My Journals

August 29, 2001

My first journal entry.

A few weeks ago I came across all of my old diaries/journals, dating back to when I was 5 years old (my very first entry from just over 20 years ago: "NO FRIENDS, TO PLAY WITH"). Though I haven't kept a journal consistently, I have had a number of journals over the years that represent very distinct parts of my life:

1981-1983 [ages 5-7]... These were in a blue notebook that was originally my mom's high school notebook. My writing got significantly better from start to finish. Drawings of football players were interspersed with mispellings like "poboly" (probably).
1983-1987 [ages 8-11]... I was an angry kid and it really shows in this journal, but I also kept track of standard everyday events and signficant life-events. The second entry talks about a trip to a friend's house to play Smurfs on his Colecovision (mispelled as "Colocovishon"). Interestingly, this journal also mentions my first kiss (and has the girl's name, Cindy, which I had forgotten until I rediscovered this journal). Some days my entries were simple: "7/8/1985: Shit." And other days, I made very astute observations like, "1986 would not be anything without: Rap and girls." Amen, brother, amen.
1988 [age 12]... I kept this journal for our trip to California when I was in sixth grade. I was more concerned with writing down the names of the attendants on the train ride than any deep thoughts about my first trip to the left coast.
1992-1994 [age 16-18]... During my high school years, I kept a journal on my Laser 128ex Apple II-compatible. I chronicled my (limited) dating experiences as well as my thoughts on the high school that I hated with every fiber of my being. I went five years without reading these entries, and when I went back to do so after hooking up my old computer, I was absolutely engrossed. I spent an hour a day for three straight days following the story of my life like I was an outsider. I could feel my stomach tensing up during certain points and had moments of lucidity about other events a full seven years after the fact.
1997 [age 21]... This brief journal was from the first semester of my Junior year of college.
1998 [age 22]... This journal was from my trip to Vietnam with Huyen and her mother.
2000-current [age 24-current]... I now keep my journal on my computer, once again. The entries are sporadic, but now I see how valuable looking back at old journals can be, so I try to make each entry worthwhile.

I keep my current journal using DavidRM's The Journal software, which is simply outstanding. I've transferred all my entries from high school to this new program and added an extra "Afterthoughts" tab that allows me to pontificate on the grander meaning of earlier entries. I have begun to type the entries from my Vietnam journal and plan on transcribing ALL of my old journal entries into this program, including scans (if necessary) of my early entries. I also plan to add a tab for my dream journal, which I've kept for over a year now.

I always felt like I never wrote enough in terms of journal entries, but looking back at the various journals representing most of the major portions of my life, I realized I actually wrote quite a bit. Combine them with my blogs and these "Soft Rain" entries and I think I should have some pretty good material for my biography when I'm 50.

(See also: Daily Ping)