Anyone Here Keep a Journal?

[GoldenRivet]

http://www.pressies4princesses.co.uk/img/our-gifts/fair-trade-gifts/leather-journal-s.jpg


Back in 2002 i purchased a nice leather bound journal similar to that seen above to "chronicle my life experiences" not only for posterity, but for the reflective value of looking back on times past in detail and to see if it was something i could "stick with" for any length of time.

So far i have filled 12 volumes spanning 8 years, about one year shy of the length of time i have been married. I have recorded virtually every day... and in some rare cases one or two days per month of the past eight years.

I should imagine one day when i am no longer of this world it would make a nice heirloom perhaps.

So far i have recorded things like:

my first time as a CFI to solo a student pilot

A record of the gift exchange of the first Christmas my wife and i shared together as a married couple under our tiny pathetic Christmas tree.

The Shuttle Columbia Explosion shaking me out of bed with Sketches of a crude map of the subsequent "No Fly Zone"

Talk of my limited assistance with the search for Debris from the shuttle disaster. and a sketch of a rather large chunk we found (about the size of a refrigerator door)

My first interviews with the airlines

a midnight emergency 41,000 ft above Nashville

and many other interesting events.

Does anyone else here keep journals?

[Platapus]

Many of my life experiences I can't share and the ones I could would be extremely boring to read. :yep:

Extremely. I tend to live an unremarkable life and I am very comfortable with that.

Congratulations on having the discipline to keep your journal up to date. That can't be easy. :yeah:

[Ducimus]

Many of my life experiences I can't share and the ones I could would be extremely boring to read. :yep:

Extremely. I tend to live an unremarkable life and I am very comfortable with that.


Sounds like me. If i were to write a journal, it would have copious amounts of, "back in the day" , "i used to do ....", and "back when....", mixed in with current day metaphorical ramblings about watching paint dry.

[krashkart]

I could never keep my focus long enough to write a journal.

[Castout]

I keep my experiences in my head :)

My only fear is what little I know of God would be lost to the family. But of course everything is already in the bible . . . .

[Sailor Steve]

Yeah, I keep one, but it's in my computer, not a book. The only thing that fascinates me is going back and reading something I wrote years ago, and seeing what I was thinking at the time.

[Ducimus]

The only thing that fascinates me is going back and reading something I wrote years ago, and seeing what I was thinking at the time.

Yeah, i agree, very fascinating. THough, in my case, it can be down right scary. :har:

[GoldenRivet]

Yeah, I keep one, but it's in my computer, not a book. The only thing that fascinates me is going back and reading something I wrote years ago, and seeing what I was thinking at the time.

Speaking of thought processes; One thing that has captured my fascination is the observation of my literary growth.

The biggest changes took place somewhere around late 03 early 04.

When i was 22 or 23 years old, while decent... my writing skills were not half of what they are today.

I thought about recording these things on computer, not that there is anything "wrong" with doing it that way...but personally:

I enjoy the tactile sense of the pages and the leather cover. I also think that more value will be placed on such a hand me down when my son or grandson holds with his own hands the very journals i once held in my own... additionally, the reader can probably relate on a more personal note with hand written text vs. electronic means of recording.

One has no way of knowing. Perhaps some distant relative 100 years from now will be reading what i had written. perhaps the whole set of journals - by now a prized possession - may be destroyed in a house fire (as they so nearly were).

I know i would do nearly anything to have a set of journals spanning a decade or more from my Grandfather or those before him.

[krashkart]

I wish my great-grandparents had kept journals. Pretty sure the text would have been written in Czech, but invaluable nonetheless. All I have now are fading memories of Gramma (Grampa died a year after I was born), and believe it or not I was too shy to really talk to her much... not that she talked a whole lot to begin with. :haha:

But it would be interesting to have a window into their minds, especially during their transition from the old country. :yep:

[FIREWALL]

Since I got married, some memories are best left in my head and, not jotted down. :DL

[GoldenRivet]

Since I got married, some memories are best left in my head and, not jotted down. :DL

Amen to that.

There are things that dont make it into the journal :cool:

[the_tyrant]

Since I got married, some memories are best left in my head and, not jotted down. :DL

and some you just want to forget:D

[FIREWALL]

and some you just want to forget:D

That Too !!! :up: :haha:

[Takeda Shingen]

I keep one in a physical journal. I tried it on the computer, but there is something about the physical act of writing that I find more attractive. Mine is very terse, but with commentary. Example:

Prepared course syllabi for fall semester--Of course, they'll look at it one time, and that is when I explain it to them, then it will be forgotten. I will, at later date, be read the writ of ignorace when more than one student violates the terms therein; at which time I will be met with blank stares upon my response of 'It was in the course syllabus'.


Really, it is more for personal reflection and therapy than anything. I don't anticipate my life being of any importance worthy of study upon my passing.

[krashkart]

I keep one in a physical journal. I tried it on the computer, but there is something about the physical act of writing that I find more attractive. Mine is very terse, but with commentary. Example:

Prepared course syllabi for fall semester--Of course, they'll look at it one time, and that is when I explain it to them, then it will be forgotten. I will, at later date, be read the writ of ignorace when more than one student violates the terms therein; at which time I will be met with blank stares upon my response of 'It was in the course syllabus'.

Do you teach anyone in their later twenties/early thirties? I didn't enter college until I was 26 and always kept an eye on the syllabus.

Then again, I had a real willingness to ace as many of the courses as possible. :hmmm:

[Takeda Shingen]

Do you teach anyone in their later twenties/early thirties? I didn't enter college until I was 26 and always kept an eye on the syllabus.

Then again, I had a real willingness to ace as many of the courses as possible. :hmmm:

I do see an older student on occasion, but the majority of the students in my class are first and second-year music majors; ages 18-20 and primarily freshman and sophomores. I'm still a Lecturer (teaching professor that has not yet attained tenure), so I have to teach a number of lower-level prerequisite courses that the tenured faculty won't touch. Overall, however, I find that the number of students with your attitude towards education is pretty small, even among the so-called 'dedicated' students.

[Sailor Steve]

One of the things I enjoy is reminding myself of what books I've read, what movies I've seen and exactly when.

I keep one in a physical journal. I tried it on the computer, but there is something about the physical act of writing that I find more attractive.
Unfortunately my right hand is having problems, and I can't hold a pen for more than a minute or two before one of my fingers locks up.

[Takeda Shingen]

One of the things I enjoy is reminding myself of what books I've read, what movies I've seen and exactly when.


Unfortunately my right hand is having problems, and I can't hold a pen for more than a minute or two before one of my fingers locks up.

I'm very sorry to hear that. Does it impact your playing? :cry:

[Onkel Neal]

I tried keeping a journal when I was in high school. You know how, when you look back at yourself years ago, you see what a dope you were? It only took about 8 weeks of journaling to let me see. :O:

[krashkart]

Overall, however, I find that the number of students with your attitude towards education is pretty small, even among the so-called 'dedicated' students.

It helps to know what kind of work offers the most misery per hour of effort. :haha:

How long will you be teaching before you've earned tenure?


I tried keeping a journal when I was in high school. You know how, when you look back at yourself years ago, you see what a dope you were? It only took about 8 weeks of journaling to let me see. :O:

I've looked back at things I wrote and often found it difficult to understand what I was rambling on about. :yep:

[Takeda Shingen]

It helps to know what kind of work offers the most misery per hour of effort. :haha:

How long will you be teaching before you've earned tenure?

:haha: Very true!

I will be elligible for tenure on June 1st. With any luck, I will begin the fall 2011 semester as a full Professor. That will be two years of full-time teaching and research. Teaching or reasearch only requires four years. The rationale is that if you double yourself up and burn the candle at both ends, you are rewarded twice as fast.

[Sailor Steve]

I'm very sorry to hear that. Does it impact your playing? :cry:
No. I was afraid it might when we got back together last year, but neither finger picking nor holding a pick requires making a fist, which is when I have problems.

I know I'm an old-fashioned fuddy-duddy, but I just can't help grinding my teeth every time someone uses "impact" as a verb. I access the internet and google things all the time. I also text people, and I research information, so I have no excuse, but "impact" still gets me for some reason.

But Benjamin Franklin complained about the same thing two hundred years ago.

"During my late absence in France, I find that several new words have been introduced. From the noun notice a new verb noticed was produced. Also advocate led to advocated, and progress to progressed."
-Benjamin Franklin, letter to Noah Webster

[Takeda Shingen]

No worries, Steve. I've got my own list of things that I get persnickety about. :up:

[JU_88]

No journal, no diary, no blogs, no nothing.
The only records of my day to day life are stored in my brain and they needn't be logged anywhere else. :)

[Gerald]

Everything is stored in my memory, which is good, but this actually happened today that I hit the wrong code when I was shopping with my credit card when my thinking was focused on other things,,, in this case a girl who stood behind in the queue, :D