I’m cutting back on my web exposure this year. I thought about cutting back on the blog and using Facebook more, but instead I’ve decided to cut back on Facebook and put this blog on hiatus for a while. I continued writing my Journal in January. I got half way thought the month and decided to put that on hiatus too. I did pick up a Moleskine and have been writing daily notes in that. Going back to analog has been sort of relaxing. It helps that I’ve been disciplined enough to keep it updated every day.
I thought long and hard about writing. Each year I review my work flow and decide how much I want to write, what I want to write, who I’m writing for, how much I want to share, and how I want to share it. First I decided I wanted to write more analog i.e. using pencil and paper. I needed more room for notes, so I passed on the 2010 Sports Illustrated Swimwear desk calendar and got a 2010 Moleskine Pocket Diary. I’m convinced more notes mean I won’t have to write a journal. The notes will be the journal. So far it is working out.
I almost pulled the plug on this blog. Instead I’ve decided to pull the plug on Facebook. I’ve grown disillusioned with the Facebook experience. I’m not closing my account but I’m not going to actively use Facebook any longer. The blog will continue but I envision shorter entries.
I would love to post longer fiction on my other blog, but I have to force myself to complete some of the many drafts I have laying around; maybe some older work as well. It remains to be seen.
Paul and Suzanne were taking Sean and his seventh grade class to the haunted cornfield. I would be babysitting Tim and Clare. I returned Tim’s 2008 Disney photo book. Everyone looked through it again. Clare looked at the photos about five times in a row.
I was trying out a new writing program called Celtx. As a test nothing beats actually writing. I was making it up as I went along. The more I wrote the sillier it got. I finished this masterpiece on Saturday. You can read it here.
I wrote a poem for Ray on Father’s Day
Rainn Wilson in "Monsters vs Aliens"
Sean called this afternoon- a movie he wanted to see
Monsters vs Aliens at the Century Cinema in 3D
Today is Bob Sunday so I had to turn Sean down
Begging were the words and sad was sound
As Sean tried and tried to change my mind
I was unbending; yet never unkind
There would be no movie, the monsters missed
I hung up the phone with an alien promised
A few moments later the phone rang again
It was Sunday Bob, my very best friend
The softball game was beginning, sorry, oh well
I’ll see you next Tuesday, for lunch at the Bell
I picked up the phone and gave Sean a call
I’ve good news to tell you involving softball
Bob has a game, so I am now free
If Monster vs Aliens you still wish to see
The timing was close as I drove across town
Over the Sheyenne River threatening to drown
Sean was ready but dressed for a day
That was months in the future, I’ve nothing to say
If he is not freezing in this cold spring rain
I’m not going to argue it would be in vain
Tim is no better as we race back in the van
A stop sign is ignored, the theater lot overran
The line is not long and the theater half full
The 3D glasses expensive, but the seats plentiful
No demands are made for soda, candy or popcorn
The cbc rules all extravagant expenses forsworn
The glasses are clunky- the movie comes off the screen
Sean and Tim laugh; I sit in between
Upcoming trailers are better than this animated show
The writing is predictable and the action is slow
After the movie the polarized glasses are returned
And twenty-seven dollars Dreamworks has burned
The weather is still raining Tim runs to the van
Back to the Dobbins where the adventure began
Suzanne has mini cookies, Clare dances and sings
She picks out some diversions: toys, books, and things
The afternoon is over, the day is mostly blown
Tim is doing homework, I worked back on home
Today it has been 28 years since I started writing a journal. I’ve tried to stop almost every year since 1983. Obviously there is something I like about writing. I’m not sure what it is because I rarely read my journals. When I do I’m generally looking for a name or a date. This can be taken care of by my Journal Index, but that was abandoned around 2000. The index was a list of all the important names and nouns that I assembled at the same time I wrote the journal entries. I only post a quarter to a third of my journal on my blog, so I intend to keep blogging. Come 2009 we’ll see how all this works.
All this year I’ve thought about and tried other modes of writing and tested some theories. I’ve decided to start using Google Calendar to write the equivalent to my Journal Index. I think I can export the Calendar(s) to my Index database.
Google Calendar is a good tool. I like the multiple calendar feature as I have three modes: Work, Creative, Friends & Family; each mode becomes a color-coded calendar entry.
I made a Father’s Day card and wrote a poem. After dad spent months rebuilding our deck using Trex decking material, I thought I would write a poem comparing him to our deck. (photos)
Ode to Ray ‘Trek’ Maas
My father is like a deck in so many ways
He weathers all storms that come day by day
He is supportive, level-headed and always true
He is plain, understated and loves barbeque
He is elevated, railed but not complex
He is different on many levels, made not of Trek
He is open and welcoming: as a patio door
He is loving and warm to his cedar post core
He is kind to plants and animals: squirrels, doves,
Even the rabbits have all found a home
His exterior may look beat up,
But the frame is strong and runs deep in the loam
There is no warp, or rot- he is low maintenance,
Althought he may never win any award
He was designed and built by loving hands
of that master deckbuilder- our Lord
I’ve been thinking about my Journal, writing, notes, and blog. Almost daydreaming I was playing with a strategy that wouldn’t take so long and would still keep the information of my life at my fingertips.
I’ve been thinking I don’t need to write a journal. Of course I’ve been thinking this for at least five years. I never read my journal. Occasionally I need to look up dates and names. For the first 20 years, I created an index along with my journal, “so what if I created an expanded Journal Index and dropped my journal?” A fleshed out journal index would be just as useful but not as difficult to keep current. I went looking for software and web aps but never found anything suitable. A Panorama database would be perfect- or close to perfect. I even had a format in mind- something similar to my D-art.pan database. I even came up with a system of Categories, Topics, and Keywords. I spent some hours coding it. I plan to start January 1st, maybe earlier if I get real fed up with my Journal. More photography, shorter blog posts and less of this wasting hours writing stuff no one is ever going to read.
