Blogging here at AOL is different than keeping a handwritten journal. There are options here that aren't available in my composition books that I'd never considered until I started enjoying them here.

One of the things I like about blogging is the entry-response factor. I make an entry, and someone is likely to respond, whether to say "good entry," just to let me know they came by for a visit, or to say "I understand," or a comment that extends from my entry and leads into their journal with a link. Either way, I am amused and warmed by some of the comments that visitors leave behind. Other times, I am made to reconsider my words, realizing that what I intended to express, and what was received by the reader may not be quite the same message. This reminds me to think carefully before I write, particularly when commenting on public things like education.

Another feature I benefit from is the public nature of blogging... I get to visit other people's journals and leave comments with them. Sometimes I just leave a brief "great entry!" just to let them know I was there, and other times I leave a little more, or a lot more because I had something to say about the topic, or just to share a similar experience, or to say I understand because I've been there.

Often, an email will follow, something more personal from the journaler, and I know I have made a new friend in another state. Journal Land journalers are the nicest people! They are encouraging, polite, thoughtful, and patient. I've read stories that were sad, painful, filled with anxiety and frustration, followed by comments from the readers, words that inspired, encouraged, supported, and motivated the journaler through their crisis. And the tags they send each other! They are adorable.

During the school week, I easily pick up on the humorous and the trivial entries of others, and will jump on the journal challenges that others create. Like the Einstein writing on the board today from John's By The Way, or the Ten things you see for yourself in the next five years. Responding to these entries, and reading others' responses to the same entry, is fun and light, and breaks the tension of the day for me. It's like having my own personal comedy central right here at the computer (well, that and my dogs... they keep me laughing, too!). That is why you may see several days of frivolous, silly, or entertaining entries about nothing serious. I need to do those entries just as much as I need to take the time to be more insightful about my work and my life.

I do like balance, though. So do the other journalers... spend some time cruising through anyone's journal and you are sure to find some serious essays on raising kids, developing friendships, finding romance, dealing with grief and loss, making life-changing decisions, and issues at work. Lots of work stories!

Tomorrow I will write about Frank McCourt, a Pulitzer Prize winning author. I just read an article about him today in an educational magazine, neatoday. Some things he said in the interview I read gave me pause, and I'd like to respond in my blog. Tomorrow.

Today, Steve was looking into getting tickets to see Cirque du Soleil because I had said I'd love to go see them. They're going to be performing in Greensboro at the Coliseum in May... tickets were $99.50 per person for the ground floor, and $89.50 for the first level!... I don't want to pay that kind of money to see them. I think they are pretty amazing aerialists, acrobats, and gymnasts, and I know they have huge expenses to move their show around the country, but I'll settle for the TV viewings. Maybe another day, but not this year!

It's been a restful day. Mostly I have piddled about between reading that great book I started yesterday, cuddling with my husband, vaccuuming the floors, bathing the dog, and reading that great book some more. It's been a very good day. Just what I needed. Actually, I need one of these kind of days more than once every two or three weeks... would love to have them every week, but our schedules don't make it so. Ah me, fact of life.