and in the end, I'd do it all again; I think you're my best friend

semi-friends only

This journal is semi-friends only. That means some posts are public, but most of them are friends-locked. The locked entries are more personal than the ones I leave unlocked.

If you'd like to friend me, go ahead. However, if you would like to read my private entries, I'll need to friend you back. Drop a comment and ask. I will only friend you back if we know each other from somewhere else either in an LJ community or another forum, so let me know how we know each other. Check my interests before you ask too. It's better if we can comment on more than just one or two entries a year.

If you're looking for my graphics, you'll find them at chaoticxmuse. Please do not friend my personal journal if you are only interested in icons. Join/follow my graphics journal instead.

Guess what I finally saw yesterday? Yes, I’m a couple of weeks late. I also still need to see The Greatest Showman.

( Spoilers ahead for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, by the way. )

I’m officially making the move over here from LiveJournal. I know there was the whole LJ revival this year, but I can’t support it any more with the change to the terms of service. I hadn’t thought much of the news because I wasn’t posting to LJ. I knew the servers moved, but I missed the change to the terms of service a few months later. I imported my LJ and will post here instead. That is, assuming I do make posts here. My track record is not so good lately. Most of my friends have moved on from LJ, so we’ll see how I use this space.

Let’s see, what’s changed? Well, I found a new job. I moved. Big distractions that kept me from updating any journal anywhere. Seriously. I haven’t even written in my physical journal in months. That’s actually going to be one of my New Year’s resolutions...to journal more. I don’t like to even say “write twice a week” because then I’ll get way too focused on the fact that I didn’t write twice a week when it inevitably happens because, you know, life. I am setting a goal to finish the journal I’m working in now. I figure I’ll be more successful with that goal, and I won’t feel like I failed in the first five minutes of the New Year.

So we’ll see what we’ll see.

I'm just a couple of days late...

To start 2017, I’ve come across a few problems of my own, including bronchitis. OK, that technically started with the allergy problem a day or two after Christmas, so maybe we can blame that one on 2016 too.

I’m not a huge fan of the narrative that 2016 was the problem. In the grand scheme of things, it’s an assortment of upsetting events that just happen to fall in the same year that was the problem. Still, even by the end of it, my first thought on New Year’s Eve when the Mariah Carey debacle took place was “That’s a fitting end to 2016.” I think most people do realize 2016 was actually just another year. It’s just that we’ve been hit with a barrage of things since the beginning of last year. Many of the celebrities who passed away were ones who pushed boundaries and effectively made things a little better, even if it just made the world aware of their existence, for people who are different. For countries like the United States and Britain, politically, events have left many nervous. Don’t forget the numbers of terrorist attacks and wars going on in the rest of the world.

The truth is bad things happen every year. Maybe we’re just more aware of it now with the internet and social media being such a significant part of our lives. I’ve read accounts of my friends on social media who have already had a worse 2017 for one reason or another.

2017 will see some of the consequences of 2016, and it’s going to bring about its own set of problems. Ultimately, it will be how we respond to those problems that makes it.

I follow Matt Nathanson on Twitter, and he posted this little read from Brian Eno’s Facebook that he happens to agree with. I liked it too. It presents a truthful yet optimistic look at what should happen next.

Anyway. Onto something a little more fun…

I’m doing the usual: working on my new scrapbook, putting other things together. I admit I basically took my 2016 scrapbook and posted it for 2017. Partly because I screwed up and got nothing done in 2016, partly because I felt that it was still a fitting thing to use. I liked the lyric I picked last year, and I felt it worked this year.

Many of my resolutions are similar too. I did add to become more aware and to take better care of my physical and mental health. I took great strides toward this in the last year. This year will be about using the tools I gained in 2016 to continue to take better care of myself. I want to help others, but taking care of me in order to get there will help. Also, by treating my anxiety instead of running from it, I feel like that has to help something. I was talking to my mom today about how when I was a kid, anxiety wouldn’t have been a thing someone thought of for me. Being more aware is obviously the first step in helping anything, so that’s a resolution I have too. I added the usual resolutions about exercise and eating, with the goal to try and lose 10 pounds this year. I don’t know if that will actually help, but we’ll see how it goes.

2017. Ready or not, here it is.

( Spoilers ahead from tonight's American Idol elimination... )

ETA: Apparently I fail at LJ cuts tonight...

My mom was playing David Bowie and Freddie Mercury's isolated vocals from "Under Pressure" earlier today. I commented that male singers today don't sing like that. They sang something the way they did because they could. I don't mean to say male vocalists today aren't good singers, but Bowie and Mercury? Come on. They had something so incredibly rare that we won't find others like them. Imitation is clearly imitation.

Which is why today is so sad. Bowie was at least able to see his final work through to the end, and I hope that gave him some peace. His was a mind unlike any other, and his mark on music and pop culture will remain. He was an extraordinarily talented individual, and he's one of those people for whom even these words will never be enough. In fact, I wanted to write a lot more and say what people are probably feeling, but sometimes I don't have the words.

I don't often feel this down about a musician's or actor's passing, but this one is hitting a little closer to home. Perhaps it's his influence on music. Perhaps it was that he taught us it's OK to be who we are, and that is reason enough to celebrate his life.

So rest in peace, our goblin king. I hope you're up there with the other legends we've lost, making beautiful music.

*crawls out of hiding place*

Don't mind me... I've just been listening to my copy of American Beauty/American Psycho since Saturday afternoon. :D

Also, I burned a copy for my commute to work already.

...Still wondering what I'm going to do with this massive flag from the pre-order packages.

Whatever Happened to Janie? (1993)
by Caroline B. Cooney
Fiction, mystery
199 pages
Read 01.11.2015 – 01.13.2015


( While I try not to give away important plot details, please note that I do discuss the book below. I will never give away any endings or big secrets, but remember that I will discuss the story and how I feel about it. Since this is a part of a series, there are some spoilers for the first book. )

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore (2012)
by Robin Sloan
Fiction, fantasy, mystery
288 pages
Read 01.05.2015 – 01.10.2015


( While I try not to give away important plot details, please note that I do discuss the book below. I will never give away any endings or big secrets, but remember that I will discuss the story and how I feel about it. )