Dear Diary... why journal writing's not just for teenagers

IN THE history of anniversaries, today is probably one of the least momentous in the history of momentum. But this evening when I sit down to scribble the weather, for the first time in 17 years, I will have completed one whole year of writing in a diary.

Keeping a diary is one of those habits that seems a pain at the time but when you look back on it, you’re glad you did it — like sit-ups and staying in touch with people.

I originally kept one from 1986 to 1996 — the years spanning the early watershed of human achievement, the heights of which are only surpassed some time in your late twenties — or never again.