LJ Idol Presents:

This is why you don't make decisions when you have to wake up and get going extra early in the morning.

Because then you spend your entire bus ride realizing that you've made a huge mistake and need to wait until you get into work to correct it.

I had intended on extending the deadline for the Second Chance poll until Thursday. I didn't. But this morning, after seeing that I had completely spaced on closing the poll (Seriously - WTF Gary???? I don't do that... again though, I thought that I had already extended it. I should have checked to make sure.), I posted and extended it.

Only problem with that? Now if *different* people end up eliminated, they have a legitimate beef that the rules were changed.

I know *I* would be upset if I were in their position and I was safe when the poll *should* have been closed, and eliminated due to someone else's mistake.

So I'm forced to go back to precedent. Which could be the fourth error in a row. But it's the *correct* way to err IMO. So at least if people are mad about it, they can look back over the years and see a consistent pattern of people being mad. :)

So here it is, the final decision on this mess:

The poll is now officially closed.
No one is eliminated.
This was the last round of Second Chance.
Which means all 10 contestants have now re-entered the main competition.
This is double what I had planned - but I am going to honor my original commitments, *including* what is down on paper, but not announced - which, to give those Second Chancers a fighting shot, they all have Immunity in Week 14. (not a bye. They are coming in without that particular safety net. But they get 1 week to get their footing)

So, congratulations beldarzfixon, d0gs, encrefloue, fodschwazzle, i_17bingo, kajel, karmasoup, lolaslaughter, mossmonday and wildrose - and welcome to LJ Idol (and your DOOM!!! Maybe just Idol... but probably also that DOOM thing...)

Sorry for the confusion. Things should be on track now. The new topic and Work Room will be up shortly.

I wrote this tonight, and was going to post it tomorrow morning when I woke up, then I decided screw it and I'm posting it now. If an Idol Week can be 12 days long and counting, why can't two Idol days overlap a real one!!! :)

***

I knew I should have just made in Week 14... if you've tried logging on, I'm sure you have seen the new terms of service agreement notice.

I've had a couple people email me about it.

I'm not going to get into what differences there are between this one, and the one that people previously signed when they got on the site. Mostly because I don't know what the differences are, and am probably the last person you should ask about these sorts of things.

I do know there is some concern that the Russians might be able to access your privacy locked entries and reproduce it. Because nothing excites Putin more than finding out about your sex life and reading your poetry. If it's poetry about your sex life - that's when it ends up on Russian state owned broadcast media.

This isn't the first time people have been concerned about what the Russians are going to do now that they own Livejournal. Nowadays there are people who are concerned about what the Russians are going to do now that they own the United States. ;)

People are afraid that they can't say the Vladimir Putin enjoys sucking dog's testicles. I am not sure why they would want to say that. Because obviously he's a great man and should be respected, and I would be saying that even if he wasn't standing right behind me right now with what I *hope* is a gun pressed into the back of my head.

Being in the US, I have a greater freedom knowing that it is unlikely that I will be rounded up and taken away for saying Putin really does love those dog testicles. Not that I *would* say that, because that would be a completely ridiculous thing for someone to say! Could I, or someone else, lose access if they were to say something like that. I'm sure it's possible. But I'm just as sure that they might as well shut down the Livejournal site if that happens, because really who is going to show up to use it (other than people really into Japanese boy bands)?

If I lived in Russia, I would probably feel differently. I'd probably have my own opinions on Putin and on the Russian government - and on what the rest of the world thinks about them. I wouldn't know what those opinions would be though, given that, as previously stated, I am not Russian. Or have I downloaded pictures of Putin committing those acts alluded to before, because seriously - who would want to see that???

Seriously though, I'm not sure what this is going to mean in the big picture. Or even if there is a big picture. I just know that people are talking about it, and if you, like me, hit the "agree" button, and are

I really wish this hadn't happened in the middle of such an important vote. But that's part of the deal, you play on the field you are given. So this week will play through as planned, and we will see what is coming next when it comes! http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/1000163.html

A few words from clauderainsrm:

There are going to be people asking “Where is the new topic for the main competition? Where is the Work Room?”

So I’m going to get right to it without a lot of suspense - they will be coming, once this poll closes!
Why? Because this is the last week of Second Chance Idol, and the five contestants with the most votes will be (re)joining the main competition!

One half move on, and one half fall just short of the goal line.

In order to get everyone back to the same footing - this is what we are concentrating on right now. For a couple days at least. Because the poll will close Thursday, April 6th at 9pm EDT and the next stage of LJ Idol will begin.

So make sure you read, comment and vote for your favorites!

Good luck to everyone!

[Poll #2065643]

Good afternoon!

The company picnic went about as well as company picnics ever go. There was a "mixer" activity that involved finding people from other groups within our "system of care" who fit certain criteria. I didn't feel like doing it. In fact, I spent most of the time off to the side reading my book. One of the coworkers though was extra motivated. She likes meeting new people, and is extremely competitive.

At one point, I just decided to follow her around and she could meet people and I could get the signatures I needed. When that was over, I turned in my bingo card, and I went back to reading my book.

At the end of the picnic, they pulled random bingo cards to win door prizes.

Who won a prize? Yeah, that was me. It was a RTIC tumbler. So, I won something and I mostly avoided other people. So that part is good.

***

The poll for the main competition closes tomorrow http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/998161.html
and the final Second Chance deadline is an hour after that http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/998873.html

It's not an April Fools joke. All of this is real. But what was been *your* favorite April Fool's joke (today or of all time)

Good Almost-Afternoon,

There's a lot of stuff to cover, so let's get to the links:

The Second Chance Results:http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/998421.html
The Second Chance FINAL topic: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/998873.html

The main competition poll: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/998161.html

***

Maybe that wasn't "a lot", but it felt like it was last night when I was posting. :)

There are certainly some big implications though to Second Chance coming to an end after this week. With the new people coming into the competition, after fighting their way (back) in, it's definitely another stage of the game that will be unfolding. How will it impact the main competition? We've had people come back from Second Chance and end up in the finals!

It's going to be interesting to see what happens, and who those contestants end up being.

Second Chance results posts hurt even more than the regular eliminations do. Because these are people who went through that, and who are trying to get another shot. And when the results are filled with contestants that I've gotten to know over the years (two of them I've actually spent time with in person)... yeah, that's never a fun post to have to make.

But "have to make it" is what it comes down to. It's why we are here. Only a handful of people are going to make it out of Second Chance, and at the end of the day, only one person is going to win Season 10 of LJ Idol!

Which means that there will be eliminations, and all of them are going to be sad.

So, might as well rip that bandaid off instead of just talking about it...

Leaving us from Second Chance, and hopefully joining us in the Home Game, are

copyright1983
dee_aar2
estelle
lawchicky
sra33

I'd say that my stomach hurts writing that. But I'm not sure that has anything to do with the results. ;)

Thank you so much for coming out this season and helping to make it special!

Please remember to properly (and promptly) refrigerate your food after cooking, and more to the point, make sure that people who are cooking food that you are going to eat a few days later do the same.

It was curry that took me out of commission. Which is only right and fitting (and the odds were in it's favor considering how much curry I eat)

Just look after yourself, because you don't want to be like I am today. You just don't. :O

***

What you DO want to do is be the kind of person who votes in the Second Chance poll: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/996359.html It's closing tonight, which really big stakes. We are losing 1/3 of the field. It's pretty close over there, so I would definitely make sure to get your votes in. One or two could shift the balance and change the outcome!

****

Also closing tonight is the deadline to get your entries in for the main competition: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/997016.html

There's still quite a few missing, but I'm hoping that's just the last minute crowd doing their usual thing.

***

How are YOU feeling today?

It used to be that if I were even a little bit late posting a Green Room, people would be upset. If there was a day when one didn't go up at all, I'd have a dozen emails, at least.

I got completely swamped at work and life in general has been pretty overwhelming - and 1 person checked in on me. Thank you to that person. :)

I'm doing OK.

How are you?

It also occurs to me that part of the reason for that email was because most of us were already friends. Whereas, even 13 weeks in there are people that I'm not certain actually know each other very well.

So how about it? What are some stuff about you that folks might be surprised to learn? (that you feel like sharing)

Or just ask something you'd really like to know about your fellow contestants! (and those lurking)

***

People might be surprised to learn that the Second Chance poll is up: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/996359.html and that the main competition topic is up as well: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/997016.html But that would just prove they haven't really been paying attention. Because I've mentioned those things before!

One of the things that I liked about this week's topic http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/997016.html (beyond the obvious, that folks may remember that it was posted above the door when they first signed up) was that there are different translations of the same line.

So differences in translations is definitely one of the many ways to go that aren't as "obvious".

I'm giving you that one for free. ;)

***

I know that personally, when I sit down and write, there's definitely a part of me that "abandons hope" and doesn't come out until I'm done with whatever I'm working on, which is when the self-doubt shows up. You?

How do you deal with it?

I learned something important this weekend - apparently being gay is a "choice that people make".

Yes, that was part of the response to the email I sent. (see GR from a few days ago for details). The gist of it was that there had been a misunderstanding and that *of course* my sister and her wife were invited to come to the house whenever they wanted. It then though went on to say - as these things do - about being how being gay is a choice.

Being a straight man, I of course remember that day - so long ago - when I had to contemplate "Will I be gay?"

(In truth, had I been - my post-high school life would be *a lot* more active! There were a lot more guys hitting me on me than women! In retrospect, I may have made the wrong "decision"!)

The good thing though is being told that all the kids are still very much loved *regardless of what they decide*. Even though being gay is, of course, defying "how God wants you to be".

***

So, Happy Pi Day - Happy First Day of Daylight Savings Time - and Happy Last Day of the Poll for Week 13! http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/907438.html

and Happy "Deciding on if you are going to be gay or not" Day! Hope you all decide "the right way"! :D

***

What are *you* celebrating today?