1987-1996: Ten Years in Journals

Left to right, top to bottom: 1987-1996

I first started keeping a journal (writing on and off in an old notebook) when I was 13 years old and I felt "infatuated" for a boy in a more intense manner for the first time.* That was back in 1985, in our last months living in the countryside, in the boarding academy where my parents taught. In 1986 we moved to São Paulo and my life changed in so many ways. I continued writing (and "fell in love" again with other boys), but didn't start keeping a daily journal until 1987 when I bought what we call an agenda (date/ appointment book) in Brazil.

As you can see in the photo above, I decorated the covers of 6 of them with either "contact" paper (pink with dots - 89 & 90) or wrapping paper covered with clear contact paper (93-94).

I generally decorated the inside of the covers as well with stickers or cut-outs from wrapping paper (I loved the Care Bears back then ;) or magazines.

Some were very kitschy or cheesy, and even kind of ugly:

1988

1989, very pink

Others still cheesy, but not that bad, come on :):

1991

I became more "minimalist" and with a better taste as the years went by.

1993 (the year I first came to the U.S.)

The two magazine cut outs above show photos that I found attractive - a family having a good time together and a nicely decorated home (we ended up buying a very similar striped couch after we got married the following year, only it was dark blue and white, not pink - my favorite color, incidentally).

I carried these journals everywhere and I tried to write everyday (these were appointment books after all), but I sometimes I skipped some of them. I also pasted the movie reviews from the São Paulo Veja magazine (which had the TV schedule) for almost all every film that I watched on TV or rented and ticket stubs to concerts I went to, etc.

Let me conclude this with is the page of the day I started "dating" my husband (story here):

The words, cut from a magazine say:
"Once upon a time there was a dream. Which became a reality."

I could write lots and lots about these journals and my life 20 years ago, -- wow, I'm getting really old ;) (not really, I know) -- but that will have to come at another time. I'm thinking of writing a post about all those "lost boys" ("lost" to me) that I liked, that would be interesting (I've been re-reading lots of entries about them these days, I don't know exactly why).

What else would you be curious about? (I know that Keiko, who asked the original question about my old journals will probably have tons of questions. ;)

* (I don't want to say that I "fell in love" because that's not really what I felt, of course. In Portuguese I'd say that eu me apaixonei for the first time, which is, I guess, translated as "fell in love" but without the word love there).