death of a journal5/1/99 I have been bored out of my mind all day. Didn't get to sleep until around six (that phone thing going on) and the phone rang a little before ten. I struggled to make sense of the telemarketer on the other end, shot him down gently, and wondered after I hung up, "what the hell is this guy doing calling me at 10 on a Saturday?" Ever since then, it's been one breeze of a day. Went to school, picked up my horn, which never left the trunk of the car for the rest of the day. Stopped off at the craft store and bought more suncatchers, all of which are now glowing in the picture window in my living room. Wandered around the video store and got nothing. Spent the rest of the day alternately calling John ("I'm B-O-O-O-R-E-D!") and checking my e-mail. --- I have a nitpicky sort of question for the online journal community. (Notice: I don't have the balls to post my nitpicky question to diary-l or another diary list.) I'm kinda new on the journal scene and I might be missing something here. We all read one another's journals, right, and we all like to discuss our favorite journals with other readers. I see this happening a lot: (quote from journal) Oh, my GOD!!!!! I can't believe this. (end quote.) This is another version: (quote from another journal) Oh nooo!!! Look here. We'll miss you, honey!!!!!!! (end quote.) ***Okay, I made these quotes up. Don't go out looking for the person who wrote them. You get the general idea.*** What these distraught souls are referring to is the end of a beloved journal. Someone, usually a big name in journal-land, has called it quits. It's a shame, I agree. But, why link to their farewell entry? Or, when they've torn down the whole site, their blank page? If the readers know that journaller, then they've likely already found out for themselves. If they don't know, how are they going to sympathize with your pain? I don't know how many times I've clicked here only to find a "really great, groundbreaking, incredibly well-written, everybody-loves-this-one" journal that's now gone. I'm just in time to read a few archives (if I'm lucky) and find out why so-and-so is no longer writing. Come on! If you're upset enough to code the link into your page, share your grief. Pay tribute. The person who chose to end their journal has strong, conflicting emotions. Don't play cutesy "click here--ooh! surprise!" games. Now that I'm in the swing and I read the biggies myself, I can look at that "Not this again!!!!!!" link and automatically know where the link will go. I don't click. If nobody I read has recently ended, I don't click anyway--it's like rubbernecking at the scene of an accident, if you ask me. Knock on wood.
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