The inspiraton for keeping an online journal comes from Chris "Sandman" Sand, a.k.a. the "Rappin' Cowboy." Before the presidential election I was sent a link to a music video he had done called "Go Bama Go." I liked the work so much that I sent an email to him expressing my appreciation. I also checked out his Web site at http://www.rappincowboy.com/. There I found a link to an online journal he has been keeping for several years. Reading through the archives, I was touched and inspired by his way of life, his recounting of various experiences, and how his journal is an integral part of his unique artistry. Be sure to check out his site if you have the chance.I decided to start this journal as I begin life in the Pacific NW, where I have returned to live after many years in Japan and most recently in Los Angeles. I've been reading the Notebooks of Tennessee Williams, and decided to call this journal an E-Notebook in his honor. Tennessee has this to say about keeping a journal:
Keeping a journal is a lonely man's habit, it betrays the vices of introspection and social withdrawal, even a kind of Narcissism, ... it has certain things to recommend it, it keeps a recorded continuity between his past and present selves, it gives him the comforting reassurance that shocks, defeats, disappointments are all snowed under by pages and pages of new experience that still keep flaking down over him as he continues through time...
As Tennessee would put it, "En Avant!"
