A few weeks ago I had mentioned wanting to start posting my answers to the Friday five again. I posted one entry and let it slide three fridays in a row. Here I am, playing catch up....
From: The Friday Five
1. What kind of computer do you have? (Mac, iBook, Dell, etc.) Thankfully, I only own one name-brand computer, my Compaq Presario laptop, purchased long before I knew enough about computers to actually build my own. Other than that, I have one self-built desktop computer and one self-built media center.
2. How old is it? Are you happy with it? The cool thing about building your own computers, they're forever evolving. I am constantly upgrading and changing out parts in both of my computers. My laptop is five years old, purchased with my high school graduation money for college. The oldest part in my desktop computer is probably three years old (my processor) everything else is less than a year old. My media center is 9 months old.
3. How many computers are in your household? (at home if you are away at school) There are three computers here when its just me. Four when Tom is visiting. When he is here, he has a Mac iBook. Oh, does my pda count?
4. What are your favorite games/timewasters on your computer? As far as games go, I love pogo games like tumble bees and word whomp. Snood is also way cool as well. This was a huge time waster in college, as every single computer in the honors college had this loaded on it. When I had the time and energy, I loved playing War Craft III.
5. If money were no object, what kind of computer would you like to have? OOOhhhh right now I would absolutely love to build a computer with An AMD 64 X2 3800+ but considering the fact that the chip alone is $400, I can't really afford it right now.
From: The Friday Five
1. How long have you had your LiveJournal/blog? This journal is five years old. I started it the summer I graduated from high school. Of course, at that time, I was constantly getting into trouble and my parents were always grounding me from the computer so my updates were sporadic at best. I picked it up again about a year later, wrote two entries, and fell off the face of diaryland all over again. I have been updating on an almost consistent basis since 2002.
2. What do you consider to be the main purpose of your LiveJournal/blog? At first, it started out as a place I could write down all my problems and issues. I loved the idea of an anonymous community that was always there for its members. I thought that by writing this stuff down, someone in the diaryland community would read my stuff and give me advice. That didn't happen at first. Then I geared this space more towards my writing. But, the more stressful I made my life become, the more this journal shifted back towards more of a venting ground. Now? I'm not quite sure what the hell it is. I'm still ranting, and theres almost no real writing here any more....writing in this still isn't nearly as cathartic as I thought it would be.
3. If you could change something about your personal blogging style, what would it be? My writing style is very conversational. I suppose that's an appropriate tone for an online journal that people occasionally stumble across. But because of the conversational tone, I find that it lacks a sort of sophistication that I had hoped to develop through my years of writing. There are some journals I read and I am amazed by the writing quality, despite their topics being nothing short of depressing.
4. What are your criteria for adding someone to your friends list/blog roll? I don't have anything in particular that I look for in an online journal. Out of all of the journals I have bookmarked and visit frequently, I either know them in person and want to keep up to date on whats happening in their lives, or found their writing/topics incredibly interesting. There are some I visit more obsessively than others, because I can't wait to read about what they've been up to, or more importantly, how they write it. Yes, there are some journals that I read where the topics bore me, but the writing style keeps me coming back. I am forever trying to gather information on improving my writing skills...how can you do that without reading and researching the writing styles that you prefer?
5. Name one thing that you've never before written about in your LJ/blog. I'd have to say sex. While I'm sure I've hinted at it from time to time in an entry, I don't think I've ever devoted an entire entry to sex. There have been certain things I've wanted to discuss in this journal, pertaining to the topic of sex, but I've refrained from posting them...obviously. If this journal were truly anonymous, I would have no problem posting those kinds of entries. However, because I know certain members of my audience, I feel I must keep that particular topic under wraps. Until I am able to tell how those particular readers will judge me after reading an entry about sex, I will continue to keep that topic private. There are other topics which I would very much like to discuss in this forum, but because Tom's family still feels the need to read this journal, rather than talking to Tom or myself in person, Tom has asked me not to talk about certain issues. I'm growing increasingly tired of having to censor myself because of Tom and his family, but I have to do what I can, right?