The act of cutting and/or tearing pictures from books is not something I would, under ideal circumstances, endorse.  I have this book, though, that I acquired as a party favor.

This past March, I, the hippo handler, received a thirty second birthday and a job at the library all in the same week.  Our family comes, complete, with a party coordinator.  So most occasions deserve a party and, well… themes happen.  Long after the tiered cake in the shape of a stack of books was consumed and the books that were used as props to better serve the theme were put away, one book still continued to serve me while I only seemed to blink and the month turned August.  Sometimes occasions come about that, while there are still being processed, are not appropriate times for a party.  But there are still themes.  Reoccurring themes that circle about one’s head like vultures, intimidating sleep and scaring words away.  I have empty pages in my journal to prove it.  Rather than letting these pages become empty spaces in my personal record, I fill the pages that should represent days of the month with cut or ripped out pictures from “Mainstreams of Modern Art,” and add my own dialog or short commentary to the reproductions.  Yes, it disrupts the flow of words that usually trickle along and lends a rather freakish, satirical, comic book type ripple on the page, but my concerns, fears, and yes, my mental state, is voiced, let loose and not entirely trapped, left to circle aimlessly about.  I do run the risk of, upon accidental discovering of my journal, the prier thinking me a complete nut case.  But that’s a risk I must take.  

 
  Are you sensign a theme here?