Czech students buy small A5 blank books which they use as "Memory Books".
In high school, we passed about the annuals for autographs and small dedications and commentary which were circulated throughout classes at the end of the year. Memory Books are similar, but passed about intimate friends for their artistic expressions and personal letters. If you draw something, you ought to write something too. It just depends on the owner of the book. Some Memory Books are filled with cartoons and illustrations while others have personal letters and short stories in them.
So I was surprised when a young student presented a Memory Book to me and wanted me to put something in it.
Although this scan does not reveal the three dimensional aspect of the collage, all the butterflies and flowers were cut so that they could "pop-up".
I spent possibly as many as twenty hours on the contribution because each layer has to be dry before the next is put on and then there is all the cutting.
However, I have done mammoth paper collages, including a 3meter tree for Tu b'Shevat. Secondhand paper will do as well as old wrapping paper which is normally discarded. The patterns when cut into small pieces often make wonderful designs for patterns in bird or butterfly wings.
A collage is a wonderful present to give to someone. You don't know what to make for a birthday present or you just feel a bit spontaneous in giving, collage is a good answer to fill a need. What you create is something personal and given with the heart.
And you don't know how deeply it may be treasured.
rate
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 25
and in this case a Slang Book or nasty chat against a classmate would really be devastating because it is shared with the intimate circle
she was 11 at the time, but some of the Mormon missionaries I met also carried memory books for the people the met and loved while on mission
and as a present, one can always start a Memory Book for another person and give it to them to pass it on
Candida be well-- I know there are a lot of nasties and snobs here, about an equal amount of both, but I don't belong in either group and I really dislike mutual admiration societies. Is not healthy way to live...
and you and I both know that the best things to slurp are fresh daquiries, maragaritas and slurpy ice-cream.
and this really shows how much he cares about his daughter's Engish after three years of nearly nnstop harassment sometimes around the clock nd how the burden was on me --blah-blah
about two hours afterwards I remember that she was joking with me about how he stepped in the dogshit in front of the door and I started laughing and told her that she should tell her mother abou it because she would find it funny.
and then the girl went on to tell me that she didn't like boys with long hair and camp and etc and we went on with studies
so from a 2minute conversation he managed to twist it so far out of proportion as to call me on Monday morning an threaten me with very childish threats bout what a horrid woman I ws--blah-blah
nd I had no idea what he ws even tlking aobut
and he hasn't paid me either--
so maybe the girl appreciates it, but her father was in some ways a eal pain. he would call late at night demanding for some great plan of action, books, blah-blah, but even when I spent hours searching for good books and stories for the girl, he'd just lose all the things I sent him...
So is like that. Parents cn be very crazy at tims and they want to wist things and manipulate their kids-- adn it's really obvious that he doesn't care so much about her education as he does about his ability to manipulate and control her. So in some ways I was forced to agree with the mother. they're divorced and the girl lives with the mother.
Sheesh, I'm sorry you had to go through that! It sounds like a harsh misunderstanding. Maybe the father will cool off and let his daughter continue studies with you. She obviously felt a special connection with you or she wouldn't have asked you to contribute to her memory book. It would be a shame for her to loose contact with you over a misunderstanding.
I just noticed you're from Prague. How cool! Are you native there?
and as for her father-- I am not sure that he will ever have the humility to see how he exploits and manimpulates other people. I have my Masters because I paid for it myself-- and havng a MLSIS or Information Science isn't such an easy degree especially as I took it in government documents, so after a while it gets a bit tedious and unpleasant to be treated as a cheap whore--
I deserve to be paid for my education and profession and not told to run around like a dog, licking asses to executive who mistakenly think that "this is pink, this is blue" is English.
and definitely writing takes much work and spending hours and hours in prepartion teaching his daughter etymology and word-bulding, spelling, reading
and after a while you just get tired of being treated like you are some slave-- maybe they come, maybe they don't
maybe they change the time after they miss their appointed time, but never pay for cancellations
or maybe they borrow your expensive dictionaries and never return them-- I paid 50 USD for my secondhand MW in Viienna, but he can't bother to buy a decent dictionary through Amazon.
And what about all the expense of iternet bills that I paid on behalf of him and his daughter-- say 50-60 USD a month? Dial-up here is not cheap, but somehow it must be my problem. Or the hours and hours I spent hunting for good out-of-copyrighted illustrated children's books?
and it really makes me crazy
why should a dramatic soprano be teaching English and barking like a stupid dog? And I paid for my degree and there were no special ccomodaton to me-- my papers had t pass rigid standards of the publishing and literary world--
but having it slapped in my face that I'm not worth time or payment and that he is doing me a big service by paying me the abs minimum is a bit much. Yet, he has a MBA from Uof Illinois and can't speak basic English correctly -- he have and I has-- and all he glaring errors were given a blank cheque becasue he was a foreigner in the US... how nice. Want to talk about grade down-grading?
and now his daughter hs all the same mistakes learned--
is it really worth it?
not really because why bother when you have no value. 80% cancellation is a bit revealing isn't it?
so really he was an incredibly expensive investment for me-- because I lost a lot of money in time and effort on his behalf and that of his daughter...
and he hasn't even the humility or commonsense to laugh at the shit on his own shoes.
rather says a lot, doesn't it?
You sound very frustrated. I don't blame you. It can be hard to work at a job where you don't feel appreciated. Hang in there and keep trying to align yourself with work and people who WILL appreciate you and your strengths. Focus on what you DO want and need. I know you didn't ask for advice, so ignore this if it doesn't fit.
I am very tired of working and being exploited for no payment-- hence my general disregard for Gather Inc
the man yelled at me because his daughter as giggling at him stepping dogshit-- somehow that dosn't deserve a temper-tantrum an d excessive measures, does it?
Btw, I hope you make some more collages. This one is so lively and colorful!