As some may well know, this blog is an outgrowth of the daily journal writings of the owner. When the final day’s entry of 2024 is electronically penned tonight, it will mark the year’s last first-person description of the life and times of Yours Truly in Volume 50 of my Personal Daily Journal. What keeping such records means in this case is there will be in existence a body of historic references and writings detailing how one member of the human race experienced the reality of life on this planet in the first person on a daily basis for the past half-century. It is known that there are persons who have kept a daily journal for much longer than fifty years and, at least for the here and now, it is part of my day-to-day routine that I intend to continue. It is safe to say at least in one case that a teenage journaling kick is still a thing, alive and well and wrapping up the fiftieth edition of a continuous daily record the beginning of which predates the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live by over nine months. The World that first volume was started during was a great deal different than the one described in the fiftieth. Just like the teenager who started that first spiral bound record is much different now not to mention officially elderly. Let it be known that hindsight is much clearer with records. Most who have read excerpts from volumes of that journal have commented that in terms of who did what, where, when and with whom that it is all very accurate. When opinion, commentary and criticisms are interjected, that’s when it might become murky. However, at the end of the day there is an existing record with one person’s point of view. It does make a great case for the keeping of records, even if their usefulness is not immediately recognized.
The truth is that as characters go, this particular journal keeper is by no means exceptional. I possess no special physical or intellectual talents, an average at best level of intelligence, can speak only one language fluently, and have never really achieved anything in terms of highly distinguished accomplishments. What keeping a daily record for fifty years proves however is that even an average nobody can do something. In the words of Yogi Berra, “You can observe a lot simply by watching.” I will vouch that you can also remember a lot when you write it down. In all honesty, describing the events of the day in a written form is not a great task or a huge feat in and of itself. Perhaps doing it every day for half a century may be viewed by some as extraordinary, but that was never really a valid motivation for me. It is just that remembering where I have been, what I did and who I met has always struck me as important. Writing it all down helps greatly with solidifying the memory of it. This was driven home a few years ago with my participation in a local Adults Reading Their Awkward Teenage Diaries stand-up comedy show. The truth that came out then was the acknowledgement that during my two months in Navy boot camp, I only was able to write down the events of a half a dozen or so days. That was the only real gap in an otherwise daily record.
The Adult Reading of my Awkward Teenage Diary
As Father Time creeps up on us while these last hours of the year drain away, this is inevitably when I along with many others pause to look back and reflect on what happened in the World and what happened to us in 2024. It has been quite a year with the latest Presidential Election and all the accompanying insanities. Debate failures, candidate changes, record fundraising and assassination attempts notwithstanding, nothing was as insane as the outcome. Here along the most conservative stretch of Old Route 66, theocrats have sought to dismantle the wall of separation between church and state by getting the Holy Bible back into public school classrooms. Fortunately, more reasonable minds have prevailed, at least for the moment. Closer to home, we elected a Democratic mayor in Tulsa and, at least for now, things seem a bit brighter going forward.
The Oklahoma Sooners’ first year in the Southeastern Conference was, to say the least, forgettable. That is not to say there were not moments of brilliance, but OU’s inaugural season as a member of the SEC was officially a bust with regard to the W-L column. We have NIL and the transfer portal to thank for most of it. Going forward, it is only going to get more competitive and more expensive for both OU and their most loyal fans.
On a personal level it was another year of multiple road trips, some leading far away and some not so far from home and not all were associated with following the Sooners. The Mother Road out west maintains its allure as do scenic side trips from it. Looking ahead, this is going to be an increasing activity.
The Grim Reaper held the usual field day in 2024 as many well known celebrities and other less known persons left us to rejoin the Cosmos. Some were close to home, some far away. From admired musicians like Toby Keith, Eric Carmen, Doug Ingle and Kris Kristofferson to big name actors like Louis Gossett, Jr., Bob Newhart, Donald Sutherland and James Earl Jones, all will be sorely missed. Two centenarians, one lesser known and one universally known, have also left us this year. Lou Conter, the last living survivor of USS Arizona, died on April 1st at the age of 102 and former President Jimmy Carter left us two days ago, December 29th at the age of 100. With their passing we have stepped over the threshold from living memory into history.
As the grains of sand in the year glass of 2024 dwindle down, I will say this regarding the wrapping up of the 50th edition of my personal daily journal. It is less about the events and happenings of the year gone by and more about celebrating a specific discipline focusing on a daily activity which has come to define who and what I am. It is a mostly reliable record of an undistinguished individual who had the presence of mind to write down his day’s events and activities and offer opinion and viewpoint in the moment. There is no substitute for genuine candor and if all else fails in terms of memory, I can always refer to my journal. In a year when the surreal seems to have become the norm, it is a benefit to have a first-person description of who, what, when, where, and what on earth. So ends this latest edition.
Thank you for reading and Happy New Year!
Happy New Year, Stan! You’ve always been very distinguished, to me… 😉 Keep your powder dry, it’s likely to be a bang-up year.
Celebrating your 50th year of journaling, Stan! I wish I had done that, sometimes; other times, I know I might not care to look back and revisit. Still, to have one’s personal perspective on life in writing is admirable, and I admire that. I guess I could start now, and have my later years of perspective to peruse someday. It does help to see when certain things were done… anyway, Happy New Year! Keep on writing!