LJ Idol Presents:

We made it!

The final day of the break! If you are looking for something to do, we have some cool stuff to read: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/961914.html and maybe contribute some of your own entries to the mix!

That officially closes at 8pm EST.

The new topic will be up tonight, and we will be back in business! Hopefully everyone is still paying attention, I just knew you wouldn't be over the holidays and decided to be nice. Hopefully Idol doesn't end up paying for that with too many people just wandering back off into the wilderness.

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What was your favorite thing to happen to you, or yours, over Idol's break period?

The break is almost over! And just in time, because I'm starting to go stir crazy over here, wanting to put my foot back on the gas!

There IS some Idol business going on right now though - with the Break Topics: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/961914.html You should definitely go check those out and show the people showing up some love and attention!

Since it's during Break time though, I can also acknowledge two people who have been assisting behind the scenes: For those who don't know eternal_ot has been doing a great job with our Twitter and Ello accounts in getting information out there about what's going on with Idol - and murielle stepped up and has been having fun with the Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/ljidol/

Thank you to both of you!

And thanks to everyone else who has been getting out the word about what we have going on here. (or will have going again once the break is over)

With my luck, by the time Second Chance rolls around - the energy around the 2017revival will have faded. I really hope not though, because bringing people back to the LJ fold has long been something I've wanted to see happen. It's something that Idol, in it's own small and twisted way, has been doing in it's own shouting into the wind way.


I've noticed though, that there are a lot of different people who all seem to have their own notions about what was so awesome about LJ "back in the day". What do YOU want to see return, and what do you hope never does?



The break week topics are over here: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/961914.html

Happy 1st night of Hanukkah! (tonight)
Merry Christmas (tomorrow)
Happy Kwanzaa (Monday)
Happy Yule (started the 21st but according to Google continues until the 1st, so technically I'm not late)
Happy Belated : Milad un Nabi! (totally missed that one, it was earlier than last year)
and belated Festivus! (yesterday)
Happy anything else you might celebrate!

As for Idol, we celebrate the day that Santa brings me presents! Not you. Presents are only for *good* people, not damn hippies!

Happy Present Weekend to me!

***

How is your "extended weekend" going?

***

Don't forget the Break Week topics: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/961914.html

Now that Survivor is over, I'm catching up on listening to my other podcasts. (as opposed to barely keeping up on just the Survivor ones).

I've been listening to the Nerdist Writers Panel's conversation with John Green. http://nerdistwriters.nerdistind.libsynpro.com/john-green Up until now, I've heard of the guy, but never actually read any of his books.

He's a lot more interesting than I thought he would be, and his frank talk about his "process" and how many times he's gone down the wrong track with his writing - and what some of those tracks looked like, have been really cool to hear. The idea that this guy, who is extremely successful at what he does, *still* struggles and has to be pulled off ideas that are going nowhere, it's the kind of thing that should give others hope that if he can do it, they can too!

***

The Results from Week 3 are in: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/961732.html

I announced that we will be taking a break until Jan 2, 2017 http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/961914.html but give 4 topics for people to work on until then and a Work Room http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/962246.html

Hopefully, by giving this break, we can avoid the mass bye-out that was about to come. Of course, now it will probably will still happen, followed by another one from people wandering off during the break! ;)

I've given you some time off during what is, traditionally, the most busy time of year.

But in true Idol fashion, I've also put out a bit of a trap. :) http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/961914.html

Because you *can* take the time off. Or you can complete four entries during that time, knowing that you will get something that could be useful in the coming weeks!

Is the time worth the reward? Is the risk, because who knows what might be waiting at the end of the non-mandatory week?

And what's going on with those topics anyway?

This "week" should be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

Your break is coming to an end soon! (for that matter, so is your year!)

Be ready, because we are going to hit the ground running and not really let up until this thing is over!

Until then, have some FREE TOPICS: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/818372.html to keep you in practice!

In "Gary does a commercial" news: TODAY IS THE LAST DAY for the original run of the LJ Idol shirts: http://teespring.com/LJIdol So if you want one of those, once today is over, that window is closed.

There *is* an alternate version of the shirt that will be available for 7 more days - but it's not looking like that will actually reach it's goal. http://teespring.com/LJIdol3 (and yes, there is a Purple Hoodie)

One other piece of news - as I said I would be doing, I am in the process of updating the Patreon page to reflect us moving forward passed Season 8. I've added a "Mini-Season" option where anyone coming in at the $5 level will get an automatic spot +1 (that they can give to a friend). So if becoming a Patron was on your New Year's Resolutions, it's definitely a good time to do it! http://www.patreon.com/user?u=70027

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What was the most unexpected GOOD thing to happen to you in 2014? (other than me. That's the obvious one!)

Good morning Idolers!

For Christmas, I lost my voice - but not my ability to post! :)

What did YOU receive?

Heck, even if you don't celebrate Christmas, what have you received recently that you are especially excited about?

Cynthia bought me a new Chromebook.

Which... yeah, I definitely wasn't expecting that. Although, looking back, her comments about how I needed to get a new computer because the old one was *literally* falling apart should have been a clue. (There were a couple keys missing - thanks cats!! and it would frequently freeze up to the point that I had to remove the battery and reboot)

I've *never* owned a new computer before.

Every previous computer has been passed down from a friend - or in the case of the last one, it was a refurbished one. (Which was *awesome*, and I'll never forget the people responsible for giving that to me.) So this is all new territory. I also have to figure the ins and outs of a Chromebook. (I'll be keeping the other one as well, as backup - which is a luxury I could have never imagined having)

***

Not sure if Santa got you any Free Topics: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/818372.html But I sure did!

If Santa didn't get you an LJ Idol shirts - now might be a good time to get them! The original is only available for 4 more days (Dec 30)! http://teespring.com/LJIdol and the variant http://teespring.com/LJIdol3 only has 11!

and of course, if you are doing any "after Christmas sales" on Amazon - click through here first! http://astore.amazon.com/li0cd-20

When I got divorced, Christmas was horrible.

Being alone in general sucked, but the holidays were the among the toughest times in the year.

So, for the first couple years I did something special for myself.

Something that most people were cool about - but people who didn't have anything to do with it, other than see my posts - got riled up about.

I would put aside a little bit of money during the last couple months of the year and around the holidays, I would give that money to my Mom, along with a long list of things that I wanted. The list would be longer than could be purchased with that money. As it happened, I ended up with plans on Christmas Eve, so my Mom came over and put them under the tree.

It amused my Mom to "be playing Santa" and I had something to look forward to when I woke up on Christmas morning.

It didn't harm anyone and it amused the people directly involved.

Oh, but there were opinions about it - anywhere from "you shouldn't be spending money on yourself" to "you're an adult - suck it up!"

People always have an opinion to offer, when it doesn't impact their own lives. When it does - they often have excuses on why *their* decision to do things *isn't the same* as the people they were complaining about.

I'm not posting this to have people weigh in on if it was a good thing or not. It was. For those first couple years, that made a huge difference. The reason this came to mind is that I know there are people out there reading this who DON'T have family during this Christmas, or even ones who do, but are still feeling completely alone.

I know this because I've been there.

I'm lucky that I'm not there right now. Believe me, a few different decisions at crucial points a few years ago, and I would have been. I'm aware enough to know that.

So here's something I want you to know - DO WHATEVER YOU NEED TO DO to get you through the holidays. *As long as it doesn't negatively impact someone else directly involved*. (have to put that in there, just in case. :D)

Don't let the "Well *I* wouldn't do that..." chorus make you as unhappy as they are. Find that bit of happiness and wonder - embrace it as long and hard as you need it. (But also be aware enough to know when you no longer do, especially if it ends up being more of a crutch. You'll know when it's time).

I would wish you "joy and happiness" during this holiday season - but instead I will wish you fear and torment knowing that this break will come to an end and you will be plunged into the fray once again!!

***

Here are your Free Topics: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/818372.html
And here is a cut-and-paste of the t-shirt and Gift Shop information: http://teespring.com/LJIdol (only needs one more shirt sold to make goal!)
and the second run: http://teespring.com/LJIdol3 of a white lettering variant.

Or check out our Gift Shop: http://astore.amazon.com/li0cd-20