Saturday, September 22, 2007

My journals

This blog is a way of journaling. I want it to change my life, change it dramatically. I write, I journal, I don't force myself to do things just so I have something to write about. I envy people who could write volumes in their journals. Thoreau comes to mind, he went to live in the woods and wrote a detail account of his time there. I have just acquired ' the journals of Eugene La Croix, I have only flipped through it. He was a famous French painter. I have all three books of journaling maven, Hannah Hinchman. She lives in Montana and there's definitely more to write about in a place with four seasons.
I'm cracking my brains here in Los Angeles, we have no weather and no seasons. A little more clouds in the sky is all the weather there is here. Correction, it rained last night, it poured, that's newsworthy in sunny Southern California. There was thunder and lightning, a very rare occurrence. I heard the rattling of the rain upon the skylight in the kitchen. I love that skylight, not only does it let a lot of light into the kitchen, at night I can look up and see the moon. I told my sister that I wished I had a skylight in the bedroom. She said, I don't want a skylight in the bedroom because the rattling of raindrops is very noisy. She's right.
A lot of people take long trips and write about it. Paul Theroux comes to mind. I've read all his travelogues and have enjoyed every one of them. I love 'Pillars of Hercules' which details his travels to the countries that line the Mediterranean sea. I love 'The iron rooster' where he rode the rails in China for a whole year. I love 'The railway bazaar' which is a compilation of all his rail journeys. He has a way of telling about his trips, his interaction with the locals that is fun and interesting.
I have also in my possession a little book, 'Take a line for a walk' about this Englishman who walked from Le Havre in France to Rome. This was his actual journal, he wrote and drew vociferously, some of the writing is so small, I've tried reading them with a magnifying glass. I was so hungry to read and know about his trip.
I've been this way as a child, curious, curious about everything, too curious for my own good. I remember loving history, especially European history as a child of 12. I would read thick history books, a few levels ahead of me. I could remember names and dates, my history teacher gave a an 'A' even on the historical essays. His wife, my Math teacher, wondered aloud, how do you give an 'A' grade for essays. His reply was my level of knowledge was way ahead of my years.
While reading and deciphering information are my strong point, journaling is not. I'm in awe of Hannah Hinchman's journaling skills.
I guess my mind is lazy. It takes no effort to read. It takes much more effort to think up something to write, to observe intently and to write down observations. I should train my mind to think and dream up stories to write. Maybe train it to write fiction.

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