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.

Tragedies, Calamities, Insanities

First, the Tragedies... I'm trying to retake a course on Shakespeare's Tragedies (being ill and frustrated, I failed it the first time I took it). I spent yesterday morning struggling to stay awake through Othello and finally ended up drinking a Monster. "This year," I told myself, "This year will be different." Unfortunately, I was right, just not the way I wanted to be. This year I was doing the course by myself. This year I was not getting frustrated with my classmates because of taking too long to read through the play. This year I wasn't hearing my classmate exclaim at the beginning of Hamlet "Oh wow! I forgot what a real video looked like!" (we had grown quite accustomed to filmed theatrical performances), this year I would not be killing Alex's character 5 times through the 5 plays. This year my eyes wouldn't be going weird from the projector colors. Yes, this year was different. Sadly, this cannot be said about the true troubles I faced last year. My classmates and I had been taking the course through a different college's distance correspondence program since our college quit offering the course. Hence follows the calamities.

Since I had once before taken the course, I knew what was to be expected and had started studying the material before my information packet, enrollment confirmation, and study guide arrived. When those items failed to arrive within the expected time-frame, I started calling the college but was left leaving messages on machines. Yesterday evening I was finally able to talk to some people, but to my great dismay (and here comes the calamity) my online application had not actually gone through and the college had no record of my applying. I was frazzled and frustrated. I think I even cried a little... Then I had to go about trying to remap my schedule for testing (which was a challenge since I will not be in town for very much longer). When at the end of the day a friend invited me to Starbucks, Walgreens, and WalMart, I gladly accepted, relieved for the distraction and eager to get some items from "Wally World." Here is where the insanities begin...

We went out and had a mildly thrilling adventure which I dare not share today for detracting from the story at hand. Arriving back "home" (actually school) I found myself bouncing about quite a bit, unable to remain still or in one place for much time. I made the comment to my roommate, "I don't know why I'm so fidgety right now!" Her raised eyebrow quickly brought to mind the Monster (which she disapproves my consumption thereof) and then glancing across the hall at my friends door I recalled the Starbucks drink. All the stupidity of it hit me immediately and I repented myself right quick. The rest of the evening I spent bouncing around campus in a Renaissance costume (that in and of itself is a whole new story) and helping another friend with her paper that was due the next morning. The caffeine high eventually wore off... but laying in one's bed waiting for it to do so certainly makes the punishment strong enough to deter it's occurrence from happening anytime within the near future.

So learn from my mistakes: 1. Choose your college courses wisely. 2. Actually, I'm still trying to learn the lesson attached to the calamity... and 3. Know your caffeine limitations and drink carefully.

I hope this tale brought a grin to your face, smile to your heart, and sparkle in your eye. (And if I'm really lucky, this may even have made you chuckle a few times!)

Curiosity didn't kill any cats... but it did get the human to join blogspot.

Thanks to my good friend, Nita (last names shall rarely, if ever, be mentioned in my blogs), I was convinced to get a blogspot/blogger thingy. You see, she doesn't have Facebook (gasp and horror!), nor does she have twitter (surprising, but not shocking), and rarely does she text (incredible). So when (miracle of miracles) she actually got a BLOG I decided that I had to check this sight out. I mean, sure, lots of my other friends already joined here, but those friends are also frequently on the internet and have Facebook pages... so what makes THIS sight so special that Nita actually agreed to join? The suspense was unbearable, so I stopped watching my Othello DVD (not hard to do... it's a rather depressing play) and signed up for a blogspot blogger. So here I am internet world! And I'm ready for the adventure (or boredom and humdrum, which ever it may be) that you have to offer.
Keep smiling!