aesmael

Originally published at a denizen's entertainment. You can comment here or there.

Recently I came across a discussion about constructing a website to serve as a resource for a community and a nexus for social interaction within that community. One of the possibilities under consideration was providing hosted blogging for community members.

It seemed likely to me that most members of a community (or social subset which could potentially form a community?) who were inclined to be blogging would already be doing so. I think as bloggers often create commentary and dialogue communities of their own, that in addition to providing a platform for new community members to blog if they wish, it could be beneficial to a fledgling community to ask established community bloggers if they would be willing to integrate their blog with the community site.

I suspect that would be a fair degree of technical challenge, since beyond merely syndicating the existing blog to the community website, I am also envisioning a unified comment thread, so that comments made at the blog's primary location would show up at the community site, and likewise comments made at that site by community members would also show up in the blog's own comment stream. At least to me that seems likely an effective balance between attempting to build local community, soliciting the contributions of established community members, and not asking people to uproot the niches they have settled themselves into.

As I said, I suspect there would be a fair amount of technical difficulty in doing such a thing, although I think previously the Bad Astronomy blog has been integrated with the Universe Today forums, so it seems possible and the increasing prevalence of OpenID might make it easier. The variety of blogging software platforms available I suspect makes the problem a lot harder, maybe entirely impractical.

1.

Better than I expected, I suppose. Let's see about improving some of those...

2.
If you saw ME in a police car, what would you think I got arrested for? Answer me, then post to your own journal if you want, and see how many crimes you get accused of.

3.

Step One:

Make a post (public, friendslocked, filtered...whatever you're comfortable with) to your LJ. The post should contain your list of 10 holiday wishes. The wishes can be anything at all, from simple and fandom-related ("I'd love a Snape/Hermione icon that's just for me") to medium ("I wish for _____ on DVD") to really big ("All I want for Christmas is a new car/computer/house/TV.") The important thing is, make sure these wishes are things you really, truly want.

- If you wish for real life things (not fics or icons), make sure you include some sort of contact info in your post, whether it's your address or just your email address where Santa (or one of his elves) could get in touch with you.

- Also, make sure you post some version of these guidelines in your LJ, or link to this post (it'll be public) so that the holiday joy will spread.

Step Two:

- Surf around your friendslist (or friendsfriends, or just random journals) to see who has posted their list. And now here's the important part:?

- If you see a wish you can grant, and it's in your heart to do so, make someone's wish come true. Sometimes someone's trash is another's treasure, and if you have a leather jacket you don't want or a gift certificate you won't use--or even know where you could get someone's dream purebred Basset Hound for free--do it.

You needn't spend money on these wishes unless you want to. The point isn't to put people out, it's to provide everyone a chance to be someone else's holiday elf--to spread the joy. Gifts can be made anonymously or not--it's your call.
There are no rules with this project, no guarantees, and no strings attached. Just...wish, and it might come true. Give, and you might receive. And you'll have the joy of knowing you made someone's holiday special.

Of course this is late for its intended purpose. I do not care much about that - only one person I saw did this and that's who it was taken from - and I think something like this does need to be associated with a particular segment of Earth's orbit.

I am not even going to wish for things people could practically get for me, since that is not where my heart lies these days. Mostly am posting so other people will see this idea and maybe keep it around for a bit.

And what I want? I want to meet my loves in person. To hold them and be together without "Goodbye" looming over us. I want to find the organisation to sort my life into something which functions in a manner which could reasonably be described as 'productive' and 'independent'. I want to write and be able to enjoy those things which bring me happiness. Already have plenty of books and games and such - what point new ones unless I can appreciate those I have? Very, very much would like to see those I love who are having problems in their lives right now find ways past these into something they like better. Oh, I suppose I would like to do something creative with other people too. That would be - possibly - nice.

Quickly! Post before any minds are changed!

(11:22:35 AM) celestialjayde: http://www.feministing.com/archives/011752.html#comment-190065
Amanda Marcotte can go back to her hole now.
(11:23:24 AM) Ami angelwings: she's still alive?
(11:23:27 AM) Ami angelwings: i'll brb
(11:23:39 AM) Ami angelwings has signed off.

The original post is enough of a bother, with its bleak and judgemental characterisation of long distance relationships, without having that rubbish added in. Certainly I personally would prefer more proximal living arrangements with those I love, but doing so practically is still at least a year in our future.

I do personally have difficulty meeting and associating with people in person, but I am actually trying harder to do so now I have people in my life, and previously I was much more socially isolated. However I do not like to make the argument that long distance relationships are acceptable on the basis that they promote socially approved outcomes. A person's relationships are eir own business so long as they are consensual and non-abusive for all involved, and while consideration of environmental footprints is important, I dislike seeing LDRs singled out as particularly egregious in this matter when so far as I see this fits better as part of discussion about daily living in general.

Mostly, this reads to me as yet another lament that on-line socialising is somehow an antisocial act, that connecting with people in unapproved ways is an act of disconnection.

Edit: pecunium makes a whole slew of good points in his post, which was where I found out about the feministing post originally.

Josh Rosenau|Thoughts from Kansas writes about religious conservatives and their apparent belief that heterosexual relationships are fundamentally unstable and need protection.

I am not exaggerating or being euphemistic or speculating. He quotes from material by James Dobson and Al Janssen of Focus on the Family which indicate a belief that love itself is insufficient to sustain a relationship, that it requires firm vows and legal obstacles to keep a couple together. Very big on the idea of marriage being an unbreakable contract, binding until death.

This valuing of the marriage as an end in itself rather puzzles me. Marriage as I understand it (which reminds me I want to write some exploration of what I actually think of the thing) seems rather for the benefit of the people involved; if they no longer wish to be married I do not see any point requiring they continue.

I suppose I can see that permanency may be important in a religious context, but that seems a matter for whatever people and / or deities may be involved. Hrm. Rather the same as I see it for secular contexts then.

It might be touching in the moment that a person pledge eir life with me, but after that moment it would mean rather significantly more to me to know that whoever I am with is choosing freely to be there and not out of some sense of obligation, and certainly not because ey is legally required. Similarly I would not pledge myself to someone for life because I cannot guarantee my future feelings and desires - the most I can in good faith say is that today I love em and today my desire is for a future together.

This does not mean I would not marry anyone, but I would feel vastly happier, safer, more comfortable knowing we could choose to part ways any time we chose.