Dreamwidth

[helenic]

I'm excited about Dreamwidth, for all the reasons listed here and more. Denny has been involved with the beta phase of the site, and has been trying to get me to submit some site designs or journal themes. I'm well up for this in principle, but time is sadly the limiting factor. I'm still hoping to send something to them, but I haven't had the chance yet.

Either way, Denny has very generously let me have his first invite code. I need to use it soonish, as he can't get any more til I've signed up. I don't think I want to disembark to Dreamwidth entirely. I've got a permanent LJ account and an awful lot of history on this site. My first LJ account was created in 2001, and I've been writing in libellum for over six years. When I post publicly, my readership is quite impressive, particularly once people start linking my posts. It's a very useful forum if I want to say anything important.

On the other hand, I haven't used it for personal journalling for over six months now. That wasn't a deliberate decision. It was a combination of two things: lack of time, particularly once I started the Job of Doom, and then entered the current crazy career phase I'm now in, juggling five or six simultaneous work tracks per week. The other factor was the extent to which I used libellum as a professional blog when I was still trying to live off my art. After using it as a marketing tool, it was harder to go back to using it the way I used to.

So I'm not abandoning LJ. But I do want to support the Dreamwidth project. At the moment, it looks like it would make most sense to continue to use libellum as a public blog, for political debate and advertising my art and design work, and use a new Dreamwidth account for private journalling.

What I'm stuck on is username. Libellum has never been a 'nick' - it's the name of this journal, exactly as if I'd named a paper journal. Calling a new journal the same thing would be pointless. I don't really have a constant nick for use online, but the closest thing to it is helenic, which was my original idea for the Dreamwidth account. (Pun on "Hellenic" and "Helen nick", geddit?)

However, I've just discovered that helen is still available on Dreamwidth. Which would be really cool, in an early adopter sort of way. I doubt I'm going to get the chance to be Helen on many sites, so I should probably grab the opportunity. But bizarrely, helenic feels more "me". I've never been "Helen" online, mostly because it's never available but partly because I know a few Helens and I'm rarely the default one; if friends refer to me it's usually as "Helen L" or "Helen (libellum)". I don't identify with the name particularly, and I don't feel I have more right to it than any other Helens who might want Dreamwidth accounts.

This is coming out sounding far more foolish a question than it did in my head. Ah well. I put it to you, o wise flist:

[Poll #1384066]

Comments

[several-bees.livejournal.com]

(I'm just in favour of people getting their real-world names as usernames when they can, and feeling slightly smug about it, really...)

[biascut.livejournal.com]

I love helenic. For some reason I always read it as if it was Serbian, and it's just really pretty.

[forthwritten.livejournal.com]

I like helenic - and libellum is a sort of pun, it could be a grand tradition or something.

[taimatsu]

I didn't even think to check whether Lucy was still available! I'm there as taimatsu, and am using the account to explore/as a placeholder at the moment.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

I couldn't decide either, but took "jack", on the grounds that people who know me online ought to know at least my first name, and that having "jack" hopefully wouldn't contribute to proliferation of my identities, which I didn't want.

[tephramancy.livejournal.com]

I would almost certainly pick up avalon if it were available (no idea how to check, tbh), but since that began as a netname, it doesn't feel odd using it, even though it's also my RL name. Although I'd be just as happy with tephramancy if avalon weren't available, as it's the name I use universally everywhere else.

[cigogne.livejournal.com]

Oh noes! You're the first person I know who's putting their proper personal journal on Dreamwidth, but I bet you won't be the last. It sounds cool, but generally I fear change. I will be a late adopter and head on over there in like a year when I get to the point I'm posting on lj going "hello! Is there anyone there?"

[adamw]

Ah good, not just me then!

(Although I see adam.dreamwidth.org is still available, and I really wouldn't mind that...)

[translucent.livejournal.com]

I gave technically the 'wrong' answer - I picked helen for the same reasons as several_bees, but as for what suits you, I think helenic after all - although I do love the feeling myself of growing into a new name, which is another factor that drew me to 'helen'. But those are my motivations - not yours! :)

I dropped off your list when I was a very dormant LJer; I'd noticed you'd gone to business, too, and it's interesting to hear you've not been personal-journalling for a short while. Eep, I need to go out for a walk before it gets darker, so I must curtail myself - since I've re-emerged, I'd like to make your acquaintance again if you too so fancy :) And I'll not be offended if things are otherwise. Must dash!

[sevenhelz.livejournal.com]

I may be biased, on account of thinking of myself as the one true helen. I suspect other helens would say the same.
x

Unrelated

[lemonmerchant.livejournal.com]

I expect you've seen this already (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8004222.stm), but I wanted to bring it to your attention just in case. It turns out, gosh, that newspaper seller didn't die of heart attack after all, but from internal bleeding, which is awful.

"First we were told that there had been no contact with the police, then we were told that he died of a heart attack. Now we know that he was violently assaulted by a police officer and died from internal bleeding."