![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
It's been a long time since I enjoyed a meme as much as the "A Week in the Life" one that a number of my Live Journal friends have done. Come to think of it, it's been a long time since I've enjoyed Live Journal that much. While I don't necessarily want to know about a fellow human being's every little mood swing, I love documentary. And I especially love it when it's used to make ordinary people a little more visible.
When I started this Live Journal, whose seventh anniversary is rapidly approaching, I was eager to enter into a community where people shared details from their everyday lives. And I set out to make myself more visible, even though my default tendency is to be wary of revealing too much, because I didn't think it would be right to derive pleasure from the openness of others if I was closed off to them.
A lot has happened since then, much of it unpleasant, to make me much more reticent about the confessional mode. Live Journal long ago ceased to be a place where I felt comfortable providing access to my innermost thoughts. Or my outermost ones, for that matter. As a consequence, I've retreated into a perverse form of self-presentation.
I still feel a duty to reveal things about myself. And that duty has, over time, turned into an urge that demands satisfaction. But I've been burned too many times by people reading -- and reading into -- this journal, not to mention the mixture of fascination and malice targeted at other Live Journal users with whom I was close. So I've developed a way of baring my soul without anyone else seeming to know what I'm communicating.
Anyway, I don't imagine that I'll suddenly return to a more direct kind of expression after I'm done with this meme. I am very glad, however, to have an excuse to peel away the layers of protection that have become my standard attire in these parts to share what I'm doing. Alright, here goes.
Once Skylar had left for school, I decided it was finally time to check the engine of her grandmother's car, which we have been driving for sometime. It needed oil, but less than I had expected, and coolant. After having struggled to mainpulate things at the odd angles imposed by tightly packed VW engines, the airy compartment of this Geo was a relief.
I worked at the computer for several hours, then took a break to look for tortoise action in the backyard. By this time of the morning, Max, our Sonoran Desert Tortoise had bestirred himself and was seeking further sustenance. That guy sure eats a lot now that he's almost full grown. But when you spend most of the year hiding in a burrow, it's important to stock up. Here Max is looking up at me with glee after murdering a particularly luscious strawberry.
( See the rest! )
When I started this Live Journal, whose seventh anniversary is rapidly approaching, I was eager to enter into a community where people shared details from their everyday lives. And I set out to make myself more visible, even though my default tendency is to be wary of revealing too much, because I didn't think it would be right to derive pleasure from the openness of others if I was closed off to them.
A lot has happened since then, much of it unpleasant, to make me much more reticent about the confessional mode. Live Journal long ago ceased to be a place where I felt comfortable providing access to my innermost thoughts. Or my outermost ones, for that matter. As a consequence, I've retreated into a perverse form of self-presentation.
I still feel a duty to reveal things about myself. And that duty has, over time, turned into an urge that demands satisfaction. But I've been burned too many times by people reading -- and reading into -- this journal, not to mention the mixture of fascination and malice targeted at other Live Journal users with whom I was close. So I've developed a way of baring my soul without anyone else seeming to know what I'm communicating.
Anyway, I don't imagine that I'll suddenly return to a more direct kind of expression after I'm done with this meme. I am very glad, however, to have an excuse to peel away the layers of protection that have become my standard attire in these parts to share what I'm doing. Alright, here goes.
Once Skylar had left for school, I decided it was finally time to check the engine of her grandmother's car, which we have been driving for sometime. It needed oil, but less than I had expected, and coolant. After having struggled to mainpulate things at the odd angles imposed by tightly packed VW engines, the airy compartment of this Geo was a relief.
I worked at the computer for several hours, then took a break to look for tortoise action in the backyard. By this time of the morning, Max, our Sonoran Desert Tortoise had bestirred himself and was seeking further sustenance. That guy sure eats a lot now that he's almost full grown. But when you spend most of the year hiding in a burrow, it's important to stock up. Here Max is looking up at me with glee after murdering a particularly luscious strawberry.
( See the rest! )
Tags: