June
Finally the June swear diary entry! – I feel very guilty that it has taken me until 16th August to finally type up my notes for this month’s diary entry (which incidentally were written on the train on the way to a wedding on 18th June). My only excuse is that until 22nd July I was working flat out on the Day-to-Day Data project and was forced to neglect the swear diary. After 22nd July my excuses get a lot weaker and the late running of the June entry ultimately comes down to a combination of laziness and being away on holiday!
So Here Goes...
At the start of June there were no swear words uttered for the first 10 days. At this point I became aware of a distinct pattern emerging – maintaining the Swear Box project requires a lot of work towards the end of each month, to write the swear diary entry, update the monthly version of the Swear Box and to generally make sure things are up-to-date. After all this work, it always feels as though a conclusion has been reached. Any swear word uttered after this point marks the start of a new month and the start of a new block of work. This is why I think I never swear so much at the start of the month, I am always holding back – reluctant to take the plunge into next month’s instalment.
Stress...
June was a very bad month for the Swear Box. I found it difficult to keep the project up-to-date. This was not because I was swearing too much to keep tabs on, but was simply because I was completely preoccupied with other things. This meant that my swear recording methods became very casual and badly organised. The first swear word of June was conveniently uttered whilst I was working on my computer. Instead of writing the swear into my note book I decided to type it directly into my ‘SwearBox2005’ Excel spread sheet. This worked well and was efficient but meant that there was no other record of the swear anywhere else. It was only after the second and third swears of the month that the big problems began...
These two particular words slipped out by accident. I acknowledged the fact that I had said them, but I immediately felt myself thinking ‘god do I really have to record these – can I be bothered?’ A full day later, feeling guilty at letting down the (until now) meticulous project, I decided to scrawl down what I could remember of these two utterances onto a scrap of paper, which also happened to be my ‘to do’ list.
Treasure Hunt...
I then proceeded to carry this scrap of paper around with me, with the intention of, at some point, copying the swears into the swear note book and thereby creating an official record of them. I kept putting that off until eventually (in mid June) I misplaced the slip of paper. I then began the hunt for the missing swears...
The whole time I remained slack and endured my guilt, I became increasingly repressed and reluctant to make any additional swear words – I bit my tongue and held in my words, feeling that I already had far too much to cope with, without adding any more swear words to a mess, which seemed to be spiralling out of control… Even when faced with the most hideous of situations...
Bad Hair Day...
On 18th June was the hottest day of the year. I was rushing to the station to catch a train when the zip on my backpack broke. I began fumbling to fix it as I walked and suddenly felt a soft squelch under my right foot. I looked down to discover that I had trodden in the most enormous fresh dog poo. Distressed, I made a quick decision to roll up my trouser leg to prevent it from getting pooey too. I put my bag on the floor and within a split second managed to tread on the bag strap with the offending foot! After running to the station, trouser legs rolled to the knees and bag carried at arm's length I nearly missed my train!
Even then, on one of the unluckiest of mornings to date in 2005, I did not utter a single swear and kept as calm as was possible given the circumstances. Later in the day, I finally slipped up when recounting the story of my unlucky morning to friends. On two occasions I referred to the cause of the incident as a ‘shit’ and also as a ‘crap’.
Getting Back On Track...
Towards the end of June I attempted to make an effort to sort myself out. I found some time on the train to sit back and assess the Swear Box project and the wayward direction it was heading. I made a conscious decision to get back into it – what was the point of making an online Swear Box if I repressed every swear I may normally have said and failed to properly record the ones that did slip out? I needed to find the missing swears and to get everything up-to-date asap. Only then could I begin to speak in a more natural fashion and would the Swear Box (once again) become a more realistic reflection of my life.
Fortunately, the missing swears were recovered in the bin at my studio, they where carefully transcribed into the note book and added to the online Swear Box in time for July...
July Swear Diary >
So Here Goes...
At the start of June there were no swear words uttered for the first 10 days. At this point I became aware of a distinct pattern emerging – maintaining the Swear Box project requires a lot of work towards the end of each month, to write the swear diary entry, update the monthly version of the Swear Box and to generally make sure things are up-to-date. After all this work, it always feels as though a conclusion has been reached. Any swear word uttered after this point marks the start of a new month and the start of a new block of work. This is why I think I never swear so much at the start of the month, I am always holding back – reluctant to take the plunge into next month’s instalment.
Stress...
June was a very bad month for the Swear Box. I found it difficult to keep the project up-to-date. This was not because I was swearing too much to keep tabs on, but was simply because I was completely preoccupied with other things. This meant that my swear recording methods became very casual and badly organised. The first swear word of June was conveniently uttered whilst I was working on my computer. Instead of writing the swear into my note book I decided to type it directly into my ‘SwearBox2005’ Excel spread sheet. This worked well and was efficient but meant that there was no other record of the swear anywhere else. It was only after the second and third swears of the month that the big problems began...
These two particular words slipped out by accident. I acknowledged the fact that I had said them, but I immediately felt myself thinking ‘god do I really have to record these – can I be bothered?’ A full day later, feeling guilty at letting down the (until now) meticulous project, I decided to scrawl down what I could remember of these two utterances onto a scrap of paper, which also happened to be my ‘to do’ list.
Treasure Hunt...
I then proceeded to carry this scrap of paper around with me, with the intention of, at some point, copying the swears into the swear note book and thereby creating an official record of them. I kept putting that off until eventually (in mid June) I misplaced the slip of paper. I then began the hunt for the missing swears...
The whole time I remained slack and endured my guilt, I became increasingly repressed and reluctant to make any additional swear words – I bit my tongue and held in my words, feeling that I already had far too much to cope with, without adding any more swear words to a mess, which seemed to be spiralling out of control… Even when faced with the most hideous of situations...
Bad Hair Day...
On 18th June was the hottest day of the year. I was rushing to the station to catch a train when the zip on my backpack broke. I began fumbling to fix it as I walked and suddenly felt a soft squelch under my right foot. I looked down to discover that I had trodden in the most enormous fresh dog poo. Distressed, I made a quick decision to roll up my trouser leg to prevent it from getting pooey too. I put my bag on the floor and within a split second managed to tread on the bag strap with the offending foot! After running to the station, trouser legs rolled to the knees and bag carried at arm's length I nearly missed my train!
Even then, on one of the unluckiest of mornings to date in 2005, I did not utter a single swear and kept as calm as was possible given the circumstances. Later in the day, I finally slipped up when recounting the story of my unlucky morning to friends. On two occasions I referred to the cause of the incident as a ‘shit’ and also as a ‘crap’.
Getting Back On Track...
Towards the end of June I attempted to make an effort to sort myself out. I found some time on the train to sit back and assess the Swear Box project and the wayward direction it was heading. I made a conscious decision to get back into it – what was the point of making an online Swear Box if I repressed every swear I may normally have said and failed to properly record the ones that did slip out? I needed to find the missing swears and to get everything up-to-date asap. Only then could I begin to speak in a more natural fashion and would the Swear Box (once again) become a more realistic reflection of my life.
Fortunately, the missing swears were recovered in the bin at my studio, they where carefully transcribed into the note book and added to the online Swear Box in time for July...
July Swear Diary >
