What better way to my first post than with a meta-post? My experience working for a library has been all about a becoming metadata master. Learning the language used by research institutions to describe its vast collections is like possessing the keys to all knowledge. While the human brain has limited storage capabilities, every so often it captures something extraordinary, worth preserving in written word to share with others. With the stories section of this website, I offer glimpses into my daily experiences with the hope that they will be entertaining and maybe even useful.

Beyond my personal website, a public medium, I have explored with different ways of preserving some essence of who I am throughout time, or at least what I’ve done. Below follows a list of some tools I have used.

1. Google Docs - Starting in 2014, I have been building my “Daily Documentation” collection, a folder that lives in my Google Drive. For each day that I remember, I create a document for the day and write down various ideas that I encounter. Oftentimes, a single word may suffice in providing an access point to a past memory. The document remains open for most of the day on my laptop and I can also add notes from my phone.
2. Apple Calendar - Since my work uses Outlook and I personally use Google Calendar, the Apple Calendar includes entries from both systems (while the syncing works). The calendar provides a decent look into where I have been and where I plan to be in very discrete terms. I can enter events that are 15 minutes in length, a few hours, or even a few days. Having different colors for each data source gives an impression of a balanced professional and personal life. I go back and forth on how scheduled my day should be. At night, it can be a useful exercise to think back fill in the time slots with the day’s activities.
3. Wikispaces RIP - I had written some journal entries on a personal wiki on Wikispaces. I also had used the site to keep track of some vocabulary I was learning in English, Italian, and Modern Greek. The site closed down in January 2019 and I never realized. The content is gone now. I had written an entry about the first time I got drunk. Some experiences might not be worth reliving.
4. Voice Recorders - I use this mostly for capturing random musical ideas I have. Every so often I will have a vivid song playing in my head while I’m asleep. If I don’t hum it into my phone within seconds of waking up the music disappears into the void. I would occasionally record classroom sessions. I got in trouble for doing this once while I was in 10th grade. I have used a laptop microphone, cell phone, iPad, and dedicated voice recorder devices.
5. Event programs - One of my favorite stream of consciousness mechanisms. Jotting down impressions and thoughts during performances and lectures is fun. The programs tend to already include information about the time, location, and contents of an event, so it is easy to revisit an old memory. I tend to hold on to papers for too long. Occasionally I will photograph the objects and discard the physical object.
6. Notebooks - These have taken various forms over the years. Looking back at a Bugs Bunny journal I started when I was 6, I had an obsession with quantitative data (some things never change) and I kept track of my height up to the nearest eighth of an inch. I have used pocket-sized spiral notebooks, Moleskines, and recently I am using the Hobonichi Techo planner which has a page for each day, a monthly calendar, and a multi-month view which is useful for taking a zoomed-out look at my travel.
7. Mac Notes Application - I have the application synced to a Gmail account which allows the content appear across different computer and can be searched within the browser e-mail client.