To blog or to journal?

Hello web world. I basically will be just putting down a few thoughts since I'm trying to get into the blogging habit, but haven't really anything interesting to say. So here goes:

Have you ever noticed how blogs have become the journals of the modern generation? It used to be that people would write down their innermost thoughts and feelings in a private book sometimes referred to as a diary. Some of these diaries would even have little locks on them to emphasize the privacy of what was contained within. Being a book lover, I miss the journals. Mainly for two reasons: books feel more tangible than web pages, and you can limit who sees your most private thoughts and feelings and favorite memories.

Journaling is something I enjoy to do. I now consider it almost an art. It used to be just a way to write down what was happening in my life. Seriously. No thoughts or feelings, just facts. And sometimes drawings. That was when I was 12 or so (I started journaling at the age of nine). As I grew into my teen years, I looked at the drawings as childishness and my journals were strictly for thoughts, memories, and the like.

Picture I drew in my journal of one
 of our  garden decorations.

While at college, I was able to watch a friend work on her journal. One day she was lightly drawing with colored pencils to give a background to whatever she'd written. Another day I saw her cutting away at a program from an event we'd been to. When she pulled out the roll of clear packing tape and started taping parts of the program into her journal, I thought, "That's pretty cool!" and soon found myself taping in various odds and ends of my life.






Anything from a train ticket, to a dried flower, to a photo would add to the fun of journaling and the uniqueness of the book (as well as the tangibility of the memory). You know how graduates and engaged couples send photos of themselves in their announcements and the photos usually end up on the fridge for awhile before somehow ending up in the trash? No more of that for me! When I write about the event (be it graduation or wedding) the photo of my friend gets taped in alongside the tales of their big day.

Photo that came with a wedding announcement/invitation for two of my very good friends.

Now I am by no means a faithful journaler. I don't chronicle every little detail of my life, but I do enjoy writing down things I wish to remember. And looking back on what I've written in the past, I'm glad I did pick up this hobby. There are a lot of things I would have otherwise forgotten. The original entries I would write differ so much from the ones I make now. The handwriting is different, the thought process is different, the way I embellish the pages with stickers and drawings and clippings is different. And I have a feeling it will continue to change as I continue to change.
I have a blog (several blogs, actually... inactive xanga, active tumblr, and... whatever this is). And I have a journal. In my mind, they are separate entities for separate purposes. The internet is not where I share my innermost thoughts (musings maybe, but nothing personal). My journal is not where I write what I want the whole world to know. Journaling can be a wonderful adventure if you choose to try it.

Sticker from a birthday party.

A card given to me for my college graduation.

This post on a friend's blog (yes, the same friend who got me started with taping things into my journal) has several ideas for either starting journaling, or adding something extra to your journals:
Intro to Journaling, Part 2
My next ambitious goal is to be able to make my own journal (binding the pages, decorating the cover, and everything) just like these girls did:
August Bookbinding Class

So to answer the question posed in the title of this post: both. Blog and journal. Good night!

I hope this hasn't been too boring of a post! I actually spent quite a chunk of time writing and rewriting it and finally decided it would just have to do as is. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some scratch and sniff stickers my Mom gave me today that I think will be super fun in my journal!

Curiosity MIGHT have killed this cat...

Ever get curious about how easy it would be for a random person to find you on the internet? Well, I did a google images search on myself to see if I showed up. Most of the pictures were not me... on the first page there was a random person who was not me but could have been my cousin's twin, and on the second page there was one random photo of me. So then I decided to do a google images search with my full legal name. Absolutely no pictures of me. I'm safe from stalkers.

I then decided to look up my college roommate's name on google images. The first two photos were of her. Then there were three other random people with presumably the same name. Then her again. Then my program adviser... how did his picture come up with a search for her name? Well, it gets crazier: the next photo is of my two best friends from back home. They don't even go to the same college! I mean, at least my program adviser was connected in some way (through the school) to my roommate. The next picture was another of the school's faculty followed by three maps of the United States, by now, I'm no longer surprised. But wait! What are those next five photos? GRAVESTONES? This just keeps getting weirder and weirder! I think I'll just stop looking before I begin to fear for her life (if I haven't already).

I believe I have learned my lesson. Several lessons in fact. One, the internet is very confused when it comes to the identity of my roommate. Two, I (thankfully) do not have a very high chance of being stalked online (hopefully). Three, my cousin might have a twin that she was somehow separated from at birth (but probably she doesn't). Four, the word "gravestones" looks more sinister when written in both all caps and italics. Five, sometimes it's better not to satisfy your curiosity. Well, that pretty much wraps up the story!

Back again...

Well, I started this thing out of curiosity. A friend who shuns Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites decided to get a... blogspot? blogger? (what is this place called?). Anyway I tried it. All of two posts. Unfortunately I didn't pick the best of times to be adding something new into my life and quickly gave up.

Recently however, at the insistence of another friend that this really is the best blogging site out there, I decided to spend some quality time with it and try to figure it out. So here I am typing up a rather random post just to figure out how to use and navigate this site. All that to say that I may (or may not) be back on here again.