Living for the "Memoiries"

From Walt Harrington, in one of the readings for Monday:

"I could go on with example after of example of such reporting -- the astronomer I went out with at 5:30 a.m. on a clear morning to know for sure what I was seeing in the sky on our hunting mornings; the compass watch I wore to always know which direction was which at any particular moment; the thermometer I used to record the water temperature at the mouth of the Old Collins spring in winter and summer (a steady 51 degrees); the old White House records reporting that I had sipped La Crema Reserve Chardonnay and ate smoked salmon mousse at a particular state dinner; the academic journal articles establishing that 75 percent of rabbits born in any given year are already dead from disease, weather, and predation by the time hunting season rolls around in the fall; the National Weather Service records that give the local temperature and weather conditions by the hour for the days and years I hunted; and the soil conservation map that gives the 700-, 800-, and 900-foot elevations of the mountains in Lawson Bottom."

This is an interesting quote, and it brought a thought to my mind: at what point does a memoir writer stop actually living and cross over into sheer documentation of the events around him/her? This passage gave me the impression that Harrington's attention to detail and penchant for fact-gathering caused him to be constantly scribbling on a pad about everything around him.

An example of living life for the sake of recording it can be literally seen on YouTube, where a user named "iJustine" records her life every day. This process is called "lifelogging," and usually involves wearing a physical camera on one's head. iJustine essentially lets millions of Internet users see her entire life nearly every day.

To further digress, a movie came out a few years ago called "The Truman Show," with Jim Carrey as the lead. This man lived his life unaware of the fact that hidden cameras recorded his every move in the small town in which he lived. The film is an interesting look into the rapidly expanding viral world of sharing one's life over media outlets.

Harrington is similar to iJustine and Truman in the sense that he is sharing parts of his life with the world. Through his memoir, the reader can view the events as Harrington saw them. This is quite a valuable insight.

However, I fear he may not have truly taken in all of his surroundings during these trips, for he was too busy with his nose in his notebook.

On the other hand, maybe he enjoyed these trips more because he was able to so fully understand every intricacy of the occasions. This is likely the case.

What do you think? Did he ruin his hunting or did he enhance it by taking notes for his memoir?

Also, what are your opinions about lifelogging? Have you found yourself at an event or hanging out with friends and thinking to yourself, "I can't wait to get home and blog about this" (or post on Facebook or Twitter)?