Gary Knigge's Journal
Gary Knigge (1951)

"I wish I could gather up all those unbestowed kisses, words and songs of love, gentle, nurturing gestures and tender remembrances. I would celebrate them, appreciate them and find homes for them all. I would wander the streets, slipping them into the pockets of passers by."

Gray Knigge's journal is dated from May 29th to September 19th, and is quite unique for its use of rich prose and esoteric writing style. Gary Knigge's refusal to name anyone, even by pseudonym, in combination with his sparse and almost unparseable writing style generate a journal tapestry that is rich and colorful, dense and warm. These are entries that you can read several times, and gain farther insight into them with each read. Each entry is short and to the point, and cuts to the heart of a single human emotion with the precision of a surgical knife. The emotion is always clear, the writer's psyche is always forefront  even if the locale or the people within the writer's personal world are not. Obviously, there's no 'cast' to be had here, and whether it's a choice that guards Gary's privacy, or is meant to intensify the aura of mystery behind the author's person is debatable. Take for example, "The Flame."

The Flame, June 13th  "Flame, you are so pure and honest. Some call you brutal, but I think your conscience is clear. You have no stake in the sun's gentle warmth, nor is destruction your affair. Children trapped in a upstairs apartment, the slow burn in a tobacco addicts' lungs, the fiery eye of a welder's arc, the grief in a lover's heart."

Some things that are for sure, if anything can be for sure about this journal   Gary has children, one of whom has frequent seizures. Gary has a sense of humor (as in "Putting the Babies to Sleep," where he 'puts his child's stuffed animals to sleep,' all twenty of them), and likes mushroom soup.

Maybe Gary's journal can best be described by Gary himself, who explains it in his "Why I Write This Stuff" entry   "So, I want to gently or not-so-gently speak the truth. I may sneak it in anywhere around here. You never know. Then again I may not. You draw your cards and you take your chances."

Chicago Journal
Kurt Nimmo (1952)

Wham! Bam! Frames and applets in your face! And, in good stead, as they are neither annoying, slow to load, or distracting. Rather, they are the artiste at work, adding tasteful décor to his page that augments both his style and environment.

"Nimmo, writer, day laborer, and night stomper on a cheap Japanese keyboard." Typical; but this is the man, the life, and the writing. It's not about taking insane chances, bungie jumping, or swimming with sharks. But it's all entertaining, and a good bit safer. Nimmo's writing is impeccable, crisp and sharp, with all the witticism and sharpened sarcasm you could expect from someone who's writing in their prime. There are riffs about traffic, not knowing where to exit on the expressway, furor over network collapses, and falling on the wet cement stairs of the tunnel between the 'Red Line and the Blue Line.' (Subway talk).

Humor, obviously, is also one of those attributes not lost with age  "All of us are in some way connected to the One Big Ass Network (OBASN)"

Once again, rather than speculating or interpreting, we'll leave it up to the author to explain their journal's existence   "This is all about Kurt Nimmo. This is his journal. Kurt works in Chicago as a web designer. He is from Detroit. All of the photographs here were taken by him. Kurt has nothing to say about his journal. Read it he says."

Texere: LifeLines
Dawnelle Loiselle (1946)

The first thing striking about this journal is its title. Texere is derived from Latin, and means "to weave or to construct." This journal, as well as the last, is excellently constructed and user friendly. In addition, there is a webspace for writers, a notify list, and some background info. on the author's 'Women's Studies Course' pages at Towson University. Dawnelle is the mother of two, both of whom are already grown and married, and resides in Maryland (you know  that place by Washington D.C.).

One of the preliminary things about texere that is interesting is the amount of 'self portrait' style photos posted by the author. Evidently this is (you can read about it for yourself under "Sometimes Narrative Isn't Enough') a process of 'learning to face yourself.' In Dawnelle's own words, "Our heads are so full of ideas about what we should look like or want to look like that it's hard to accept what we do look like. I know that the pictures I take and sometimes post of myself have something to do with wanting to come to terms with images of myself. But I also know that to think that any photo actually shows what we do look like is misleading as well. Photos are not reality."

Journal entries are typically about Dawnelle's day  they are all extracted from the rote of life. Teaching, cooking, relatives, and cleaning house. It's not boring, it's just not archaic. If you're looking for an easy read that is full of introspection, emotion, and speaks straight to the heart (as well as straight to the point), then texere is something you'll fully enjoy.

Next OnCommon:

'Grrrl Power!'  the writing of younger, female diarists who infuse their diaries with their youthful vibrance; covering such topics as sex, religion, and gender discussion. Any journals fitting these parameters should be submitted using the 'submit' button at the top of the page.