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I remember a torrent of angry posts following the introduction of the "Like" button by LJ. People were fuming how shallow it was and how they were way too deep for shit like that and even asked people to never use it on their entries (apparently the "deep shit" they wrote about would be desecrated by it). Whenever I saw an entry like that I had a laugh and immediately liked it. No amount of likes will dumb you down if you are deep.

I also saw people getting upset that it might give their readers a choice of reacting to their posts in a way other than commenting and that they did not want that. Apparently, depriving people of additional functionality to leave them no choice but do what you want and not what they want is OK. I am aware that the psychotic mutual comment extortion has long been a tradition on LJ and I love the completely nuts "I left seven comments on your posts but you left only five comments on mine even though you commented a lot on other people's posts so I am unfriending you!" drama whenever I see it but opposing additional functionality that nobody forces you to use based on this is still strange.

Anyway, can you please like this entry? Especially if you are a stuck up anti-like snob and have never liked anything on LJ (please do it just once, we will keep it a secret). A like under this entry should not be interpreted as you agreeing with or liking the content of the above two paragraphs or me in general, it is just a like and a bit of fun (if you are "likephobic" you can even view it as a protest like and an attempt to defeat it by stripping it of its meaning). I also assure you that even though Putin is now likely to see that you liked this, you will still be OK even if you are an LGBTQ+ person in a red state.

With the new 'Like' feature on, I feel like going on a liking spree. Liking say, all the entries on the first page in all the journals in the first three pages of the LJ rating list.

Or maybe we should gang like someone. Just pick a random journal, say first from the top on page X of the rating (and then go up until we find an active public journal, which might take a while) and just mass like all the entries on the first page in that journal.

As you can see I am not sure what to do with this "Like" thing yet but I feel I should do something. I think I will go on a liking rampage one way or another sooner rather than later.

Every now and then I read a couple of journals in Russian with the help of Google Translate (see here). This started right after I joined LJ five months ago and struggled to find journals in English which were not friend-locked and not about fandom or fanfic. Unlike the English LJ, the Russian version seemed to have heaps of interesting public journals where people posted regularly with long discussions in the comments, sometimes very heated and often uncensored (hurrah).

I decided to share some of the Russian journals I found, which I believe could be interesting for non-Russian speakers without the need to resort to Google Translate. I will share three in this entry and more in the coming weeks.

1. vmenshov shoots amazing macro photos of little creatures and explains how he does it too. You need to use "macro" tag to find the entries in his journal. Here, I'll make it easier for you:

http://vmenshov.livejournal.com/?skip=30&tag=макро

For example here is a shot taken with an iPhone.



vmenshov also explained the setup he used to make this shot. There are many even more interesting shots taken with proper cameras in his journal.



2. Laura Williams, llorax grew up in Colorado, and earned a bachelor's degree in international environmental policy from Cornell University and a master's degree in conservation biology from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.



Here is what Laura's profile says:

It is hard to believe that it has been 20 years since I “traded” my home state of Colorado in the US for Russia. I have already lived half my life in a foreign country – essentially my entire adult life. I came here for work and stayed for love – love of Russia’s vast expanses, its wilderness, and the people who protect it. But it was for one special person that I not only left behind my homeland, but all the conveniences of civilization and city life, and moved to a small village in the Bryansk Forest. You probably already know Igor Shpilenok – the nature photographer, blogger, founder of the Bryansk Forest Nature Reserve. To me, he has become family, the father of my children, and has won over my heart. So that I wouldn’t miss the amenities of the civilized world, he created them all here for our family in the land of Bryansk. So that I wouldn’t miss my Rocky Mountains, he introduced me to Kamchatka. Now I live among these three worlds – the U.S., Bryansk Forest, and Kamchatka, but I spend most of the year at my home - under the storks' nest - in the small forest village of Chukhrai (population 10) near the Bryansk Forest Nature Reserve.

Some of Laura's entries are both in Russian and English (I wish there was a tag to help readers find the entries in English). I enjoyed Laura's entries on Chukhrai village life ("village life" tag), here is one for you if you want to give it a try (English version is under the cut): Once upon a bottle there lived three drunks…

Laura is also really into horses.



3. Igor Shpilenok shpilenok (Laura's husband) is an amazing award-winning wildlife photographer (2006 BBC Wildlife Nature Photography Competition). He is also a member of an elite group of photographers committed to nature conservation - the International League of Conservation Photographers and the founder of the Bryansk Forest Nature Reserve. His wildlife photos are stunning. His specialty probably is Kamchatka with its bears, foxes and unique wildflowers. Igor tracks bear and fox families over the years, he names the bears and foxes and lets his readers follow the stories of their lives. Here is his "foxes" tag, but check out the rest of his journal too.



Please feel to suggest interesting public journals to read in the comments (even if it is your own journal).

Sometimes I pick a couple of random journals from the list and read them. This is how I found some of you too. I did it today and stumbled upon George W. Bush's journal. He is almost forgotten and not liked on LJ.



Topped by a sexy angel the man is just some toe jam away from being a nobody. He only has six friends. And one of them is a cat. A dead cat.

I am new here and since I started on LJ I noticed that most journals are either dead or friends only. And most posts in the Top are community posts. I also noticed that there are a lot of open journals in Russian here. I had a look at the Russian LJ Top 15 and translated it via Google Translate out of curiosity, sharing the translation below.

There is only one community post in the Russian top (no 9). There is nothing fanfic related in the top 50 there. There are a lot of comments and there seem to be long discussions in the comments. The Russians seem to be not only more active and open on LJ but also seem to use it differently.

Is it true? Why? Was it always like this?

And yeah, about Pamela Anderson. As much as I could understand from post no 8, she will be promoting some new video content feature for LJ users in Russia I think.

Russian Top LJ (Google Translated)

1. Miracles after the demolition !
Demolition of trade pavilions has given us a miracle ! On Wednesday at the station " Novoslobodskaya " for a few hours it was organized ground move with the traffic lights across the street Dolgorukovskaya. It is incredibly good news: do not be the demolition, no one would ever put a new light and would not draw a new zebra. 297 comments

2. Sex- ONLY
About a death trap for men - frendzone I wrote. Let us now about the death trap for women - sex ONLY. Why is this black spot just for women? Very often, women write "he proposes sex without commitment" and they do not understand why you need to give. 34 comments

3. England and Russia: According to the law will live or concepts?
I really liked the post Tatyana Solovyova on Facebook. Since LiveJournal and Facebook rarely intersect, to quote it here. Tatiana has long lived in London, and her present buzz about the demolition of unauthorized construction - looks like a wild cry of people who are not accustomed to live in a civilized world. 68 comments

4. Again required a woman's hand
When I think Skrynnik, it was the Minister of Agriculture, my first association - BUSH's LEGS. When they started in mad quantities imported into Russia, and ... no, no, I'm not even on their questionable quality! - And virtually destroyed the country's poultry industry, which could not in the complex ...71 comments

5. False marital happiness in the 90s
Yesterday was taking his sister with training and has witnessed a disgusting scene. From rocking the neighborhood came out little man, judging by his gait, good legs shook. He rushes to intercept the lady and such a cry breaks my ears in the first seconds refuse to distinguish between sounds. The reason for hysteria ...202 comments

6. What happens if you send in a weightless flight attendant ?!
What happens if I cancel the gravity ?! We live in a world of conventions, high speeds, and the gray of everyday life. Maybe gravity - just a habit ?! We are accustomed to the 3D world, special effects and computer graphics. We were so difficult to surprise some visuals, but what you see today - definitely ...58 comments

7. Cannabis
How snowfall helps police in Europe to seek clandestine cannabis producers? Comments concealed answer tomorrow upd subtleties of cannabis cultivation even know all the answers to the previous puzzle All puzzles in the journal can be found on the tag puzzle 483 comments

8. Pamela Anderson and Livejournal: what was it?
I love sex symbols. Even if they are - former. Pamela Anderson - the undisputed sex symbol. Sex-symbol does not happen. In Russia, few people watching "Baywatch", but the red-Piece Swimsuit traveling on the waves Pam know everything. 124 comments

9. Episode reckless femininity
How often we hear that we are responsible for what myself dressed: whether it is fitting dress or a stunning heels. Women, they say, almost always to blame for their misfortunes: first outfit, and only then think. It is no coincidence sandals high heels look to me ...28 comments

10. But the neighbor - worse!
Whatever dirt and not ruin our people lived, it warms the soul that there are places where still dirtier and destruction. It is faith in the fact that his neighbor is even worse, allowing a blind eye to the garbage under his window. Neighbor can be anyone, but now it's about Ukraine. Yesterday… 201 comments

11. A look at Mars from Mars Express
In a Mars orbit thirteenth year continues its work the European Mars Express satellite. This product was launched in cooperation with the Russian Space Agency - gave our rocket and put some scientific instruments and satellite built the European Space Agency. Mars Express flying by ... 13 comments

12. Why give birth in Russia is not just scary, and very scary ....
Why bomzhihi, drunkards, outcasts give birth in batches, and we are normal, healthy and educated women who do not want to? The truth is bitter. Even now, in my life everything is good, the second I'm not going to give birth under any pretext. And it is this: since the two cherished strips ...146 comments

13. What Danelia disliked Jean-Paul Belmondo
For the filming of the movie "Tears dripped" needed a car "Zaporozhets". This car stopped by the hero in a puddle and fell into the pit. The crew decided to buy a car at a thrift store, but after taking lead in order and surrender back. They were told that this "Mosfilm" director must ...54 comments

14. PR on other people's misfortunes
Is it possible to "put pressure on the mold" and make political points on the mountain the people once, literally, put up with things in the cold. Especially when he was directly involved in the organization of this lawlessness. Today, sitting in a comfortable chair by the fireplace in the role of ...36 comments

15. Who has earned on the squatter
With regard to the demolition of illegal buildings more and more interesting facts are revealed. The fact of the first. Total owners demolished the entire property - 12 people. That is a dozen. Well, not bloody. The 13th in the case is not allowed. Why share? It is interesting, is not it? Basically, it is the representatives of the diasporas. 186 comments