OCTOPUS

[AUGUST 5, 1992 – PRESENT]

JOURNAL

STATUS: ONGOING

HISTORY AND OVERVIEW

I began writing my journal on Jones Beach in 1992. In various forms and formats over the years, I’ve stuck with it, writing consistently every year. When I began it as a 18-year-old, I planned to leave the volumes to my grandchildren. Today, I’m not sure what to do with them. No kids means no grandkids.

UPDATES

September 19, 2020: I’m transcribing the handwritten volumes of the journal into Google docs, rereading these entries for the first time. The only goal at this point is to finally compile all the written material into a single place and evaluate what the Hell is written there, and determine whether it’s worth doing anything with this stuff. As I noted in a blog post, I’m also motivated to find out how many entries there are in total, how many words written, et cetera. At present, it remains a mystery.

The musings of a suburban white kid in the 90’s don’t make for compelling narrative, but some of the entries are amusing. When the transcription is complete, I believe there will be three options:

• Optimistic: rewrite a highly curated selection of journal entries and use them as the foundation of a photo book. I have tons of visual material captured during the span of years covered in the journals.
• Neutral: complete the transcription and be done with the exercise. Lock the books in a vault. Save the digital files. Move on.
• Pessimistic: burn the books and delete the files.