"Scoop," by Kathryn Ash

"When John called me at the end of my first shift this morning and asked me if I'd like to come to lunch with Gary and Simon and Nat, I jumped at the chance. I could think of nothing more civil than going out to some restaurant for lunch with them. Should have known better...

"I was genuinely appalled at the lack of imagination going on here. This group is like a club of old fogies! To think they criticize me for not getting out and about! On their days off they just go around and around on to the same worn track...beach, burger, swim, beach, camp, burger, jungle, swim.

"Dah, dah, dah.

"I eventually got in the car with them, after a great deal of quiet moaning about wasting my time. The party had swelled to include a friend of Gary's, Justine, whose perfect brown skin and perfect cool attitude intimidated me."

Welcome to Scoop, the brainchild and inner thoughts of Kathryn Ash, who helped establish a theater company and became a card-carrying practitioner. We asked her what exactly the purpose of writing is; whether in the context of her journal or in the broader conception of 'writing.' Scoop states the task of its writer is: "onerous, an honour, a joy and the highest gift I can offer."

Kathryn personally responded, however, that "The job of a writer, of any artist, is to help define our life and times, provoke discussion, hold up a mirror so that we may see who we are. . ." Which by any account, is both a fine definition of both the impulse to write, and the impulse to write an online journal.

"Fractal Vision," by Karyn

"OK, I've taken a deep breath. I think I've thought this through well enough, I'm ready. My life tends not to be exceptionally interesting, but stuff seems to happen to me. I am often accosted by strangers who are lost, want to talk, or are crazy. I always seem to be at the intersection during the split second when *the* accident happens, or gazing into the distance and my eyes pull into focus people having sex in a public place, or someone stealing from a store."

Karyn began her journal as a reactionary impulse, having been impressed by Dave Seigel. Karyn refers to Fractal vision as a daily "Laundry List" of her happenings. While it might sound like a mundane refreshment of daily events, it's not so. Karyn's writing is more prose than laundry list. Examine "Low Key," an account of a low key day-

"Dammnit everything is low key these days. The characteristic burnt taste of workplace coffee, the slow hours whiled away at mindless busiwork tasks. Work of my own to attend to, time for that later. 7am Sunday morning I'll get to my own."

You can find all sorts of interesting reading material from this unabashed, unashamed writer. If you like, you can read about snot, the odyssey vs. the bible, retail therapy, or Nazi's in the "Monash University Parking and Grounds Department."

"Negative Factor," by Ben Slinger

Negative Factor is the chronicle of Ben's school life, kickboxing, friends, family, and romances. Ben is sometimes scathing or critical of others, but honestly so. Ben doesn't cover or sugar-coat his writing in alliterations or allegory, but his writing IS honest and straightforward, revealing his inner thoughts and daily happenings, imparting the feeling that 'you're getting a letter from a friend.'

We talked to Ben about journaling, and how it's affected his life:

"What do I get out of it? Well... it's a release sometimes. Most of the time I don't even think of it as going up on the Internet, I just write it to get it out... but it's fun as well, and I've met lots of new people through it... so they are reasons as well."

We were also curious about how Ben felt his Australian surroundings affected his writing:

"My surroundings influence the way I feel, so I guess they influence the way I write as well... I don't think I'd want to live anywhere else, I'm happy where I am right now... but if I was somewhere else, I guess my writing would be completely different... I'd have had different experiences, and would be a different person."

Ben's got about three months of entries archived; the rest are password protected. If you like the archives, though, the password's a fine bet.