Back to the good old paper diary!

It's definite now. I will move back to my good old paper diary. And I am looking forward to that!

No more worries about data formats. Much nicer to scribble remarks about things that happen in my diary with a pencil. Much nicer to save the paper diaries.

Old writings

I have dug up some old writings and published them on this blog. The writings are from 1996, and I published them here with the correct date. The writings were originally written in English. I did translate them in Dutch, and perhaps I will publish the Dutch version on my Dutch blog.

I am interrested to know if people like this sort of stuff on my blog. If so, I may publish some more writings of the same period. Totally different stuff. Stories taken from the comments of assembler programs I wrote in the late 80's-early 90's. Those comments were written while I was thinking about how to attack the problem solved by those programs.

The pieces uploaded now are:

• Dreamy Mornings
• Changing Colours
• Different Skies

Back to the good old paper diary?

A short while ago I got a new phone. A smartphone. This smartphone contains, as all smartphones, and even a lot of not-so-smart-phones, an agenda function. I have started using this function, and all-in-all it is not really bad. However, I may revert back to the good old paper diary anyway.

A couple of years ago, I have had a PDA, a personal digital thingy (apparatus, assistant, artifact, anything-else-starting-with-an-a). I used the diary function on that thing as well. A disadvantage was that when the batteries of the PDA ran out, all data was lost. To keep my diary available in those circumstances I had to frequently synchronise the thing with my PC. I am not really good in keeping batteries of devices loaded all the time, and I am also not very disciplined in synchronising stuff between various devices. When the PDA was overridden (yes, by a car; the PDA died in the accident) a couple of months after I started using it, I decided to go back to the paper diary.

The smartphone I use now does not loose its data when the batteries go empty. So that disadvantage is no longer there. Synchronisation is still the same story.

I also use my diaries as a sort of, well... diaries. Not only as agenda for appointments. Also to make notes about things that happened. Sort of like a paper blog. I like doing that, and I also collect my old diaries. If I would definitively move to an electronic diary the notes would be in the phone. I do have a special application on my laptop to retrieve the agenda an all notes and such. I can even see and edit that stuff on my laptop. And I can't help the idea about formats that may change over years, having to work with nuts and bolts in later years to retrieve the information. And what will happen if I go to another phone, something that will definitely happen in a couple of years?

Making entries in the smartphone is easy. The thing has a full keyboard. Reading and using the agenda function is quite reasonable. Overviews are a bit difficult. Editing and viewing on the laptop are fine. And still I am contemplating to move back to my paper diary. And the thoughts in the direction of moving back are getting stronger every day.

Different Skies

The area I live in is extremely flat. There is a lot of forest and farmland in our village. Because of the flatness and the big farmland areas, the sky is very beautifully visible.

Clear blue from the far away horizon to the other far away horizon. In the late afternoon, when the sun is in the west, not too low, the eastern sky is of a deep blue that contrasts beautifully with the green of the farm land, and especially with the darkish green summer leaves of oak trees. This colour blue is my most favourite colour.

Further in the evening the sun turns orange, and when there are a few stretched clouds they also turn into a beautiful bronze orange.

Over the rather large lake in our village this is a gorgeous view. Over here, on our northerly altitude, the sun dawn takes a long time in spring and autumn. The golden and orange colouring of the sky can easily last for one and a half hours. The golden sun and the bronze and orange clouds reflect in the vast water surface. At the other end of the lake the buildings of our village can be seen. These buildings are all low, except the church tower, which is a clear landmark. The buildings appear to be right under the sun, and they look like dark grey shadows with fuzzy borders and a golden touch. When there is little wind the water looks like a gigantic, smoke coloured mirror.

In autumn this is most beautiful. Especially when the golden sun lights the trees with their New England colours.

The sky is also very beautiful when it is clouded. Because of the flatness of the land you can see a lot of clouds. All kinds of grey, from very light to very dark. The grey colours change all the time. When there is a crack in the clouds, and the sun is in the right position, you can see sunrays shining down from the sky. Then it looks like an old painting, where the clouds open up to reveal a bright shining, from which anything you can imagine can come down.

Copyright © 1996, Marjo van Diem

Changing Colours

After the long cold winter the weather changed all of a sudden from very cold to very warm for the time of year. The leafless trees exploded with young and fresh green colours. The forests I pass in the morning have all different colours green. You can still see through some trees, while others are opaque already. Green from bright to dark, with all kinds of brown tints of the trees that have not started their spring yet.

The grass turns from a flat darkish green to very fresh spring green. The grass shoulders beside the road are wide and beautiful. They are bordered with the forest on one side, a forest experimentation zone on the other. Further on the road the shoulders are bordered with a canal on one side and farmland on the other.

In the morning the dandelions are almost entirely closed. In the east are some clouds up to about two fingers above the horizon. The sun, still behind them, gives them streaks of pale pink.

The colours of the grass are still dark. The dandelions make small, barely visible little yellow spots in the dark green. The forest is still a dark green shade.

The sun rises above the clouds, setting them on fire, and every colour turns brighter. There are shades of pink everywhere.

When the sun rises the light turns into a warm yellow.

In the evening, when I return from work, the dandelions in the area I live in have all opened. It is a sunny day. The light is very bright. Millions of dandelions have turned the shoulders into yellow fields with a green undertone. The fields with the solitaire trees are beautiful. The dandelions surround the trees.

In the beginning of our village a large grass field has turned into a yellow fluffy carpet. The field is bordered by see-through trees with distinguishable branches. The branches have a fresh, young green colour. On the other side of the road the forest is starting a new growing season.

In the village most streets are bordered with flowering trees. The trees are entirely white, or a warm pink colour. The streets are covered with small white leaves.

On Queens Day, the 30th April, it is even more beautiful. A clear sky makes the sun shine in the streets with the flowering trees. The red-white-and-blue flags give even more colour to the flowering environment.

This is a beautiful time of year !

Copyright © 1996, Marjo van Diem

Dreamy Mornings

Six o'clock in the morning. The sun is about to rise. The sky in the east is starting to get a pale pink colour.

Low, thin clouds are floating man-high above the meadows. You can see the blanket of clouds just above you wriggle and change shape. Just below the clouds the pale pink colour slowly becomes fuller and orange.

When the journey continues, the blanket of clouds goes up and down. Sometimes you look over the clouds, sometimes under them. Then you see the bottom of trees that have no top, then you see roofs of lonely farms floating around in the air.

In the east the sun starts to rise. A pink oval starts to appear just above the horizon. Sometimes the sun shines under the clouds, sometimes above.

In the grass of the meadows and between the young crops on the farmland trifles of very low mist are moving around like blobs of cotton.

Cows are standing near a small shed. They appear vaguely, and sometimes just their heads and upper backs can be seen. Other times you can only see their bottom halves.

Then the eastern sky explodes in burning orange. The sun, a golden ball of fire rises just above the mist, setting the entire eastern sky in fire. Orange light shines under and above the floating blanket of clouds.

The journey brings you to a bridge with a wide lake on the left and right side. On the other side of the lake on the left side you can see forests, on the right side is a stretched town without high buildings. The buildings of the town are just dark shapes against a dark blue sky. Some orange appears in the shapes, and the mist makes the bottom of the town disappear vaguely in a white fluff. In front of the lake on the right side is a small beach with a little forest besides it. The young leaves of the trees look golden and wet. On the left there is some grassland in front of the water.

When you go up the bridge you rise above the clouds. The air above the clouds is very clear, and the colours of the rising sun are pure magic. The view over the water is mystifying.

The mist floats over the orange glowing water. A lonely ship is making its way through the cotton cover. It looks like the ship is sailing the clouds.

When you go down on the other side of the bridge, you travel through the clouds again. Below the clouds the colours are different.

The sun is burning away the thin cover of clouds.

This is a beautiful start of a beautiful day.

Copyright © 1996, Marjo van Diem