The Journal Newsletter
Introduction
Happy Birthday to The Journal! 19 years ago this month The Journal version 1 was released. They grow up so fast, don’t they??? =)
An update of The Journal 7 is available. See “The Journal News” below for all the details.
My wife, Susan, has contributed some new writing exercises, and George McCusker tells us how he marks the special days of his life.
Following the release of The Journal 7 in April, I started working on updating The Journal’s primary Web page. In the process, I have been going through all the old newsletters (there are nearly 16 years worth now). One of the once-regular features I would like to bring back is “How I Use The Journal”.
So if you would like to share how *you* use The Journal (and remember, there is no wrong way to use The Journal), I would love to hear from you. You don’t even need to ask permission. Just email me (support@davidrm.com). See “Submission Information” at the end of this newsletter for more information.
Thank you for choosing The Journal!
The Journal News
The Journal 7 is the current release.
To see if you have the latest version of The Journal:
- Click on the “Help” menu in The Journal.
- Choose “Check for Update of The Journal”.
If you are using The Journal 6 (or an earlier version):
Tips & Tricks
TIP: Marking the Special Days of Our Lives
As we get a little older, the passing of friends and relatives seem to be more important to us as we record their passing.
Originally, I was looking for a program that would give me a method to chronicle my daily activities, as well as mark those important days in my life, including those days when I lost a family member or dear friend. If the program would calculate the number of years since a special event happened, that would be even better. The Journal went far beyond that.
I found that if I used the Rename Entry and the Highlight Entry in Tree functions, I could highlight a special day and even the month. Setting the font color and background, like a highlighter, makes it real easy to pick out those dates. (Editor’s Note: Right-click on the entry in the entry tree to see those commands.)
For example, I can tell by the red lettering which months were affected. If I open a particular month, such as September of last year, it is real easy to see what happened.
I hope that this is of some interest.
-GJM
Writing Prompts
Free Writing Prompt – Write for 20 minutes using the following as your starter: “Oops! I Forgot!”
Journaling Prompt – How often do you review your old journals? All the time? Almost never?
Memoir Prompt – Collect/scan old photos to create a visual record of your hair styles throughout your life. It’s the only way future generations will believe you. =)
From Susan Michael:
Prose Exercise – Write a story using the title “Remedy for Moths”
Poem Exercise – Write a poem using the title “Math Poem”
Submission Information
If you would like to contribute to the “How I Use The Journal”, “Writing Exercises”, or “Tips & Tricks” sections, or would like to submit an article about journaling, writing, or another The Journal-related topic, we would love to hear from you.
Submissions for the newsletter should be sent to: support@davidrm.com
If you are submitting for a particular section, please indicate which one. Try to limit your submissions to 500-1000 words. Submissions may be edited for length and content.
If you prefer to remain anonymous, please state this in the email. Otherwise your name (but not your email) will be used in the article heading.
As always, if you have any suggestions for, or bug reports about, The Journal, please feel free to email them. Both are always welcome.