Well, I'm gonna try, but with a twist. This is my new Canon Ivy printer, with a couple of pictures I shot today. They definitely have a blue shift to them, but that's okay. The cunning plan is to try paper journaling again. Not the fancy, artsy craftsy stuff. Just pen, paper, and a picture or two.
There are a couple of reasons for this. One is physical/mental therapy. After nine months of chemo and three months of recovery, I am ready to reclaim my life. I'm still dealing with the physical neuropathy, though that is abating. Mentally, I just need to get back in the groove.
We are also in the planning stages of a trip. I think we've both earned a vacation after all this! (And yes, I'm arranging for a house sitter, so I don't mind talking about it now.) I always keep a notebook during our journeys, and I've always thought that adding photos would be a nice touch. Well, this makes it easy! The pictures don't have to be of perfect quality. Just enough so I can open the journal later and go, "oh, that!" I'll still be doing a virtual journal here on the website, but there's just something about having a journal I can hold in my hand.
Of course, I can be unfiltered in a paper journal. Y'all really don't want to know all the details of my physical and mental struggles. That sounds like I have some serious mental issues. I'm okay on that front, but I'd be lying if I said that chemo hadn't been brutal all around. Recovery should be mental as well as physical. As for the physical, some of that is just TMI. You're welcome!
Yes, I am also getting back into everyday activities, including writing. The journal is going to help with that. I think I mentioned a publication announcement a while back, and I forgot to post it! The Hugo Award-winning
Journey Planet did a tribute to the 100 Year-Old Man, Mel Brooks, and I was invited by Steven H Silver to contribute. Thanks for the opportunity, Steven, and for putting up with my chemo brain.
You can find it here, along with may contributions from people more talented than I. Enjoy!
A couple more things: Does this mean I'm stopping the online journal? No! I'm hoping it will spur me to post more. I'm working on a way to post pictures directly from my cell phone to here, which ought to make the process a bit easier. I shoot mostly on the phone these days, though I still use my Olympus. And one last thought about keeping a paper journal: The LLM machines can't reach it!
I'm going to try to open comments on this one.