_________________________________________________________________ / \ \ " What is a diary as a rule? / / \ \ A document useful to the person who keeps it. / / \ \ Dull to the contemporary who reads it... / / \ \ ...and invaluable to the student, centuries / / afterwards, who treasures it. " \ \ / / - Walter Scott \ \_________________________________________________________________/ I keep a diary ============== I like to store memories on paper, for later. Mundane daily life or exciting events. My motivation? -------------- //Everything can be interesting when viewed later, from the future, even my own humdrum life.// I'm inspired by Mass Observation, the diaries of Alan Bennet, the writings of Simon Garfield, the passionate call-to arms in Irving Finkel's video, the wonderful Omnium Gatherum of John Gadd. Indexing -------- I recently (December 2023) decided that I need a way of finding old entries/events/facts etc. and I'm starting an Index.... more later... (I've added in a separate article on my indexing ideas) Inspirations ============ Alan Bennet ----------- * Writing Home * Keeping on Keeping on * House Arrest Simon Garfield -------------- * Wartime Mass-Observation diary collections * Our Hidden Lives * We Are At War * Private Battles * A Notable Woman - The diary of Jean Lucey Pratt She was one of the Mass Observation diarists in the Wartime collections above (anonymised as "Maggie Joy Blunt"), but she also kept a separate diary covering her whole life, starting in 1925 aged 15 until she died in 1986. The Great Diary Project ----------------------- The wonderful Irving Finkel mini lecture on You Tube [0] gives a feel of why I think capturing everyday life, in ordinary peoples' diaries, is important. The result of Irving's discovery of the importance of diaries is the Great Diary Project [1] [2] The American Diary Project -------------------------- There is a similar project in the USA [3] Anne Lister ----------- Now well known after the BBC dramatization as "Gentleman Jack" - Anne Lister lived in the 18th Century, was a land-owning woman (unusual) and most famously, gay. Her diaries were written partly in a "secret" code, to hide the more personal aspects. They were researched and sections published in 2 volumes by Helena Whitbread.[4] I've read the first volume, and it's a fascinating insight into life in the 1820s - leaving aside the sexual aspects - just the practicalities of life, the leeches and quack medical treatments. The amount of walking needed to get anywhere, the poor diets (even for the wealthy). The physical discomfort tolerated (even by the wealthy). John Gadd --------- I recently discovered John Gadd and his diary. [5][6][7] He seems to have kept a very similar style of journal to mine - writing daily in one book storing EVERYTHING, writing, photos, tickets, labels.... and a record of his day, his thoughts and only touching on "world news" if it particularly meant something to him. He called it his "Omnium Gatherum". He died aged 90 on 2020, after keeping his diary consistently since 1947, really settling on its eventual format in the early 1970s. His diary was a memory-aid, as is mine, but of course it also captures lots of other things, mundane at the time but over a lifetime the mundane becomes the historical, and illustrate how life changes. I'd love to see the books and look through the pages, and see how he indexed everything to make it searchable and to find anything within a few minutes. My Diaries ========== Daily Diary Entry ----------------- * I write bullet points for the day ahead or to help find things quickly while skimming through at a later date. * I add small sketches to make it more interesting or to help visualize something * I write a long-form account of the previous day's events * I paste in photographs, tickets and other ephemera Tracking -------- * I keep track of various regular events, "Last Done" dates etc in separate trackers and tables. * I keep a log of purchases * I keep a log of books I read * I keep a wish-list of things I might want to buy at a later date * I keep a record of medications and symptoms for my long-term medical conditions * Book of choice Leuchtturm1917 A5 Hardback DotGrid * Pen of choice Lamy Safari EF nib * Fountain Pen Inks of choice Diamine Eau de Nil & Platinum Carbon Black * Watercolours of choice : Windsor & Newton Cotman Sketcher Pocket set with the China White swapped for some Payne's Grey instead. * Shop of Choice Cult Pens References ========== [0]: https://youtu.be/X0hi2Q3TAK8 [1]: https://www.thegreatdiaryproject.co.uk/ [2]: https://youtu.be/rhi9xKGGWX8 [3]: https://americandiaryproject.com/ [4]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Lister [5]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07zyhq2 [6]: https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/10777080.150-volumes-and-33000-pictures-meet-john-gadd-the-man-whos-written-britains-biggest-personal-diary/ [7]: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2387793/Dear-diary--Man-83-shows-Britains-biggest-personal-journal-hes-writing-66-years-times-size-War-Peace.html Some Pics of my diary sketches.... ==================================== [8]: gopher://g4slv.cloud/I/hobbies/stationery/coffee.jpg [9]: gopher://g4slv.cloud/I/hobbies/stationery/eyedrops.jpg [10]: gopher://g4slv.cloud/I/hobbies/stationery/adalimumab.jpg [11]: gopher://g4slv.cloud/I/hobbies/stationery/lft.jpg [12]: gopher://g4slv.cloud/I/hobbies/stationery/teapot.jpg [12]: gopher://g4slv.cloud:70/I/media/image_files/blood1.jpg