I've *always* been a "journal hoarder". I love how some books are soooo pretty and/or elegant. I have everything ranging from expensive, hand-bound Italian leather from Venice, to one covered in cartoon owls as a gift from a friend.
I love the idea of writing down my thoughts but I've always gone crazy with the typical "diary" set up. I might write in it for a week straight and then stop because it's just not fun and I felt like I was forcing myself to get it done. I agree with bunnyface too... blank pages are really intimidating for me. Especially with the dear diary format. With the creative art journal ideas posted here they're way more anticipatory.
I just had to post and say that all these ideas really appealed to me and I picked up one of my journals to start on last night.
Here are the pages I've started so far:
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Google It (things I have googled... there are a lot of them. plus it shows different things I'm interested in and want to find out more about or more insight to a specific period of my life. For example, now I'm trying to find a job so a lot of the entries are "craigslist", "monster.com", "careerbuilder" as well as specific company wesbites to see if they're hiring)
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Things I've learned on this day... (with the post-it notes idea. Love that.
Yesterday's entry: "Coulrophobia is the fear of clowns.")
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Gifts (both given and received as well as the occasion and date)
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Dreams (also added the quote mentioned previously "Follow your dreams. Except the one where you fly. That never ends well." because it's hilarious and also strangely relevant to my life and what my "dream job" was when I started college. I started out as a pilot but weird things happened and I had to give it up. So, in reality, it didn't end well... but I can laugh about it now.)
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Listening-in.... (overheard conversations where you want to ask someone what the hell they're talking about but never do. Semi-inspired by the comedian that overheard "if it weren't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college" - incidentally, something else I have googled - and mentioned it in his skit. Also inspired by my husband on the cell phone with someone last night who listened to the other person and then stated "you're not a blonde with big tits so I can see how that would be 50/50".)
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... Now Showing ... (movies I've seen, rented and/or bought. I'll add ticket stubs and such here too)
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Internet Sig Lines (sometimes you just come across some funny sig lines that might be famous quotes or maybe some in-joke with the original author like the overheard conversations that just make you laugh or go "hmm?" so this place is for those too.)
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I'm hilarious... (random "me" quotes. I have my gems from time to time and I like to remember them and laugh some more later when I go over them. Yesterday's entry "I've never had to autograph my urine before.")
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Mail Call (mail I've gotten. Don't have anything on here yet since I haven't checked it but it'll probably be random packages and bills. Maybe some letters if I'm lucky. Even if I only fill it out when I get big packages it'll still be interesting to see who sent me what or what I ordered.)
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Sticker page (page of stickers I take off of stuff. I wasn't going to do this at first but then I took a sticker off a package of cookies and didn't felt like walking to the trash so I stuck it in my journal. Procrastinators unite!"
Other ideas I still need to make pages for:
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Bucket list (things I want to do/see before I "kick the bucket"... also a sort of life goals thing)
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Jobs I've applied for (like I said... trying to find a job and I've lost count of all the ones I've applied for)
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interview questions asked (sometimes I get thrown a weird curveball question that I really need to ponder on)
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Books read (I read a lot and have always wanted to keep track of this somehow. Also how many pages and if I would buy from the author again or if there's an on-going series I need to look out for)
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Myspace surveys (some are good at "getting to know you" and others are just plain stupid but still informative)
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Rants (I rant about a lot of things... lol)
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New things I've tried (foods, bath products, perfume, cleaning supplies, craft techniques, driving route to work... just all the new things I try)
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I have page/I will page/I am page (these would be filled with things from the google name game rather than personal reflections though. Basically you google your name and "has"/"will"/"is" or any like words and see what pops up. Sometimes they fit and sometimes they're insane but all are pretty funny).
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Vocabulary I didn't know (every once and awhile I come up against one I don't know so I look it up)
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What's for dinner? (things I've cooked or where we've eaten)
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internet "favorites" list (it changes so much and I add and get rid of things all the time. Another one of those "snapshot of my life interests" things)
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hole punch dots page (what a pretty way to use up paper scraps!)
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you had to be there (you know those stories that are hilarious when they happen but when you try to tell someone else about it later, they never laugh? Yeah, I have those a lot so I'm gonna start putting them in here)
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Scattergories (I love this game but can never find anyone to play with me. I think I'll just start playing by myself and write my entries here).
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Stores I've bought things from (I'm always trying out new stores online so it's nice to put those somewhere)
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things I bought for myself (it doesn't happen that often since I'm a much more "giving" person. I tend to buy a lot of things to make stuff for other people rather than just for myself so I wanted some way to recognize that I do pamper myself from time to time)
Anywho... thought some of my ideas could help inspire someone else as much as I was inspired by all of you.
I'm looking forward to working on more.
