(no subject)

[lisamoe]

So what's your journal for? Venting your spleen? Keeping friends updated? Posting quiz results? Letting everyone in on your fabulous sex life? Joining communities? Just for reading your friends' journals? Did you keep a paper journal before you kept an online one? Do you still keep a paper journal?
Just wondering.

Comments

[gentlemaitresse.livejournal.com]

I occasionally write about things that irritate me. I like to remember the good times, too. Livejournal has been good for "meeting" new people with similar interests. It's the only place where I write about my sex life. Quizzes are fun occasionally. Communities are interesting. Feeds are informative. Reading what others write is sometimes eye-opening, and almost always entertaining.

I kept a paper journal before, but I don't anymore. I did not write about my sex life in my paper journal, but I did keep notes on my garden, the weather, favorite recipes, and special events.

How about you?

[lisamoe.livejournal.com]

I've always kept a paper journal off and on, but not hardly at all since getting on lj. I think what draws me to use it with more regularity than a paper journal is the interactive nature of it. I like getting and giving feedback. My paper journal was very much like my lj, when I kept one. (minus the silly quiz results of course) It's a mix of venting, talking about the kids, and the occasional insight into me.

I think the best part of lj is finding friends of friends that I never would have met IRL in a place where I can check out their writing and see who they are more thoroughly than if I met them in chat or on a traditional bulletin board.

[nxtwothou.livejournal.com]

I have a horrific memory. So I absolutely hate forgetting things. I write things down to make sure that I remember exactly what happened. I make sure its all public to make sure that rumor doesn't go very far. And to let those who aren't close by in on everything, good and bad. Its also a defense mechanism, making sure that I make it very clear what's taboo and why.

I created a journal on my webpage many moons ago(well '97) and updated it there for awhile until livejournal came around and I got roped into it. I've never kept a paper journal.

Since getting a livejournal its expanded out greatly to include my voyuerism, being endlessly fascinated by other peoples lives.

[lisamoe.livejournal.com]

I have a pretty good memory, but I find that when I write things that happened down, I can let them go and not have to hold them in my head. This is a good thing, because it also lets me let go of hurtful emotion and stuff that goes with what happened. It's always there written down if I need it.

Memory, what?

[0ccam.livejournal.com]

I like the way you put that..."can let them go." When I write down something it is actually MOVED. I sorta stop thinking about it. So if I have an unformed idea, I just CAN'T let myself write it down until it's fully formed. Otherwise, it never actually forms fully.

[jorjedatoy.livejournal.com]

Very well said, Lisa. I haven't kept a paper journal since I was a kid (and I still have those), but I have been known to vent onto paper or Word when I needed to do so. When things happen, I get a need to tell people. I used to call or email all of my friends and tell them. Now, I just put it in my journal. If people want to read it and even comment - great! If not - well then I've not forced myself upon them. I know you can relate, as we've discussed this before. My poor non-internet friends, though (I think I have... 1)... she feels left out because I forget to tell her stuff. Once it's out, I can let go of it. Definitely.

[indiadawn.livejournal.com]

I kept a paper journal very sparsely and kept promising myself I would do it more consistently. Of course, if I were to have kept every single scrap of paper I ever wrote on throughout my life I am sure I could paste it all together to make a lovely journal.

As for my LJ, I use it for everything. I love the comments feature because it allows people to give their opinions to any given situation I write about. It can be harsh and drama inducing at times, but then again, isnt that what makes a good story?(we are writing after all)

Just imagine if everyone on LJ made completely public journals and everyone in each respective persons' life could read it, it would be the ultimate drama fest. Fortunately that is what friends lists.

[lisamoe.livejournal.com]

I kept my paper journal much more sparsely than my lj too. And it's in a dozen little books scattered around instead of all in one place like this.

[tura.livejournal.com]

I use my LJ to keep track of the minutae of my life, to keep in touch with people I like but am too lazy to visit in person, and as a sort of confessional.

I used to have two LJ's - one for my real life and one for my fantasy life, but the plot for the fantasy one got out of hand (when someone I used to game with started interacting with me...advanced the plot in a direction I was pleased with...and then vanished) and I have not updated it in ages. I think its still here someplace though - the username was crowjayne.

I keep a paper journal of the fictional stuff now,. and put the real stuff here.

R

[lisamoe.livejournal.com]

I love the keeping in touch aspect of it. Lj is how I found you this time around and I love being able to just see what's going on in my friends lives from day to day. I've had a hard time keeping up IRL life since I had kids, but I can always find 20 minutes to glance over my friends page.

[oldmanpops.livejournal.com]

Answers in order.

No.

Usually.


Yeah, right!

Occasionally.

Mostly.

No.

N/A.

[mistressxenobia.livejournal.com]

i used to keep a paper journal religiously...
now i use the online one for just general shit - keeping the stalkers happy, you know...
i make private entries when i want to save certain information, but for the most part it's a public journal...
i'm SO addicted to livejournal...

[lisamoe.livejournal.com]

I'm really addicted too. But there's worse things.

[tapestry01.livejournal.com]

Besides keeping me in the habit of writing something every day, I've found maintaining a journal to be a big emotional release for me. I've always been impressed with the permanence of the written word, so no matter how long something has been bumping around in my head, writing it down literally purges it out of my system. I get rid of a lot of negative feelings that way. I write about things in my life, the people I talk to, and how I feel about what's going on. A hundred years from now, I have no idea what people will think if they read it. I hope I come across as an average guy who tried to do the right thing (most of the time, anyway).

I've kept an offline journal, and written in it almost daily, since 1986. Up until 2000, it was all in longhand. I resisted writing my journal as a computer file for a long time. For one thing, it's too easy to cheat. If you change your mind about something (or someone) in your life, you can "go back in time" and edit the entrys. Also, I know computer files are not immortal. Files can get corrupted, lost or accidently deleted, and then a big chunk of your life is gone forever. What I do is write my journal in 3-month chapters, doing occasional backups to diskette. At the end of each three months, I print out my journal into a hardcopy and put it in storage. My complete 2003 journal, single-spaced, 10-point type, printed out at 196 pages.

As for my online journal, I kind of think of it as a personal, intimate fanzine that can be read by millions of people. I used to use it as a forum for expressing myself on social and political issues, but I don't do that so much anymore... not since I got yelled at over the phone for something I wrote, and someone else said my journal "polluted" his Friends page...

[lisamoe.livejournal.com]

As for my online journal, I kind of think of it as a personal, intimate fanzine that can be read by millions of people. I used to use it as a forum for expressing myself on social and political issues, but I don't do that so much anymore... not since I got yelled at over the phone for something I wrote, and someone else said my journal "polluted" his Friends page...

You should write what moves you. If someone doesn't like it they're free not to read it.

[kaon.livejournal.com]

You know, I'm not sure (anymore) while I started keeping my journal online. I do remember that I'd hoped that I could be as ... open when posting online as I am in my paper journal. That's never happened. Oh, wait, I do remember. I started keeping this journal as kind of a news thing for friends. I had integrated it into my website, so the past three or four entries would appear on the home page of the site. LJ made it easier to update this info.

Then I decided to make it something more, as noted above. Alas, that has never come about.

Sometimes, yes, I whine (frequently, actually). Quiz results, eh, I can take 'em or leave em. Keeping friends updated, yeah, it's good for that. As for the sex life thing, well, I have my "sex list" but it sure doesn't have much posted on it -- that should tell you how fabulous my sex life can be.

Communities -- those are things I find interesting for a while, but then my interest dies if people don't post; my interest dies when people start flaming each other; my interest dies for pretty much anything, but those two points are the most prevelant.

Friends journals -- this, I like! I'm such a voyeur, I like being able to have a glimpse into other's lives. Maybe I live vicariously through their journals.

Yes, I did keep a paper journal before I kept an online one. I've kept a journal since the eight grade and there's a lot of paper involved. It's out of hand and I'd really like to have the footlocker back in which it is contained. I do still keep a paper journal for the things I can't bring myself to put online.

[jackofalltech.livejournal.com]

Journal? I have a journal? Oh, yeah...I might post more in it some day. I'll probably just use it for a soap box and not talk a great deal about my personal life. I tried to start one on paper a couple of times and it never lasted long. BTW,


I am Fritz, from "Fritz the Cat." I like
sex!


Which Random Cult Movie Character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

[lisamoe.livejournal.com]

Ya know, a soap box is ok too. I'd like to hear more from you no matter what it is. Some people also start a private "hidden" journal for their very personal or sexual things.

journalage

[0ccam.livejournal.com]

My fairly new journal exists for two reasons:
1. To play with Livejournal a little.
2. Just to see if anything I bother to write about will get a reaction.

I vent my spleen at a different place: Bitch and Moan

I can keep one friend updated on some trivial items. Only have one that knows I'm here so far (see number two answer to the first q)

No, my sex life is not mentioned here (so far--maybe later).

Joining communities...maybe. Haven't found one that I thought I needed to join yet.

I do read the aforementioned friend's journal, and I like much of the comment interaction. I mentioned to him once before that I could see one of the reasons he uses LJ. He gets lots of supportive comment.

I did not keep a paper journal unless it was for some class or somethiung. As other folks have mentioned, that would not be interactive at all. I think I'd rather have the interaction. Like this comment I'm typing now.

Re: journalage

[lisamoe.livejournal.com]

I was very sporadic about my paper journal. I've always kept one, but would go a long time in between fits of writing. I think the interaction and feedback and supportive comments are what's made it easier for me to keep up with this one.

[kengr]

Not entirely sure what my LJ is for. Sometimes I vent, sometimes I share stuff, sometime I post stuff hoping to find out that I'm not alone in feeling/thinking something.

I never kept a paper journal.

I kinda got into this when a former Master had me keeping a *required* daily journal and emailing it to him. Then he got me reading his LJ. But by then he'd either released me or was considering it. So I got mine half to read his (and other folks) and partly for the reasons above.

[buckyduckman.livejournal.com]

I still keep a paper journal, though it's kept on my computer's hard drive rather than paper. I type so much faster and neater than I write!

I'm a habitual journaler. I've had several online with various degrees of success and purposes. When I started this one, I wanted a place just for my stories. And I wanted it on a site that got enough eyeballs that I would actually get comments from readers. I'm a real slut for a comment, good, bad, or otherwise.

I recently started a second livejournal for my non-story thoughts, mostly as way to keep my regular journal "pure." (Ha! I just called a journal full of sex stories "pure!") To date, though, I've only written one entry in the musing oriented one. I'm sure what it's place will be in my life yet. Truthfully, I think the best part of livejournal are the comments, the thoughtful dialog that goes on beyond the entries themselves.

[lisamoe.livejournal.com]

I thought, a year ago, about separating out my sex stuff from my regular daily journal but decided just to filter it and leave it all in one place. Sometimes I wish I had gone ahead and separated it out though, mostly so the people who are only interested in that aspect of my life wouldn't have to wade through long boring stories about my kids. But it's all me. I guess you have to take the good with the very dull.

[buckyduckman.livejournal.com]

I tend to be a very fragmented person. I decided a long time ago that each of us are made from a myriad of parts and that most can only see one or two parts at time. So, regardless of my intentions, I would never be seen completely by anyone. Compounding matters is that we all see the world through the filter of our own experiences, so what seems completely innoculous to me might be terribly shocking to you, and vice versa. So, I let it be. In my mind, no matter which part of me you choose to see, you'll see truth and you'll never see something that contridicts an unseen truth. As for the conclusions people jump to about me, I find those amusing, a bit of entertainment on a rainy day.

All in all, it was an intriguing question you asked and I've enjoyed reading the responses.

Journaling

[jorjedatoy.livejournal.com]

My journal is for me to write whatever is in my head.

oh dear, my spleen needs venting?! Um... is it gonna essplode??

Yes, it's a good way to keep my friends updated on my day-to-day (yet exciting in my own eyes) life without having to spend all day on the phone. lol

I post the occasional quiz results. I think this used to happen on some email lists. I'd rather see it here.

I try not to post too much about my fabulous sex life, in order to respect my partners' privacy. If it were just me, I'd post all about it... but then it'd just be lots of masturbation. hahaha

I do join communities, but don't add very many to my friends list. Then I have to actually be interested enough to go read them. Considering how busy my friends page is, that's not likely to happen much at all. It doesnt'.

I love reading my friends journals and I think this is what started it. I finally got one after mistressxenobia bugged me to do so.

I kept diaries when I was a kid, but as an adult I only occasionally wrote (or typed, then printed) when I was very upset and needed to get my thoughts out really bad. Then I'd try to give the paper to whomever had effected me so much, but I usually just stashed the pages to be found years later.

I never do that anymore. If I need to vent that badly, I just put it into my journal, even if it's just a private entry. When I do type a private entry, I generally add Joe to view it a couple of days later, when I've cooled off - if not sooner.

[n-friend.livejournal.com]

Interesting to think about the whys of journaling.
I do LJ because pshrew said I had to. Being an obedient one, I did, but not very faithfully at first. Am doing much better this year.
I have done the Dear Diary thing on and off over the years but again, not faithful to it even though I have good intentions.
I am finding lurking about others journals and having feedback really motivates me to keep on going with this.

[lisamoe.livejournal.com]

I have kept this up much better too because of the feedback and interaction. I've never kept a journal so consistently as this, although I've always kept one off and on. Also, if pshrew said you had to, that's good motivation, right? :-)

[n-friend.livejournal.com]

It would appear that keeping pshrew happy is an excellent motivator!!

I think I become inhibited because my life is really pretty "usual" if not down right mundane but then, it is *mine*
I am a pretty upbeat person so find it difficult to vent or bitch about things here although I suppose it might inspire comments from others. Hmmmmm

Good questions!

[samvimes.livejournal.com]

Venting your spleen? Definitely. I write about things that annoy me and that I'd like to see changed. I also write about things I adore that I'd like to see preserved. And I muse about the world situation, trying to decide whether something belongs in the first category or the second.

Keeping friends updated? Certainly. Particularly the bits I think other people will find more interesting--I know my life is frequently ho-hum, but it does get exciting once in a while.

Posting quiz results? Occasionally. Most quizzes don't interest me, but when one does, it goes in.

Letting everyone in on your fabulous sex life? Heh heh! Yes, I am indeed an exhibitionist.

Joining communities? I'm on a few. Don't have enough time to read everything I find interesting, sadly.

Just for reading your friends' journals? I keep up as best I can with the journals of friends I know in real life. The other journals get read or not based mostly on how much time it takes to keep up. And I enjoy making comments on others' journals, and responding to theirs on mine. LJ is a hit because, more than a mere online journal, it's a continually evolving community and an endless series of fascinating discussions!

Did you keep a paper journal before you kept an online one? Do you still keep a paper journal? Nope, and nope. Way too tedious to write with a pen, and my handwriting sucks big-time.