documentation...

last night i wept at midnight... i was watching one of the most emotionally charged films that i have viewed in quite some time... it was the true story of a man named daniel johnston -- an artist suffering under the binding effects of manic depression, fighting the devil with a desire for fame... this documentary is titled the devil and daniel johnston and deserves your rental money...

within the first 20 minutes of the film i was overcome with the observation that this man's life was so meticulously and beautifully documented... memories were captured by his pack-rat parents with their oodles of family photographs... his hilarity and unique, eclectic nature came to life through his strange home videos and tape recordings... the love of his life was represented by a moment in time caught on film... the documentary did not need to be composed of re-enactments or filler... each step of his tumultuous life was carefully written, drawn, filmed or taped as a historical resource... it broke my heart and caused me to entertain the notion of picking up a video camera at an electronics store in the middle of the night to begin my own self-catalogue... but i realized, for the most part, i've already started my archives -- they're in writing...

for christmas my amazing male partner gave me a journal... but it was not a simple purchase wrapped in christmas bows and colourful paper -- it was a homemade creation hidden underneath a mask of newspaper wrapping... new leather beat into a comfortable and exquisite cover, punctured and bound by hand... off-white pages clinging inbetween the front and back... he created a venue for me to document my life and most certainly our lives together... a gleaming fountain pen to accompany it; a photograph taken in kensington market of us tacked to its first page; a personal haiku to introduce its purpose...

writing this blog, writing in a journal, keeping track... it's all so important... so that one day we can look back and remember all the things that made us feel... because in case you've never noticed, it's so easy to forget...