Dear Diary: Post number one in this category

It wouldn’t surprise me if the majority of women my age were given a book with the words “dear diary” cursive’d on the cover when they were girls. I had a diary when I was a kid. I wrote in it fairly regularly. I wasn’t so much a reader; always more a writer.

I’ve always kept some type of diary, or pseudo-diary. Writing things down helps me work through feelings, emotions, be more rational. This “dear diary” is a bit different. Instead of being under lock and key, it’s going online. Open, public, for all to see. We shall see what comes from this experiment.

I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember.

I still have my magazine cut-out decorated reports from gradeschool. In fifth and sixth grade, I laboriously created hand-written and illustrated “neighborhood news.” I knocked on a few doors, approached a few neighbors, intent sell my master copy. One neighbor purchased an issue or two.

My poetry. Being accused by my seventh grade teacher of plagiarism: “This is too good to have been written by a seventh grade girl. Where did you take it from?” rings from my memories. She gave me an “F” with a “plagerized?” note. I was upset. In retribution, I tore it up and threw the pieces in the garbage. Now no way to judge if it were worthy of accusation. That poem is long gone. Its pieces broken down in some landfill, likely pushing daisies in a south-Snohomish park. All I remember is the poem was about food. Sundaes, to be exact.

So, I guess that sometimes I write things worth reading.

Other times I’ll write things you don’t give a crap about. And that’s okay. I just hope to avoid too many flames and criticism. It can slow down the creative process and prevent openness. But you and I both know there a lot of scorchers around on the ‘net. Then we’ll see how thick my skin is, and how precise their hit. It is crazy that people can be really mean. I prefer more of a utopian “treat others as you’d like to be treated” kind of etiquette.

Mean people take note: This is the Internet and you’ve called up this site, so if you don’t like what you read, go somewhere else.

This is post #1 for a new category — “Dear Diary” — with a little explanation and a warning: If you’re reading in this section, it’s a bit more personal. So be nice.

So be nice.