartoon:





1. Do you like to reply to every comment in your journal?

I try to!

2. What type of post gets the most/least responses in your journal?

Hm. I'm not sure. You folks really come out for vacation photos and get seem to get excited about electric teapots, tea, and general fandom talk. Hm. That's suspiciously similar to what I like chatting about.

3. What do you do when a new person first comments in your journal?

Comment back! And then check out theirs to see who they are and to cement their user name in my mind. As much as I love communicating in writing/comments, it's oddly hard for me to distinguish different people when I first get to know them, and I have a terrible memory for names. A few comments or conversations in, we're good.

4. When you're reading someone else's journal, do you read every comment before adding your own?

I do. Is that nosy? I love the conversational style of LJ/DW.

5. When is "too late" to reply to an entry?

When the author seems to have signed off LJ/DW. Otherwise, it's all fair game. Doesn't everyone like getting comments on older stuff?

* Last but not least: A very happy birthday to fandomer extraordinaire (and RL superwoman) alisanne! Here's a to celebrate the day. (Source.)

Comments

[therealsnape]

That graphic is so true! I keep telling myself there's plenty of time left, but it doesn't feel like it.

I totally agree on the conversational thing, I always read all comments, too. Unless there are really lots of them, but then I still look for comments from people I know.

[magnetic_pole]

I have been waiting *years* to post this cartoon and somehow always forget when August rolls around. August is such a bittersweet month!

I love comments. Fandom's not the same without them. (And I love and appreciate AO3 and know it has comments, but it's just not the same.) I keep waiting for fandom to find a new platform.

It takes a bit of reading to hear someone's voice in their writing. One of the lovely things about seeing lots of comments over the years is that you get a sense of the person, rather than just the content of the comment. M.

[lash_larue]

I think the wardrobe is a good idea. The sliding doors will help with the space factor, although you can't see everything at once. It's also tall enough that it might not turn into a midden. At our house, any horizontal surface gets magically covered with miscellaneous crap.

I saw a bulldog that looked like that at Auburn yesterday, except that he was full grown. He was massive, but quite friendly. There was also a two year old female Great Pyrenees who loved to stand on her hind legs and hug people. She towered over one of the young women working at the desk, she was absolutely beautiful.

I still get sick to my stomach when the "Back to School" ads start running.

Comment chains are often the best part of a journal!

L

[magnetic_pole]

I had no idea that "midden" was a word, but every single surface in this apartment is a midden. An archaeologist would have a field day. "We can see all of 21st century consumerism right here!" they would say. :(

So I just texted "yes!" to the wardrobe sellers, hoping to straighten things up a bit. Reduce the midden quotient. It's a big wardrobe, but the room's large enough to absorb it. I hope.

So sorry to hear all the distressing stories in your post, but I'm glad that Echo's okay and that you saw some great pets at the hospital. A Giant Pyrenees on her hind legs must be huge! Even the regular-size big dogs are huge when they stand up.

Thanks for leaving a comment! Comments the best part of the internet, full stop. M.

[write_out]

That graph cracks me up. That would so be me too.

That wardrobe is really nice; I like that it has sliding doors too, less space to take up. I'm laughing at the comment above about flat spaces being turned into a midden. Oh how I relate to that! And once again, let me take this opportunity to cry about how much I miss Ikea. I MISS IKEA.

That dog has the sweetest face!

I like to read comments before posting too. Being the first one to comment on a post can be intimidating sometimes.

[magnetic_pole]

As I said to Lash above, I hadn't hear the word "midden" until today, but dear god, it's helpful.

I wish Ikea were closer to you, too! I remember when I lived in Cambridge, way back in the early 2000s before I'd bought anything from them or even needed bookshelves*, folks would tell me that they were planning on driving down to New Haven to get things and I'd just be so puzzled. Now I understand completely.

Dog R (hee! as opposed to my partner R, or Cat R downstairs) is very sweet, but he was definitely disturbed when the little field trip to our apartment didn't quickly turn into his usual walk outside. He barked at me a couple times--not in an aggressive way, but more like, "Hey! Did you forget about the next step? Hey? What's going on?" Hopefully I'll figure out how to make the stay an easier one.

Thanks for commenting, W! As they used to say here in the old days, comments are love. :) M.

* I actually bought my first bookshelf at the used bookstore where I bought some of my first post-college academic books, and R and I carried it back to our apartment, about a mile along Mass Ave. Craziness! Good thing nothing bothers you in your twenties.

[kelly_chambliss]

That graphic is my life. Totally.

Glad you had a nice time in Denver. I've never been but would like to see it someday.

[magnetic_pole]

I thought of you when I saved this to my hard drive several years ago, K. I knew if anyone in the world would appreciate it, it would be you.

On a related note, I just saw your "headed back to Rural Hamlet" post a moment ago. That's become such a rite of passage for me! "Okay, K is headed back to Rural Hamlet. Time to stop dithering about readings and finalize that syllabus, do one or two more summer-y things, and get back in the school year frame of mind."

Denver was surprisingly lovely. I'd imagined it as being like LA, I don't know why, but it was much more like SF--an older, 19th center gridded downtown with a strong business center alongside cultural institutions and a decent amount of old-school downtown shopping. (In a word, much more like a thriving, older, East Coast city than a sunbelt city.) And growing like crazy! Between the new pot laws and spillover from expensive CA cities, it's adding thousands of a people a month.

And, well, the mountains, of course. I'm not much of an outdoorsy person (neither are you, I don't think?), but everyone I talked to praised the ease of getting out of town for hiking or camping or skiing. M.

[secretsolitaire]

Aw, enjoy the rest of your summer! I remember feeling that as a kid with back-to-school looming. :)

[magnetic_pole]

Thanks, S! I decided yesterday that my new mental trick is to separate the end of summer from the end of the summer break. I may have to go back to teaching in 17 days (not that I'm counting), but the public pool's open through Labor Day, and summer weather will definitely continue until at least the end of September. I'll let go of it slowly....

Didn't summer feel like forever when you were very young? That was such a wonderful feeling. M.

[minervas_eule]

Of course I always read the whole comment line - it adds so much to the post. And I do not need to ask about something that has already been answered earlier ;-).

By our standards that wardrobe is one of the smaller kind, it will not be too big for any but the tiniest room.

[magnetic_pole]

I love comments. Even just seeing the notification of yours put a smile on my face just now.

And you're right: the wardrobe isn't too big! I brought it back to the apartment yesterday, and it's fine. A little taller than the Ikea photos lead me to believe, but heaven knows we need the storage space. Now to get those last moving boxes (from March 2015) unpacked....

Hope your week's off to a good start, M! M .