Dear Diary

Today I was talking to my friend and colleague about my very first online diary hosted by Diaryland (https://members.diaryland.com/edit/ ). When I was living in Osaka, a friend of mine was visiting from the US and she had told me about the site. She shared the online diaries of a few of her friends and I was very intrigued by the thought of online journaling. Ever since I was little, I kept diaries and journals. Some of my diaries had locks. The first page always had a warning and reminded anyone that the diary was private and not to be read by anyone without permission. My very first diaries kept track of places I went to, things I ate, and trivial little tidbits. I remember writing about going to eat shabu shabu at a Japanese restaurant in Century City (Los Angeles) and laughing about things that happened to my cousin and me during Japanese school. I kept track of what happened on a TV game show from my childhood called "Beat the Odds" where you tried to avoid the Whammy. And of course, no diary was ever complete if you didn't write about your secret crushes or doing something that you didn't want anyone to know about. Thirty years later and here I was, contemplating starting an online diary for strangers to take a peek into my life. I'm glad I took that chance!

Diaryland was kind of cool for me because you were not only keeping an online journal, but you were also reading the journals of other writers. Diaryland had a membership component so you could actually subscribe to the diaries you wanted to continue reading. You could send messages to the writers and connect with them on the site. It's amazing how easy it was to get hooked on different diaries all the while not knowing whether they were true stories or fabricated. Were the writers really who they claimed to be? Sometimes you would get hooked on certain diaries only to find out that they probably weren't true stories by real people.

Now, during this time, social media still wasn't a thing yet. There was no Facebook or Twitter or Instagram. My Space might have just started and there were other online blog sites like Live Journal. Actually, who knows? Maybe there were social media sites but I was so new to all of this. Diaryland became my little sanctuary. It was a place I could express my thoughts, feelings, and opinions freely. In some cases, my Diaryland friends knew more about me than my "real-life" friends. Well, eventually, my worlds merged. I actually had the opportunity to meet some of my Diaryland friends in person! Even after locking up my diary and leaving Diaryland, I kept in touch with some of the people I met there.

I can't recall exactly why I stopped writing at Diaryland. Diaryland made it so easy to blog because they had readymade templates and pretty much did everything for you. Somewhere down the road, I started a new blog. And another new blog. And another new blog. I wrote on Blogger, Blogspot, WordPress, Tumbler, Squarespace...and I loved each of those sites, but I'd stop and then decide I needed to start all over again. *silly me*

Anyways, why this trip down Diary memory lane? It's a thank you. You guys know who you are. I am so touched and I was totally taken by surprise to actually get subscribers here. First of all, I'm just beginning blogging all over again. Secondly, I don't think my life is anywhere near as exciting and dangerous as it was back when I was writing on Diaryland! haha. But I am so touched and excited to have not one, but two subscribers back from my Diaryland days! You guys are great! Thank you. *hugs* And for subscriber #3, I am so happy to have you here too. Periscope is another app that changed my life. I'll save that for another post, but seeing a new subscriber from someone I met through Periscope touches my heart too. As I said, I didn't expect to get any subscribers, but I just added that feature to this website/blog since it was something available!

So a huge thank you to all of you who stop by and check up on me here. I'm sending everyone who stops by here virtual hugs and all the best wishes for a safe, happy and healthy new year, Thanks for getting my January off to a happy start. I need this uplifting energy to fight against all the craziness going on around us.

xox