2002-10-13 - 2:20 a.m.

I'm wondering, and not that I really care all that much, but is there a rivalry between Diaryland and Livejournal?

Have people gotten into bottle-smashing-esque arguments over which is better?

I mean, I'm sure it's happened. People love rivalries. Coke vs. Pepsi--I mean, there's no difference, it�s not like I�m gonna indignantly leave a restaurant just cause they don�t serve my soda of choice, but there are people out there who feel very, very strongly about their allegiance to their soft drink.

Are there big differences? Are there more than two big on-line diaries?

I know livejournal is charging now. It's also, to my knowledge, weblog, which isn't as fun, as it doesn't really encourage "entries" in the sense of being complete pieces.

I know there's a word called "blog," which I assume means weblog, like livejournal or wilwheaton.net, but, again, I'm not really sure what the deal is.

I know that livejournal is more exciting and risqu� than Diaryland, and that it's kinda a "scene." You know? A community, I guess, of like-minded people who all have the same objective, I guess. I don't know.

These are just feelings I've gotten.

Diaryland, I think, tends to be more for people who want to write. Less of a community, although it does try.

I'm guessing that the the diarists on livejournal tend to be college-aged or mature high-schoolers, or bitter ex-grads with zines that would prefer bitt3r to bitter, and I�m also guessing that livejournal is very much an exclusive thing. Members only. I guess you can join, if you really want to, if it�s that big of a deal to you, cause we can't legally prevent you, and it actually works out in a way cause we need the money, but if we let you in, it�s with the understanding that you don�t fit in and that we don't like you.

Diaryland tends to be everyone else. Mothers. People with jobs. Lotsa teenagers. It�s what you want it to be, and everyone is welcome.

Maybe I�m a little biased, cause I use one and not the other, but I�m usually very right when it comes to how I feel about something or someone.

I do like Diaryland better �cause each entry is just that--an entry. With a beginning, a middle, and an end (if I can manage that). Yeah, it�s a record of my life, but I want to do more than write something like:

(the links don�t go anywhere)

October 3, 2002

Mood: melancholy

Went to Regrettabar tonight with darkboy, toiletwater, and princessgurl , and drank some martinis. nads2112 was supposed to meet up with us, but he didn�t make it.

My head hurts.

Comments: 1

October 9, 2002

Mood: perky

I drank so much caffeine today, and finger-painted! Talked with scarsateme today. Some homeless guy was staring at me on the Red Line today, but I ignored him. I just dropped my cigarette. I�m on my way to regrettabar. There�s this breakthrough reggae band playing tonight, and I really wanna be there. I�ll let you all know how the night went, especially sillyputty, since you won�t be there.

Comments: 4

October 11, 2002

Mood: sad

I�ve been thinking about 9/11 lately.

Comments: 24

October 14

Mood: objective

So my professor is an asshole, that�s one thing.

People on the DR()()L board have to chill out!

PoisonSea, thanks.

Coments: 2

Yeah, sure diaryland people do stuff like this too, and of course both sites have their share of brilliant writers and nincompoops, but, yeah

I love the diaryland banners.

I love them so much.

My favorite, which (sadly) I�ve forgotten, so far is

I�m not yet a woman, but I�m no longer a girl.

Please correct me if I�m wrong, and I feel bad making fun of someone who probably has no tolerance for it, but, hey, nobody reads this thing anyway.

Again, I don�t really read other diaries. Just the (ex)�s, really, sometimes random people for fun.

Anybody else worth reading probably has the same objectives as do I--write stuff down so you can remember it later. I know some people that have diaryland accounts, and I do my best to resist the temptation of reading about their lives. Those words are not meant for me.

But, and again for fun, every now and then, I�ll search the user profiles for something random, and scroll down to entries that haven�t been updated in a long time.

The very best are the three-entries-and-done works.

Entry one? I dunno what to talk about, but this whole thing is pretty weird.

Entry two? Straight to a no-primer discussion about what�s going on with people in that person�s life. Or poetry.

Entry three? A continuation on the crucial events in the writer�s life. Or poetry. Sometimes a combination of the two. Almost always replete with grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. Almost always assuming that the Reader is someone who is already already familiar with the backstory.

I�m not really curious as to how these aborted diaries started out. I mean, I�m kinda curious, but it�s pretty easy to figure out--the person probably had a friend who had a diary and wanted to emulate that person, or they just heard about it, or they did a web search on something and got a diary entry on their results page, and read on.

What I wanna know is, how did it end? Why did it stop? (OK--I�m gonna say �they� for no reason right now.) Did they just lose interest? Probably. But did they get into �trouble� with one of their friends �cause of the diary? Why? What happened? Or did they die? Just before prom, in a tragic inebiated accident? I honestly wouldn�t know, so it just might well have happened. Did something happen, I always wonder.

Did they boast about with joy, telling all that they were starting this crazy project, and then bashfully abandon it when they realized they couldn�t really do it the same way that they thought they could?

Hey--I�m not saying there�s no shame in that, but it is something people do. I abandon almost every project I start, for the same above reason.

OK--so I want to say one more thing--I realize this entry is getting long in the tooth.

Andrew, the guy that runs this site, is the greatest guy on earth. I mean it.

I don�t know him, I�ve never spoken with him personally, but I do know that he�s a great guy? Why?

The web isn�t free anymore, and all those cool sites you took advantage of three years ago aren�t around anymore. Have you noticed?

I don�t blame you if you don�t. You probably didn�t even know they existed, actually.

But we do, all of us, take advantage of the web. Sure, pop-up ads and junk-mail are annoying and the proliferators of such should be slain and what not, but it�s not like TV, where a handful of broadcasting companies control what we get to see.

Wait five years. See what happens then. Livejournal, brought to you by the kind folks at Starbucks. Allmusic, with ads, sponsored by the GAP, �cause the GAP knows what music is all about. It�s heading that way. The Clear Channel�s Snopes.com. Cinemax�s thehun.net.

Andrew, of Diaryland fame, is a mighty warrior, and will resist the corporification of his site at all costs.

But cost is a problem.

I mean, everything is all set. OK, now, it�s fine, it�s not like there�s a gun to my head to make me write this, ha ha,

But all kidding aside, if you actually use diaryland, if you�ve tried it out and have been using it for three months now, be a grown-up and become a member.

Give the guy a break (it doesn�t seem like he gets many), and $20 bucks every half-year, so he can eat.

Sooner than later there�ll be no more cool websites... that aren�t owned by millionaires or corporations.

For now, the web is ours.

For now.

If you can give the friggin� diaryland guy ten bucks, if you can afford it (and most of us can usually scrape it up sometimes, and I�m always broke), just do it.

Before just do it becomes our collective diaryland account password.