Low Energy Thursday

It's Low Energy Thursday here at Chez scarlettina. jackwilliambell has been diagnosed with strep throat; smoochery may have resulted in the passing of the pathogen to moi. We'll see, but the low energy, weird headiness suggests that pathogen passage may have succeeded.

In the meanwhile, today's accomplishments have consisted of showering, feeding the cats and myself, Web surfing, and napping. I have a number of things I want to accomplish today and it's already 1 PM. This does not bode well, but I'm going to try anyway.

Had lovely drinkies last night with AB, shellyrae and e_bourne. Oliver's Twist in Greenwood gets my thumbs-up for a creative happy hour menu (stuffed figs--mmmmm).

Spent some time later last night reorganizing what I call my "Memory Box," a storage box of mementos that goes all the way back to birth. It includes everything from elementary school report cards to day camp group pictures, from junior high school play programs to my high school drama club award (a nice wood-and-brass engraved plaque) and varsity patches, from Egypt ephemera to Japan ephemera. The memorabilia outgrew its original box quite a while ago. I recently picked up a larger storage box at Goodwill to repack it all. It was fun going through all that stuff, finding things I'd forgotten about. And now I have a nice, smaller, empty storage box available for other uses.

Okay, time for a chicken soup lunch and then whatever useful thing I can put my hands to.

Low Energy Thursday, Dinnertime Edition, plus book

Mostly what I was feeling today was wiped out. Still feeling low energy, but no actual sickness has manifested. Perhaps I haven't been taking my vitamins. Perhaps I haven't been sleeping well. I'll go to bed earlier tonight than I did last night. If I feel better in the morning, then I'm not going to cancel tomorrow's plans as I did today's.

Received LiveJournal: The First Ten Years in the mail today and read it cover to cover. There's some wonderful stuff in it, and I know I'll be trolling some of the journals and communities included. (Recommended: punk_knitters, t_shirt_surgery, bento, food_porn, the_polaroids--too many to name!) I'm delighted to be included among them. It's an excellent dip-of-the-toe into LJ.

Criticisms? Sure:
1) While the design is very nice, there are places where it's clear the designer had no idea what kind of result he or she would get. Some pages, the contrast between the text and background color is so low it's barely readable. On some pages, the design is so busy it's hard to focus. And on some pages, the text layout is just..backwards, so you end up starting to read in the middle of a piece. But most of the pages are attractive and full of energy. Still...I have to wonder who thought that gray text on a black page was a good idea...or vice versa. Not every page is like that, but there's more than one. One can't help but notice.
2) No title page. Introduction comes before the table of contents. How...odd.
3) No back matter at all--no notes on who the editors were or what LiveJournal itself is--nothing. The book just...ends with no closure, no historical context. It's weird. It's possible that the book is left feeling unfinished because LJ goes on, but it makes for a curious reading experience.
4) It seems as though there were some major omissions, though I suspect everyone will feel a little differently about that. For example, something from ginmar's journal, or opportunitygrrl. They have historic value and yet they're not even mentioned. I'm guessing no one suggested them in the anniversary community, which is a shame.

I still recommend picking up a copy. If LJ's been a part of your life, it's a a nice hard copy souvenir of this online experience.