Liz Baumann

Last night on the Forbidden Planet: complete blur.

The 80/20 rule was followed
The 20 as acquaintances came first
Interesting
Still so many I did not see
I saw life passing me by once again when I said ‘hi’ to 5th Element
I said I was one of her 4
But I really rather like the idea of being the 6th
Randomness invited me over to the Otherside
I did not get a chance to find out Weather I could see my reflection in the Mirrorman
I got caught in a Bizarre Liz Triangle!!
I was happy to see the Southern Sun again
And, too, the woman who started it all
Or at least started my absurd relationship with the Whether
Pennycat told me that maybe my idea is not too crazy after all
I had too much to drink
There was a bunch of ice
And we all agreed that time passed too quickly
But it’s quality, not quantity
For me, at least.
Or I should remember that.

Not nearly enough pictures: Flickr

(Note: All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons – living, dead or undead – is purely coincidental.)

Jake was a monster. He didn’t know how long he’d been a monster; maybe it happened in his sleep one night and he just didn’t realize it. Or perhaps he’d been a monster all along, even before when he had not noticed the physical markings; perhaps the monster was there all the same, just underneath, lurking, and dormant.

Jake had grown accustomed to his monsterness, of people saying they were afraid of him and running away at his approach. Indeed, monsterness had become a natural part of him, like the color of his hair or the size of his feet, and he’d come to accept and even appreciate it for what it was. Like a black widow spider has reasons for being what it is, he figured it must serve some purpose in the greater good, and therefore was simply a natural state and perhaps not inherently evil or bad.

It came to pass that the monster named Jake met a ghost. Ghosts of course are not real and things that are not real do not have names, so we shall only refer to this presence as the Ghost. Jake felt a strange kinship with the Ghost, even though he knew the apparition was a figment of his imagination and therefore shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

Before long though, Jake and his imaginary friend had words and fell out. Jake, being a monster and all, figured he was the one to blame for the unpleasant discourse, even though what he said to the Ghost was not meant to be unkind in any way. Jake and the Ghost became strangers sharing the same house, not speaking to one another, each pretending like the other didn’t exist. Jake wished the Ghost would just leave. Of course Jake knew that the Ghost wasn’t real anyway, for the Ghost was at most just a ghost, but somehow this didn’t make things easier.

This sorry state of affairs carried on for a while. And even though Jake knew he shouldn’t be so sensitive – after all, he was a monster, and monsters are not known for being sensitive, especially concerning things that aren’t even real – truth is the icy silence was eating away at him. He’d told people of the Ghost he had once befriended but of course they didn’t believe him, and now that the Ghost wouldn’t talk to him anyway it just all felt like a dream, or a dirty little secret, something he should not speak of. He felt guilty even though he didn’t know what he should feel guilty about, for he was just as much a victim of fate as the next person, or spider, or ghost for that matter.

Then one day he was talking with someone who seemed to get what he was thinking even though he didn’t realize he was thinking it and at the same time managed to extract one of the ugliest of uglinesses from his psyche and place it on display for the world to see. It all happened so fast that he didn’t know what to think. He hadn’t even had time to put a name to this particular ugliness but then all of a sudden there it was, lying like a tangled mess of ribbon tape pulled from his gut against his consent.

And yet there, looking at its perceived ugliness, it didn’t seem negative at all, in fact it made people laugh, and many said they could relate.

Maybe he’d been looking at things wrong, he thought. Maybe this perceived negativity that was a part of him wasn’t really monstrous, but more like electrons: negative but necessary, sometimes meant to be shared, not always entirely insulated from the rest of the world. Maybe there was a bit of monster in everyone, not just himself, and letting a little of it out once in a while makes other people feel a bit more human and a bit less monster.

I wrote this about a week ago for some friends in L.A. who had a new cat visit them and win over their hearts. Pennycat ended up with their daughter and family and is doing great – and they all enjoyed the poem!

<><><>

Penny for your thoughts,
mister starving cat
where did you come from?
can’t help but wonder that

Persistent you were
with those big green eyes
charming us with your purr
and to our surprise

We caved in quickly
even Bruno is adjusting
we couldn’t leave you sickly
and you seemed so trusting

Now you’re with us
and it seems so right
having you is a plus
asleep on our bed at night!

I was at this party in a series of parking lots. There was a white figure that produced green fire from its hands. I met a cheshire cat and a woman with flashing LED antennas made of organ wire. A bunch of people flitted about with wings. Someone was wearing their heart on their back, it was blue and pulsing. I was hypnotized by a green, blue and white ring. A yellow submarine kept running around on the ground.

The music was good and for a while all I wanted to do was dance on a lighted box. So I did, but my fur kept falling down and I was nearly tripping on it. Everyone else was busy watching fireflies and dancing flames.

In another tent I met a beautiful woman who had the voice of a man; she had a lucky charm with her which talked with me for a spell. A little while later there was a lighted flower whose petals flashed with color. A crowd had gathered to worship it and the music was beating in time to its petals.

I went outside again and someone was playing with a bright and colorful yo-yo made from two martini glasses stuck together. There was an orb within a rigid geometric structure that had landed in the parking lot, it was flashing red, green and blue.

Later on, just before I woke up, I walked back into the flower tent and went downstairs to have a conversation with a rainbow man about pick-up lines. Then I tried to make friends with a dog but it snarled at me.

Wow, that was some dream.

More photos on flickr