Welcome to Gully Brook Press

The website of freelance writer Gina
Giuliano

Monday.
I have been opening boxes of books that were in storage for years, and over the weekend I came across a journal I kept from 1983 to 1987. Most of the entries were from early 1983, when I was 21 years old. I wrote that I had read in the newspaper that seven-year-olds were learning to use computers, and since I was computer illiterate, I felt left behind in the dash to the future.

Will I keep at this journal for at least four years? Whether I stop or keep it up, will it still be here in 19 years? Or should I print it just in case? Technology is sure to change - a lot, and a lot sooner than that.

Here is a passage describing the bathroom at my job, where I was the clerk in a funky plant and gift shop:

The Bathroom at 142 Main Street

The dingy green door opens into a small room that was a little larger than a telephone booth with an absurdly high ceiling. A filthy white toilet bowl dominates the room. The perimeter of the room was cluttered with dirty plastic pails, empty toilet tissue wrappers, and torn National Graphic magazines. The mess is particularly thick in back of the toilet.

Miscellaneous trash is scattered here and there; a disposable razor, an empty shaving cream can and a worn-out toothbrush routinely must be kicked out of the way. A cloudy mirror hangs opposite the door. The walls are streaked with various colors of paint and dotted with graffiti and dirt. A light bulb on a wire dangles at head level, and its wicker shade seems a ridiculous addition to the clutter.