thanks for all the fish

[gwyn]

Thanks to everyone who helped me figure out where to go and how to get started on a non-LJ blog for creative nonfiction. I spent an interesting weekend poking around at multiple sites, trying to get a handle on directions. While blogger.com wasn't ideal (their support for Safari being nearly nonexistent), it was the one that loaded fastest, or seemed more reliable, or free, or any of the other problems I encountered at different sites. But boy, it's discouraging how fast the spam "comments" start, as soon as you post something. It is so fucking depressing how spammed to death I am these days in every possible location.

I'm actually a little hesitant to mention it here just because I know some friends will feel obligated to read it, and I don't want that, and it's not like this space -- it's totally nonfannish. It's only for my "real" writing; I don't intend to sit down and write stream of consciousness stuff or be a "blogger." But I also know that I have a lot more friends who keep in touch with me this way than any other and so I'm providing the url here more for them than anything else. In some ways, I'd almost rather pretend that people *won't* read it, because it's depressing and more ... of me, I guess, than this has ever been. (And honestly, I have seen enough passive aggressive posts on my LJ flist about depressing, negative people who can't rise above their cataclysms and be, you know, happy the way it's better for them because it's all about them!, that I also don't want to even think about those people checking my writing out. Shudder.)

But anyway. If you have a nonfannish blog that you'd be willing to let me link to, I'd love to add it to my very bare links cupboard if you're inclined. I have to start getting out there and finding things to link to! Mine is called Half Life.

Comments

[maygra.livejournal.com]

I hope this works out for you. As for comment spam -- you can set the blog to validate any comment --

go to "Settings" on the blog console after you log in. Go to "Comments" and check "yes" to "Show word verification for comments?"

This puts one of the little graphic validation thingees in the comment section that people have to type in to prove they aren't spambots. It can be a little annoying but it does cut down on the comment spam.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you. I didn't know what on earth that meant. Now I know! I can't imagine anyone leavaing comments, so it doesn't seem a hardship.

[abbylee]

Don't forget you can make a syndicated account so that people can read your posts right in their lj friends list.

Go to
http://www.livejournal.com/syn/
and enter
http://thishalflife.blogspot.com/atom.xml

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Thank you, I do appreciate that, but I *so* don't want that. I don't want this connected to fandom at all, other than that a lot of my writing friends are also my fan friends, and now they know where to find it. I also don't want to listen to the inevitable bitching and whining about cuuuuut taaaags. There is a lot about LJ culture i just hate, and the short posts things is the one I hate most. If LJ expectations seep in, it will really destroy my enthusiasm (what little I have) for a writing space.

[abbylee]

Personally, I read a lot of non-fannish journals via LiveJournal's syndicated feeds. bitch_phd, lifehacker_atom, respect_otters and rick_mercer among my favourites. I used to read those kinds of sites separately via an rss newsreader, but I much prefer to check them at the same time as my friends.

You can turn the syndication off completely, if you don't want people accessing your entries without specifically going to your blogspot site. You can also change your feed settings so that it doesn't publish everything you write.

I say all this now, because someone who doesn't know you from LJ but who has a livejournal themself, is likely to syndicate your journal to this kind of feed. I know I would. So sometimes it's best to organize it yourself first.

p.s. respect_otters is written by rivka. While she doesn't keep them totally separate (she links to one from the other in her user profiles), they've obviously got totally different topics and tones and I don't think she's got a lot of overlap in her respondents. I don't know if that helps or hinders your decision, but I always like giving information.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I think we're on different planes of existence -- you're all informed and stuff. I, on the other hand, and completely ignorant of all this. I'm not even sure I know what it is you're talking about, so I guess I have to fess up and say, I don't know if I could/should/would set anything, just because I have no idea what I'm setting or why. People can just get it themselves, right, if they (insanely) want to read it? Or you're saying they can send it out to other people?

I'm sorry. I'm just out of my depth here. And kind of wiggy at the idea of it being read at all. I still haven't wrapped my brain around it all.

[abbylee]

Don't apologize!!! I shall try to explain. I hope it helps.

When you create a new account with blogger, it automatically shows your posts in two formats. One format is the one that you posted a link to: http://thishalflife.blogspot.com/.

The other one is called a "feed" or "syndication". (It can be written in a number of formats, such as xml, atom, or rss, but that's only important so that you recognize other terms for the same thing.) Your feed is located at http://thishalflife.blogspot.com/atom.xml.

Feeds are a good thing for any regularly updating site, because they can be used to tell readers that there's a new post (or new information, new page, etc, etc) without them having to check the site. (You could think of it as a more modern and automatic version of an email update list?)

Feeds aren't written in the most visually appealing format, because they're designed to be parsed and aggregated by a feed reader. Some feed readers are software that you download and install onto your computer, others are just websites that let you select which feeds you want to read.

LiveJournal offers basic feed reading capability. By using their syndicate page, you can add a feed to your friends list. This is useful for keeping track of updates on sites that aren't directly hosted by livejournal.

Unlike a regular journal, a syndicated journal only keeps entries for two weeks. As well, there is no 'owner' of a syndicated account. Anyone can comment on entries to a syndicated account, but a link is always given directly back to the right post.

You do not have to set anything up. Setting it up only makes it easier for your livejournal friends who also want to read your blogspot journal to do so. Anyone can set it up, the only advantage to doing it yourself is you get to pick the name. If it is set up, anyone can see that your blogspot journal exists, just by looking at the friends list of someone who has it friended, but that wouldn't connect it to you.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

My head has totally gone boom! I have been over at the blogspot dashboard trying to figure it out. I am so out of my league it's not funny. I can't for the life of me get my mind around this feed stuff, so I think I may just have to let whoever put whatever name they want -- I guess if they're weird enough to want to read it, they can call it what they like! ;-)

I have a lot of trouble processing new information these days. I struggled with learning how to use Final Cut for vidding, and we have new systems all the time at work... I seem to just really not be able to process a lot of the online world stuff, and I don't know why. This is great info, though -- I just wish I could figure it out. Maybe someday with enough exposure I can get it.

[minim_calibre]

My exceedingly boring non-fannish blog is here

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

thank you!

[par-avion.livejournal.com]

I think it was vrya who mentioned that she cut down on on comment spam by disallowing html in comments.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Ohhh, okay. I will see if there's some way I can do that. I'm overwhelmed by the whole thing right now, I feel like I'm learning a whole new language. Still stuff in LJ I have no idea how to use.

[spasticat.livejournal.com]

I first need to figure out why my non-fannish site went missing...but when I do it's www.cultureschlock.org (I think I need to renew the name). Nothing's there now...but in the future it will be articles of personal interest by me and my friend Annie.