I started keeping a diary in January 1963 (on paper, of course). I've been keeping a regular electronic diary since September 2000. I've transcribed some of the more interesting paper diary entries electronically.

This diary is public (most of it, anyway), but it's still my diary, and 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 is also one of the reasons why 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).

Starting in 2008, I've been doing a lot of experimentation in the presentation of the diary. I have now divided it into “topics”, which enable people to select what part of the diary they see. But I still write it as a whole, so it's possible that a limited view could be a bit disjointed.

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. There's no real context between the 20th century entries and the 21st century entries, and this layout is more convenient. There are exceptions to (nearly) every rule.