Journaling on Journaling

I had hoped to at least keep a more regular and in-depth journal during my time in England, and perhaps even do some online documentation, as well. The fact that journaling is one of the primary assignments in my class with Jamie is conducive to this goal of mine. However, strange internet connections and the lack of both digital film resources and any prowess with analogue film will unfortunately constrain at least the visual elements of my chronicles. Such considerations remind me of a project I have thought about in the past, which would be to see how completely I could document a day of my life with a mixture of hi-tech and re-appropriated methods and sources. For example, I could photograph or videotape portions of my day, but to go beyond that sort of "reality-TV" shtick, I could include signatures of people I interact with, recipes of the food I ate, or records of my dreams (with attempted interpretations, of course!). Well, as could be guessed, such a project has yet to come to fruition, and with my limited resources here in York, it's not likely to commence any time soon.

Bleh. I can see why such forms as travel memoirs take so much work. They require drawing on a unique blend of journalistic skills, habits, and perceptions as well as a basic ability to think and write well. My understanding of more traditional journaling is that it can help to sort through the everyday and commonplace experiences in order to get at the bigger, underlying issues of life--hence it's valuable as a tool for the work of memory and consiousness's work of processing and retaining the lives we live. But, it's difficult enough to do that sort of "ordinary" diary-work well. In a very new and undiscovered environment, the quantity and variety of mere details stack up and seem to get in the way of any sort of worthwhile reflection. Everything from the color of the walls to the history of the dirt is new, new, new, and by the time you list and remark on each of these quirks, it's too late to cover anything else. Really, this paragraph here is about as close as I've come thus far to actually thinking about what it means to be here. Thankfully, there should be plenty more time for such worthwhile reflection, maybe after more than three days are past and I've actually had time to have experiences and live here. And with that thought, I've suddenly become convinced that I should go walk around the city center--perhaps along the River Ouse?