twicketface

One thing I've seen people say on Facebook ever since I created my account on the site is that they miss LiveJournal. I'm so tired of it! LiveJournal never went anywhere, and the people who say it are the ones who left a long time before the site was sold and a lot of people migrated to or mirrored on Dreamwidth. There's a group on Facebook called Livejournal Lives that has almost 4,000 people and it had two posts in 2025 and none in 2024. And someone a lot of people from LJ know even considered making a similar site, but private and thus even less likely to have anyone posting anything.

All of which is to say, LiveJournal didn't go anywhere, and the people who miss it should resume posting. I get it, there's no critical mass any more. But there can't be unless people start telling their stories again, whether or not they get much attention. It's more important than ever, now that other sites and apps are becoming overrun with slop and their UIs make it harder to see just the accounts you want to.

If you want the internet to be good, you have to make good internet. (And I fully acknowledge that the people who I should be saying this to aren't here to read it.)

26. It’s Australia Day! What do you think of when you think of Australia?

This is a very timely question because Sendle, the amazing Australian company I used to work for, is shutting down. This follows a merger that clearly didn't turn out so well. I recently spent some time on their blog turning my posts there into PDFs for my portfolio and it was a very bittersweet experience. They're the company that took a chance on me, giving me my first full-time writing job when my portfolio was all freelance pieces. Well, I worked briefly as a full-time writer back in 2000-2001, but I don't really count that as the bulk of what I did was turning job requisitions from a large technology company into job postings, then putting them on Monster.

Anyway, the people at Sendle in the US as well as back in Australia were some of the coolest people one could ever want to work with, and I got to do interesting work that was important to me. The website is still up even though they've ceased operations, but I have my PDFs to link to from my portfolio. I should probably do that. Maybe in the morning.

27. Up-Helly-Aa is a vibrant fire festival celebrated in the UK Shetland Islands tonight. Thousands gather to witness the breathtaking sight of a longship ablaze, illuminating the night sky. Do you have any similar local winter or summer celebrations?

I grew up in New Mexico and the annual burning of Zozobra is a pretty big deal there. And they smartly added an evening balloon glow portion to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, which I think is the best event. I'm struggling to think of any "let's light something on fire" events up here but as you know we risk burning the entire country down every year on July 4.

28. Have you ever played a kazoo?

Surely at some point. I was more fond of the tubes that you tilt back and forth that make an alien style sound, and the little cannisters that sound like farm animals. Plus those tubes that have a spinning thing inside that make a much funnier noise than a kazoo.

29. It's Tom Selleck's birthday - have you ever seen him in anything you've enjoyed?

I already mentioned Whispers Lounge, my '80s blog. His 1984 movie Runaway is the exact type of thing I love to promote via that blog. And his movie Her Alibi is one of my all-time favorite comedies. I should probably revisit Three Men and a Baby. And as someone who was previously in an intergenerational relationship, I thought it was great when he dated Monica on Friends. I know Magnum, P.I. is conspicuously absent here, especially since I have the '80s blog. I'd like to watch it at some point but I think Miami Vice should come first.

30. In 1873, Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne was published in France. Have you read the book or seen any of the films?

I used to watch the cartoon and the theme song is now stuck in my head!

31. Do you like hot chocolate with or without marshmallows?

What I don't want is a packet of hot chocolate mix that comes with dried marshmallows. There's something about the texture of dried marshmallows that makes my skin crawl, so anything like that hot chocolate or a cereal like Lucky Charms has to sit for long enough to ensure the marshmallows are no longer dry. At all. And by that time the hot chocolate isn't hot, and the cereal isn't crunchy.

This post also appears on Whispers Lounge, my '80s blog. If you like the '80s, please check it out!




- She's got hits, but not enough for a full set, and chooses to do a few covers rather than her album tracks most people won't know. The opening track was Lisa Stansfield's "All Around the World" which was perfect for her. A few songs later was "It Must Have Been Love" by Roxette. I think she should be Roxette's new singer and tour as a Roxette/Sheena Easton double bill. Learning there's already a new lead singer for Roxette that people don't seem to like reinforces this wish for me.

- I'm so grateful that the Historic Everett Theater has seating for everyone. If you were performing in the '80s, your aging fanbase mostly wants to sit! She smartly invited people up front to dance during her biggest bangers, but then sent everyone back to their seats after each one because the people in the front rows deserve a good view.

- The door opened at 6:30 and the show was at 7:30. In my dreams it'd be 6:00/7:00 but I understand people need time to get their dinner. And it didn't really matter much because there was no opening act. Once again, if you were active in the '80s, you don't need an opening act. A double bill with an act from your era is ok, too. "But someone needs to warm up the crowd!" Please, we aren't gonna get all that hot.

- No meet and greet was offered and that's great because that's how we got the show started so quickly. She signed autographs while performing, which was hilarious. And she prevents autograph hounds from selling them by saying she'll only sign stuff that people write their own name on first. When she ran out of time for signing, she said people could leave stuff on the edge of the stage and it would all be brought back to her and she'd sign it immediately and send it back out.

- Her backing band was great and included a saxophone player because she truly understands the decade that made her a star. Everyone in the band did backing vocals and she also had a singer for duets, which she did as medleys which is a great way to handle the reality that someone shouldn't be expected to sing a whole Prince song. She also had wonderful stories about Prince and was quite funny.

- At the end she explained that she really only had one more hit to share, and it was time to do it rather than pretend the show was over and make us yell for an encore. Again, she understands we're tired and for that I'll always be grateful.