Before I begin, I will reintroduce myself. I joined GBATemp in 2017 primarily to post about and get updates on the 3DS hacking that was popular at the time. I think A9LH was popular and B9S was just starting to come about. I was also into PC Gaming at the time, having built my first PC around the then newly released Ryzen line of CPUs. Then one day I didn't visit as much, and even my PC went unused for a long time as I stepped away to other things. Throw in a pandemic, going to college, and somehow it has almost been 10 years. But I never forgot the kindness of this space, and in 10 years with websites somehow getting even worse maybe a part of me came back to experience a slice of the internet I grew up with. One that was run by users, for other users, and not strictly money generating slop algorithms. Hello, again, GBATemp.
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This week, I was continuing my binge of HBO's "Sex and The City", when I had a realization about how I should document my life. Earlier this summer I started Journaling again and while consistency has been an issue in the past, I have taken a new, hands-off sort of approach and surprisingly I have written more than all previous attempts. This journal is messy, my handwriting isn't amazing and the entries have thoughts that are sporadic at best and one topic can't really define a single entry. But, all of it is real and raw for how I was feeling on a given day. Which I think for me, as someone with horrible memory, that is enough. I can say I have written it once every week or so at least and it has become my favorite way to clear my head. I never thought a small Midori Dot Journal I picked up in Japan would become such a beloved companion, but I'm glad it has worked out this time. I have lived many days, and forgotten far too many of them. But, a blog was still something I wanted to try, so a few months ago I created this blog and then immediately closed the tab.
What do I write? It was all mine to make, but sometimes when you have endless choice it feels like you have none at all. So it was an interesting, and unfortunately cliche realization watching HBO that I knew what I wanted this blog to be. In "Sex and The City" protagonist, Carrie Bradshaw, is a sex columnist. Each episode surrounds the latest piece she writes for her column, and she raises a thesis that is somehow answered through the events of the episode. Usually of course about sex and relationships, but if you've watched the show, oftentimes there is a little more to it. The episode's seemingly sporadic events are framed into this thesis and tell a story. Currently, I am on Season 6 of the show and the format has become very comforting. That's where I realized, this blog could be the way I organize my thoughts around the various happenings of my life. Not that every event needs to have purpose, but there is a need for me at least to organize my thoughts and maybe reflect on the overall pattern that exists between the entries of a given period. My journal will be for the days that pass by quickly. It is messy, unexpected, and sometimes even, incomplete. But I feel this blog is much more purposeful being an organized understanding of the things that happen in my life.
Equally so, platform is just as important and here strikes the perfect balance of laid back writing with a good community. I had a co-worker who published a seasonal Substack, but her writing is brilliant. The idea of putting something like this on Substack felt a little too serious. I don't aim to say anything of particular value, and it doesn't feel at all like the kind of space where I can be authentic in sharing. Plus, the more I engage with forums and discussion boards, the more I remember how important they are to the internet. After all, where would any algorithm be without good human-made content initially to have made it worth using. I miss when platforms weren't so all encompassing, and if writing here will keep more of my data away from billionaire AI machines then I can be happy about that too. I say this like I've sworn off social media all together, but I haven't. Although, I am actively trying to use it more purposefully. Avoiding the "For You" pages and returning to what many social media's claimed they were originally designed to do which was keep people connected.
So, here we are, the blog is my oyster and I have chosen what oyster I want this blog to be. Follow along whenever I come back to talk about what's on my mind and how I respond to the patterns of things that go on.
I hope the next time we talk I will have finished Season 6 of "Sex and The City", and I think we'll talk about Homesickness/How I learned I was going through something.
---
This week, I was continuing my binge of HBO's "Sex and The City", when I had a realization about how I should document my life. Earlier this summer I started Journaling again and while consistency has been an issue in the past, I have taken a new, hands-off sort of approach and surprisingly I have written more than all previous attempts. This journal is messy, my handwriting isn't amazing and the entries have thoughts that are sporadic at best and one topic can't really define a single entry. But, all of it is real and raw for how I was feeling on a given day. Which I think for me, as someone with horrible memory, that is enough. I can say I have written it once every week or so at least and it has become my favorite way to clear my head. I never thought a small Midori Dot Journal I picked up in Japan would become such a beloved companion, but I'm glad it has worked out this time. I have lived many days, and forgotten far too many of them. But, a blog was still something I wanted to try, so a few months ago I created this blog and then immediately closed the tab.
What do I write? It was all mine to make, but sometimes when you have endless choice it feels like you have none at all. So it was an interesting, and unfortunately cliche realization watching HBO that I knew what I wanted this blog to be. In "Sex and The City" protagonist, Carrie Bradshaw, is a sex columnist. Each episode surrounds the latest piece she writes for her column, and she raises a thesis that is somehow answered through the events of the episode. Usually of course about sex and relationships, but if you've watched the show, oftentimes there is a little more to it. The episode's seemingly sporadic events are framed into this thesis and tell a story. Currently, I am on Season 6 of the show and the format has become very comforting. That's where I realized, this blog could be the way I organize my thoughts around the various happenings of my life. Not that every event needs to have purpose, but there is a need for me at least to organize my thoughts and maybe reflect on the overall pattern that exists between the entries of a given period. My journal will be for the days that pass by quickly. It is messy, unexpected, and sometimes even, incomplete. But I feel this blog is much more purposeful being an organized understanding of the things that happen in my life.
Equally so, platform is just as important and here strikes the perfect balance of laid back writing with a good community. I had a co-worker who published a seasonal Substack, but her writing is brilliant. The idea of putting something like this on Substack felt a little too serious. I don't aim to say anything of particular value, and it doesn't feel at all like the kind of space where I can be authentic in sharing. Plus, the more I engage with forums and discussion boards, the more I remember how important they are to the internet. After all, where would any algorithm be without good human-made content initially to have made it worth using. I miss when platforms weren't so all encompassing, and if writing here will keep more of my data away from billionaire AI machines then I can be happy about that too. I say this like I've sworn off social media all together, but I haven't. Although, I am actively trying to use it more purposefully. Avoiding the "For You" pages and returning to what many social media's claimed they were originally designed to do which was keep people connected.
So, here we are, the blog is my oyster and I have chosen what oyster I want this blog to be. Follow along whenever I come back to talk about what's on my mind and how I respond to the patterns of things that go on.
I hope the next time we talk I will have finished Season 6 of "Sex and The City", and I think we'll talk about Homesickness/How I learned I was going through something.
