Friday Five - Diaries and Blogs
Saturday, Feb. 15, 2003, 12:44 a.m.

Question: Who can restrict themselves to five favorite favorites?

What I Learned: Sometimes five is really eight.

1. Explain why you started to journal/blog. I have kept a journal since I was in junior high. My mom kept a journal and she inspired me. I switched to journaling in electronic form when I figured out how much easier it was to spell it right and drop cool extras in with the text like pictures and interesting snippets of content straight off the web. Integrating these things gave the journal even more of a long-term personal history value. When I look at it, I remember that time in my life even more clearly. It�s also much easier to organize and reorganize thoughts when you can just cut and paste. Once something is written in a regular journal, you are stuck with it as is. I just started my online journal last fall. I am really hooked. It takes journaling to the next level. I especially like the sense of community that is provided by online journaling. I can�t imagine doing without my DiaryLand journal and my diary visitors/pals for even a few days.

2. Do people you interact with day to day or family members know about your journal/blog? Why or why not? I don�t care if family and friends pop into my journal. I�m really writing to remind myself not to take the stress and craziness of ordinary life too seriously. I don�t mind sharing that with people I am close to in real life. The was only one friend I hesitated to show it to initially and that was only because I wanted to get it going and prettify it so that it would be halfway together before incurring his critique � inevitable due to his technical background. And yes, as soon as he saw it he did have a few immediate fixes for me. I was glad I waited and applaud my intuition (still ticking and no battery needed). I have not, and will not, share my diary with a coworker. I want my journal to be a separate place for me to come and write � a kind of safe haven from some parts of my real world. This is my island and I like to retreat to it without having to worry about work intruding on its shores. I would feel very uncomfortable about it if I shared this with anyone who knew me professionally. I don�t foresee a time when I will not stick to this rule.

3. Do you have a theme for your journal/blog? Can you say � Alice. There is just something about Alice that I have always loved. There is something that is just flat out cool about Alice. I can�t imagine ever getting tired of the Alice theme.

4. What direction would you like to have your journal/blog go in over the next year? With regard to my journal, Suburban Island, I would like to continue to build readership and keep writing on the basic glorious amusing drama that is ordinary life. I also want to continue to add all those extras to my diary that provide more dimension to the journal. I�ve got the bookshelf, snaps, and more but who knows what I will think to add next. I also have a weblog � Little Island. Little Island was my initial effort into the world of online journaling and I would like to gear it up to include more suburban strategy content/links. I love sharing information and interesting finds with other people and the weblog gives me that capability and I plan to continue it. I especially want to continue to identify wonderful webcams. It relaxes me to take a �cam break�. Whether stopping by the Eiffel Tower at night or checking out the beach view at Bethany Beach or Ocean City in the middle of the day - I always feel better after visiting the cam links on Little Island. I want to continue looking for more of these great views on the world and keep finding suburban living links to share.

5. Pimp five of your favorite journals/blogs. Favorite journal � how can I pick? I even wrote the powers that be at DiaryLand asking that they consider increasing the favorite diary count from 75 to more, more, more. I don�t want to have a limit � what if I like 100, 115, 130? There are plenty of interesting, well-written, or just plain cool DiaryLand diaries. I can�t imagine living without diarists that like dcalien, taxidriver , chubbychic, b-w-p, and fairybtch. chailife asks the eternal librarian/lightbulb question and so I have to add her to the list on general principal. Furthermore, I love reading all the mommies including trishtastic who writes the best notes. Finally I have to love neon7c (Miss Meridith) whose banner made me want to join DiaryLand in the first place. Is this more than 5? � I guess I got carried away. I never was very good at math. No one is coming off this list however, and it�s lucky I am able to stop myself right here.

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