Age - How old are you now? When you started your online diary?
I'm 22 years old right now, and I started the journal exactly a
month after I turned 21, on July 1st, 1998.
Marital Status?
I'm living with my significant other of three years,
Chris. We just
moved in together a few months ago after almost a
year of living with
his parents. That was supposed to be a temporary arrangement,
but it
dragged on a lot longer than I wanted it to. I went
from having my own
apartment to sharing one bedroom in the basement.
Pretty brutal. But
I've survived. Heh.
Occupation - What kind of work do you do?
Well, right now I am a student in the 4th year of
an Honours undergrad
degree in Anthropology and Computer Studies at Trent
University, in
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. On the side I do odd
jobs such as marking for professors, supervising the school computer labs
and web design.
I'm currently applying to universities in England and Canada for a Master's Degree in Archaeology or Osteoarchaeology. I may just go right into the computer field though. Haven't decided yet. I have too much I am interested in.
Hobbies - What do you like to do,
besides keep this diary?
I think the question may better be asked as "what
*don't* you like to
do". I have many, many hobbies. I play the flute and
alto saxophone,
paint watercolours, read voraciously. I enjoy cooking
and playing
computer games. I like crafty things like modelling
and sewing as well.
I think I have tried just about anything once. I have
a lot of
hobbies....get absorbed daily into new projects.
Location - Where are you from? Where are
you now?
I was born in Toronto, Ontario, but grew up in a small
(pop. 4400) town
called Almonte in the Ottawa Valley, about 45 mins
northwest of Ottawa.
I'm currently living in Peterborough, Ontario, where
I am attending
university. I like Peterborough a lot, was finding
Almonte a little
stifling when I left, and I enjoy Toronto in small
doses. I can't
imagine living there.
Do you communicate with readers of your
diary?
Yes I do. I love to receive email from readers and
I try to have little
collaborative projects to get people (who are so inclined)
involved. The
self one presents in their journal by necessity is
an edited, passive
version...therefore I like to present an active, dynamic
interactive
version of myself by corresponding directly with readers.
How much email feedback to you recieve
from your diary? Is it mainly positive or negative?
To be quite honest, it varies. I haven't really had
any negative
feedback at all. Once a guy wrote about 6 months ago
to say he hated my
haircut. That's about it. Positive feedback usually
is about something I wrote, or a photograph I put up that the person really
liked...stuff
like that. I don't get a whole lot of feedback, but
I am trying to
change that. I don't bite, honest. I've steadily been
getting more
readers who finally write after a year or so of reading,
which is really
nice. I love hearing from people.
Have you met any new friends because of
the diary?
Oh yes, loads. I have several online friends that
if I met them in real
life I am sure I would connect with in an instant.
I have a lot of
people I correspond with either in ICQ or through
email.
Has your motivation changed over time?
Yes, I would say it has. My first motivation for the
site was to learn
HTML. I thought that having a component that was updated
regularly would spur me to learn HTML as opposed to simply putting
up a static "aboutme" site. Also, it was a way for my family (my dad
lives and works in Colombia now, my mum lives in Almonte still) and friends
to keep abreast of what I was up to.
I guess now the site is more just about me and what I am thinking and doing. A record for posterity. My parents don't read it anymore, although I do know that my sister-in-law does, and some of my mum's friends do as well. But by far, most of the people who read my site don't know me in real life.
How has the diary changed your life?
Well, it has enabled me to meet a lot of people that
I probably would
never have ever come into contact with. One of my
closest friendships
started as a result of this journal. It has also given
me some
discipline and writing practice that I think has helped
me in other
areas of my life. I always seem to have random thoughts
jumping around
in my head. Now I can decant some of them and 'relieve
the pressure' if
you will and focus attention on other important tasks
like writing my
Honours thesis. Heh.
