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Do you keep a journal?

post #1 of 18
7/20/10 at 3:26am
Thread Starter 
I was using stumbleupon the other day and stumbled into this self help type of website. The article was about the benefits of keeping a journal/diary.

So I started.

I find it to be a great release. I add to it every night (well, unless that day was particularly boring and I have nothing to vent about) and I really enjoy it. It's a fun little waste of time, and one day I can look back on it and recollect.

So, do any of you keep a personal journal/diary of sorts?
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post #2 of 18
7/20/10 at 7:24am
You're one step closer to being a woman now. Grats.
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post #3 of 18
7/20/10 at 8:13am
I think blogs are the new journal. Except being hidden in a drawer, they are on the interwebz for all to see.
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post #4 of 18
7/20/10 at 12:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SpooPoker View Post
I think blogs are the new journal. Except being hidden in a drawer, they are on the interwebz for all to see.
Yep, I agree. Many daily lives are documented on them, including SF.
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post #5 of 18
7/20/10 at 10:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JayJay View Post
Yep, I agree. Many daily fantasies and projections of wealth while living in squalor are documented on them, including SF.

FTFY
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post #6 of 18
7/20/10 at 10:17pm
At auction, I once paid $1,580 for a collection of dairies from a Chrysler exec, detailing life from 1942-1965. Most of it is interesting, some mundane, and a few memorable quotes. One I will share thusly:

"The most embarrassing woman in my life is my Mother". Do you really want posterity to read this?
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post #7 of 18
7/21/10 at 1:38pm
I've always wanted to keep a journal. I'll start, then stop. Then start again, then stop again. On and on.

Recently, I switched to a smaller notebook that fits in my pocket. I write little things I want to remember, things to do, and sometimes short musings on different things. It serves more as way to remember things, but I plan on holding on to them.
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post #8 of 18
7/21/10 at 5:27pm
I kept a dream journal.

I had make all these code words on the fly so no one who might read it knew what I was dreaming about. I forgot all of my references, making the journal useless.
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post #9 of 18
7/21/10 at 5:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reggs View Post
I kept a dream journal.

I had make all these code words on the fly so no one who might read it knew what I was dreaming about. I forgot all of my references, making the journal useless.

now that's funny

Pretty interesting when you start writing down dreams immediately when you wake up, isn't it? The more days you write, the more you start remembering, etc. etc. until you could start turning them into short stories with all the details that are retained. Never bothered with any kind of code, tho.

SP
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post #10 of 18
7/21/10 at 5:53pm
A while back, one of the senior scientists I worked with showed me his journals. For those that don't know, your laboratory notebook is the property of your company/university/organization. He kept his own journals that covered a lot of the "learning" that never went into his lab notebooks.

It inspired me to do the same, often I'll encounter a problem with a method, experimentally determine and validate a solution for it, and a few years later, I have no idea why I'm doing something the way I do it because I've forgotten all about that little problem.
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post #11 of 18
7/21/10 at 6:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Milpool View Post
A while back, one of the senior scientists I worked with showed me his journals. For those that don't know, your laboratory notebook is the property of your company/university/organization. He kept his own journals that covered a lot of the "learning" that never went into his lab notebooks.

It inspired me to do the same, often I'll encounter a problem with a method, experimentally determine and validate a solution for it, and a few years later, I have no idea why I'm doing something the way I do it because I've forgotten all about that little problem.

Can you expound on that a little? I've been thinking of doing something very, very similar for the longest time, and I'd really like to hear about what kinds of details you put in it. Also, what kind of book/journal do you use that stands up that well?
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post #12 of 18
7/21/10 at 7:21pm
I have kept a daily journal many times when going on interesting trips, especially those without TV or radio. I find it relaxing and a way to enjoy new experiences.
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post #13 of 18
7/21/10 at 7:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by volatility smile View Post
Can you expound on that a little? I've been thinking of doing something very, very similar for the longest time, and I'd really like to hear about what kinds of details you put in it. Also, what kind of book/journal do you use that stands up that well?

Well, the lab notebook is a legal document and is only for fact basically. It has to be dated, signed, page numbered, signed by a witness, etc.

In a personal journal for labwork, it is convenient to put the same facts in it, but also put in ideas about why something went the way it did or or why it didn't do what you expected, or ideas about how to improve it.

It could be as simple as one day writing a little note in there "Results so far are shockingly divergent, check reagents for purity". You would never put personal "insight" like that in an official lab book.

I'll check and see what brand the lab books are, but they are just the normal archival quality lab books; hardcover, good paper, etc.
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post #14 of 18
7/21/10 at 8:01pm
Since 1989
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post #15 of 18
7/21/10 at 11:22pm
I've been suggested this by many of my female friends to handle anger and sadness but instead I turn to alcohol and women. Maybe it's more healthy to keep an journal? Maybe I should try it?
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