The commencement of HermitGeecko's LiveJournal

So... whose bright idea was LiveJournal, anyway?

I'm not wondering who thought it up, or who's running it, as I am Pretty Darn Certain I could find that information by looking on the Internet (on this very site, even.) What I'm wondering is... who decided it was cool? Who decided "now we're all going to do these?"

You see, it seemed to change overnight (if you want to condense five years into a very long night.) At first, no one I knew would go near one of these things. Then, I turned around, and it seemed as though everyone I knew had one, from the people I knew near-and-dear to the people I missed savagely. What gives?

I suppose it's faster than a Christmas form letter, though. I've railed my share against progress, but I see no reason to make this one of those times. Sign up the Geek, I'm on board for the ride. Let's see where and when it takes us.

Moving right along...

Now I have a LiveJournal. So, being the sort of contemplative Geek I am, the next question I approached was: how am I going to write this?

By "how", I do not mean the obvious answer of "apply butt to chair and type until a journal entry appears." What I mean is style, grace, tone. Something that takes it from being one more LiveJournal to...

...well, now, that's the rub, isn't it? This whole thing is being produced under the presupposition that no one (who doesn't know the Geek already) gives a damn. Which, considering the number of LiveJournals in existence (lots) and the number of LiveJournal readers there are (lots, but not as many lots) is not in fact a modest supposition, or a self-deprecating one, but a fairly likely one.

But the Geek is feeling a bit whimsied tonight, and so why be dull? It costs nothing in the world to pretend there is a crowd out there, some group of thoughtful, eccentric fans stopping by every now and then to read the Geek's various words and thoughts. By coming here, you're playing, however briefly, into that fantasy, aren't you?

If you're insulted by the idea, all you have to do is go. If you know who she is, and you're insulted, you can even blame it on the cough syrup, and she'll give you a very pretty apology, either written out in email or (in applicable cases) face to face; but, if you know the Geek well enough to find this page, then you probably know she means no harm.

And if, by some chance, you don't even know that... or don't trust it... then you've got the wrong journal. Move along, boys and girls. Nothing else to see here.