Assignment #1

Matt(hew) Richardson
Journal

Why did we kill the journal aspect of this course? Obviously I can keep it on my own, but I like having things as an assignment, because it focuses me so much better. Left to my own devices, projects tend to go different place than I want or plan. It’s good to have someone read over it, someone who cares or is at least competent and paid to care.
As I look back over my journal, 37 pages in 20 days, I am so happy with my ideas and my progression as a journaler. Some of the notes are really funny and interesting, like when I got called a turtle for my big backpack, or the time I saw the window washer in a suit. But the form of the journal became better as well. First I was just making lists of short observations, but after a while I switched to making a few entries about which I thought much more carefully. The consideration accompanying the thoughts was much better, and I’m glad it developed that way.
There were also the other things I put in my journal that make it interesting. The list of who wants to attend a wine tasting and who doesn’t, the collection of churches I’ve visited, or the sample of people’s handwriting are just as worthwhile as any of the actual written entries I made, they convey just as much. The list of churches lives on to be sure, because I add new names all the time. I think the journal would even better if it were more interactive. I don’t know if I want to go so far as to paste or tape something in (the simplicity of pen and paper is philosophically appealing), but maybe quotes and small shape outlines. If only I could sketch.
My journal is, in fact, pretty close to done. I thought that I would have to get some sort of supplement for the thing when it would be collected again, but now that’s a moot worry. I guess it’s a good thing that the journal project was called off if it was hindering people rather than helping them, but I don’t see how writing your thoughts in a book can be detrimental to a class or a person. I’ve read that people only remember 10% of what they hear, but they remember 90% of what they themselves write down. Besides, the journal was the most substantial piece of writing we even do. It’s a shame that it won’t be what it was before. And an entire third of the syllabus was dedicated to the journal. There were hardly more prompts for travel writing than directions for using the journal when it was finished and at home. What happens to that part of the course?
Well, now that I’ve written all this I’ve made myself guilty. Basically I’ve admitted that I’m not self-motivated or self-directed enough to keep myself meaningfully on track for my own education. Unless I trust myself to someone for keeping on track, I’d fail. That’s a pretty poor state of things. What kind of person can’t manage one’s own goals? That’s it – the journal is still on, just like it was before. Maybe I can even be really scathing now, because I don’t have to worry about other people reading it. Oh well, one goal at a time.