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catbert
April 23rd, 2020, 11:32 AM
https://time.com/5824341/wwii-diaries-coronavirus/

BlkWhiteFilmPix
April 23rd, 2020, 01:40 PM
Thanks for the link.

Am writing entries about stay at home experiences in my regular journal.

catbert
April 23rd, 2020, 02:33 PM
Thanks for the link.

Am writing entries about stay at home experiences in my regular journal.

Me too.

Johnny_S
April 23rd, 2020, 06:03 PM
Thanks for the link.

Am writing entries about stay at home experiences in my regular journal.

Me too.

I don't think that I dare, I have found the entire experience to be darkly depressing with life boiled dry to its bare essentials, no friends to see and just a great deal of anxiety.

Dave
April 23rd, 2020, 08:58 PM
Mine, for now, wouldn't change much from day to day.

It's hot and humid all the time. During the day it saps energy. At night sleep does not come easily. Aside from the conditions there are many denizens here that enjoy evening serenading. It's never really quiet at night. Whatever sleep does come doesn't last long. Life here wants to get up pretty early and wants to make a song and dance of it, pulling you rudely from an unrefreshing oblivion. Only in the fullness of day does the clamour lessen in any considerable way. The heat sapping the ardour of even the local inhabitants. Good discipline is required to overcome the daily listlessness and engage with the tasks to hand. Rarely a breeze rises, offering a little respite, but only rarely. The water in nearby rivers and small lakes is often over 80F, so no relief there either.

So, days spent battling languor, evenings and mornings trying avoid the endless parade of things that want to eat some part of me, and nights trying to sleep against a background cacophony of courting critters. I'm semi used to it, this is not my first rodeo, and occasionally something new happens - an unfamiliar bird for example. Small surprises, but welcome for all that.

They say that tomorrow will bring rain. Here that simply means a difference in the level of water in an already wet air. It will be mildly refreshing, no more.

Sumi
April 23rd, 2020, 10:00 PM
Mine, for now, wouldn't change much from day to day.

It's hot and humid all the time. During the day it saps energy. At night sleep does not come easily. Aside from the conditions there are many denizens here that enjoy evening serenading. It's never really quiet at night. Whatever sleep does come doesn't last long. Life here wants to get up pretty early and wants to make a song and dance of it, pulling you rudely from an unrefreshing oblivion. Only in the fullness of day does the clamour lessen in any considerable way. The heat sapping the ardour of even the local inhabitants. Good discipline is required to overcome the daily listlessness and engage with the tasks to hand. Rarely a breeze rises, offering a little respite, but only rarely. The water in nearby rivers and small lakes is often over 80F, so no relief there either.

So, days spent battling languor, evenings and mornings trying avoid the endless parade of things that want to eat some part of me, and nights trying sleep against a background cacophony of courting critters. I'm semi used to it, this is not my first rodeo, and occasionally something new happens - an unfamiliar bird for example. Small surprises, but welcome for all that.

They say that tomorrow will bring rain. Here that simply means a difference in the level of water in an already wet air. It will be mildly refreshing, no more.

Just that could make a great short story.

grainweevil
April 24th, 2020, 12:48 AM
Indeed.

Also I'm beginning to suspect you're not frolicking with penguins in Antarctica, Dave... ;)

No journal for me - no doubt it'll be amply covered by plenty of others. Had I had the spare time and energy to have journaled the last year, it might have been interesting to see how much of my life hasn't changed under lockdown, but it would be a deadly dull read.

Dave
April 24th, 2020, 01:07 AM
If I saw a penguin I'd be mightily surprised, and probably taking a suspicious look at any wild mushrooms that may have crept into the last meal.

ethernautrix
April 24th, 2020, 04:49 AM
What a well-described post, Dave. I can almost feel the mosquito bites (I am a mosquito magnet).

Beautifully written

migo984
April 24th, 2020, 06:48 AM
............ (I am a mosquito magnet).........

Ah, my sympathies from a fellow mozzie magnet. I’m generally fine here at home in the U.K. but venture anywhere overseas and I get eaten alive. The last time I was in Australia I managed to get bitten many times just sitting outside for 20 minutes eating my lunch. That was in the middle of the Central Business District in Sydney! And my mozzie bites always swell up painfully into unsightly red wheals. or become infected.😢 I don’t go anywhere without antihistamine tablets!

catbert
April 24th, 2020, 07:40 AM
Thanks for the link.

Am writing entries about stay at home experiences in my regular journal.

Me too.

I don't think that I dare, I have found the entire experience to be darkly depressing with life boiled dry to its bare essentials, no friends to see and just a great deal of anxiety.

Writing and drawing around my anxieties helps put them in perspective. This is not in any way to minimize your experience, which may not be susceptible to such an approach.



............ (I am a mosquito magnet).........

Ah, my sympathies from a fellow mozzie magnet. I’m generally fine here at home in the U.K. but venture anywhere overseas and I get eaten alive. The last time I was in Australia I managed to get bitten many times just sitting outside for 20 minutes eating my lunch. That was in the middle of the Central Business District in Sydney! And my mozzie bites always swell up painfully into unsightly red wheals. or become infected.😢 I don’t go anywhere without antihistamine tablets!

I used to be a mosquito magnet, now not so much. Have presumably soured and/or become less tender and juicy over time.

fountainpagan
April 24th, 2020, 10:26 AM
@ Dave - You have a beautiful beginning for a quarantine journal.

I have started a specific journal for quarantine. I don't express my thoughts in it, or my living, because my life didn't change with quarantine. I use this journal to write all the solidary actions people around me do, towards carers (and all those who continue working for us to eat, be in security, and all). I also write all those actions around the country, I read in the internet, and see on television.

To lighten up the journal, I write down all those actions neighbors (I live in the country side, no neighbors) do all over France - Italy - Spain and Portugal , such as: balcony gym all together - quizz in the evening, for all the building - in difficult neighborhoods, some young people have organised books deliveries, for the elderly, with the help of some libraries' directors - some do concerts for their street, others play plays together, but from eachothers windows, etc, etc.

I want to remember all these good actions, and funny events, not only the counting of the dead - I shall not forget them, anyhow.

manoeuver
April 24th, 2020, 01:29 PM
I tried to write daily in the journal I have for that purpose, but couldn't muster the whatever.
so for now (after losing a coupla few weeks) I'm emailing myself the events of the day in the eveningtimes. better than nothing.

Dave
April 24th, 2020, 04:15 PM
That's a great idea, maneuver! You could write as if describing your day to a treasured friend or confidant. In fact, maybe start with (channelling Winston Churchill) "Dear Clemmie," or something similar, to encourage separation of thoughts from self? I'm pencilling in this idea for later exploration.


And having mentioned pencilling, all my jottings in my moleskine-type journal are now in pencil. Bit like Hemingway. Maybe it's a sign!

Lady Onogaro
April 24th, 2020, 09:25 PM
Mine, for now, wouldn't change much from day to day.

It's hot and humid all the time. During the day it saps energy. At night sleep does not come easily. Aside from the conditions there are many denizens here that enjoy evening serenading. It's never really quiet at night. Whatever sleep does come doesn't last long. Life here wants to get up pretty early and wants to make a song and dance of it, pulling you rudely from an unrefreshing oblivion. Only in the fullness of day does the clamour lessen in any considerable way. The heat sapping the ardour of even the local inhabitants. Good discipline is required to overcome the daily listlessness and engage with the tasks to hand. Rarely a breeze rises, offering a little respite, but only rarely. The water in nearby rivers and small lakes is often over 80F, so no relief there either.

So, days spent battling languor, evenings and mornings trying avoid the endless parade of things that want to eat some part of me, and nights trying to sleep against a background cacophony of courting critters. I'm semi used to it, this is not my first rodeo, and occasionally something new happens - an unfamiliar bird for example. Small surprises, but welcome for all that.

They say that tomorrow will bring rain. Here that simply means a difference in the level of water in an already wet air. It will be mildly refreshing, no more.

Do you live down here in South Louisiana? (Sounds too familiar.)

Dave
April 25th, 2020, 03:42 AM
No, ma'am. I can't say exactly where I am but some here will have figured out that it's a long way south east of the Pelican State.

amk
April 25th, 2020, 06:55 AM
I want to remember all these good actions, and funny events, not only the counting of the dead - I shall not forget them, anyhow.

I saw a lovely Twitter post yesterday from someone who lost his grandfather to covid19 and said "Do a good thing, a small act of kindness, to remember him".

So I've spent the day stitching masks for my little French commune so the littlest kids can go back to school.

amk
April 25th, 2020, 06:58 AM
The Pelikan State would be Lower Saxony, am I right? :-)

Dave
April 25th, 2020, 05:30 PM
The Pelican State is the official nickname for Louisiana.

Today I nearly jumped out my skin. A tamarin used my head as part of a pathway from one tree to another. I was wearing a bush hat, and it all happened in a flash. You know how it is when you get totally absorbed in some small task? Well the heat here encourages that slow and reflective absorption. That's when the incident happened. Tamarins are small monkeys, so the impact was not great but sufficient to jerk me out of my contemplative state. The perils of not paying attention. No doubt I may have released a small yelp before laughing. Luckily my assistant did not witness this moment of hysteria, or I'd never hear the end of it.

Dave
May 1st, 2020, 05:01 PM
What up? Back at camp, bit of a trek downstream for some medical supplies - small injuries (cuts, scrapes) can get infected real easy here, so it pays to keep good stocks (all that Eagle Scout training did not go amiss!). Still no word on bugging out. Reading/watching pandemic reports on the newsfeeds; it all seems so very far away (and I feel a bit guilty for saying that even though it's an honest sentiment).

Johnny_S
May 3rd, 2020, 07:06 AM
I wish I could write with much more style, if I could I would write more in the hope that one day I would read it and and really enjoy looking back at the grace of my words on the page, but I am beyond hope.

I thought it would be good to try and channel some Hemingway into what I wrote but there are only a limited number of times that you can start a sentence with 'they come down from the mountains and the hills. the valleys echoed to their footsteps, their boots were wet and gave them pain but they came to the Church door, out of respect for Johnny, or at least his father.' or 'How little we know of of what a good ink and pen this may be, just what is there to know. I wish that I were going to live a long time to explain it all instead of knowing that the virus will kill me this day, because I have learned much about life and how it is set down before me.

My other great favorite is Garrison Keillor but after I have written “That's the trouble with the lakeside stories they all result in knowing that all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above-average, the pens are Fine but not so as you would notice".

I think I need to read more and write less before I dare attempt journalling.

Dave
May 3rd, 2020, 07:43 AM
As part of my work I have to keep a lot of records, mostly on a device. I do keep a couple of small journals with me for random thoughts that I may want to look at again some time. Not that I write a lot. It's a little and often that works for me. As a piece of advice, Johnny_S, try not to get too hung up on 'beautiful word' or 'style'. These aspects will emerge from regular practice rather than any attempt to emulate another author. Besides which I have no doubt that most if not all writers live in same state of disappointment with their writing. It's natural.

azkid
May 3rd, 2020, 10:17 AM
As a piece of advice, Johnny_S, try not to get too hung up on 'beautiful word' or 'style'. These aspects will emerge from regular practice rather than any attempt to emulate another author.

I was just about to say the same. Those times when I was writing book club letters on the regular my writing improved. Or when I was doing a lot of technical writing, I learned to be more concise and precise.

Maybe it is easier to write when you are writing for someone else. I am trying to write a journal that my daughter will read someday. When I find motivation it is somehow more satisfying to write for her than make notes for myself. I also find writing in this way helps me clarify my thinking.

Johnny_S
May 3rd, 2020, 10:35 AM
Not quite as on point as a journal but there is a site where you can send an email to your future self.

https://www.futureme.org/

I did one in 2006, no idea what I wrote to myself!

Fermata
May 3rd, 2020, 10:48 AM
I wish I could write with much more style, if I could I would write more in the hope that one day I would read it and and really enjoy looking back at the grace of my words on the page, but I am beyond hope.

I thought it would be good to try and channel some Hemingway into what I wrote but there are only a limited number of times that you can start a sentence with 'they come down from the mountains and the hills. the valleys echoed to their footsteps, their boots were wet and gave them pain but they came to the Church door, out of respect for Johnny, or at least his father.' or 'How little we know of of what a good ink and pen this may be, just what is there to know. I wish that I were going to live a long time to explain it all instead of knowing that the virus will kill me this day, because I have learned much about life and how it is set down before me.

My other great favorite is Garrison Keillor but after I have written “That's the trouble with the lakeside stories they all result in knowing that all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above-average, the pens are Fine but not so as you would notice".

I think I need to read more and write less before I dare attempt journalling.

I think that you can go right ahead, your Hemingway style is impressive, even if you only write for yourself.

VertOlive
May 3rd, 2020, 08:40 PM
I find that my journals ebb and flow, especially when life gets hectic or stressful. There are other plays going on on my stage right now and I noted yesterday not a single mention of the virus or it’s impact on my world have been noted in the journal. I journal to go inward and what I write is not the work of an historian.

But when I think of the Civil War diarists so often quoted in Shelby Foote’s 3 Volume History of the Civil War, I’m glad someone is attending to it!

Trivia: Shelby Foote wrote all of his work first drafts with a dip pen...

Chuck Naill
May 4th, 2020, 07:16 AM
And that dip pen was an Esterbrook 313 Probate.
https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2014/11/17/tools-of-the-trade/

azkid
May 4th, 2020, 08:38 AM
I'd love to try that one... but it sounds like he bought them all. :D

I just got an inkwell and a new bottle of Speedball Super Black India ink so maybe I need to try doing some writing with it again.

(The other bottle evaporated and rather than attempting to reconstitute it and ending up with something subpar, for the price I figured just get a whole new bottle).

VertOlive
May 4th, 2020, 05:53 PM
And that dip pen was an Esterbrook 313 Probate.
https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2014/11/17/tools-of-the-trade/

Wow. That was a great article, with several theft-worthy pen quotes! Thank you.

ThirtyOne
May 11th, 2020, 05:33 AM
Very interesting article. Thanks for sharing.

I’ve been keeping a journal since 2003. I used to go through about one jornal per year. Since January I have gone through 3. I just began my 4th last night. Granted, I have been home like the rest, but it is quite amazing to think that we are living through something that will mark a milestone in history.