Do You Keep a Journal or Diary? #MFRWauthor #bloghop

Late Entry!

No Internet meant No Submission...

but, better late than never?

Whatever, this is now Week 25 of the MFRW Author Blog's 52-Week Blog Challenge, and this week's topic of discussion is: Do You Keep a Journal or Diary?

Quick Answer:  NO

But, I used to!

I also used to horde the cute, colorful, and sometimes stylish Journal and Diary lined notebooks.

Every time I went to Waldenbooks, it was to seek out and obtain the latest Johanna Lindsey romance novel and then browse the wide assortment of Journals.

The more colorful, the better.

Like anything, and with time, these things went from $2.99 or $5 to $7.99 and up to $12.00

Funny thing is, when I stopped hording them like I did legal pads, gel pens, and bargain bin romance novels, AND over time, the prices for these same cool journals started a slight decrease in price.

Now, you'll find them in the same bargain bins as the paperback romance novels used to reside.

And, the last time I went to a bookstore, it was in downtown Detroit at a rather famous used book store with creaking hardwood floors, leaded glass windows, and some of the most interesting wall decorations imaginable... including some local artists paintings, sculptures, and such.

John K. King Used Bookstore

Waldenbook's went the way of the carrier pidgeon, so book buying became a rare event something akin to a day-trip for me.

Unless I drove way up north to Squirreled Away or even further, to Port Huron OR the local library, it just wasn't a thing anymore to monthly visit the local book seller and purchase a month's worth of reading material.

Is a good thing for John K. King, right off the expressway, lots of parking, and stories upon stories of floors with which to browse everything, and I do mean everything.

Sadly (or not, depending how you look at it) the minute you walk in the door of this place, you are greeted by shelves (and boxes) of FREE and BOGO books.

Naturally, I spend a few minutes at the entrance, browsing.

What I mean by sadly, though, is that a majority of the things offered for FREE are Romance novels in paperback.

Didn't care!

Browsed, read the blurbs, judged the covers, and stuffed my plastic bag with what I wanted before actually entering this mammoth of a used bookstore.

John K. King section

 But, back to the Diary/Journal thing.

I used to do it and loved it, but I also recall doing it for a few nights and then not doing anything for a few months (years?)

It was random stuff, too.

Today I ate... My friend said...  I was really angry when...

Nothing to look back on with any amount of interest, pride, or helpfulness, in other words.

It had its moments and purpose, but I was never a full-fledged, dyed in the wool kind of memory keeper that way.

And, before computers and laptops and cell phones and such, the lined Journal with a super-fancy cover was the best (and most fun) way for me to write my stories.

Them, and the packages of legal pads (I always chose pink and purple over the standard yellow) I'd stock up on at Office Max.

Then a miracle happened...

In the 80s, this thing was sheer genius!

A typewriter with a built-in printer AND disks to save your work!

A freaking word processor, people!

I wrote and wrote and wrote (typed, and typed, and typed, that is) on my Brother for so long, it wasn't funny.

I'd save the disks (kept buying more) but would print out the story to let my friend read.

She used to get all my journals and legal pads before the fabulous Brother thingy, genius invention, hit the market.

Just a few short years later, though, I was able to buy my first PC.

An Acer that cost a whopping $1,300 with its 4MB ram and unheard of 128K hard drive.

LOL

HAD to have a PC, though!

Dial-up networking, Windows 95 OS.

You guys know what I'm talking about, right?

Hey, it was all the rage, and the kids got a huge kick out of the goofy games I bought them.

My favorite was (and still is) Hover.

I also really enjoyed the Bulletin Boards (??)

I still can't quite recall what those rooms used to be called, but you went somewhere on Netscape and typed in whatever interested you (Gardening) and a Room (or rooms) appeared, which you then selected at random, and began chatting with like-minded folk about your favorite hobby.

I met a few nice people there, and a few not-so-nice as well :(

So, the bottom line for this week's late entry is, No, I no longer keep a Diary or Journal.

As always, I thank you for stopping by and reading my post.

Please scroll down to the LinkyLink tool and click on the next in line to read what they said about Do You Keep a Diary or Journal?