I'm thinking about all the different types of diaries I've kept over the years.
What's that one on the table?
That's my Moleskine diary for daily stuff, but I've found I'm increasingly using it to record ideas for this comic, and stories.
What about personal diaries? Do you have any of those? The ones that you use for the embarrassing emotional stuff, I mean.
Well, I've kept those too, on and off over the years. And yes, they're very embarrassing. Some of them make me squirm.
How come?
Oh, they're so self-absorbed. I think I only write in them when I feel like a bit of a moan, so consequently they read like page after page of belly-aching.
But aren't diaries supposed to be true representations of the Self? Aren't they meant to show the secret stuff that no one knows about?
I wonder if that's actually true. Like I said, my diaries tend to reflect the lows rather than the highs. Also, I think people often lie to their diaries.
Why would anyone do that?
Recreating painful events? Putting a better spin on things? Exonerating yourself from blame? There are lots of reasons.
Do you lie to your diary?
I try not to. But I leave things out. Anyway, I barely keep one anymore anyway.
What other types of diaries have you kept?
I have a notebook I kept a while ago that I called "a notebook of ordinary objects." It had lots of simple line drawings of things on my desk or in my cupboard.
I put a date at the bottom of each page, so I guess it was sort of a diary.
A visual diary, maybe?
Yes, sort of. But I guess I think of visual diaries as being less methodical than this was.
Does anyone keep a visual journal style blog?
Plenty of people do. Kathyrn was doing it for a while until her scanner broke. And Looby Lu has drawings to illustrate some entries.
Wasn't there an American guy who was doing a drawing of a new person everyday that he passed on the street?
Oh yeah, he was great. He had some amazing ones from New York around September 11. I'll try to find his site again.
You should add more drawings to these chat sessions.
I intend to. There's just so much to do. I just feel like I'm constantly rushing around.
