Blog vs Diary

This post, which has been mentally been hanging round for a while, has latterly been really crying out to be written!  So here I am putting fingers to keys.

Yesterday I was showing someone some of my diary collection.  And it is true - I have over my time kept a lot of diaries, without really feeling it's something I do masses of.  It started with my '1999: last year of the millennium diary' which I had found to try and track down the giant inflatable slide story in.  Over the last week, I have read it all and do truely find it hilarious.  But also at times touching.  Most of it I remember writing, but others no recollection at all.  World Events is definitely the favourite bit.  If my scanner was working, it would be a good opportunity to show it.  Though I guess maybe photos might work.  I then kept the same sort of diary for the first year of the new millennium.  In 2002, I kept a little diary everyday - that's interesting too.  Somewhere around then is my year of the Formula 1 diary.  The two trips to New Zealand I kept very detailed journals of what we did everyday, and when I was in Africa too (how Meryl Streep!).  More latterly I havent kept such specific diaries.  I was given a lovely notebook when I left the Sunshine House School in 2003 and that became my diary when I started uni, but that didn't last long.  It became a txt msg record book.  There are of course the great Rumbly diaries, but I am not at liberty to share about those.  I did have notebooks which I kept sporadically during my uni years and especially on holidays.  I kept a Musicals notebook for several years - probs about 1999 till ...2003?  Am pleased this blog is resurrecting the idea.  And in 2006 I started my official book diary - which I am mega proud of and deserves its own post.  And last year I started my flower diary.  I started a general diary at Christmas for Crieff, but that didn't get past a day and then this blog took over...  Can you hear the dunn dunn duuuuunnnnn.

So that's really a history of my diaries, but I am yet to do the 'compare and contrast' element of this essay!  This entry finally took shape because it came time for me to pack for our HOLIDAY!!!!  Me and packing is probably a whole other story.  I like to know what I'm packing and not just throw everything in.  I hunted out the 2003 diary which I remembered had the packing lists in it from the last two cruises.  I should have started my packing ages ago, but I haven't because I think I was feeling I needed to make that new list before I started.  And because I don't have a diary at the moment I didn't know where to write it.  I tried back home last weekend starting on a piece of paper, but it just wasn't quite clicking (and I left it in Malvern!).  And making a packing list on the computer didn't seem right either - I wanted that pencil in my hand!

18/7/10 Fortunately come early Saturday morning, I picked up the diary I'd started at Christmas and never got past Christmas eve and started a new page with my packing lists on.  And the packing flowed beautifully!!

31/7/10 Back from holiday yesterday and I KEPT UP THE DIARY!  I am proud of myself for doing.  Although initially it wasn't a very interesting diary (not that much of a departure then some might say!) but it did come into it's diary ownness on a couple of occasions.  It did though take up quite a lot of my time to write, but nevertheless I am pleased to have it.