Thanks to the help you provided, I deleted my old lj account and created an Open ID account - and I love it! I think you'd be interested to know, however, that there is a bug that prevents Open ID users from fully using the memory feature of communities - that is to say, memories that are only viewable for members may not be displayed. I deal, but I hink it's a fact to add to your introduction.
I filed a support request and the bug is being worked on. Still, there's no info on when it might be resolved.