Monsters and Found Poetry

Today, I've got both the Journal 52 (read more about J52 HERE) and Documented Life (DL is HERE) spreads ready to share with you.

The J52 prompt was "Found Poetry" and here's what I came up with:

"flickering ribbons of life; I have to face facts.  I'm not like them.
Her words felt like weights.
There is indeed something: a moment, a knowing.
He'll lose her if he doesn't learn to talk.
I was just letting you be."

I used a kids book that I got from my nephew for this page.  He was right...the book was 'pretty lame'...so I didn't mind cutting it up.  There was some pretty interesting phrasing happening in there though and it made good fodder for found poetry.  I used the scraps of the book page I had used and a few other back up pages I had for the background...we don't waste the written word in this house! :)

For DL, the prompt was "Collage something you recycled." and here's what I made:

"Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster." -Nietzsche
"Being against evil doesn't make you good." -Hemingway

I was kind of sad to cover up the paper I had for the background; it was awesome...but I am forcing myself to go in order in my DL journal...so I painted the pages red.  I feel a little like the heartless Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland now..."Off with their heads!"  ("Painting the roses red...We're painting the roses red." ...you get a long-distance high five if you started singing those lyrics from the old animated Alice...and a double high-five if you changed 'roses' to 'pages')

I used some gauze I had from my many dentist visits as my 'recycled' bits...important side note: these were NOT in my mouth at any point...I wasn't willing to go that far with recycling!  I sprayed them with Dylusions to color them.  I also used the dried up paint that forms around the tops of my tubes...that's what those little circles are (well, mostly circles...some of them broke).

Before I put the gauze down, I used a mask I had from Maya Road (the wing), traced around it and colored it in, then flipped it over and did the same on the other page.  I really like the way the gauze looks over the wing on the right page.

"I am gonna love. I'm gonna overcome."  -John Butler
I mentioned last time (the 'flap on flap prompt) that my original calendar flap was on the next page, and so there it is above.    I like my monster, but she is also extra creepy...

Somewhere in my brain, deep down, I like to believe that I'm fighting the good fight.  In my case, the 'good fight' is against the general douchebaggery of others and my own tendencies towards being a one.  It's kind of easy to be a jerk to people who are jerks, you know what I mean?  But I try not to let that happen...not because I'm an angel or anything, but more because of what Mark Twain said: 

It's true...It's so true...

Sometimes the jerk side of me wins though.  I can actually be a really good jerk when I let myself be one.  I think the key to being a really good jerk is to bide your time and observe...because then you can be a truthful jerk!  If you're patient, people will give you huge amounts of ammunition which they have no defense against, because it's the truth.

I got called a BAD WORD at work this week.  Actually two bad words...or one bad word with a descriptive bad word to accompany it...I don't know how to quantify it...but swear words (or "square" words, as one of my nephews used to call them) were said about me at work.  Just for the record, if you don't want someone to hear you say something, make sure you're not saying it someplace where the walls are thin ( if you hear your name being said, you kinda stop and listen to the conversation before interrupting it...).  But I didn't get mad, it was actually kind of funny...because if I'm a B----, then the person who said this about me is my queen...

I've been called a lot of things in my life...and really, I don't mind it...I mean, people are going to say and think things about you and you don't control that...and I'd rather they talk bad about me than talk bad about somebody who cares what they say...But, for Pete's sake, be an adult and say it to my face.  Honestly, I've worked with high school students who were more mature...sheesh.  The best part was, I wasn't even being a B----!  Don't get me wrong, I'm positive I have my days...but this particular instance, I'm pretty sure, was not one of them.   

 Ok...the actual best part was that the person who was doing the 'listening' to the rant about me didn't agree with the one who said it...despite the many attempts to get her to agree...and then later, she told me the conversation...she had no clue I had already heard.  That actually makes me feel really good.  To me, it's worth being called ugly names if only because you get to know who has your back.

So now I have my little angel and devil sitting on my shoulders, telling me what they think.  On the one hand, let it go...always the good and moral thing to do, I suppose...because eventually a bad person's actions catch up with them...  On the opposite side, hold a grudge...bide your time...continue to keep your eyes open and your mouth shut...because maybe someday the universe will let you be the 'karma' implementer...and if that's the case, you should be adequately prepared...

Normally, my little halo-wearer wins...but, honestly, I get a little tired of being the good guy.  I don't want to be the pleasant doormat.  I want to be the BRINGER OF DOOM!!!  My little conscience is tired of having situations come up where she has to be the bigger person...I think even she might be secretly rooting for me to be the smaller person and exact well-implemented revenge.

That's what this week's DL spread is really about, I guess.  If my good side is telling me to be bad, I figure I should make my bad side, my little monster, tell me to be good.  Love and overcome. 

Hmm...I don't know if I can muster love...but I'm pretty sure I can at least not jab anyone with my horns...just yet...