This came from an email list I just joined, Online Diaries.

The Diary Survey

1. What is your current online diary's URL? (Please provide a link to your diary!)

2. When did you first start a diary, and why? What did you write about at first? How long have you kept diaries, and was that consistently or just here and there?

3. Whether your first diary was electric or paper, do you still have it?

4. Do you read your old diaries? What do you think or feel when you read your really old entries?

5. What type of writing do you mostly do now? (examples: 1- talk about what happened to me recently, 2- talk about things I think about, 3- talk about relationships, 4- write down dreams, my art, or any other creative thing, 5- complain, 6- write down quotes and interesting things I find such as in the newspaper).

6. What is more important, the style of the diary or the actual content, and why? What do you like to see in a diary?

7. Do you edit your entries or do you just let loose and don't look back?

8. What are your pet peeves about diaries, such as things that bug you that you notice other people do with their diaries. What bothers you the most about what you tend to do in your diary?

9. Is your diary anonymous? Why or why not? Do any of your friends or family read your stuff and does that influence what you write about or how you express yourself?

10. What does keeping a diary do for you? Why do you think that you like it?

For now, I'm giving up on installing Movable Type myself. For now, I will just de-blog. Hey, if you can de-plane you can de-blog.

I am still working on getting bring as an accepted standard short form of webring too. Maybe I will just set up a Blog Bring on RingSurf. I'm thinking about it. Mostly I'm thinking do I REALLY need one more thing to do that doesn't bring in any cash. Probably not.

Here for your bloggish amusement are several links describing blogs, software for blogs and for those who think I'm typing in some odd foreign language (Canadian?) you can even read about that a blog is.

Once you've had blog you never go back.

Most of the time when we write a story its about someone who is a lot like ourselves. Could you write a story about someone who is nothing at all like you?

If you're a girl, write about a boy. If you're good in school, write about someone who doesn't do well, though they try. If you love sports, write about someone who always comes in last and never gets picked to be on the teams. If you have favourite hobbies, write about someone who has completely different hobbies. If you're parents are divorced, write about a kid who lives with both parents and maybe a Grandmother too. You get the idea. Be creative and try to think like someone else.

How would that other kid feel? Are they happy, what is good and not so good about their life? Just as there are good and bad things about your own life, there are good and bad things about everyone's life. Its not so easy to figure out what those would be.

What would that other kid do for fun? Who would their friends be? What are their favourite things at school? What books do they like to read? How do they like to dress? You can build a whole character and write a story about someone you don't even know.

Do you wake up in the morning with the plot for the world's greatest novel formulating in your brain? Not every morning, but about once a week I do. Sometimes I forget most of it before I can write it down. But, I write non-fiction so the ideas are sitting on paper in a folder in my desk. I'd like to write mysteries, maybe horror but it wouldn't be icky stuff. I thought about writing romances because they would be easy, they seem to be a formula more than a story. Put it on the list for someday.

For now I'm working with non-fiction and I do love it. For me its a combination of teaching the world and learning more myself. Each time I research one idea I find another dozen from there. Life is great.

I saw Chitty Chitty Bang Bang when I was a kid. It's always been one of my favourite movies. My favourite song from the movie was Hushabye Mountain. Today I looked around online for it and found the lyrics. Lyrics are the words to the song, without the music.

Could you write a lullaby? If you have younger brothers or sisters what would you write to sing them to sleep? Sometimes a lullaby is just to soothe them. Thats probably how it got the name. There is a word lull, which means to soothe, quiet or send to sleep.

Here is Hushabye Mountain if you need a little inspiration.

Hushabye Mountain

A gentle breeze from Hushabye Mountain Softly blows o'er lullaby bay It fills the sails of boats that are waiting Waiting to sail your worries away

It isn't far to Hushabye Mountain And your boat waits down by the key The winds of night so softly are sighing Soon they will fly your troubles to sea

So close your eyes on Hushabye Mountain Wave good-bye to cares of the day And watch your boat from Hushabye Mountain Sail far away from lullaby bay