Crazy

I must be crazy!

Tomorrow is Saturday morning. I should have a lazy lie-in,

a browse of the newspapers

before I meet my friendly writing group for lunch,

a meeting, and a collage poetry workshop.

But no, I'm crazy!

I've decided to squeeze 4 hours of overtime in before the

writers' group meeting.

No sleep in.

No newspaper browsing until Saturday evening.

And 15 minutes or so of lunch missed.

But some money to spend on me

(for a change) will be lovely, thanks!

Did I mean chocolate?

When I google 'Chickollage', it asks me - 'Did you mean: chocolate ' Well, no, I didn't - but now that you mention it, a Caramello Koala or a Freddo Frog would be lovely. Thanks. Oh the power of suggestion! But Google does bring up seven entries linking to my two blogs: this one, chickollage and Write on Track and NOTHING ELSE!. Woo hoo! I've coined a word! Google's attempts to interpret Chickollage as chocolate reminds me of the time a decade or so ago when I was typing up information about Romeo and Juliet. Microsoft Word's spell checker was a lot less sophisticated then - and it questioned the use of the name Capulet. It's suggestion - copulate. So of course, after that, I had to nickname the characters Lord and Lady Copulate. Of course, that suggestion doesn't happen anymore. I have tried it since and the spellchecker doesn't even question it. But imagine if I'd blindly accepted the spellchecker's suggestions and all the theatre programs had been printed that way!

Words escape me

One thing about working in collage poetry.... . ...the words like to escape, cut loose, set themselves free, flutter in the breeze and create word trails back across the study. Is it like tarot where if a card falls out of the pack, you should pay special attention to that card? So here are the words that are trying to make their escape: Some people might think become Call the shots about (Either way you can't lose) I'll have the Creative ideas the whole truth stir things up It's a joke Next victims>> you? public spat Hate crime I don't think how come they I wonder what it all means! Slippery little critters, these words...

Missed the workshop

I had intended to go to a scrapbooking workshop today. I figure its the other side of the coin - collage and scrapbooking. But I didn't get there. I have started scrapping my trip to Egypt in 1996, and wanted to do a page or more today at the workshop. But I couldn't find my photos. We moved in March and there are so many boxes still in the shed waiting to be excavated. But real life has got in the way, and to this point, if it's not something to wear or to eat off, or if I haven't missed it yet, I haven't spent time looking for it. Until today. But with a car with no battery sitting in the way and fifteen minutes to find the photos, the task was too hard, and I decided I would go to the workshop next month instead.

Chick Manifesto

This image is now available on t-shirts and other selected products at my new Chickollage store at Cafepress.com!

New template

New blog, new template - thanks Caz! The collage poems and their colourful backgrounds are going to look great against the black. Was going to publish another poem today, but again Blogger doesn't want to upload an image. Maybe I should collate a poem about my frustration with blogger instead: Meanwhile you can see some poems at my other blog, Write on Track.

A New Beginning

A NEW BEGINNING

Today is a good day.

Time for a change.

Explode the Myth

There is no Dress Rehearsal.

Free your Mind.

Meet an Original.

Keep only the best bits.

Always be you.

Life's full of alternatives.

It's an attitude.

Best Year Ever.

Copyright Diane Curran 2006

Blogger doesn't want to play

Last year was a crap year. We spent most of the year living in a crappy townhouse, backing out of the driveway when neighbours wanted to come out, putting up with drunken louts walking past and throwing beer bottles in the early hours of the morning, pollution and loads of noise from constant traffic. I never slept well there, even with earplugs in -- there was always a constant background noise intruding into my thoughts and dreams. And our world collapsed around us as well, the thing that we'd put all our energy into for five years was snatched away, and things got really nasty. My blood pressure hit the roof, and our time was spent scrimping to pay the creditors and the basic necessities. I decided that this year was going to be much better - so I created a collage poem for the beginning of my diary. So far this year is so much better: we're in a lovely new house, back in the countryside, with a beautiful garden, a fireplace, a sun room which is my writing room, fresh lemons, mandarins and oranges. It's peaceful and I sleep so much better out here. Okay, so the drive takes 30 minutes to get to work each day, and it's fifteen minutes to the local supermarket, but that is a small price to pay. I was going to post 'Best Year Ever' here today, but it seems that blogger doesn't want to add an image today. I click on the image box and nothing happens. Just ignores me. Like it doesn't want to know. Later. Meantime, I'm creating another collage poem: The Rise of the Bitch Club, just seeking the right words to finish it now.

A tangle of words

So many words, so many combinations, so many possibilites. As you can see, collage poetry can get a bit messy, and miscellanous words seem to end up on the floor, in the oddest of places. But seriously - who cares? I'm having fun, and at least, these magazines now have a purpose!