Storky

Storky is about a year in the life of a high school boy told through his journal entries.  I could relate to this story for many reasons, one being that from the spring of my sophomore year until the middle of my first year of college I sporadically kept a journal.  Reading Storky motivated me to dig out the journal, which has since been ripped out of its original notebook.

(Please note that the excerpts in red are transcribed just as I originally wrote them, in all their ungrammatical glory.)

I often wrote in my journal late at night just before bed, so I was usually half asleep as I jotted down the day's events.  That is the only reasonable explanation for why I would write things like, Dec 30, 1998: ...I went over and found Tony and a bunch of other people and we went to see Patch Adams, one of the best movies I have ever seen... and 6/30/96: ... The past week I have been following Kerri Strug reading every about her.  It weird, I know I will probably never meet her but because of her I exercise for at least 45 minutes each night...

The late night writing could also be why I often wrote the most incredibly undetailed entries: Dec 27, 1997 – Went to Megan's house. There was a bunch of people from where I used to work and just watched T.V. and July 3, 1998 – Today I went hiking with Kate, Lauren, Matt, Nick, Katie, and Laura and went swimming to a lake.

Other times I perfectly illustrated the traits of a teenager that doesn't know what true hardships in life really are: 5/14/95 - Today I think I had to make the most important decision in my life so far... This decision was to give a girl a note telling her I liked her and in case you're wondering how it went the next entry starts: This was the most tension (I think I meant stressful) day of my life...

But by far the most painful aspect of the journal is the occasional poem:

Untitled

Do you wonder what I called myself

When I'm walking all alone

It is different from what you call me on the phone

The name I have now was given to me as a child

It was good then but has become to mild

This name I will keep me till the day I die

You're never get it from me so don't even try to pry.

I have no idea what any of that means.

One of the great things about the journal is being reintroduced to all the people and moments in my life I had long since forgotten.  I only wish I would have been more detailed in my entries, capturing all I could, because for covering 3 years of my life the journal is only about 30-40 pages.  This means that so many things went unrecorded.  Take for example my entire entry from the day of my high school graduation: June 4, 1998 - Today I graduated. Basically all day I reflexed (I meant to say I reflected).  The only time I all most lost it (meaning was emotional) was before leaving when we were taking pictures.  It really didn't hit me yet.  Afterwards Dylan had a party which a lot of people went to.


Why I only spent 3 lines on what, at that point, was one of the biggest days of my life is very disappointing to me now.  Especially since I remember so many memorable moments from that day, like driving over to the ceremony with just me and my grandfather in the car and him talking about my future, taking pictures with friends outside the auditorium in our robes, the realization that this would be the last time I'd see most of my teachers & classmates, and the party I mentioned was a lot of fun, but none of it made the cut. 


It's hard to fully cherish the moments in life as we are busy living them.  That's why people keep journals or in this day and age have blogs, to help with recording those events; I just didn't put as much effort into it as I wish I would have.

And so I'll leave you with a few words of advice from my 16 year old self: "Listen when people talk because they sometimes tell you things about themselves unexplicitly."