LiveJournal: The First Decade

Just in time for holiday shopping, we're thrilled to announce the release of our ten-year anniversary anthology. Published by Blurb.com, the book showcases a decade of extraordinary talent drawn from LiveJournal users around the world. This must-read compilation features stories, memes, photos, comics, editorials, graphic content, and more, including:

1. Excerpts from Oh No They Didn't (a/k/a ohnotheydidnt), the largest community on LiveJournal, covering celebrity gossip, entertainment news, and pop culture
2. A look at post-Katrina New Orleans from the journal of Poppy Z. Brite
3. Gripping narratives, including a poignant reverie on a blind date
4. Photography that spans the globe, ranging from old-fashioned Polaroids to underwater photography
5. Mouthwatering dishes from food_porn

What began as a late-night inspiration back in Brad Fitzpatrick's college dorm in 1999 has grown to encompass nearly 25 million users worldwide, with journals and communities covering every conceivable hobby, passion, and topic. To get your copy, please visit the Blurb Bookstore. For updates and entries from book contributors, please join lj_turns10.

Tweaks and enhancements

• You can now ban a user from all of your communities and journals at once. To access this feature, hover over the person's userpic and choose Ban user everywhere from the drop-down menu.
• Follow LiveJournal on Twitter!

Give a little to help a lot!

In honor of National AIDS Awareness month, we've added a new charitable vgift. For each red ribbon you purchase for $2.99, we'll donate 100 percent of gross proceeds to IAVI.org (the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative) to support the development and global distribution of an affordable HIV vaccine (we'll cover credit card fees). You can read more about IAVI at lj_cares. While we're on the subject, we raised $740 from our November fundraiser for Love Without Boundaries, which supports emergency healthcare and adoption of Chinese orphans. We thank you for helping us help others.

Photos of the week

We're back with more incredible pictures from our super-talented LiveJournal photographers. Congratulations to ilya_gorokhov, who is the winner of our very first lj_photophile poll.

We hope you'll continue to post, vote, and comment! A gentle request: Please post only one photo at a time and limit size to 350x350 (so images display properly on friends pages). And now, without further ado, get ready to cast your ballot and view more awesome user content after the jump!

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Curtains

Thanks, again, for joining us. Stay safe and snug out there!

Hey, guys -

I follow the Leverage people on Twitter, and last night Amy Berg (one of the writers) twittered this video to Dean Devlin himself, as follows:

"Have you seen this one? Leverage fans kick ass."

It's Parker/Hardison/Eliot to the Black Eyed Peas' "Imma Be." I didn't do it, but I just HAD TO share. ( Click for the vid! )

As Jayne would say on "Firefly," "Pretty cunning, don't you think?"

I went back six months in the archive trying to find the answer to this, because I feel as though it must have been asked before, but didn't find anything. So I shall ask again, and feel bad if it's a dead horse.

I'm just wondering if anyone knows how much of the stuntwork and fight sequences on the show are done by the actors themselves, and how many are done by stuntmen. Eliot, specifically. I want to know if Christian Kane is really that amazingly badass, anywhere close to it, or if it's 100% camera, editing and photoshop tricks. :D;

[23] Community
[13] The Big Bang Theory
[27] Actresses
[12] Buffy the Vampire Slayer
[39] Misc. Television



Rules:
→ Please comment.
→ Please credit.
→ Enjoy! :)

more here @ inthe_sunshine

20 random Leverage avvies, a mix of episode promo pics, behind the scenes pics and misc appearances of the cast. Hope you like please credit if you use any of them, thanks!!!

Total Icon Count: 20
Teasers:

Icons Here

**EDIT Thu Dec 3 23:24:15 UTC 2009 **

Hey Everyone, we are about to run the last alter job that we need to on our database servers. This will effect userpics / scrapbook / vgift images for the next few hours. Have no fear, your images aren't lost, there is just a really intensive process running on the servers which store the information for mogilefs. Thank you for your understanding and all the LJ love...

Hey LJers,

I just wanted to let you all know that we are going to be performing some mogilefs maintenance over the next few days. We will be upgrading our current version to latest stable as well as changing some db config information to better handle the amount of files we are currently hosting. This shouldn't cause a big impact on site stability, but you may see some minor delays with userpic / scrapbook images appearing or other requests associated with our mogilefs. We would love to not have that happen, but unfortunately with some of the steps we need to take we have to cause a delay with images. I figured this was a better solution than taking down all of LiveJournal because well lets face it, we all need our daily LJ fix ;)

Thanks,

Well, it's the darling and fabulous and completely wonderful Blondie's birthday today!!!! *massive hugs*

So, what else could I do but write her some AU Splindsey?! It has to be AU, see, cos it's really schmoopy. No, like, REALLY. If you read this, apologies, and you'll see why I don't write fluff very often... ;-)

But, darling, I do hope that you enjoy it!!!! It's rather festive and sappy, but hey...Sometimes that's allowed, right? :D




( A Good Cliché )

backpacking
Want to embrace your wanderlust on the cheap? If you're high on adventurous spirit, but low on funds, this community can help you plan a trip to anywhere. Offering plentiful tips on how to travel light, you can post about inexpensive hotels and youth hostels if you're into urban exploration or discuss camping gear and mosquito netting for the great outdoors. Hitch your backpack, pitch your tent, and carpe diem!

So there was this list I wrote before "Lucifer Rising" aired. And another one before the big summer hiatus started. It looked like this:

So I suppose season 5 is going to be about:
- stopping Lucifer
- dealing with Sam's guilt
- dealing with the "can we become brothers again" issue
- keeping Sam alive
- preparing the bitter end

I'm glad it didn't turn out into the "Dean vs. Sam death match" like I was afraid it would. Although there were scenes that were hard to watch.

It is about stopping Lucifer. Obviously.

Sam is dealing with his issues and he's improved very much EXCEPT THAT WE DON'T GET TO SEE IT (okay, "Free To Be You And Me" was okay considering that point but still, that's not enough).

They also dealt with the brother issue (quotes will follow). But they didn't sit down and talk and cry and hug, dammit.

Sam is still alive. For whichever reason, there are no remnants of the demon blood (hopefully?). But I'm not sure if Sam will make it. ;__;

The bitter end - yeah, "Abandon All Hope" was some kind of great foreshadowing for the apocalypse. Also? Character deaths can be damn sad. I can only repeat what I keep saying the whole time: If they have to die, then at least it should be together.

There was also these lists:

Season 5:

More of this, please:

- Puppy!Sam is not dead!
- Brothers!
- Hugging
- orderly!Sam

Pre-apocalyptic thoughts:

- if one of them (or both? O.O) has/have to die, make it quick
- Bobby alive
- boys hugging (okay, maybe that's too much)

We got a lot of puppy!Sam although there clearly wasn't enough Sam in season 5 yet.
We got some brother moments BUT NO HUG.
We got Sam & Dean in "Dr. Sexy M. D." - okaaaay. But that doesn't count. I want my orderly!Sam. *pouts*

Okay and now I'm gonna use this possibility to spam you all with my favourite quotes which weren't funny:

5x01 "Sympathy for the Devil"
Dean: You chose a demon over your own brother, and look what happened.
Sam: I would give anything -- anything -- to take it all back.
Dean: I know you would. And I know how sorry you are. I do. But, man...You were the one that I depended on the most. And you let me down in ways that I can't even... I'm just -- I'm having a hard time forgiving and forgetting here. You know?

~ Ouch. And Dean, it's not all Sam's fault, remember that please.

5x02 "Good God Y'All"
Dean: Why does it got to be you?
Sam: Oh, that's right, I forgot. You think I'll take one look at a demon and suddenly fall of the wagon, as if after everything, I haven't learned my lesson.
Dean: Well, have you?
Sam: If you actually think -- I...

~ Ouch again. But I want to smish Sam so very much for his reaction to this because yeah, Dean, HE HAS LEARNED HIS LESSON.

Sam: Thing is, the problem's not the demon blood -- not really. And what I did, I can't blame the blood or Ruby or...anything. How far I'll go...scares the hell out of me, Dean.

~ Ouch. Take 3.

5x04 "The End"
Dean: Look, Sam -- It doesn't matter. -- Whatever we do. I mean, it turns out that you and me, we're the, uh -- The fire and the oil of the armageddon. You know, on that basis alone, we should just pick a hemisphere. -- Stay away from each other for good.
Sam: Dean, it does not have to be like this.We can fight it.
Dean: Yeah, you're right. We can. But not together. We're not stronger when we're together, Sam. I think we're weaker. Because whatever we have between us -- Love, family, whatever it is -- They are always gonna use it against us. And you know that. We're better off apart. We got a better chance of dodging Lucifer and Michael and this whole damn thing, if we just go our own ways.

~ *inappropriate flailing* I... uh... *thud*

Dean: The point is... maybe we are each others Achilles Heel. Maybe they'll find a way to use us against each other, I don't know... I just know we're all we've got. More than that, we keep each other human.
Sam: Thank you. Really. Thank you. I won't let you down.
Dean: Oh, I know it. I mean you are the second best hunter on the planet.

~ YES, DEAN. EXACTLY.

5x09 "The Real Ghostbusters"
Demian: I'm not sure you get what the story's about.
Dean: That so?
Demian: In real life, he sells stereo equipment. I fix copiers. Our lives suck. But Sam and Dean. To wake up every morning and save the world. To have a brother who would die for you. Well, who wouldn't want that?
Dean: Well, maybe you've got a point.

~ It really seemed like Dean finally got it. Now go and hug your brother like you mean it, dumbass!

HAVE A GREAT START INTO DECEMBER, F-LIST!

bookfails
Planning to do your part to help boost the declining publishing industry this holiday? Better check here first. Sure, there are plenty of folks who post glowing reviews of their favorite books. But what about the epic fails? Compose and/or discuss snarky, incisive critiques on the books you despise most.

foundphotos
Ever stumble across a frayed photo in your grandmother's attic? How about a faded picture tucked in the sleeve of an old novel at a used book sale? This is the place to post them. An amazing, eclectic collection of photographs sure to delight anyone with a penchant for history or nostalgic memorabilia.

note_to_cat
Having trouble conveying the concept of accountability to your cat? Now you can share letters to your significant felines and give public witness to your declarations of love and domestic negotiations. Whether you want to publish an apology for falling short on your cat-nip obligations or you need to raise a delicate hygiene issue.

Tweaks and enhancements

1. In order to improve site security, we've temporarily suspended the ability to change passwords for old email addresses that haven't been used for over six months. For further information and support, please visit our customer care page.
2. We've launched a new mobile site with an enhanced UI at m.livejournal.com. View spotlights, post to your journal, read and post to friends pages, and more, no matter where you roam! Please let us know what you think, since this will eventually replace our existing mobile interface. You can update your mobile preferences on your account page.
3. We've upgraded from Beacon to Facebook Connect to improve dual posting. If you've already signed up for Facebook Beacon, you're good to go. If you wish to update your Facebook Connect setting, visit Account Privacy settings and scroll down to the option labeled: "Send information about my updates to Facebook." You can choose Always or Ask each time. Remember to save (on the bottom left corner of the page). To learn more, check out FAQ 249. While we're on the subject, if you happen to be visiting that side of town, please join our Facebook fan page for a touch of home away from home.
4. You'll now receive the Writer's Block Question of the Day in the body of email notifications. To sign up for Writer's Block notifications, visit writersblock and choose the Watch Community option. Next, update your Writer's Block notification settings by checking the box to the right of "Someone posts a new entry to writersblock."
5. Paid and permanent users can now view, add, and edit Notes of commenters. Notes will appear beside the username of comment posters (instead of stars) on S1-themed comment pages.

Send some lovin' thanks to your friends with our holiday vgifts!

Photos of the week

We're so delighted with the immense talent of our growing, global lj_photophile community that we've decided to introduce a poll. Each week, we'll choose a half-dozen photos (based on user comments and staff feedback) and ask you to select a photo of the week. The winning photo will be announced in the next newsletter. If possible, please limit photo size to 350x350 to ensure that images display properly on friends pages. We want to thank you again (and again!) for sharing your passion.

Check out this week's photo poll and more fantastic user content after the jump!

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Curtains

Thanks for joining us. To our American friends, have a fantastic Thanksgiving. To all of our international neighbors, we'll eat a little extra for you!

Hi there, fellow CK fans!

eliot_lims goes into its second session on Dec 7th. If you want to participate in this Last Icon Maker Standing contest, sign up! Click the banner.



I hope I see you around!

Cheers,
Silke

65redroses
Eva is a vibrant young woman with Cystic Fibrosis who survived a double lung transplant. Read about her difficult recovery and personal triumphs over pain, isolation, and fear. Back in school, Eva now works part-time in a children's center and enjoys running and cross-country skiing. A documentary on her story, entitled 65 Red Roses, won three awards at the Vancouver International Film Festival.