the death of OD
I had an Open Diary. Did I ever tell you that? It was everything to me in high school—more than everything. I wrote every day, and sometimes even twice or three times a day. Gut-spilling, boy-crushing, dream-wishing entries of just about what you would expect from a white, suburban, teenage girl.
To tell you I’m not really sure how I came to have a diary on Open Diary (OD) would be a blatant lie, because I remember exactly the moment I discovered it. I was looking at a boredom site (something like bored.com maybe?) that literally just had a list of interesting and/or useless websites to check out when you were bored. Like that page that had virtual bubble wrap just waiting to be popped. Open Diary was on that list, and as soon as I found it, I fell in love. Anonymity and narcissism all in one? Count me in.
OD is where I read the diaries of and befriended complete strangers, where I got swept up in the romance and “You’ve Got Mail”-ness of it all. There was dear Brennan (Guitar Girl), who struggled with depression, and at some point left our little community. There was Dustin (Hidden Hurting Heart) from Canada—arguably my first OD crush—and Mmmph and Jake (The Drummer)—my second and permanent OD crush. (Jake wrote a poem about me. A poem.)
Eventually, I let my closest friends in on it and allowed real life to mix with OD life, but always with the promise of anonymity outside of that circle. By college, I barely wrote. By adulthood, I’d visit every once in awhile to reminisce through old entries and chuckle at how young I’d been.
I just found out that Open Diary shut down on February 7, 2014. In many ways, I’m surprised it lasted that long. For many years it had been a very outdated platform and I was sure they weren’t getting a lot of paid subscriptions. It was time for OD, but nevertheless I am sad to hear of its loss. Nothing makes me more nostalgic than a starry background, a rose, and being swept away in the hall current of life.
@~>~>-
dreamergrrl