Jul
8
I can measure the quickness of time by the fact that it is nearly always the day before garbage day. Shit, I’ll think when I first start seeing cans on the street in the evening. Goddamn it, I’ll think when the reminder pops up later on my phone after I’ve forgotten about it altogether. MOTHERFUCKER, I grumble as I fling back the covers at 11:23 PM when I remember yet again that I need to haul out the trash or I’m gonna be doomed to the 6 AM flopsweat speed run. I’d like one of those signs that starts with “IN THIS HOUSE WE BELIEVE” and then goes on to say that time is a flat circle and in the middle is a Sani-Pac truck.
Oh but there is another way to experience time that is QUITE discombobulating, and that is to receive a gorgeous graduation card of a near-adult-sized human who was just a tiny baby approximately seventeen minutes ago. Oh, wow… is the only response to that, as you feel the years stretch behind you in a baffling blur of whole entire lives you have lived that seem to have little to do with where you are now. Eras, so to speak.
“Everything is a learning experience, right?” I said recently to a friend. We were talking about dating, laughing a bit about my recent foibles out there on the apps (OMG, some stories for another time if I can figure out how to write about it), but we were talking about everything, too. We agree that even the things and people we deeply regret, the very worst moments and choices, are all teachers.
I can barely connect with the person I was when the grad card stunner was a wee little chubbins, when my own tall handsome man-shaped children were small and life was so different, and can I just say what an incredible blessing this blog has been throughout the years. I recently paid a very reasonable sum to re-instate my old Diaryland entries (my god I would have paid anything) and have been reading through some of them and what an experience that is. I’m so grateful I captured memories in those writings, many would be forever lost to the great forgetting that comes with age.
I have found career opportunities and community through this public personal writing, I’ve made the most amazing friendships, I have processed so much and received so much support and advice. And now to have access to those previous lives via my own words — invaluable. I have definitely made some missteps along the way in terms of oversharing, it has not been without its downsides, but what an overall gift. Thank you blogging, for existing and being a thing that intrigued me and motivated me, and thank you me for keeping at it.
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Thank you Linda, for so many years of insightful writing. There are not so many bloggers around these days, but I would be bereft if you ever stopped. Over the years you have chronicled so many relatable events, milestones and emotions. The person who was reading about Dog, Cat and Workplace way back then is now also somewhat different after decades of change and experience, but I will continue to read and enjoy your writing as long as you want to keep on publishing it.
Thank you, blogging! Thank you ONLINE JOURNALLING!!! Thank you pho in the U District :)
This is what makes me start journaling over and over again. When I look back through old journals, I’m amazed at what I find. I really wish I was consistent.
Thak you so much for mentioning the Diaryland offer. I have ten years of entries there and have worried very much that they’d go away before I had the chance to figure out how to get a copy. $19 and they all downloaded! You are my favorite person of the month!
Diaryland! What a time I had there, and it must have been where I first read you, amazing. I recently got an email from Andrew! of Diaryland, humbly inviting us back and I thought “maybe that’s the future of sharing” – the past.
And thank YOU for still being around!
I’ve been reading since Riley was a baby. Maybe even before. You have been a joy to “know” all these years. You’ve motivated me when I could’ve used a little, and I’ve sent all my best juju when you could’ve used a little. I have a feeling the next 20 years are going to be some of your very best. I hope you tell us alllll about it!
Yes, thank you, you, for keeping at it. My life is better for it, and I know I’m not the only one.
This made me laugh because it’s such a relatable way to describe how quickly the weeks seem to disappear. I found highflybet , which has more humorous stories and observations about everyday life, and it captures that same mix of chaos and comedy perfectly.