By Daniel Rigney
Houston novelist and playwright Nancy Geyer (gladly would she teach and gladly learn) has been guiding me and about a dozen of my fellow scribblers through the looking glass of writing this semester in a Rice University continuing studies course. One of our very first questions in class was “What is a personal journal anyway?” It turns out there are many kinds.
A journal may go by other names. Younger people (or older), and especially females, may call it a diary. Manly men may call it their captain’s log, or playbook, or even give it some bogus name like Garage Tool Inventory to make sure no one is tempted to read it. I call my journal Danagram, to suggest “telegram” (a brief communication) and “anagram.” (an amusing word puzzle, such as my beloved daily Jumble).
Ms. Geyer recommends that we write PRIVATE on the covers of our journals to dissuade others from intruding on our inner thoughts and lives. I’ve hit upon an even better idea. Why not record your thoughts in a blog and post them on the Internet? No one will find them there, probably not even members of your own family -- the ones for whom PRIVATE on a book cover would be an open invitation to the joys of reading.
So a few weeks ago I decided to post Danagram at Open Salon, a great place to visit but an even better place to live. No one will find me here. It’s the same strategy I used nearly 30 years ago to escape the notice of a university president for whom I toiled at the time. I hid out in the library because I knew he never went there. Worked like a charm.
Thank you for not reading.
Houston novelist and playwright Nancy Geyer (gladly would she teach and gladly learn) has been guiding me and about a dozen of my fellow scribblers through the looking glass of writing this semester in a Rice University continuing studies course. One of our very first questions in class was “What is a personal journal anyway?” It turns out there are many kinds.
A journal may go by other names. Younger people (or older), and especially females, may call it a diary. Manly men may call it their captain’s log, or playbook, or even give it some bogus name like Garage Tool Inventory to make sure no one is tempted to read it. I call my journal Danagram, to suggest “telegram” (a brief communication) and “anagram.” (an amusing word puzzle, such as my beloved daily Jumble).
Ms. Geyer recommends that we write PRIVATE on the covers of our journals to dissuade others from intruding on our inner thoughts and lives. I’ve hit upon an even better idea. Why not record your thoughts in a blog and post them on the Internet? No one will find them there, probably not even members of your own family -- the ones for whom PRIVATE on a book cover would be an open invitation to the joys of reading.
So a few weeks ago I decided to post Danagram at Open Salon, a great place to visit but an even better place to live. No one will find me here. It’s the same strategy I used nearly 30 years ago to escape the notice of a university president for whom I toiled at the time. I hid out in the library because I knew he never went there. Worked like a charm.
Thank you for not reading.
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