dolari | Reading

LiveJournal’s decline didn’t happen in a vacuum. Many longtime users trace the real turning point to the platform’s sale to Russian ownership, which shifted its cultural center of gravity and pushed much of its original community elsewhere. By the time the dust settled, the site’s momentum was already gone. What we’re seeing now isn’t a slow fade but a death rattle triggered by the most recent round of policy changes—changes that feel less like evolution and more like the final death of a platform that once defined online expression. LiveJournal mattered, but its era ended long before today’s exodus.

I walked away ages ago.

soemand

Is it me or is the livejournal invasion making the site slow?

soemand

Snow.

dolari

It's now Two Days into 2026, and I've already sworn off ever buying anything again from Vizio or Wyndham Hotels.

I'm going to assume that by the end of January, I won't be buying from anyone and will have to make my own electronics and hotels from whittled wood found by the lake.

soemand

My home automation setup includes an outdoor thermometer. Interesting swing this morning, from near freezing to omg freezing.

I think I need to 3d print a Stevenson shield for it though. The temperature didn’t cross 0C yesterday, and I think there are microclimate effects involved. The sensor is wireless, so no biggie to move.

wavesagainstrocks

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Current Mood: calm

dewline

I'm mostly done with the first day of this year. Some good stuff, some scary stuff, some disgusting stuff. Already feeling tired. There was an idea of my saying something useful if not witty, and the idea has escaped my grasp for the time being.

wavesagainstrocks

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Current Mood: accomplished

lovelyangel

Once again there is a mass exodus from LiveJournal – see the news from Denise: Привет! LiveJournal imports may be slow. tl;dr: Russia is being Russia. Again.

dine posts Get anything you have left on LJ backed up ASAP. (Details inside post.)

I’m not worried about saving my posts at LJ; they all come over when I migrated to Dreamwidth in 2012. Dreamwidth became my primary blog host, and I crossposted to LJ until crossposting broke back in 2022.

What did not come over in the migration are my LJ photos/images, which remain hosted at LiveJournal. Up until now, they’ve been fine there. The posts migrated to Dreamwidth still link to those LJ images. If those images go away, all the image links will be broken. I already have a problem with broken image links caused by Zenfolio moving content to new servers. I’m still trying to figure out how I’m going to repair that. But at least I have all the master images for Zenfolio.

I don’t have (in any organized fashion, anyway) the source images for the LiveJournal pics. So I guess I’m going to drop everything and download images. I have over 2000 images in the photo albums there. (I had a permanent account, so there wasn’t a practical space constraint. I could store as many images as I needed.)

Anyway, its going to be a big chore – but necessary work. I need to have a structured archive of those images so I can rebuild my blog. *sigh*

And just for my reference, from Nov 2012:
A Sudden Move (1)
A Sudden Move (2)
Layout, Revised
Layout Adjustments, Round 3

lovelyangel

Revisiting the best from McSweeney’s is a good way to start the new year. McSweeney’s 25 Most-Read Pieces of 2025

dolari

Not having the best 2026 so far.

soemand

From our house, we can often see up to 70 km on a clear day—and for brief moments today, that was actually true. But when the snow started falling, the view vanished. One minute I could see for miles, the next I was lucky to make out anything beyond 100 metres.

soemand

Photo from last year's sailing trip from London to Brighton. This is the beachy head lighthouse.

Lighthouse in southern England behind white chalky cliff and misty

soemand

I've been coordinating with a researcher examining the history of ww2 pows, and the different camps. He had placed a “if you know of any more data on...” at the end of a post he had made a few years ago. I came across his post after I received my granddad's wartime service records — and managed to close out the information he was looking for with primary sourced materials from the Canadian archives.

Yesterday he reached out to me to inform that he had published an update — I have a link to those I grant access to, friends only in lj speak— and published a awesome update — including a photo of my grandfather in Greece after he was captured. But in discussion afterwards he asked me the meaning of "KINNOT" that was used in the cable describing the status of the three POWs described in the telegram. In discussion with him and another researcher.

Thanks for calling out my assumption :) I am so used to prowords from ham radio it just becomes natural when dealing with content transmitted at 12-15 words per minute by telegraph.

I recall there was a list of acronyms provided when I got the service records. I’ll check if this is mentioned. I also have a local resource, another sailor, that has done extensive research involving Canadian casualties. I’ll see if she has primary source for this.

I can also validate the dates my great grandparents were notified vs the date in the cable I shared.

My brain had immediately translated this to Kin Notified — but I don't have a source for this. As my colleague suggested:

If you come across the list of acronyms that came with the service record, I would very much appreciate your sharing it with me. It could be useful in the future!

I would not have figured out “kinnot” on my own, and AI was no help, denying it was a military term/acronym.

I agree with my colleague that this isn't googleable in any way shape or form, regardless of AI. We also don't have a primary source, and I might reach out to the Archives for clarification. It was not mentioned in the list of common acronyms they have.

It's an interesting problem to decipher these old records. 🤣

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: 15770 kHz Polish Rock over Shortwave.

soemand

Overnight, the snowstorm wrapped every street, rooftop, and horizon in a seamless blanket of silence. Edges blur, colors fade, and the familiar becomes dreamlike. Stepping outside feels like walking through a freshly erased sketch, waiting for new lines to be drawn.

dewline

Here we go.

Good luck to us all.

Current Mood: groggy

lovelyangel

Miko, Shiori, and Hinako
This Monster Wants to Eat Me, Episode 13 (Season Finale)

It wasn’t really a great year for anime. I wasn’t much into the mainstream anime. (The shows were OK, but I didn’t have lots of enthusiasm for making time to watch them.) I don’t think there are any shows I need to have in my personal library. But if I were to rewatch a show, the following series would be at the top of the list.

1. This Monster Wants to Eat Me
Oh, hey! Something that isn’t an isekai, an adventurer quest, shonen action, or a high school rom-com! This fantasy drama had me guessing every episode – and I cared about the characters. I liked the art, direction, dialog – and story.

2. A Ninja and an Assassin Under One Roof
Perhaps I needed something lighthearted. Shaft is a great studio, and they did an excellent job directing and animating this fluffy comedy. And I have a soft spot for ninja girls. Plus, Shaft can do comedy. (Can you say, Pani Poni Dash?)

3. May I Ask For One Final Thing?
Scarlet, The Lady of Beatings, is just so much fun to watch. And the villains deserve every fistful they get. So satisfying.

4. Grisaia: Phantom Trigger
Well, I’m a big fan of The Fruit of Grisaia and character designs by Akio Watanabe – so a sequel is a no-brainer for me. Phantom Trigger isn’t as good as predecessor Fruit/Labyrinth/Eden, but the anime succeeds as a guilty pleasure. The characters are similar to their predecessors.

5. I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire!
Just plain fun. Liam is wildly successful in spite of all odds and players against him. He and his poor fiefdom deserve all the wins they get. The first episode was heartbreaking, but things turned around after that.

Previously
My Five Favorite Male Anime Characters of 2025
My Five Favorite Female Anime Characters of 2025
My Five Favorite Anime Couples of 2025

lovelyangel

Prince Julius von Pallistan and Scarlet El Vandimion
May I Ask For One Final Thing? Episode 13 (Season Finale)

I’m a romantic, and I always am on the lookout for couples who find love and happiness in the midst of generally tempestuous circumstances. Here are my couples of the year.

1. Scarlet El Vandimion x Prince Julius von Pallistan, May I Ask For One Final Thing?
Prince Julius has carried a torch for Scarlet for years, while Scarlet is oblivious. Scarlet sees Julius’s playfulness as adversarial. Yet, Julius is the only person who accepts Scarlet for who she truly is – and laughs every time Scarlet shows her colors, while everyone else is dismayed. In actuality, these two make a great couple. Julius is a really good guy.

2. Philia Adenauer x Prince Osvalt Parnacorta, The Too-Perfect Saint: Tossed Aside by My Fiancé and Sold to Another Kingdom
This is another one-sided romance, initially. Philia is too socially immature to recognize Osvalt’s honest affection. But she’ll come around. Osvalt is a really good guy.

3. Melphiera Marchalrayd x Duke Aristide Rogier do Galbraith, Pass the Monster Meat, Milady!
What I liked about this series is that the author didn’t waste any time getting this couple to become a couple. The Duke proposed in episode 2, and the couple were officially engaged in episode 4. And the Blood-Mad Duke and the Voracious Villainess are a fine couple. Aristide is a really good guy.

4. Princess Amelia Rosequartz x Akira Oda, My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds That of the Hero’s
Akira is too much of a loner to be in relationship – or so I thought. He surprised me in episode 7 by making a vow to Amelia and declaring his love. So they are officially a couple – and I am happy with that.

5. Marie x Kazuhiro Kitase, Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf!
Marie and Kazuhiro are a wholesome couple, sharing adventures in two worlds – and enjoying themselves immensely. Happy couples are fun to watch.

Previously
My Five Favorite Male Anime Characters of 2025
My Five Favorite Female Anime Characters of 2025

dolari

If you play this video with 10 seconds left in 2025, you can blow up the Death Star as 2026 starts. :)

youtube.com/watch?v=lp3Rq7KvZ1s&feature=youtu.be

dolari

The Jenn Dolari 2025 One Sentence Year In Review

2025 has been a rough year, and also a very good year. I have a job that I not only truly enjoy, but it enjoys me, unlike Nintendo. It's not easy work, but it is enjoyable work, and it's also hard work.

Most of the year was dominated with a election run, and rebuilding my finances, two things which do not be compatible. I lost the election, and I learned a lot from the experience (good and bad), but thats behind me now.

But there is something else that has completely domiated the year. And maybe, one day, I'll talk about it. Just to clarify, the year in the quote? 2024.

"She's that little souvenir of a terrible year, which makes me smile inside." --The Sundays, "Here's Where the Story Ends." (a little edited)

2024: We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people.
2023: All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.
2022: Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly and most underrated agent of human change.
2021: The Universe has decided otherwise.
2020: I AM looking on the bright side, and it's dark...very dark.
2019: Never push a loyal person to the point where they no longer care.
2018: What's left for a warrior to do after he's lost the big one, but win some of the little ones?
2017: He's very brave and very silly and I think, for a time he's going to be very sad, but I promise, in the end, he'll be alright.
2016: Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams...and against this peril we can never surrender.
2015: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
2014: Sometimes, by losing a battle, you find a new way to win the war.
2013: All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.
2012: Here at last, on the shores of the sea, comes the end of our Fellowship.
2011: Seeking to forget makes exile all the longer; the secret of redemption lies in remembrance.
2010: Sometimes life has a way of moving you past wants and hopes.
2009: FINEST K.O....YOU LOSE.
2008: Jump...Jump now!
2007: Darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
2006: The show must go on.
2005: What to have, what to hold: A poor man's roses, or a rich man's gold.
2004: You like me! You really like me!
2003: Once more...with feeling!
2002: Wow...that could have gone better.
2001: I hope you die and get ate by worms, Milkman Dan.

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Jenn Dolari

Reading

Bah

Meta

Early morning view

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Brrrr.

December 2025 Meme

2026, Day One Almost Done

2026 Fandom Snowflake Challenge #1

A LiveJournal Headache

McSweeney’s 2025

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Snow.

Lighthouse

KINNOT

The world has vanished into white on white.

2026

My Five Favorite Anime Series of 2025

My Five Favorite Anime Couples of 2025

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January 2026

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