Hi!
I’m Jen Russell, and I. Am. CHAOS!!!!
Creatively, anyway.
First things first: I’m actually a human, not a lasagna.
SURPRISE!!!!
All words and art on this website were created by me, not AI.* This is probably obvious from the lack of the word “elevate,” but still, just wanted to put it out there.
We correctly call it pork roll in my corner of New Jersey. I work as a litigation paralegal under Billy Penn’s watchful eye.
I’ve been blogging in one form or another since 2005.
Creatively, I’m all over the place. Some things I get up to:
- mixed media/collage art/digital art
- art/junk journaling and bujo-ing (planner nerd for life!)
- writing poetry (spoken word, centos, found poetry, collage poetry)
- writing articles, personal essays, and blog posts
- crocheting, knitting, sewing, pattern design
- bedazzling thrifted objects
- bookbinding and making comics/zines
- assemblage
- shrinky dinks
I’m Gen X, my kids are a Millennial, a Gen Z, and a Gen Alpha. Because I was a young mother who delighted in watching my kids grow, culturally I grew up with them and missed all the grown-up stuff I was supposed to be paying attention to. Ask me about cartoons or video games or memes and I can probably come up with an answer.
Ask me about that show everyone was obsessed with back then? Pffffft…I got nothin.
Here’s where you can find me around the web:
Substack: The Lasagna Hath Spoken (you should definitely subscribe to my newsletter!)
Bluesky: Felt like vintage Twitter in the beginning, but too terminally online for my preferences.
Facebook: Business page deleted.
Instagram: Deleted.
Threads: Deleted.
TikTok: NOPE
X: HARD NOPE
I’m on these platforms, but for the duration of 2024 (and perhaps beyond), I’m not using them for their intended purpose for reasons I talk about here. I’m now using social media as a community square into which I toss my breadcrumbs. The rare birds who enjoy my bread will find me; I do not have to witness the vultures picking the whole thing to pieces. Win win.
So, if you’re the sort of person who values a slower, more thoughtful, human internet, the best place to stay connected is via my newsletter (which you can reply to and get an answer from an actual live human aka me!) or by email (wiselasagna@gmail.com).
If you have a personal blog and would like to join my webring, I’m building an intentional community of people like us – let’s be neighbors!
This last bit is actually the entire point of creating this website.
Social media is an opposite world peepshow – you’re in the booth, the coin slot is right in there with you, and you’re compelled to feed it an ever-increasing number of coins to be seen. The kicker is that yours is not the only booth – there are millions – and you’re in an infinite IKEA and everyone is running past you in search of an exit that doesn’t exist.
We can’t un-ring the bell, but I do see signs that people are beginning to understand how harmful social media is to us as creators and as humans. People want to leave, but they don’t know how to have a creative career after they do.
Secret? I don’t know how to do that either. But I’m willing to take the time to figure it out and share what I learn in hopes of illuminating a path for others to do the same. We are not going to change social media; we can only change ourselves.
As further proof of humanity, I leave one intentional mistake in each newsletter. If you spot it and are the first person to let me know about it, I will mail you a piece of art. Congrats for reading this far and keep your grapes peeled!
*except for two digital collages that used AI generated images on the home page – All Out For Today and A Parliament of Owls – which we’re gonna talk about soon.
Sign up for wisdom in your inbox here:
I’ve recently started a local newsletter — The Woodbury Warbler — to help reconnect people with information and with each other in all the ways social media and search engine algorithms have stolen from us.
STAY WEIRD FRIENDOS
