Welcome to the salon!

[liv]

Some people are complaining that DW is dead and everybody's moved to Tumblr where you can't have decent conversations, but I'm personally really not seeing it. I mean, lots of people posted extra in December if not actually daily, and then there was loads of fannish activity around Yuletide, and recently people are looking back over 2014 and forward to the new year. And dozens of you had interesting things to say not only in response to my thinky post about compliments, but even to my random, hi I went to church post. And I keep meeting interesting new people just about all the time.

Anyway, my very dear friend withagreatlove has picked, I think, a great time to come back to DW, being fed up with being the product sold to advertisers elsewhere. If you know me well you might be able to figure out who she is based on whom I talk about, but anyway, she's come to DW because she wants to be able to have conversations in a relatively safe, private context. Which makes it hard to say much to convince you that she's someone interesting to know, but I can definitely tell you that she's an excellent writer and has an original perspective on a great many topics.

She's also looking for photo hosting. Requirements are: free-as-in-beer, has reliable privacy settings, and isn't looking to sell her photos. Also somewhat more user-friendly than DW's half-written photo hosting where you have to email posts to your journal and then manage them from a page that isn't linked from anywhere. Any recs, anyone?

Comments

[withagreatlove]

Dear liv,

Thanks for introducing me, much appreciated. For the last few years, I've oscillated between using different platforms and all have their drawbacks. I don't want my privacy and integrity compromised, especially given the nature of my career.

Basically, liv has it down to a T. Am looking for new friends and a safe space to share ideas and hone my writing as well as share snippets of my life. Back in the day, I had an incredible time on LJ and very fond memories thereof.

Just a little about me without giving too much away on liv's public journal: I'm a tea snob, enjoy amateur photography and puttering around the house. I'm an odd mix of progressive politics, traditional lifestyle, feminism, rationalism and faith. I'd like to prove that I don't fit the easy, lazy categories anymore :)

I will mostly blog about the intersection between politics, religion, feminism and family values but always with a personal touch, be it about my own family, recipes or reflections. My DW is very much a personal and safe space for me, a parallel reality to my own and might be a bit saccharine for some but perhaps both original and relatable to others. In short, it's part mommy blog, part spiritual memoir and part political commentary with pretty iPhone pictures.

Hope this helps and look forward to meeting you!

P.S. Liv, would you mind deleting this reply once some time has lapsed and it's no longer relevant? Thank you so much!

[altamira16]

Liv has a really well-written blog so I am not surprised that she has a lot of friends here. For me, dreamwidth is fairly quiet, and I still follow more people on LJ.

I write about my struggles in daily life. They are usually related to family, fitness, crafts, and technology.

If the comment above is deleted, delete this one too so I do not look like a person who is talking to herself.

[withagreatlove]

Family, I can relate to. Crafts sound like fun! I'd love to learn how to knit/crochet but am - embarrassingly so - a little intimidated by the idea of online tutorials :) Really nice to meet you!

[altamira16]

Nice to meet you too.

[ofearthandstars]

Hello! I would be interested in getting to know you. I write less formally here (more journal than blog), and usually write about everyday life. I am a scientist, progressive in my politics, and I love tea, armwarmers, books, astronomy, poetry, running, and cooking/baking (vegan). I also live with a partner-in-crime and have three boy-children who I write about from time to time. Although I have the random public entry, I consider privacy here a must.

[withagreatlove]

Love your DW, love your profile and look so much to getting to know you. Do you know the 'Symphony of Science' youtube channel? I think you'd get a kick out of it. And it would be nice to swap recipes - I need to hone my vegan baking skills. (I'm a shame-filled omnivore :)).

[ofearthandstars]

\o/! I look forward to getting to know you, as well!

I am not familiar with 'Symphony of Science' (I'm more of a podcast person than a Youtube person), but I'll check it out.

I am always up for sharing recipes. :D

[jack]

*hugs* Welcome back to DW :)

[withagreatlove]

Thanks! It's good to be back!

[heliopausa]

Hello. :) I cross-post to DW and LJ, mostly about reading and writing, with occasional dippings into politics and things of interest. I'd love to expand my friends list a bit, and your blogging sounds interesting, so I've subscribed to you - maybe you could look at my last few posts (I seldom lock them) and see if you'd be interested?

[withagreatlove]

Definitely interested! And thanks for subscribing. Look forward to chatting about politics and sundry! Thank you.

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

Hi! I'm told you're a person I would like and I should get to know you, but I don't have a DW so that doesn't help, and I can't work out how to allow access to my LJ for DW people. Um.

So, anyway, I'm a home educating parent of 3 (eldest is actually in school) and I used to be politically aware, I used to make music, and I used to read a lot, but now I mostly stay within my own head and my own four walls, except in as much as the things my children teach me, which means I could go in any direction except the ones you might reasonably expect from that description.

[withagreatlove]

I was told the same about you and am glad we managed to conquer the challenges of DW/LJ crossposting!

I'd love to hear more about your home educating journey. So many questions! :)

Lovely to meet you.

[kaberett]

o/ Hello I am a human. I'm not doing great at actively interacting with new folk (or even existing folk at the moment) in their own spaces but I do read even when I don't comment, so, um. My intro post says This journal ends up being a bit of a mix of Srs Business (rants; things I've learned from counselling; &c), fannish & scientific joy, linkspams, poetry, & misc life updates. -- which is pretty accurate, really. Yes. Happy to acquire people.

[merrythebard]

*waves* Would you be happy for me to add you on here? I've been meaning to ever since the love meme, because you are super, but then was being ill and all over the place and couldn't quite find the mental space to ask. :-)

[kaberett]

By all means!

[withagreatlove]

Hello human :) Nice to meet you. Look forward to getting to know you!

[merrythebard]

Hello! You sound rather super, and your DW sounds fascinating, and Liv finding you interesting is a high recommendation. :-)

I'm trying to post more on DW (and LJ) at the moment. I'm a folk musician, Christo-Pagan and lefty feminist, learning to be a crafter, gardener and general practical person, and always wishing I were able to get out into nature more than I usually can.

Do add me if you would like! :-)

[withagreatlove]

I don't know about the 'super' bit, liv is really too gracious. But I will settle for 'interesting' :)
I'm an amateur songwriter and I'm intrigued (in a good way!) by your Christo-Paganism so eager to learn more. I've added you, and look forward to get to know you!

[ironed_orchid]

I actually use Tumblr for photo hosting, I have a locked account there (people need a password to view the content) and I upload to it, and then use the urls of those images to insert images in my posts here.

[slashmarks]

Yeah, you can also use tumblr for photo hosting by saving photo posts as drafts instead of posting them and linking to that url. You can link to your drafts, but they can't be accessed without the link.

[soon_lee]

Tumblr just doesn't appeal to me as a platform, for me it's too much about showing, not enough talking (somewhat ironic as I mostly lurk here).

I still get substantive fannish stuff from DW & LJ, and though it's not as active as it used to be, I have no plans to abandon DW or LJ.

[pensnest]

I think it helps to take a look around DW occasionally and just subscribe to a few people who look as though they have interesting things to say. Every so often there's a friending meme somewhere which facilitates this. As a result I follow a lot of people without quite remembering why(!), but it makes for worthwhile reading.

A propos of nothing, I have great love for DW's random icon option!

[mair_in_grenderich]

I put my photos on shutterfly and I find it nice and easy.

(here is mine https://maircrosoft.shutterfly.com/)