...back from ScaperCon

Hmm... I'm going to write a longer summary later, of course, but the best way to sum up the con this year?

The birth of the XXX Triplets. Snerk - no really, it's all Ann and Maren's fault, cause they got *way* too much amusement out of Cristin, Elf, and my conversations, often about X-Men. That's where the XXX comes from anyway. That, and the forthcoming movie starring Vin Diesel, and well, have you met any of the three of us? Or at least me and Cristin? (Although I think we're doing an admirable job of corrupting John. heh.)

What's really scary is that I'm the most experienced of the three. Yipes. In my head, you see, I'm still little miss innocence. It's kind of scary to have that suddenly change. Not that I've done *that* much, mind you. But still.

I miss everyone already, particularly John, Maren, and Cristin, since it was kind of like I was just really getting to know them right when they had to leave, and I didn't get to see nearly enough of Sarah, Natalie, Gigi, Aileen, Kathe, Shaye, Shan, Becca, Kate, Laurie, Lin, Dani, and Nick (and I've probably left someone off that list and I'm really, really, really sorry, I'm just really tired at the moment.)

Sera's back on top of the monitor, her tail covering up what I'm writing. She's doing it to try to get me to open the window, I know, but it's not gonna work. It's too damn hot outside and I've just spent several days in an un-airconditioned car. (Which I have to do again tomorrow when I go to the 'Boro for Lammas. Happy Lammas everyone, btw.)

In other news, I'm currently reading a fantastic book by Gael Baudino called "Gossamer Axe". Chicks, heavy metal, harps, guitars, music and magickal (and magickal music) theory, and a helping of lesbianism makes for a wonderful fantasy novel. Not to mention I love the take she has in here on the fey.

Why Journal?

I just stumbled across an article dealing with how one ought to go about journaling online, and it was disturbing to me for some reason. I think because, at least in the case of my experience, the author has missed the point entirely. So, it made me question why *I'm* doing this.

First and foremost, to keep up with my friends (particularly those online) and let them know how I'm feeling and what's going on. When you see someone off-line day in and day out, or when you happen to talk to someone on IM almost *every* day, like Elyssa and I do, there's a natural flow of being aware of the events in the other person's life, even if you don't sit down and have long conversations about it. Now, it's virtually impossible to keep up with *all* my online friends, even those special few that I'm particularly close to, through IM. I'd never get anything else done on the computer and I would, essentially, be saying the exact same thing over and over and over again. (Ok, yes, I do that in real time, but still.) I'm lucky in that I can call Ann up on the phone, and that I get to talk to Lys as much as I do because she can use her IM at work, but most people just can't be online that much, and certainly don't live in my calling area. So, I journal. My only other option would be to spout all of this off on my email lists, and a. the list-moms would kill me for constantly being off-topic, and b. while I realize anyone could read this, they actually have to make the effort to come here, rather than getting it passively in their email.

Then there's the issue of an "audience". Yes, I'm doing this for other people to read. But I'm not doing it to get "fans", or to entice perfect strangers to come read. I don't care if they do, they're more than welcome to, but this journal's key purpose, and the people that I'm essentially writing *to*, when I write this, are the above mentioned friends of mine that I'm trying to keep in touch with. So, yeah. That's why I journal. And I don't think that just because I'm not trying to be presentable in any certain way means that I'm a waste of digital space.
/rant