self portrait tuesday: document!

today's entry for
the self portrait challenge.
march’s challenge is time.

five years ago
my life was pretty different.
i imagine that is the same for most people.
i lived in seattle.
it was 2001
and i was preparing to move to NC.
i had a busy summer that involved
working three jobs
and
taking buses between them all...

i like to be organized and
that usually involves
color-coordinating things.
purple for fun.
blue for to do.
green for school.
yellow for misc.
orange for health.
pink for personal.
i still use a similar system
but it is all on my mac now.

i use to spend a lot of time
on the bus coloring and putting
i-zones of people and things
in my planner.
i even made a portable cover
each year to protect the datebook:


my planner was really more like
documentation of my life.
a datebook of everyday events.
i love to document.
i have these edward gorey planners
for each year between 1999-2003
and often i use them as a reference.
when did suz visit me in NC?
what did we do for my 28th birthday?
etc. etc.
i wish that i still filled out a datebook
but i don't have the time anymore
and
at some point i needed to evolve
a new type of documentation.

for my self portrait this week
i present my datebook.
here is my march 2001:

apparently i was really busy
this week in March 2001
because it is an unusually empty page:

it was my mom's birthday.
so there she is 5 years ago.
you can see larger views of my datebook
here.

this entry has reminded me
of the importance
of keeping track
of the little day to day things
that happen in my life.
it is important to remember the everyday.
your life is the accumulation
of little moments,
thoughts
and events.

one of my favorite artists,
Candy Jernigan,
collected evidence from her daily life
and made documentation an art.
collections of dust.
collections of dead bugs in her window sill.
collections of crack vials around NYC.

my documentation
has become digital.
there is something lost
in the digital...
like the difference
between a digital photo
and holding a photograph
in your hand.
i worry so much is lost
by losing the physical
documentation of time.
but maybe i am
just stuck in the past.

i leave you with
a dada collage
by Hanna Höch: