valdary

misanthropic42o, posting in poetssociety @ 03:07 pm: shut out again
well if i could forget
i could just smile
but you wouldn't let
me reconcile
instead you ignore
me as if
i am a bore
i don't exist

dr_nebula @ 05:59 pm: Ewwww....
( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Tags: house

theljstaff, posting in news @ 01:53 pm: LiveJournal Major Notes: Notes, Tweaks, Bug Kills, LJ_Cares!

Notes augmented

We've enhanced and de-bugged Notes. If you haven't tried it yet, now's the time! You can create a private note when you ban multiple users. You can also delete multiple notes at once. Lastly, paid users have the option to add a note (visible only to you) whenever you add or remove a friend (guaranteed to avoid embarrassing social mishaps). If you don't currently have a paid account, you can upgrade now! It only takes a few minutes and costs less than a bad shopping mall haircut (plus, it's way more fashionable)!

Product tweaks and bug kill

1. In another effort to zap spam, comments containing links from domains LiveJournal deems untrustworthy are now automatically screened
2. If you sign up to get notifications of the Writer's Block question of the day, you'll now see the daily question in the email notification, so you'll have a little extra time to ponder before you post. You can subscribe to Writers Block notifications here
3. The issue causing random comments to vanish has been fixed!
4. If you visit a LiveJournal page and get prompted to log in, you'll be returned to the same page after you sign in (Thanks, Dreamwidth)!
5. If you don't edit the timestamp for an entry at all, the entry timestamp will indicate the time the entry was posted instead of the time the Update Journal page was loaded
6. Comments with paddings/backgrounds render correctly within the comment box (and will no longer wrap outside the box and break frames/margins)

New FCK fixes rich text editor!

1. We've updated our RTE (Rich Text Editor) to FCKeditor version 2.6.5
2. When switching from the RTE to HTML editor, links for syndicated feeds are no longer broken
3. RTE now functions properly in Safari 4.0
4. An extra line/space will not be auto-inserted whenever you switch from RTE to HTML editor
5. The insert image link now works correctly in all browsers

LiveJournal Cares

We’re pleased to introduce you to lj_cares, a new LiveJournal community dedicated to raising awareness and funds for U.S. charitable organizations that improve the health and well-being of people around the world. Each month, we’ll spotlight a nonprofit that is making a significant global impact through medical research, public outreach, and/or humanitarian social programs. Charities will be selected in accordance with the U.S. calendar of national health observances based on a high rating (of over 60%) on Charity Navigator and global scope of impact.

In this, our inaugural month of November, we will celebrate national adoption month by offering a charitable virtual gift (priced at $2.99) to support Love Without Boundaries, an organization that saves the lives of orphans with life-threatening diseases and places them in loving homes around the world. LiveJournal will donate 100% of the proceeds from the sale of charitable vgifts (we'll cover the cost of credit card transaction fees). To learn more about Love Without Boundaries, please visit lj_cares and read about how they helped save Baby Kang and the Rainbow Twins from fatal illnesses, who are now thriving in nurturing families. You can purchase your Love Without Boundaries gifts in the Virtual Gift shop.

Papered in postcards

A couple of weeks ago, we asked you to send in postcards to surround us with LiveJournal community. Thanks for coming through! We've received postcards all the way from Germany, Finland, and Canada and from all over the US, including Texas, Florida, Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, Indiana, Hawaii, and Oklahoma just to name just a handful. We're thrilled with our improved decor.

Please keep the love coming for one more week by writing to Frank the Goat, Esq., c/o LiveJournal, Inc., 539 Bryant Street, Suite 210, San Francisco, CA 94107. Be sure to include your username, since we'll be drawing the names of ten random contributors next Thursday to win paid account credits!

Photos of the week

We have more dazzling images posted by talented LiveJournal photographers from around the world. We're hoping to span the entire globe, so please continue posting and tagging. Of course, you can also sit back and enjoy the view at lj_photophile.

You can see a sample of this week's gorgeous photos and check out spotlight communities and awesome user content after the jump!

( Read more... )

Curtains

We thank you, once again, for joining us. See you next week!

Tags: bugs, csi wii, fck, lj_cares, lj_photophile, notes, rte, writer's block

cupcake_goth @ 01:29 pm: SFD phone photo

I am FAR less cranky today, thank goodness. And I like my outfit better.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Tags: via ljapp

dksaysthx, posting in poetssociety @ 04:07 pm: I was told that God is real.

I took my pointer finger and my middle finger
And drew them to my head with my thumb standing erect
And my index finger and pinky folded into my palm.
My thumb fell and graced my pointer finger with its presence...







He isn't.

natyboo88, posting in poetssociety @ 04:48 pm: healer
yes, tears i have rooted
yes, pain i have caused
purposefulness, never
regret alive, fed by blame
in every corner across,
as i hear you call my name,
nevertheless, i am medicine
to you, love the only kind.

barbiesxaxbitch, posting in poetssociety @ 09:32 pm: Someday, maybe...
The stale smell of tobacco
lingers on your hand
as you caress my face
and whisper sweet nothings into my ear

Outside the rain is pouring down
runnig along the window
leaving little rivers across the misty glass

The candle next to us on the floor
lights the room just enough
to toss long shadows
at the walls
and our panted breaths
make it seem like they are dancing
to the rhythm of our bodies

You seek eye contact but
I panic and bashfully look at the black sheets
draped around our legs

You run your fingers through my hair
kiss the tip of my nose and
I tell you

someday, maybe...

achromaticsoul, posting in poetssociety @ 12:10 am: with your most
silent touch
whispering
on my skin
tiny wings flutter
inside me
wafting a scent
so secret
even us two
can never share

natyboo88, posting in poetssociety @ 04:03 pm: ingenuous

ellenmillion @ 10:34 am: Thursdaily
Business as Usual

A few orders in the car to post this afternoon. Several adoptions and a new submitted description approved. Woo!

Art and Authoring

Still plugging along on the steampunk piece and City of Lights cover.

Home and Health

Still snowing. And snowing and snowing. You'd think it was winter or something...

Planning

At work now, plan to go work out and mail packages after, then I'll need to do some shopping, because we are out of many important things. Including salt.

Linking

toeknuckles, I thought of you: http://oddee.com/item_96774.aspx (hilarious sexist vintage ads)

xjenavivex @ 01:30 pm: What do you guys think about a disco party tomorrow?
Here is how it would go:

I make a post in the morning.
We can dress up in stacks and bell bottoms, club gear, or work clothers or PJs.
We can post pics or not.
We can link songs.
We can chat with each other.
We can find some grub and talk about the weekend ahead.

What do you think?

Tags: disco

cupcake_goth @ 10:18 am: New post time at Gothic Charm School!
Of Events, Videos, And A Clarification.

Yes, the fourth Gothic Charm School video has been posted! This handy clicky-link goes to it!

Huge, huge thank yous go to The Finishing School of Flail, staxxy, the Stroppy One, maiaarts and her husband, and to Carlyle!

And now, the usual request: if you charming people could help get the word out about the new post and the video, that would be very helpful. Thank you!

Tags: gcs, updates, videos

ysabetwordsmith @ 11:53 am: Thrones and Cats
I was charmed by these lovely wooden thrones, the kind you see in the SCA (note the maker is from California). Also new on the woodworking blog is this set of scrollwork cats. Those spiky bits unsupported by other wood are very difficult to make without breaking off.

Tags: art, crafts, photography

dr_nebula @ 12:50 pm: Dammit.
( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Tags: house, mold, rain, weather

dr_nebula @ 11:04 am: The Weekly Shiny
( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Tags: mars, shiny

scowling_hermit, posting in bean_hollow @ 10:36 am: Who was in there?
Teeny insect eggs


ETA: To alleviate confusion, let me add that these eggs measure 1/16th of an inch -- about the size of these apostrophes: "
They are NOT reptile eggs.


See more of my photos of insects, spiders, and other arthropods here.

Tags: eggs, found in the woods, insect eggs, insects

seanan_mcguire @ 05:59 am: Of authors and agents, take two.
So a while ago—not that long ago, but not yesterday—I made a post about the author/agent relationship, and why I think literary agents are so damn important. I like my agent. I know that state isn't universal, but neither is liking your haircut, and I'm pretty cool with that, too. I try to be mellow when I can.

This morning, I was pointed to a post over on GalleyCat explaining why nobody needs an agent. Apparently, the electronic revolution means that the "middleman" between author and editorial is no longer necessary. Who knew? Or at least, that middleman is on the way to becoming fully outdated. Naturally, at least one literary agency feels differently, and has said as much. I suggest reading both links before continuing, because I, too, feel differently, and will now say as much.

These are the things I do: write books. Make changes according to the requests of my editors. Discuss possible changes with my editors. Review page proofs. Blog. Run blog giveaways of ARCs and published books. Attend conventions. Write outlines and proposals for books I want to write. Play Plants vs. Zombies. Watch TV.

These are the things my agent does: get my books to the editors who are most likely to not only appreciate them, but work with them in a way that is beneficial to both the publishing house and my career. Negotiate advances. Negotiate sub-rights. Protect my interests in areas like audio, comic book, and foreign rights. Make sure that I get paid on time. Follow up with my editors when things are unclear, or when I need more time to finish something. Check in with me to see what space I have on my plate. Understand the industry. Explain things like "co-op" and how marketing budget works. Tell me where my energy needs to be spent, rather than where I necessarily want to spend it.

Beyond the fairly standard notation that many major houses no longer consider submissions from unagented authors, the agent serves a thousand functions that, frankly, I don't have time to deal with. It's possible that I would have time for them, if I wasn't writing four books at once; on the flip side of that, I can also say that if I was dealing with all the functions served by my agent, I wouldn't have time to write four books at once. It all feeds back to a question of resource allocation, and I have chosen to externalize certain resource needs in the form of my agent.

Agents don't just negotiate the size of your advance; they negotiate contracts, which are huge, complex, complicated things. Without an agent to go through the contract and understand it, you need to not only speak the crazy language of literary rights, you need to have strong feelings on all those things. What do you think about comic rights, merchandising rights, foreign rights, audio rights, film rights, the right to construct an amusement park based on your work? What do you think of the time the contract says you'll have to review your page proofs, of the concept of seeing your copyedits, of the way the next work clause is worded? Do you understand half of what I just said? 'Cause honestly, without my agent, I wouldn't, and even now, I'm a little vague on some of the specifics, although I'm learning.

Agents deal with your editors, and can mediate when, say, you miss a deadline because your cat got sick and you just can't cope and what do these people want from you?! Well, they want you to hold to the terms of your contract, and they want you to make a lot of money, because everybody would like to have a lot of money, and if you make a lot of money, so does your publisher. But without that buffer between yourself and the publisher, it's very possible that you could flip out and take somebody's face off, thus ruining the working relationship. Instead, flip out on your agent, and they'll take care of making nice while you hyperventilate in a corner.

A good agent will help your career in a hundred ways...and more, they're very often an excellent gatekeeper, because as soon as you're salable, the agents will be happy to let you know. It's not their job to get you to that point, but once you get yourself there, their job begins, and that job is a hard one. Frankly, it's not a job I'd want to do.

Are literary agents outdated? No. Are literary agents like having the cheat codes to the publishing industry? Yes. You still need to understand what you're doing, but they can make things go a lot more smoothly, and they can keep you from dying too many times before you finish level one. That's more than worth the cost of their commission.

Tags: book promotion, contemplation, personal superhero

beetiger @ 08:26 am: Settling in for winter
Reclaiming. Using the fireplace for the first time this season, and I'm pretty sure we never got to it last season. Color-flaming Duraflame in there, and big handfuls of fireplace incense on top of it to cover up the chemical smell a bit. I have no idea why we have a case of these in the laundry room, but we seem to. Random mellow bits of my music collection coming out of the Zune dock, laundry in the machine, webwork on the laptop on the couch and a novel that I've been meaning to read for forever.

We haven't actually used the downstairs den much in the last while. It kind of ended up as a dump space for a bit, and the lighting isn't quite right and it took a good bit of work to make it useable and clear the six spare cats worth of hair down here left form when my old cat took over the space entirely for the year or two before she passed away.

I can't justify pouring myself a glass of wine at 8:30 in the morning. Maybe hot chocolate in a bit.

But in the meantime, flickering flames. I used to watch the Yule Log broadcast on WPIX every year at Christmas, the whole thing, hours and hours. My family thought it was weird because, well, I was staring at a fire on a TV screen for 4 hours, listening to recorded Christmas carols, and well, we were Jewish. But I was kind of an obsessive kid, and well, there's something about a fire. The current setup of the den means that the fire is being reflected right in the center of the dark screen of the television down here, the one I don't think I've turned on in months.

Is it crazy that I'm feeling at home in my home for the first time in forever? I think maybe it's a good sign for a productive winter.

polkadot_banana, posting in poetssociety @ 10:49 pm: Sharpshooter of the Apocalypse

The lights fell out of the sky,

Sharpshooter of the apocalypse,

Drinking the oxygen waste,

Inhaling radio sewerage.

(BZZzzzzz TING! Flicker, flicker, stop)

polkadot_banana, posting in poetssociety @ 10:30 pm: the explosion massive

I need to find a way to rip out the world inside me and explode it onto my canvas body.

(my body canvas)

Paint splatters of beat and light.

(truth, truth, truth)

Express yourself turned inside out.

(express yourself turned upside down)

What is this endless existence made of?

(rip it out, rip it out)

Screams then silence – the celebration of the explosion massive.

Beast of truth

(rampaging the explosion massive)

Canyons filled to brightness.

Inside a world is extracted

(by the explosion massive)