I keep my diary primarily for myself, but I share. Many of the things I write in it are almost certainly of interest to me only, like when I last had a haircut (so that I can plan for the next one).

This diary is not a blog, and it's not a vehicle for third-party reports. Please don't contact me asking me to post something on your behalf, either for free or for money. The only way you can get me to mention something that interests you is to interest me, and then you'll get a comment, not your copy. The comment may not be what you want to hear.

I started keeping a diary regularly in January 1963 (on paper, of course):

Image title: Diary 1          Dimensions:          3026 x 4403, 5006 kB Make a single page with this image Hide this image Make this image a thumbnail Make thumbnails of all images on this page Make this image small again Display small version of all images on this page All images taken on Monday, 24 December 2018, thumbnails          All images taken on Monday, 24 December 2018, small Diary entry for Monday, 24 December 2018 Complete exposure details

 

Image title: Diary 3          Dimensions:          4251 x 3426, 2094 kB Make a single page with this image Hide this image Make this image a thumbnail Make thumbnails of all images on this page Make this image small again Display small version of all images on this page All images taken on Monday, 24 December 2018, thumbnails          All images taken on Monday, 24 December 2018, small Diary entry for Monday, 24 December 2018 Complete exposure details

 

I kept that up until 1 October 1970, and then added a few sporadic entries until 14 June 1977. I have transcribed the entire paper diary, but from 1 January 1968 until 31 August 1968 it was in German, and I'm a little ashamed of how bad it is, so it's not available online. I have translated some of the highlights, however.

I started trying to keep a diary online on 31 May 1985, but barely got started. After another attempt in March 2000, I've been keeping a regular electronic diary since September 2000 .

Since this is my diary, I don't provide for online comment feedback. If you have a comment, send me mail, and I will decide whether to publish it (assuming you don't tell me you don't want it published). Note also that this diary is not a blog, which implies a very different layout and interaction. To make the distinction, I kept a blog for a while as well. The content is similar, but the presentation is emetic, and the online comments illustrate why I don't provide for them in my diary.

Apart from the HTML version, which includes some limited JavaScript for things like resizing images, there's also an RSS version available here. RSS doesn't allow JavaScript, so some functionality is missing, in particular the ability to compare two photos in situ by running the mouse cursor over the first image.

Some of the work I do is confidential, so you won't always find mention of what I'm really doing. Sorry about that. I've already had incidents where journalists took a diary entry out of context and caused embarrassment for people around me, and I don't want to do that again.

And yes, I've broken my own rule and done a limited form of reverse chronological layout here. I'm assuming that the greatest interest is in the diary entries of the past few years, and this layout is more convenient. There are exceptions to (nearly) every rule.

The entries between 1971 and 1999 are mainly from memory and occasionally some other non-diary sources.

The entries between 1 January 1963 and 1 October 1970 come from diaries I kept on paper during the time indicated.