thelifelist
A forum for exchanging lists of things you'd like to have done before you die.

ljsecret
Share a secret through the means of art, under complete anonymity.

mourning_souls
A community for cemetery photographers, dark poets and anyone else who appreciates and admires the beauty of cemeteries.

July 19, 1966, 11:25 AM... I am brought into this world.





And if I could travel back in time, the first thing I'd tell myself would be: "Kid, do I have a story to tell you...."

I am currently 36K on my second novel, and I am not happy with it. Normally, I advocate finishing a novel before handling the rewrites. I also advocate getting out of the way when the story wants to tell itself, but this is not the novel I set out to write. This is, at best, a detour. At worst, it's lazy writing much like a river that follows the path of least resistance. And, it's racing towards a dead-end. I can feel it.

So I get to go back into my novel, gut what I have and, perhaps, find the right path this time. The 36K is about to become 10K. Perhaps less.

Account Structure Update
Back by popular demand, Basic Accounts will be available to all users again by the end of the (northern hemisphere) summer. More information on the decision-making process and proposals relating to the future of Basic Accounts are in lj_2008.

New Themes
Two attractive and all-new Flexible Squares themes, "Circular" and "Circular Brown" are now available.


L to R: Circular and Brown

New V-Gifts
Give someone you care about the gift of enticement. With the new Chocolate Ice Cream, Vanilla Ice Cream, Tea, Coffee, Curry and Sushi v-gifts, all the significant people in your life will be able to share in the longing for the tasty edibles below. Plus, it reminds loved ones you think they're really sweet, really savory or just plain satisfying.


L to R: Chocolate Ice Cream, Vanilla Ice Cream, Tea, Coffee, Curry and Sushi

Ж-Men...but not the ones you might expect!
This week LJ Russia launched Ж-Men, a new comedy series about superheroes, inspired by the LJ communities dedicated to superheros, comics and cartoons. The title's "Ж" comes from ЖЖ, the nickname for LiveJournal in Russia.

Ж-Men's script is written by a group of LJ enthusiasts who also happen to be television professionals. Who knew? Following the premiere, five more episodes will be broadcast over the next two weeks. We hope you find the series fresh and enjoyable.

This is, of course, an experiment for LiveJournal. As always, we'd love to hear what you think!

It's 1987, and I'm at Bishop's University in Lennoxville. It's a party University with a good theater program and an even better theater. I'm the Stage Manager/Gopher for an upcoming play, and the coolest part about it is...

...the two men working with the cast are from the Muppet Show. One of them is Miss Piggy.

But I digress.

The play is about Nimue, the woman responsible for Merlin's downfall. Visually, the play is beautiful... the actors wear black so that they remain "invisible" against the dark stage, and they manipulate cow skulls and long strips of cloth so that everything has an ethereal, ghostly quality to it. Flip the cow skull over or around, and you have an entirely different and alien looking creature.

But again... I digress.

As Stage Manager/Gopher, my tasks are many... some unpleasant. In this instance, one of the Muppeteers found a cow skull by the side of the road, and he boiled it clean. Well, mostly clean. All that was left to do was to scrub off the remaining bits and discoloration... with a toothbrush. Naturally, people were impressed with my clean teeth (or so they said) so the toothbrush was handed to me.

There I am, deep in the bowels under the stage and backstage, where the workshops and prop and storage rooms are located. Oh, and the theater is supposedly haunted to boot. So like I said, there I am, in a workshop with a sink, the tight corridors beyond my door dark and the theater rife with unaccounted creaks and groans (and the tromp of actors on the floor above).

I'm brushing the skull with the vigor of someone who wants to get the job done NOW, when I dip the toothbrush into the empty eye socket. That's when a long-legged spider races out of the recesses of the skull and up my arm....

Needless to say, I jerked my arm away and sent the hapless spider flying. I've never had to clean a cow's skull since.

>Crew members close and lock your visors

>Transfering from Orbiter ground to internal power

>Ground launch sequencer is go for auto sequence start

>Activate launch pad sound suppression system

>Activate main engine hydrogen burnoff system

>Main engine start

>Solid rocket booster ignition and liftoff!

>Gencon is a go!

linebyline
A writing prompt where members respond to single phrases and use them in their posts.

plants
A community for green thumbs, botany enthusiasts and lovers of plant life.

mst3k
The LiveJournal destination for Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans.

The ENnie Awards Nominations are up, and in addition to several products for Green Ronin being nominated, my Hero High Supplement for Mutants & Masterminds also made the cut.

http://www.ennieawards.com/08/2008noms-3.html

I'm very happy to be included on that list, even though I hate being up against another Green Ronin book : D

Congrats to everyone else who made it!