Clearly, that last post didn't exactly teem with all the wit, wisdom, and whatever that I'd like to think I have at my disposal. Suffice it to say I think this feature is groovy, and I'd like to give it a try.

I've never been good at keeping a journal--have started one perhaps half a dozen times, during different periods of reflection or growth or, I concede, just plain narcissism, but generally lost interest after a handful of turgid entries. But I write more regularly in other genres, and maybe doing this online--which feels a little less private, of course, but thereby a little less committed (or just more fun)--will result in a little more consistency, however sporadic.

Okay, see, there's my problem: too strong a habit of intellectualizing everything leads me to think it to death before just doing it. Roland Barthes, a brilliant if at times pellucid literary critic (or, really, a semiotician) writing in the 60s-70s, wrote an essay on his repeated failure at journal-writing, much of which he chalks up to the same thing, a sort of suspicion of the discourse of sincerity.

So, for the time being, perhaps I should keep it simple. I've been an RP listener for about 7 months and am still thrilled to have discovered it. I didn't really know there was much going on with internet radio until just before I found RP, and now I feel I don't really need to know what else is going on with internet radio. That's how much I like it around here. And this new (or soon-to-be) site design and all the new features just make it better--more personalized and just swankier.

Since "journal" comes from the French for "day," (as "diary" comes from Latin for "day"), I guess I could describe mine: I did nothing. Posted on the RP board while listening, tinkered with a new computer, zoned out in front of the TV, deadheaded a few plants on the porches. Ate now and then. And now, thanks to a sick superego and the bad habit of not knowing how to give myself downtime and just enjoy it for what it is, I feel guilty as hell for being so unproductive.

Aren't you glad you asked? Oh, wait, you didn't....

Tomorrow, my girlfriend and I are leaving for Truckee (near Lake Tahoe) for a few days' vacation. Our relatively-recently-acquired dog will, of course, have even more fun than we will, so it'll be a happy trip. And I'll probably even bring the computer and get some work done while there.

I recently realized that I seem to see nothing wrong with the concept of a "working vacation." Kind of sick, I guess. Welcome to my mind.

Anyway, for now, the guilt is wearing off, and "La Femme Nikita" (the movie, not the series) is on cable, and I still feel lazy, so off I go for More of Nothing. Maybe I'll even enjoy it!