Hope

Saturday was an MRI day ... 45 minutes of lying in the tube, listening to the clickety-clacks ... drifting off to ponder things I usually don't

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MY TRADITIONAL BATHROOM SELFIE AT MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING. 

make time to think about ... all rather pleasant and relaxing except for the fact of why I was there at all ... to make a map of my cranial contents and compare it, I suppose, to the last map that was made, not so long ago.

Looking to see if any peripatetic cancer cells have traveled to my brain, as lung cancer cells are often inclined to do.

I don't like to think about it. It's too terrifying.

I hope, hope, hope for a good report. Please, hope along with me. There's power in that.

Serendipity

I’m loving my new pins from Merchant & Mills. They make all my other pins seem absolutely brutish. 

serendipity . . .

Here is my Moon Star, so beautifully framed by Chris Durante (in Danbury, CT). He makes such perfectly proportioned shallow shadowbox frames for my pieces, frames which never compete with the art but quietly and beautifully display it.

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The artwork floats on an extremely fine linen substrate and Chris finished the cherry wood frame by staining it with India Ink and then rubbing and burnishing it to a fine patina. I chose to use Museum Glass, which is a splurge but well worth it. It really looks as if there is no glass at all. People always want to touch the piece and they are always startled by the invisible glass barrier. 

But, oops! I dropped it! And it broke. 

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However, It looks better without the glass. It’s just brighter, more light, more accessible. And that’s serendipity.

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For now, it’s in the kitchen, above a fine miniature quilt made by Kate Adams. Puddle approves.

cancer update . . .

On the subject of cancer . . . I’m done with "the treatment" and now . . . what? Up to this point I've been occupied with radiation and chemo, and now that’s done and I feel sort of untethered. 

There’s so much more I could write about it, but I hesitate, not wanting this blog to become Morna's Cancer Diary.

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I was at MSK a couple of weeks ago and, in keeping with my tradition, I took selfies in the restroom. These may be my last "wig pictures." I’ve grown weary of wearing it. My hair, such as it is, is about 1/32" long. And that’s not flattering! But it sure is easy maintenance. 

The Studio Truth

Can you stand it? Can I? When I say my studio has become a big mess and I can’t even walk through it without fearing I’ll trip and fall ... well, here’s the proof. It’s really bothering me so much, that I have no space in here to actually work. And now, more than ever, I’d really love to be at peace in here, making things. But now, more than ever, I am hideously tired much of the time, so that big clean-up won’t be happening.

I’m going to challenge myself to baby steps. Try to do a bit of clean-up every day. Maybe just a half an hour each day. And I’ll post my progress here, at my blog, under the heading "studio clean-up" in the right column. Wish me luck!

I am, by the way, quite bald now. I don’t have a photo yet ... it’s not exactly my favorite look! But I do have a wig! I am keeping with my tradition of taking my fuck cancer selfies in public rest rooms - don’t ask me why, because I do not know. Maybe because, oddly enough, the lighting can be flattering! So, here is me in my wig, in the bathroom at Washington Prime in Georgetown, CT - the lighting is an awesome warm color and makes me look rosy rather than pallid. LOL. 

IT NEEDS A TRIM, BUT I LIKE IT WELL ENOUGH.