Writing
A man who keeps a diary, pays
Due toll to many tedious days;
But life becomes eventful–then
His busy hand forgets the pen.
Most books, indeed, are records less
Of fulness than of emptiness.
— William Allingham
Taking a leaf from the latest blog of diffdrummer, this is the truth as Allingham puts it. I have to concede, it rings perfectly true!
Since I have recently taken my GMAT (thereby suffering from the ‘Critical Reasoning’ syndrome), let me hastily clarify the unsaid assumption so that I can protect myself from piqued bloggers…:-)
Assumption 1:
A blogger is equivalent to one who keeps a diary. Meaning, the purpose of blogging is the same as that of keeping a diary.
lalunadiosa says:
I do agree with your assumption – I do blog as a substitute for keeping a diary….so years later I will know what my grad life was like 🙂
That said, I think (personally!!!) there is some truth in Allingham’s claim that
Most books, indeed, are records less
Of fulness than of emptiness.
But then again there have been days that I’ve had so many experiences but not blogged about them ‘cos everytime I tried to write them down I felt like I wasn’t doing them enough justice!!!
September 22, 2004 — 6:31 am
Lakshmi says:
I agree… Somedays I’m so full of emotion and experience that I always feel like my writing can SIMPLY not do justice to them!
September 22, 2004 — 9:45 am
fugney says:
Ah… critical reasoning… it’s much better than reading comprehension though.
September 22, 2004 — 8:25 am
Lakshmi says:
They all are the pits… Yeah, CR is slightly better.
September 22, 2004 — 9:45 am
hariputtar says:
Ek Sawaal.
What if the man writes of the days when his hands were full (and the pen was forgotten), on the days when emptiness hounds him ?
September 22, 2004 — 8:59 am
Lakshmi says:
Re: Ek Sawaal.
That’s not a ‘diary’ experience in the truest sense, is it?
September 22, 2004 — 9:47 am
hariputtar says:
Re: Ek Sawaal.
– while i am at it, i contest the *truest sense* implication as well. 🙂 even the dictionary (www.m-w.com) doesnt require it to be a daily record of events. a regular record is good enough. [ no promise or routine, is a suicide pact – occasional straying is acceptable. ]
– besides, the emptiness argument itself is invalid. for various reasons. given that making an entry will take less than 15-20 minutes often. for example: how much TV do people watch daily, on average in today’s world ? should those hours be counted in as *happening* ?
its just one of those things that some people choose to do – and others dont. (e.g. daily runs, or watching every episode of a serial.) and sometimes, we look at those who are different from us and write rhymes about them. that does not make one thing truer than the other. 🙂
September 22, 2004 — 10:14 am
Lakshmi says:
Re: Ek Sawaal.
You win! Frankly, I have no idea what to say…:-)
September 22, 2004 — 10:30 am
rileen says:
Re: Ek Sawaal.
and sometimes, we look at those who are different from us and write rhymes about them.
You do ??
September 22, 2004 — 10:37 am
hariputtar says:
Re: Ek Sawaal.
once. with mixed results.
September 22, 2004 — 11:23 am
rileen says:
Re: Ek Sawaal.
Ah, once i knew about, i thought perhaps you had a lot of secret rhymes you were going to share with us after all – how disappointing :-p
September 22, 2004 — 11:24 am
hariputtar says:
Re: Ek Sawaal.
the *we* was not *me*.
misconstrued were the words in that line
the interpretation, i shud remind, was thine
disappointment often thus,
comes to us;
fruit of our own folly.
[ a-b-b-c-c-a ]
September 22, 2004 — 11:32 am
rileen says:
Re: Ek Sawaal.
My disappointment
was but a joke
in your (figurative) tummy
a friendly poke
:-p
September 22, 2004 — 11:34 am
Lakshmi says:
Re: Ek Sawaal.
That is a nice one…:-)
September 22, 2004 — 11:41 am
hariputtar says:
Re: Ek Sawaal.
our disappointments, and other malaise,
are often a matter of mirth;
in hindsight, that is;
i suspect they, like most old things, appreciate in worth.
September 22, 2004 — 11:47 am
rileen says:
Re: Ek Sawaal.
Much as i’d love to,
i cannot hang about;
Goodnight, old friend,
over and out.
September 22, 2004 — 11:50 am
hariputtar says:
Re: Ek Sawaal.
if morpheus has a greater claim,
on you,
than we do :
goodbye! we shall meet again.
September 22, 2004 — 12:03 pm
deelight says:
Re: Ek Sawaal.
Gosh! You’re good!
September 22, 2004 — 11:18 pm
Lakshmi says:
Re: Ek Sawaal.
He sure is a… COOL DUDE!
September 23, 2004 — 6:59 am
rileen says:
Re: Ek Sawaal.
Thanks a lot to you too, 🙂
September 24, 2004 — 8:52 am
rileen says:
Re: Ek Sawaal.
Thanks a lot, Dee 🙂
September 24, 2004 — 8:47 am
rileen says:
Hey, the question didn’t have me in it 🙂
Anyone know a smiley for *tweaks your ear* ??
September 22, 2004 — 11:18 am
rileen says:
I’m sure shall forgive us both.
Hmm, so i rhyme about people unlike me? Interesting 🙂
Yup, goodnight isn’t far away, since i must travel early morning tomorrow ……
September 22, 2004 — 11:26 am
rileen says:
Re: Ek Sawaal.
Thanks 🙂
And i shall also take that as a confirmation of forgiveness 😉
Goodnight and sweet dreams, hope to catch up with your posts over the weekend.
September 22, 2004 — 11:45 am
trycatchdenz says:
And maintaining a diary has always been dangerous to say the least, eh…
Cheerz,
Denz
September 23, 2004 — 4:05 pm
Lakshmi says:
Hmmm… it is.
September 24, 2004 — 6:51 am
dannykk says:
What I have to offer is a little tangential to the above. It’s easy to write about pain and emptiness, especially if our words are open to scrutiny. There is a sense of kinship for despair.
The toughtest thing however, is to write about joy. No one can really tap happiness for what it is worth for the simple reason it is a singular emotion more fleeting than pain. I think and I speak for myself here, it’s embarrassing to pen down how happy we feel.
September 23, 2004 — 9:43 pm