This is my experience also. When I used to talk more about health issues, I would get silence or helpiness. But post about being unable to get some desired item at the store, or something the dog did, and people would come out of the woodwork to say what they were thinking.

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Nod. I can see that. Though I only got one comment in my new year's post which contained comments on three movies. It was a movie-related comment, though.

Sometimes I put a question at the end of a post, to encourage comments. I didn't think of it that time.

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Sorry to have been oblivious. Last year was grim on the health front and so I am behind with everything - which is a sort of an excuse.

Mind you, calligraphy? Beyond my skill level! I was the one for whom the school held the English exam a second time to make sure I didn't come top, because there was no way they'd have my untidy writing at the top of the pile. (I can't understand why they didn't just re-mark it down a bit.)

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I leave comments when it feels like a conversations. A heartfelt post seems to me not so much like a conversation so much as an expression of self. If I want comments, I invite them by asking a question at the end of my post. Btw, the above comment seems passively guilt-inducing rather than starting a conversation.

Also, Chinese calligraphy cool. Not sure what else to say about it. If you do it again, post some pictures. :)

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There's little that makes you feel so invisible on LJ as to write a heartfelt post and get no comments. :P

Guilty as charged.

I'm glad you're getting back to something you loved.

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Guilty as charged.

Aw. I really didn't mean to make people guilty, just to kvetch a little. But I do appreciate that a bunch of people have commented, as a result. I feel much less invisible now.

I'm glad you're getting back to something you loved.

Thank you! I hope to stick with it and also learn the language. At least some basics. Brian and I hope to take Rosie to China someday. And I would like to share it with Rosie.

There's a Chinese folktale about a child who is given a magic paintbrush, and when she paints things, they become real on the finishing stroke. There was a gorgeously illustrated version of that story that I would like to find and give to Rosie. I loved it when I was a child. There are many versions of the story, but so far I have not found one with the beautiful illustrations I remember. It might have been in a Cricket magazine. It would be a good introduction for any child about oriental art.

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Heyla

I tend to be very sparse in comments as I lately forget to check LJ daily so I might be reading a post from days ago. As well, the more personal an update is, the more awkward it feels for me to comment since I am not very close to most people anymore. -sheep-

I did think the calligraphy was an interesting project but the majority of my knowledge being the awesome scenes from "Hero"... yeeeah. -g-

-a

Edited at 2013-01-09 04:34 am (UTC)

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Sarah and I will be at Confusion, see you there!

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looking forward to it!

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I'm sorry you feel invisible here, but in my opinion, it's an invisible medium.

This is perhaps the first time in a year that I have checked any of Livejournal without prompting. My FList has very, very few people who still post here. There is nothing out there like what LJ was.

This is not exactly what you want to hear, and I've had some tough conversations with people who were unhappy when I left LJ, but social media is overwhelming, and I already spend too much time on it.

I know you're trying to share that you're bummed, and you should do that, but no one has the obligation to reply when you put something up, and no one knows when you really want a reply vs just splashing it out there unless you state so. Having expectations regarding the behavior of others is a good way to make yourself depressed, IMO.

I promise you, though, if you ever write me an email and give me a real opening to reply, I will do so. I am pretty fanatical about replying to emails, unless they seem to be at an end.

I am very much looking forward to seeing you very soon, my friend.

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I'm still hear, still reading. I did enjoy your post, though the part that most resonated with me was having to leave things behind. That must have been difficult.

I wish LJ was still the talkative community it used to be.

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Thanks!

It was hard to leave things behind. I also threw away all my old floppy disks from my college days. I didn't own anything that could read them anymore, but it still hurt, and I wonder if I'll regret that more later.

Glad you're still here!

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Just started posting on LJ again. For a long time, I abandoned my livejournal--- everything I had been writing was the writings of someone I didn't want to be anymore. And what I'm posting is still a bunch of hypercrazed nonsense, but I realize that I'm never going to figure things out if I don't actually look at them. I neglected keeping up with a lot of friends' entries.

But extraordinarily recently, I created a filter of "actual people" (as opposed to the clot of rss feeds that hid so many friends' post in their deluges of "look at me!"). The post that prompted me to do so, the "oh, sh*t, I almost missed something very cool"? Your post on Chinese calligraphy. Your gravitas of awesome is more appreciated than you will ever guess.

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Wow, thanks. I have been reading your "figuring things out" posts and meaning to comment on them. I don't know if the latest iOS update made typing harder or if it's just my imagination, but I'm doing a lot less composition on the phone than I once did. It doesn't help that the LJ interface keeps getting worse and less usable from a mobile phone.

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There's little that makes you feel so invisible on LJ as to write a heartfelt post and get no comments.

I'm sorry. I do relate. There've been times when i've reached out on here and really couldn't believe the crickets. Of course, that's largely outnumbered by the times when i reached out and did get many many supportive and thoughtful responses. Overall, i'd call it win, but it still makes it tough when that one key post goes by.

I think it's harder nowadays because of LJ's languishing status. There are so few people still even reading over here, it's that less likely that they see it. Additionally (at least in my case), i'm posting less often too, so when that heartfelt moment comes and manifests itself in a rare post, it's that much tougher to take the crickets. :)

FWIW, i try to read what i can, but i'm also spending a lot less time online in general these days, so a lot of stuff goes by skimmed or (due to long login lapses) missed entirely. I do miss LJ's heyday, but i'm also glad for those of us who are still enjoying what's left of it!

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