LJ Idol Presents:

The dates results blindsided me almost as badly as my Internet provider did! Apparently, they cannot fix it remotely and need to send out a technician. Which means nothing can be done until Tuesday!

So I am using my phone. Which means I will be brief, and give you the topic information tomorrow, as well as a couple special announcements!

The only announcements I have now all about immunity and elimination. So, a little good and a little bad news.

The good news first - The jury gives immunity to halfshellvenus!

The killing floor gives immunity to swirlsofblue

Congratulations to you both!

However that does have repercussions in the poll, and it means we are saying goodbye to

the_lettersea and tsuki_no_bara.

Those are difficult losses to take, but aren't they all?

They will become a part of the jury, responsible for giving immunity in future weeks, And I hope we will see them in the home game!

Thank you for helping make this season awesome!

Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate it. Even to those who don't celebrate it.

My main criteria for a holiday is "Does anyone give me presents?" Since I have not yet received any for Hanukkah, I am doubting that it exists. However, there are still more nights for me to be proven wrong!

(Note: It's the same reason why "Your Birthday" doesn't really register to me. As far as I know, fourzoas is the only one with a real one)

There was a comment tucked into the space of the sparsely commented Green Room from yesterday. One that I thought merited more attention, so I'm grabbing it and putting it right here in front of you! Of course, you could very well ignore it again. ;)

The parts in quotes are the original statement. The rest is me adding my own charming commentary. Which is both charming and commentary.


"I think this season, maybe more than others, has a lot of Identity stuff going on."

I definitely agree with this statement.

"What is LJ Idol when LJ is allegedly "dying"?"

It still very much has a place in LJ, and in writing communities in general. I think we are still are doing some cool things, even if it's on a platform that doesn't have the attention that it had when we started.

"What does it mean for LJI to be cross-platform, on twitter, facebook, and ello and all that?"

My take (and plan) for posting cross-platform is the same as it was on Day 1 in Idol when I decided that people would post *links to their posts* on the Idol site rather than their actual stories. Several people (including my assistant at the time) argued that they should be posted here, and that the community should be entirely self-contained.

I maintained "it's THEIR stories, they need to be posted *in their space*". It's the same reason I set things up to have open voting, with people encouraging their friends to show up to Idol to vote.

I put up a topic and then send you out to your space. You post it there and gather attention for it... then you bring that back into Idol for voting... the voters then go out from this center hub to *other people's posts*... and the cycle continues. It's all about creating word of mouth and new blood into the system, so it's not just the same people sitting around reading the same old things.

That's how I look at cross-promotion with other platforms.

I *hated* it when LJ introduced it. So anyone saying "YOU ALLOW IT!". I didn't have a choice. It is literally "LJ is doing this. You adapt or you throw up your hands saying OMG IT'S NOT THE SAME!!!" and pull the plug.

But as time has gone on, I've slowly been figuring out ways to use it. My intent is to throw it out there in these various places and bring back new readers/writers. People who may have forgotten about LJ, or never heard of it. People who thought "that's dead" can see "wow, there's something cool going on over there".

Throw out the net, and bring them all back into LJ... hopefully encouraging them to set up accounts in the process. (I don't* require it, because again, that would mean me saying "Yeah, those 3 votes don't count... sorry person who was eliminated by 2 votes. Take my word for it, those were from Twitter")

That's why I did the interviews and have been trying to get the word out about Idol - to bring more people into the fold. Which, hopefully, gets more people to read your entries! :)

"Who is it "for"?"

LJ IDOL has been "for" the same thing from Day 1 until this very moment - to amuse me. :)

It started because I wanted to have some fun with friends. It's continued because it was a way to make new friends and have some fun with them.

You, as writers and readers, *get something out of it* as well. Which is awesome - it's designed to be that way *because I want you to keep coming back*!

(So anyone who says "Gary will understand why I want to work on such-and-such instead of play Idol this season". On some levels - sure. On other levels - I want all my friends to come over to my house and play in this sandbox! Why wouldn't I???)

"What comes next, for any of us, including you? These are all things we've been asking - quietly or loudly or muttering continually under our collective breaths - all season, trying to figure it out."

Which probably hasn't been helped by the fact that *I* don't know either! :)

I made the "Season 9 will be the final season, unless something unexpected happens" back when - honestly - I was feeling like "maybe I won't be around that long". It was a goal, a commitment at a time when every season had a huge "Maybe I'll come back and do this again - and maybe I won't."

I wanted to lock it down. Set it in stone. There WOULD be a Season 9. After that was entirely up to "unless something unexpected happens".

Along the way, several unexpected things *have* happened. Both good and bad. What that means for the long term Idol - I have no idea.

Here's what I *can* tell you: I have a project that I want to run after this season ends. I keep calling it my "special project" but I've told a few people about it off-Idol, it was my last email conversation with Nathalie actually) so I might as well say it "out loud":

It's a couple week "Idol Jr" - for kids. There were a couple kids participating this season, and in the past. My own bonus-daughter-to-be *wants* to play Idol. But there's no way I'd throw her into the shark tank! But maybe a thing with prompts and voting (but no eliminations) with kid-friendly topics might be fun.

*shrug* That's the plan anyway. We will see if there is any response to it.

After that, I want to run a mini-season in the late Spring.

No guarantees after that. BUT it will put us awfully close to our 10th anniversary. That's really tempting. If there was going to be a full Season 10... it would certainly fit, wouldn't it?

So there you go - *most* of my thoughts on the subject of "what's next?"

All of this, of course, is entirely dependent on my friends showing up to play in the sandbox - and bringing *their* friends with them! So I hope that you will!

"And as we're all part of this collective community, that also means figuring ourselves out, and this space out. "

Which has been a conversation that's been going on from the very first moment I posted in here, and continues to evolve with each new group making their contributions to the dialogue.

***
We have a Vote going on: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/816301.html
We have a Killing Floor/Home Game happening: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/815412.html

and because no post would be complete without it - there is only ONE shirt to sell with the original design before the first run of Idol t-shirts can happen: http://teespring.com/LJIdol I'm debating if I should leave them open, or close them (thus giving the order to print early and making them a Limited run) and just sell the alternates http://teespring.com/LJIDOL3 for a bit.

A few words from clauderainsrm:

The Moon Bears have been busy this week.

Our contestants have gone through the gauntlet, taking a critical hit to their numbers. Now that they are on the other side though, with the finish line in sight - it turns out the Moon Bears were waiting for them on the other side.

They mauled crackpotpie and took what was left of her body to their secret base inside the nostril of the Sphinx. (although no one knows for sure if it’s at the real one or the one at Vegas that is controlled by the reanimated Elvis)

Because of this, she is no longer with us. But if she ever escapes, I hope that she will find her way to the Home Game and to enjoy being part of the Jury!

Soon the Moon Bears may come for us all. Well, all of you at least.

One of you may be lucky enough to get away though. It’s just a matter of figuring out which one!

The past couple of weeks have had twists on who can vote.

This week does not.

It’s an Open Poll - so anyone with an account is allowed to cast a vote - so I hope you encourage people to check out what is going on here! There aren’t many folks left, so people definitely “have the time” to read them all - and it’s guaranteed that it will be worth their time, because everyone is pretty damn awesome!

The only twists come in the form of the Jury, who will be giving one person immunity this week. Also those participating in the Home Game/Killing Floor who will be doing the same! http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/815412.html

That could end up altering the results quite a bit!

We will be losing the bottom two this week.

So get out there - Read, Comment and Vote for your favorites!

The poll closes Thursday, Dec 18th at 9pm EST

Good luck to you all!

( Click here to Vote! )

What a night!

I revealed the Gatekeepers: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/814499.html
Then announced who they had eliminated: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/814597.html and they officially became the first members of THE JURY who will be deciding who gets immunity each week.
Week 31 got started with a new Topic: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/814969.html
and a Work Room: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/815283.html

Then this morning I posted the Home Game/Killing Floor: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/815412.html

For those paying attention, yes - that means out of the 24 remaining contestants, there is a chance for TWO of them to have immunity each week! If you don't think that could come into play at some point, you're crazy! (Looks around at the remaining contestants... I think that's already been established though)

***
I've been answering a few emails about the t-shirts with people asking "can I do such and such?" So I've made some variations available based on that. Apparently changing the color of text and bolding thinks costs a little more, but I put it at the same under $2 profit margin for each thing. If you have any other suggestions of what you would like to see - let me know!

So there is the original run: http://teespring.com/LJIdol that is 2 shirts away from being a reality and the second run: http://teespring.com/LJIDOL3 has just come online.

They make great holiday presents! It doesn't matter what holiday you celebrate!! Well, OK, I'm not sure if they do or not. But maybe they do!!

There are definitely some great gift ideas in our Gift Shop: http://astore.amazon.com/li0cd-20 or you can just click through there on your way to Amazon!

***

So - how are you feeling this morning?

You survived the Gatekeepers. Looking around at who is left standing, there is a quote that comes to mind.

That quote is our topic this week:


“The future outwits all our certitudes”

You have until Monday, Dec 15th at 8pm EST to link your entry back to this thread!

Have fun!

Trigger Warning: This entry does not mention kittymichaels winning LJ Idol, and thus might be offensive to cats

There was a line from yesterday’s Green Room that stuck with me ever since I read it, oh, 20 minutes ago or so…
“It is more important that someone be protected from real emotional harm than for my piece to be read in the way it's intended.”

Is it?

I’m in a funny place with this one – because, to make this personal, there is something that I don’t like. I don’t mean “Gary doesn’t like to eat it.” I mean “Gary doesn’t like to see it”/”if someone is eating it near Gary he feels queasy”/”if Gary smells it, he gets sick to his stomach”.

To the point of “even seeing the word makes Gary disturbed”.

It’s a fairly common thing too, and yes, there is “childhood trauma” involved with it. I’m not even going to mention it by name, because I hate writing the word – and no, don’t start guessing. There’s a reason why I’m not naming it.

People who know me – and know what it is, remove it from the table when I’m present.

Those who don’t – well, I try my best to just look in another direction when eating with them. Often I try to put up some sort of barrier, as subtly as I can… Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t – and yes, it’s ended up impacting how to look at people. Even if they didn’t know!

Which is totally unfair. I realize that.

But emotions aren’t always fair.

I’ve gotten better over the years. Mostly because I know that at the end of the day, it’s my issue/burden/whatever. It’s one of my personal albatross, hanging around my neck, like a dead albatross that someone has made into the least functional/attractive necklace ever!

Those with a personal relationship with me – who know – do their best to keep it away from my presence. Those who don’t – don’t. They enjoy their meal, however they feel like enjoying it. When that relationship exists – it’s just them being courteous. The same way I would with them, if I happened to know their particular issues.

What has me so intrigued about this idea is – how does it extend to writing?

I don’t think there is anyone who would purposefully write something that would offend a friend, without giving them some kind of notice. Well, OK, that’s probably naïve, but I’d like to think there aren’t.

Does that extend to a general audience as well? Should you try to figure out if there is anything on your plate that might be disturbing to someone, and apologize for it ahead of time. (or maybe even put a barrier up so they can’t see it?) Or, should you just eat and let them put up their own barriers when they need them?

Personally, I tend to hate disclaimers of any kind before or after a piece. I think they disrupt the flow and the look of the piece, taking me outside of wherever it is that I’m supposed to be going with them… but are those warnings the actions of a friend removing things from the table? Are they (as some have said) just being “Overly PC” in hopes of not offending *anyone* - while not actually changing their content?

And most importantly, why ISN’T there more mentions of kittymichaels? What are people so afraid of that they have to hide from him?

***

Speaking of important – the poll is still going on! So, get in on the action and actually get out there and read some entries!! http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/580582.html

A few words from clauderainsrm:

I was about to write my own polemic, about how what a horrible group of Idol contestants you batch were! But then, all anyone would have to do to prove me wrong is to click on a link at a random. After the third or fourth one (if they really want to prove that it wasn’t a fluke), they would pretty much be able to dismiss the argument.

If they read all 25 - and they should, come on, it’s only 25 entries! - they would call out that load of BS for that it is!

It’s a great group of entries, from a talented group of people.

A group of people who are about to lose 4 talented members!

Yes, you read that correctly.

They will be executed... or maybe just eliminated. It depends on my mood. ;)

It’s an open poll this week - so please spread the word, and encourage people to come out, read everything, and show some love!

The poll will be closing Thursday, June 28th at8pm EDT.

(correction to deadline date. Thanks Pixie! :D)

Good luck to everyone!

[Poll #1849581]

I know there are some people who have been chomping at the bit for a Home Game thread. The actual topic thread, for current contestants, is here: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/578872.html

So here it is!

I've been busy hanging out with my new friend Debby all weekend. She's been a bit of a blowhard and has definitely outstayed her welcome!

If you fell asleep early last night, you missed all the action!

Seriously, why did you fall asleep? Those dreams about kola bears could wait a little while longer, don’t you think? Maybe they would have been a little better on their water skies, or at least found a better handler than your ex-landlord!

Those of us who were actually among the awake already know this, but for those who just couldn’t resist their meeting with Morpheus – there were results: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/578560.html (that shocked the pants off of most people! Or at least that’s what they told me when I asked them why they were wandering around the Green Room without any pants!)
and a new Topic: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/578872.html and a Work Room: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/579110.html
There will be a Home Game thread a little later. But for now, that’s what you’ve got!

Since we are now at the TOP 25 – those still in the competition can grab their icon now! http://ljidol.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/lji.s8.25.icon_.gif

The last week has been bad news for friends and people related to friends – so I figured that I’d throw out some GOOD news for an old friend (well, technically it’s her husband, but obviously it impacts both of them).

The first feature that he’s worked on with Pixar is out! It’s called BRAVE.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I’m sure you’ve heard about it. But I know I’m excited to see it, and I sure Jeremy would appreciate more people going out to see it! So… go see it this weekend! (or as soon as you can!)