Dear Diary, How Can I Prove It?

“Dear Diary, How Can I Prove It…” by Linda Martin Andersen

“A Writer’s Playground”–A place to find wordplay, writing, and monthly calendar activities for kids and those young at heart.

September 22, 2013 is “Dear Diary Day.” 

Do you keep a diary?  Have you ever?  Does your diary have a key so that you can lock away your thoughts?  Perhaps you keep a journal instead.   I’m not all together sure how they’re different.  What would you say?

Dear Diary (Age 11)

When I was eleven, I went with my grandparents on a vacation road trip.  We traveled from North Carolina to Canada, where my grandfather attended an insurance conference, and then we traveled on to California to visit my aunt, uncle, and new baby cousin.  We stopped at national parks along the way there and back.  I was very fortunate to see lots of great sites.  I recorded some notes along the way, thanks to my grandmother’s encouragement.  She bought a diary for the two of us.  I found it interesting how different our entries were.  She started out with a description of the weather.  Not me.  I didn’t care if it was 96 and clear.  It was summer.  It was supposed to be hot and sunny. 

Books About Diaries

I enjoy reading books that contain diary entries.  How about you?  When I was a child, The Diary of Anne Frank was one of my favorites.  Today, I still enjoy diary entries, even ones about a worm (The Diary of a Worm).   It’s fun to see the world from different points of view, like in The Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  Maybe I’ll check out The Vampire Diaries next.  What about you?

Dear Diary (Age–Many Candles),

How can I prove it?… 

I left a comment on a friend’s blog today.  Before I could sign off, I had to type in a code–a group of letters and numbers to prove that I am not a robot.  I knew it had been a while since I visited this blog, but what made the site suspicious that I might be a robot?  Another friend’s blog still requires me to prove that I’m not a robot, even though I visit nearly every day.  Can’t the site recognize me by now?  I’m not wearing a disguise.  How would you like it if a friend asked you to prove who you were each time you met?  And how would typing a few letters and numbers prove your identity?  Can’t robots type?  Hmmm…

Have you ever had someone stand you down, look you in the eye, and command, “Prove it!”  Did they ask you to type letters and numbers to prove yourself?  To prove your identity?  Probably not.

Signing off,

999xyzLMNOP (Today’s proof of who I am)

Try a One Liner

Don’t want to write a diary entry?  Try a one liner.  What is a one liner?  Check here:  http://www.thefreedictionary.com/one-liner  Write a one liner you might read in someone’s personal diary or a book written as a diary.  For example:  The Diary of Anne Frank–“I feel like screaming!”  or “The walls are closing in on me.”  One liner for The Diary of a Worm–“I’ve got some dirt to share with you.” (pun). 

 What word creates a pun in the example above?  “Dirt.”  What makes it a pun?  Check the definition of a pun here:  http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pun  Do you like to write puns?  I do.   It’s a type of word play and I like playing with words.  Some people enjoy pun humor.  Others roll their eyes when they hear them.  Which is true for you?

Write a diary entry today, a letter, a poem, a comment below.   If you like to write…Prove it!

Thanks for visiting “A Writer’s Playground.” Come again soon.  Bring a friend.

Copyright © 2013 Linda Martin Andersen