You will have noticed a bit of a to-do in the journals of h2g2 researchers this month. A flurry of activity and many headings with NaJoPoMo in them. You will, of course, have tracked this phenomenon to its lair at Create (endeavours in reading, writing, rhythm, blues, art, photography and biscuits) and discovered that NaJoPoMo stands for the h2g2 Nation’s Journal Posting Month, thirty days of trying to find something, anything to write about in our journals.
Thirty-seven people signed up to take the challenge. Not all of them have made it to this half way point, and a few more have missed a post or two along the way. But it is turning out to be a fascinating glimpse into the lives of a very diverse (in itself absolutely typical) cross section of h2g2 researchers.
Mind you, not everybody is journaling in a traditional sense. Titania is treating us to a serialised sword and sorcery epic and 2legs, well, 2legs is channelling a shady character called Harry the Minnow.
But we are sharing in some researchers’ areas of expertise. Deep Doo Doo is sharing his experiences of living abroad with an affectionate look at his adopted country, Cyprus. Dr Zen is proving that he is, indeed, very much a doctor, even when he is looking out for his cat. Honest Iago’s post about the changes UCAS wants to make to the UK university application system has even inspired a future Guide Entry.
We have discovered who has unusual hobbies. Did you know that Recumbentman is active in the early music scene? Or that Dr Anthea is a part time ninja who also plays guitar?
We have also discovered that we would like benjaminpmore to be our neighbour, and not just because he used the phrase ‘bleeding with reasonable enthusiasm’ in a post.
We are following Witty Moniker’s house move, and minichessmouse’s travails with her boiler. Mini also has rodents, a recurring theme as ITIWBS is also sharing his life with mice.
Beatrice, on the other hand, has the much more pleasant prospect of being on the brink of sharing her life with her fiancée. Read all about that here. The journals have been a good place to muse about h2g2, what made us stay away for so long for hellboundforjoy, and what the future might hold with Ivan the Terribly Average.
Some posts are just extremely funny. Why, for example, is Heleloo glutten free? And why you should never steal Mrs Zen’s tea mug at work.
And others have made a spirited attempt to lead us up the garden path. By the time you read this, we will all know who is a convincing liar and who is a rotten truth-teller in the Do you remember the First Time journal challenge.
But there have also been some touching thoughts about family members from B4, hellboundforjoy and Recumbentman, and we have felt privileged to share in some extraordinarily moving posts. Honest Iago’s letter to his 14 year old self, nim the cat's posts about managing a long term health issue, and deb, on watching the people closest to her battle with cancer.
And that is just scratching the surface.
If you haven’t managed to swing by participants’ journals so far, each day you can find links to the latest posts here. There are yet two weeks to go! Which means that we will all be starting to flag around now. Why not help out by posting ideas for journal entries you’d like to see here.And start limbering up for next November.
