Journal Update

[decemberthirty]

When I started this journal, I had a rule against making friends-only posts. My thinking was that if there was something I wasn't comfortable with sharing with the entire world, that thing did not belong on the internet in any form in the first place. I still think there may be some merit to that. But the way I use this journal has changed a lot since then, as I've connected with people here and discovered that I like posting the occasional personal update. Recently, I've been friended by a number of people whom I don't know, who don't comment to tell me who they are, and whose journals are not English so I can't get a sense of them or their journal. I don't know where they're coming from, and the journals often end up disappearing again not long after they add me. Very mysterious.

The result of all this is that it has made me think once again about the degree of personal information I reveal here, and who I reveal it to. I'm not interested in going to back to my strict ban on friends-only posts; in fact, I'm going to go the other way. Posts that are strictly about books will still be public, but everything else will be locked. I've been locking more and more posts lately anyway--I just figured that maybe it was time to make it official. I'll also begin gradually combing through old posts and locking the ones that need it. Does anybody know of a way to do this more efficiently than clicking through seven years worth of livejournal history, post by individual post?

This announcement mainly exists for the sake of people who are reading this journal and are not on my friends list. If you'd like to continue reading, please say hello. It's likely that I will be more than happy to add you. I will probably be happy to add you even if your journal is not in English--I don't really care about that and I have several friends whose journal are not in English (or not entirely in English). It's really not a language issue; it's much more a question of whether or not I can interact with you and get to know a little bit about you before we become "friends," even in the sometimes limited and misleading way that livejournal uses that word.

Comments

[mcdato.livejournal.com]

You see it has become quite common during the last several months. The "users" that add real users usualy have many friends added and I don't bother to add them. I supp0ose they add the others using the friend lists of real users. It does get in your hair but there is little one can do about it - I think it's the policy of the LJ owners. I don't even know if they can read your locked entries and how it correlate to the privacy policy.

[decemberthirty.livejournal.com]

No, they can't read locked entries unless you add them, which is why I'll be locking most of my entries. It's really just that this was the catalyst that made me think about how much of my life I wanted floating around on the internet.

[mcdato.livejournal.com]

I mean the company owning the LJ.
Well and I do feel sorry I don't write in English, I fear I will seem showing off for my friends whom I know in my real life.

[decemberthirty.livejournal.com]

You don't have to apologize for not writing in English. At least I know that you're a real person!

[littlelamb.livejournal.com]

yeah, i'm not sure what's up with those fake ljs. they seem primarily to be russian.

[decemberthirty.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's pretty weird, isn't it? I can't figure out what the point of them is. I pretty much just ignore them because I don't think there's anything I can do... But I've been meaning to be more private about stuff anyway, so I figure I might as well do it now.

[littlelamb.livejournal.com]

i assume they're russian spam which is, of course, quite lost on me and many people they add. it is weird that they disappear like that.

[lavendarbloom.livejournal.com]

I love reading your journal so please add me to your list if youd would like! Thank you!

[decemberthirty.livejournal.com]

Don't you worry, my dear, you've been on my list already. I really enjoy your journal too, even if I don't comment all that often. :)

[e-moon60.livejournal.com]

I found your LJ while looking for other people interested in ecology, conservation, etc.

I'm also a writer, reader, photographer, and an amateur naturalist, but the purpose of this particular search had to do with prairie restoration, wildlife management, and general conservation issues.

If you are interested, take a look at the project specific blog on our 80 acres project, http://www.80acresonline.org/blog/ or my own LJ (though I'm using the new blog for my conservation/nature-related posts these days), and feel free to browse my LJ Scrapbook for more pictures.

[decemberthirty.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link--your project looks very interesting, especially since prairie is a very different sort of ecosystem than the ones I am used to in the northeast US. I'll keep an eye on the blog.

[thesetiredeyes.livejournal.com]

Hello there! I saw your photos in a comment in saucy dwellings and because you are from Philly (me too), I checked out your journal. You seem really neat! Friends?

[decemberthirty.livejournal.com]

Hi! Thanks for adding me--I'd be happy to be friends. I only partially live in Philly these days. I'm in grad school, and I split my time between State College and my "real" home. But I'll be graduating and heading back at the end of the year, so it'll be nice to get to know someone local.

By the way, I had a look at the recent photo post on your journal--the community garden you visited is only about three blocks from where I live. This post (http://decemberthirty.livejournal.com/119396.html#cutid2) contains some pictures I took there last summer. Just in case you're interested.

[thesetiredeyes.livejournal.com]

What kind of program are you int for grad school? Masters? PhD? My husband is a PhD student and he is nearly done, FINALLY.

I saw the recent post of your neighborhood! How neat that we posted photos of the same area around the same time.

I also saw your photo of a bird on an old tombstone at the Pine Street graveyard. Lovely! That's one of my favorite cemeteries in the city. I photographed it last year? Maybe two years ago?

[decemberthirty.livejournal.com]

I'm doing an MFA in creative writing. It's a three year program and I'm in the final year of it, so it's not too bad.

And thank you for all the photo compliments! That's definitely the way to my heart.