2841.Since I haven't posted anything on diarizing latterly, I went looking for something … and I wanted that something to be quirky, cool, and kind of special. And here it is … The Amy Diary.
There is a certain reputation diaries have, and maybe it's because of young tween and early-teen ladies who write in handwriting that is based on squashed circles, beginning each entry Dear Diary and ending by signing their name. It's such a dear, sweet, girly thing.
Maybe that's why few adults, and even fewer men, keep diaries. And if they do, Lord, don't ever expect to hear them call it a diary, because that's what young ladies do! The'll call it a Journal or a Chronicle or a Log or something.
I think that's an unfortunate thing. All a diary is, is a daily (well, more-or-less). But I digress.
AmyBarbara's 5th-grade diary does read like a stereotypical young-girl's diary, filled with friends, boys, feelings and the like, and written in a stereotypical young-girl's soft, squashy script. But this, too is its charm; it has unabashed sweetness, sincerity, and authenticity. Every time one sees her sign off on one of her single-page entries with the mononym Amy, it's hard to suppress a smile. And the adult AmyBarbara has to be commended for having the courage to share it.
But, too, there's unexpected precision and attention-to-design and layout that is there. Note, above, the format of the page header. Upper right, day; Upper center, date; Upper left, the day's "grade"; below the grade, the year. Each page formatted exactly the same, every bit of information in its place, nothing out of place.
I format my diary pages similarly. Though an individual entry can (and frequently does) span multiple pages, in the upper left is the entry number (I am obsessed with serial sequences) the upper right is the page number (yes, I number pages in my book) and all are formatted similarly - the same form, not symmetrical to the center spine, but as though they were a stack of individual sheets.
I was surprised that I approach the layout of my diary in the same manner, in this way, as a young lady did in 1993. But life is surprising that way.
She was so methodical and organized in the production of her diary …
… that the entry for May 20th already had all the essential elements in place, including the opening salutation and the circle for the day's grade, all waiting and ready to be filled in.
The whole thing speaks of the passion for living of a rather bright young lady who has an ordered mind besides.
She must have been a kick-ass young girl.
What she's released is here, at http://theamydiary.blogspot.com/.
Maybe that's why few adults, and even fewer men, keep diaries. And if they do, Lord, don't ever expect to hear them call it a diary, because that's what young ladies do! The'll call it a Journal or a Chronicle or a Log or something.
I think that's an unfortunate thing. All a diary is, is a daily (well, more-or-less). But I digress.
AmyBarbara's 5th-grade diary does read like a stereotypical young-girl's diary, filled with friends, boys, feelings and the like, and written in a stereotypical young-girl's soft, squashy script. But this, too is its charm; it has unabashed sweetness, sincerity, and authenticity. Every time one sees her sign off on one of her single-page entries with the mononym Amy, it's hard to suppress a smile. And the adult AmyBarbara has to be commended for having the courage to share it.
But, too, there's unexpected precision and attention-to-design and layout that is there. Note, above, the format of the page header. Upper right, day; Upper center, date; Upper left, the day's "grade"; below the grade, the year. Each page formatted exactly the same, every bit of information in its place, nothing out of place.
I format my diary pages similarly. Though an individual entry can (and frequently does) span multiple pages, in the upper left is the entry number (I am obsessed with serial sequences) the upper right is the page number (yes, I number pages in my book) and all are formatted similarly - the same form, not symmetrical to the center spine, but as though they were a stack of individual sheets.
I was surprised that I approach the layout of my diary in the same manner, in this way, as a young lady did in 1993. But life is surprising that way.
She was so methodical and organized in the production of her diary …
The whole thing speaks of the passion for living of a rather bright young lady who has an ordered mind besides.
She must have been a kick-ass young girl.
What she's released is here, at http://theamydiary.blogspot.com/.
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