Favor: Would all those post-ers that came up with "rules" for Trail Journals please send me the web addresses of THEIR journals, so that I might critique them??<br><br>And this: If anyone writing a TJ IS following all the suggested "rules", I can promise you, I will never, EVER read your journal again!!! <br><br>The point missed is this: TJ's are (or should be) for the AUTHORS enjoyment, not the readers!! If the readers should enjoy them as well, so much the better. But write them for your OWN enjoyment. Not all writers are created equal. Like most people, I am inept at many things in life, and proficient at others. The unmitigated arrogance of thinking that I, or other TJ authors "owe" you a "performance" or need to follow a RIGID set of guidelines DICTATED to us is a shameful slap in the face to those who take on the labor-intensive act of keeping a TJ. <br><br>I would rather poke my eyes out with a
phillips head screwdriver than follow the suggested "guidelines". Let's hear if for artistic freedom!<br><br>Hike On!<br><br>Wheeew<br><br><b><i>Alison Rose <a.rose@sbcglobal.net></i></b> wrote:<blockquote class="replbq" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <meta content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16587" name="GENERATOR"> <style></style> <div><font size="3">Dear Dr. Bob ~</font></div> <div><font size="3"></font> </div> <div><font size="3">A very good point indeed and I, for one, certainly thank you for making it. </font></div> <div><font size="3">A whiney, long-winded, self indulgent journal should be kept private. </font><font size="3">That</font></div> <div><font size="3">being said, the well intentioned advice is offered to those who specificially</font></div> <div><font size="3">wish to post a public journal for
the world to see. As most will notice,</font></div> <div><font size="3">those journals will be read by somewhere between 20,000 and </font><font size="3">150,000 people.</font></div> <div><font size="3">Many read these journals in preperation for their own hike, so providing some</font></div> <div><font size="3">of the recommended information is a tremendous gift to them. Thus, if</font></div> <div><font size="3">you want your journal to be interesting and relevent, kindly follow the</font></div> <div><font size="3">recommendations. If not, as in Dr. Bob's example, keep them private. And I,</font></div> <div><font size="3">for one, will thank you. Thank you, thank you very much.</font></div> <div><font size="3"></font> </div> <div><font size="3"></font> </div> <div>One thing I like about trail journals is their wide diversity, reflecting<br>the individual. The fact that all journals do not follow the same
terse<br>guidelines helps one with insights into differing personalities and the<br>trail day as experienced in differing ways by different people... the<br>essence of HYOH. Besides, for whom is a trail journal written? Is it to<br>entertain or educate others and written with an eye to avoiding critical<br>comment? (Gee, should I write this...? I may be viewed as "whining.") If<br>so, some might suggest it may be flawed from the outset. I use a MP3 player<br>to talk into as I hike. It's in my front pocket and several times a mile I<br>grab it to record thoughts, sightings, people's names, as well as host of<br>comments on my physical state of being that I want to remember as part of my<br>trail experience. Example: Whew, did I just have projectile diarrhea! (No,<br>not this posting, folks). Sometimes I ramble on (just like this post,<br>folks). I am guilty of writing more a trail diary than a log or journal.
It<br>is precisely because of comments like the well-intentioned guidelines<br>suggested below that I have never publicly posted my four trail "journals."<br>While I sure enjoy reading other accounts occasionally, mine proudly include<br>whining and stay deliciously private. :)<br><br>Dr Bob <br></div>_______________________________________________<br>Pct-l mailing list<br>Pct-l@backcountry.net<br>To unsubscribe or change list options (digest, etc):<br>http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l<br></blockquote><br><BR><BR>-Wheeew-<br>www.trailjournals.com/wheeew/<br>---->MexiCan----> 2008<p> 
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