Happy Birthday, LiveJournal!
Happy Birthday, LJ!

Cue the cake and candles, it's our birthday! On April 15, 1999, brad registered the LiveJournal.com domain name, giving birth to the web's original community blogging platform. Ten crazy years later (and not without some growing pains), LiveJournal is still going strong and we're ready to celebrate. It's not every year that you turn 10, so we have lots of things lined up over the next few months.

Birthday Theme Design Contest

Everyone likes to get dressed up for their birthday and we thought it would be fun to come up with some new birthday suits for the site. Or rather, that it might be fun for you (if you're into S2 and CSS) to come up with some new outfits i.e. journal themes. If you love making new themes for styles like Bloggish and Flexible Squares, the LiveJournal Birthday Theme Contest is for you. Submissions open on April 29 and we want to give you time to fire up your imagination. The theme of this theme contest is "LiveJournal Turns 10," but other than that we're leaving it as open as possible so as not to stifle your creativity. You can use Frank, the LiveJournal logo, base your theme on an existing or past LiveJournal site scheme, or any number of things relating to LJ's tenth birthday. Winning entries will be featured in the Journal Themes on the customize page. We'll announce all the rules and technical requirements here and in lj_design on April 29 when the contest officially starts. We can't wait to see what you come up with.

Commemorative Writer's Block and LJ Spotlight

Part of getting older is looking back on your life and reflecting on those special moments. For the next several weeks we'll be running Writer's Block questions about milestones in your own LiveJournal life. We're mixing these in with the regular questions, so keep an eye on your Home page for your chance to wax nostalgic about topics like your first post ever and more.

We don't want LJ Spotlight to feel left out of the celebrating, which is why starting on April 20, the Spotlight will be shining its bright light back on some old favorites. Each week we're going to feature a popular pick from the past (kind of like the Greatest Hits of Spotlight) alongside two newcomers. That way we can all make new friends but keep the old.

Sneak Peek at the Birthday Book

One birthday plan we've had in the works for a while now is an anthology of LiveJournal entries from the past 10 years. (Maybe we've mentioned this before?) We're very busy finalizing the content of the book (let's just say we have new respect for all the work that goes into creating a book) but we wanted to give you a little advance preview of what's in it. Starting today, we'll be posting a weekly excerpt from the book over at lj_turns10. First up, it's Frank!

Coming Soon to a Journal Near You: Attack of the Blog Slurper!

We're using Blurb to make our book, and we're having so much fun that we want you to get in on the bookish good times, too. That's why we're super-excited (!!) to announce our new partnership with the friendly folks at Blurb. Blurb makes it easy to create your own bookstore-quality books, using their free BookSmart software and your content. Even better, Blurb makes it easy to turn your journal into a book with their Blog Slurper. In just a few short clicks, the Blog Slurper pulls (or slurps, if you will) your journal entries into the BookSmart software, where you can format it to your heart's desire. In less than a week your book will be printed, bound, and on its way to you. So if you've always wanted to hold your LJ in your hands, this is your chance.

Photographers should definitely check out the Blurb Photography Book Now contest. With a distinguished panel of jurors and a Grand Prize of $25,000, the contest is a great opportunity to showcase your work to an international audience.

To get you started, Blurb is offering LiveJournal users a little birthday discount. From now through June 30, 2009, you can get $10 off the price of a $29.95 book. Just enter promo code livej10anv when you order your book. Click here to let the books begin.

Tell Your Story

That's enough about us for one news post. Let's talk about you. We're sure you have a story of greatness to share, and our friends at Nature Made want to hear it.

Greatness doesn't have to come in big packages. Whether you volunteer at an animal shelter, play in a band, or try to live a green life, it's the impact and inspiration of your personal story that matters. Answer today’s Writer’s Block: “What change have you made in your life that you're most proud of?” to share your story and inspire others.

After you’ve answered the Writer’s Block, you can submit your story of greatness at NatureMade.com and enter to win $1000 and a spot in the Nature Made “Fuel Your Greatness” documentary. If you have a Basic, Paid, or Permanent account and want to share your story with Nature Made, click here to answer the question.