Also, the Clockwork Orange electrical outlet is still there 😀
In WRJ getting some work done on my car. Walked through downtown and visited the building where my studio used to be. I approve of this toilet makeover
@heyloura Looks great!
@ronkjeffries Thanks! It does remind me of my old film Holga, which is probably why I haven't given up on it yet
End of summer. They’re going to mow down the meadow tomorrow. Photo made with a digital Holga that I found while cleaning my office recently. Most photos from this camera are so enormously overexposed that you can’t even tell what you’re looking at (which explains why I don’t use it much).
From the obituaries in yesterday’s paper:
“Mary loved to spend time at home reading, watching birds and flipping birds” 😂
Poster in the exam room at the vet clinic
“Little by little,
You will turn into stars.
Even then, my dear,
You will only be
A crawling infant,
Still skinning your knees on God.”
@larissaking Je l'ai trouvé. C'est une panne d'oreiller, pas une crise! But I like "crise" better.
Late July. Trees dropping leaves after last week’s oppressive heat. Chili enjoying the morning air and what’s left of the grass, a rare occurrence since the neighborhood bobcat almost got her two weeks ago. We are learning to trust each other to keep her safe. Both of us making big compromises.
If the last few years of our marriage had a subtitle, it might be: More Texts About Pizza and Cats
@heyloura 🥳 <- this is me cheering for you
“Failure is not just an option. It is required.”
- Adam Savage
In honor of Laurie Anderson’s birthday, here’s a link to her Norton Lecture Series: Spending the War Without You. I watched it live, and really enjoyed it.
@dwalbert Gorgeous!
💬
“It’s hard not to be afraid. Be less afraid.”
Susan Sontag
@heyloura It worked!
A lot of the things we do for ourselves when we're hurting are detrimental to recovering from chronic pain. Makes sense that the things we need to do for our kids would be counter-intuitive as well! I love that you're feeling hopeful. I imagine that's really helpful for your daughter, as the thing she really needs to recover from is fear. She's lucky to have you in her corner.
For whatever it's worth, I'll be over here cheering for both of you!
@heyloura what a great photo 🤩
@heyloura I've been thinking about you and wondering how you're doing, so I'm glad to see this update but sorry it's still so hard. I wish I had some magic words to make it better, but it does seem to be a maze that people have to find their own way through. What I can say is:
- It really is this hard - not just for your daughter, but for you and the rest of your family.
- It really is possible to recover from CRPS. It does take time and consistent work, but I totally believe your daughter can do it.
- I'm so glad you got into the PPRC program. It looks, from here, like a good one.
- Don't forget to take care of yourself, and to ask for help when you need it! If there is anything I can do from up here in New Hampshire, please let me know.
Happy Caturday! The daffodils are finished, but the azaleas and lilacs are blooming. It smells amazing out there, and I have two fully functional feet and one excellent gardening buddy :)
@larissaking Please note: I did not read the article, as I have been pooping reliably for over 56 years. I refuse to entertain the idea that I am doing it wrong.
Raven, wood thrush, daffodil, sunshine. And Chili (who was so restless when we were inside) lounging in the shade of the fire pit.
Finished reading: Masters of the Nefarious by Pierre La Police 📚 If you enjoy absurdism and crude humor, you might like this as much as I did.
Unforeseen problem with working on wire sculptures and the graphic novel (drawn on an iPad) at the same time: calloused fingers make it more difficult to use anything with a touchscreen 🙁
Rainy spring day, after a sunny day full of yard work. Perfect for baking rhubarb upside-down spice cake and green pie (this week with mustard greens, baby bok choi, curly dock, garlic mustard, and a little pancetta).
The town of Harrogate (where I lived when I was a wee bairn) recently banned apostrophes on road signs because they can cause problems with geographical databases. “Residents … urged the authority to retain apostrophes or risk ‘everything going downhill’.” 😆
Laura Kampf always makes me feel like going to my studio and making stuff. So glad she finally got her work visa and we can see what she’s up to in California.
Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened. Don’t open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are a hundred ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
– Rumi
@warner in bocca al lupo!
@ner3y We loved The Good Place, which is currently on Netflix
@larissaking And yes, I'm aware that my take on this book says much more about me than it does about Ai Weiwei or his work
@EpsilonTime I agree that Ghost’s focus on “professional writers” is kind of gross. I decided to give it a try in spite of that, even though I have zero interest in being “professional.” It has its shortcomings (like everything does), but it seems okay so far
@heyloura thanks for reading! In my opinion, it’s a crime that there are so many horror stories. I wish more doctors knew that it’s possible to recover. Also, that it can be cheap and simple (though not always easy) and you can do it without medication!
@EpsilonTime welcome! I’m also a WP refugee. I like it here. I also have a couple of blogs that I use Ghost (https://ghost.org/) for, because sometimes I want a little more privacy and it’s easy to put up a member-wall there.
@heyloura oops! Forgot the link: youtu.be/gLT-E2QEh...
@heyloura and here’s Dan Buglio talking about whether or not CRPS is curable. He says it absolutely is. I can find non-Dan sources too, but he’s one of my favorites and has helped me a lot. He makes it simple to understand what’s going on and how to undo it
@heyloura and here’s another CRPS success story: youtu.be/m9AXDUJud...
@heyloura here’s an interview with a woman who recovered from CRPS: youtu.be/bgr4pMs7R...
@heyloura playing and dancing are great! Dancing was a big part of my early recovery. It was fun, and helped my nervous system get over the fear of moving and putting weight on my feet.
@heyloura in my experience, symptoms spreading is a good sign. It’s solid evidence that there’s nothing wrong with the body, that the brain learned how to do this trick and it can also unlearn. Maybe that’s why kids tend to have better outcomes.
@aksingh Congratulations!
@larissaking I've been thinking about this all week, and had intended to write about it tomorrow (on the actual anniversary). But then @heyloura mentioned that her daughter had CRPS (may she feel better soon!), and a friend texted to remind me about a tree planting party that she's hosting tomorrow. So I wrote something today instead.
@heyloura more fingers crossed! I was diagnosed with CRPS last spring, and I'm doing so much better now. I think I'd rather have CRPS myself than watch someone I love suffer with it. I don't know much about pediatric CRPS, but I can point you at some adult success stories if your own spirits need lifting. Hang in there! It's not easy, but it's possible to recover.
@magnizium The best :D