Nancy
Hendrickson's
Clips
"If ... it makes my whole body so cold no fire can warm me, I know that it is
poetry." Emily Dickinson
Private
Thoughts,
Public
Airing
(Writer's
Digest)
A
year
ago
I
discovered
the
Web-based
weight-loss
journal
of
a
35-year-old
Swedish
woman
named
Val.
Posted
online,
for
the
whole
world
to
see,
were
her
daily
struggles
with
maintaining
a
healthy
diet
while
her
husband
and
kids
scarfed
down
Whoppers
and
fries.
I
applaunded
Val's
bravery
at
letting
the
world
in
on
such
a
private
battle
and
felt
inspired
by
her
willingness
to
share
her
progress.
Although I’ve kept electronic journals in the past, they were saved to
floppy disk, not published on the Web. Journals are so profoundly
private it seemed almost sacrilegious to have my thoughts and feelings read
by strangers. However, Val’s journal got me thinking . . . and Jake
the cat got me doing.
Jake is a 12-pound, 7-month-old Ragdoll cat who runs my house.
His bad boy antics and striking good looks sent me running for my digital
camera, and Web authoring software—I knew I had to chronicle his free spirit
and rapid growth. Beginning with his arrival at eight weeks of
age, The Jake
Journal
depicts his various poses and postures, and is accompanied by
my journal notes about bringing in a new kitten just months after the death
of my 19-year-old cat, Noel.
Whenever I upload a new Jake Journal entry, I send an e-mail
to Jake’s many fans in California, Washington, Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina
and Florida. Sharing his life is a way of sharing my own.
Since first posting The Jake Journal, I’ve experienced a wider
range of creative journaling than ever before. For someone who is
as artistically challenged as I am, the Web gives me a way to add
great photos and graphics in a way I can’t do with my pen and paper journals.
And, using image enhancing software, I can convert a Jake photo into an artistic
masterpiece (well, a masterpiece for me!) that matches my inner visions
in a way my own sketches never could.
What Kind of Web Journals to Keep?
The type of journals you can publish on the Web is limited only by your
imagination and your level of courage. A few ideas to get you started:
Diet: Like Val, are you brave enough to upload photos and
diet journal notes? Val’s readers got to see her shrink from 185
to 137 pounds, while reading her process every step of the way. In
your Diet Journal, Include not only the foods you eat, but the changes in
your emotional and physical bodies, along with doubts, successes, and celebrations.
Read Val’s journey for a little inspiration. http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/1883/index.html
Pregnancy: Think how much your children would love getting
online and reading all about the time you were pregnant with them.
Take weekly photos, and include journal entries about hopes and fears, your
joy, your doctor’s appointments, and any feelings you have about being pregnant.
To see how other moms-to-be created pregnancy journals, visit http://www.epregnancy.com
Travelogue: Whenever my pal David travels, he sends journal
notes and photos to all of us whose vacations are more of a virtual nature.
I’ve enjoyed reading his exploration of Australia, his kayaking in Baja
California, and his re-tracing of the Lewis and Clark trails. If you
keep a pen and paper journal while on vacation, and want to retain the original
flavor, just scan your journal pages and photos and upload them to the Web.
Visit http://www.travelpod.com to read other travel journals.
Gardening: I love taking photos of “before” and “after” gardening
projects. Upload your gardening journal so everyone can see how beautiful
your lilies looked at Easter, and how fast your morning glories climbed
up the neighbor’s tree. Write what you planted and when, along with
the outcome (mine are not always positive!). The simple design of
Kathy's Gardening Journal will help get you started. http://www.best.com/~kpw/GardenJournal/journal.htm
Spiritual Journey: Are there quotes that inspire you, images
that touch you, “ah-ha!” moments that are so meaningful they change your
life? If so, add them to your online spiritual journal.
For ideas on what to include, visit http://www.twoscoops.com/whiting/archive/sjrnl-1.html
Wine Tasting Journal: Wes Hagen kept a photo and tasting note
journal of his trip to Alsace and Burgundy in January of 1999. Join
him as he tastes and describes a Pinot Gris as having “a unique nose--honey,
sugar, and perhaps enough volative acidity (bottle had been opened at least
a day) to bring cedar, tobacco, and an almost soapy 'clean' smell.”
See how he designed his journal at http://www.clospepe.com/france/france.htm
Dream Journal: We all know that the more often we write down
our dreams, the more frequently we remember them. Your online
dream journal may include notes about the dream, what you ate before going
to bed, or your own dream symbol dictionary. See how Willa chronicles
her dream world. http://www.willa.com/dreams/index.htm
Creating a Web Journal
Now that
you’ve decided on the type of online journal to keep, the next step is
creating your Web pages. For those who want the no-muss, no-fuss method,
most of the providers of free Web space (http://www.freewebspace.net) offer
Web page templates with a variety of design options.
Templates lead you step-by-step through the design and upload process,
with the aid of “Wizard” technology. If you don’t want to master manually
designing and uploading pages, the template sites are for you.
If you want more control of your Web pages, you’ll need to use
Web authoring software. These software packages allow total control
over background color, background images, text font and color, placement
of images, hyperlinks, number of pages created and overall design.
If you are new to Web authoring, look for software features that make designing
a Web site easy, like drop and drag technology and design templates.
A third Web page creation method is available for Microsoft Word users.
Word has a built-in utility that will convert any of your Word documents
to a Web page. Under the File menu, you can choose the Save As Web
Page option.
If you want great looking graphics, you’ll find thousands of free photos,
graphics, buttons, and banners online. You can also find free Web
themes, which are complete design packages (background, buttons, bars) that
feature a theme, like cats or nature. To see what’s available,
visit Jelane's Free Web Graphics at http://www.erinet.com/jelane/families/
or use any search engine and type in the search phrase “free web graphics”.
Finding a Web Space Provider
Once your journal is written and converted to HTML, you’ll need to find
a Web space provider—a company which lets you publish your journal files
to their system. You can use a commercial provider (prices average
about $20 a month), or one of the dozens of free Web space providers.
The best place to begin looking is your own ISP (Internet Service Provider).
Many ISP’s, such as AOL, Sprint, MSN, and AT&T, offer their customers
free Web pages. Some ISP’s have a 2-MB limit, so if you write a hefty
journal, you may run through your space allotment sooner than anticipated.
If your ISP does not offer Web space, there are dozens of companies
which do. If you use one of these free providers, expect to see advertising
banners or pop-up ads—your cost of getting free space. In addition,
many of the free sites require that you use their templates, not your own
HTML files, so expect to have less control over design. Some of the
free providers allow up to 50-MB of space—more than you will probably ever
use.
Check out a list of free providers at http://www.freewebspace.net/
, along with reviews of the top 100 at http://100best-free-web-space.com/
To Publish or Not to Publish?
For me, the best part of maintaining a Web journal is my ability to
share what’s important in my life. After writing The Jake Journal,
I discovered that I enjoy having a reading audience and as a very private
person, this was a revelation. I’m working on a theory that we want
to share our thoughts, ideas and feelings more than any of us realize.
Or, perhaps it’s just the writer in me who likes an audience.
Of course, the downside is the privacy issue. I’m sure all of
us have journal entries we never want read by another soul, and publishing
to the Web is an invitation to be read. However, there’s no reason
to put your real name or e-mail address on your Web page, so if privacy is
a concern, make sure there’s nothing on your site to identify you.
Or, decide which subjects you want to share, and leave the rest to your pen
and paper journal.
As for me, Jake’s getting a new sister next month, so I know I’ll continue
to post cat notes for a long time to come. And, I’ve decided
to design an online genealogy journal to track the family discoveries I make
during the year, along with old photos, and remembrances of childhood events.
If I get brave enough, I’m even going to follow Val’s example and let you
know how my diet is going. Stay tuned . . .
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