A Million Substitutions

It's not procrastination, finding things to do instead of the thing on my to-do list. Today, I finally posted things to my etsy store that have been waiting for you. Like these cards that were sitting in storage all lonely. And these handmade nests Jud watched me make a few winters ago, a little nervously, like a tic, in my back yard as I insisted everything was okay.

It's good and weird to be in New Orleans, in the longest stretch of summer, with friends leaving for cooler parts daily. It's quiet and I sit inside and move things around, pack and repack, think about the details of yardsales and moving without thinking about the larger ideas of leaving the state where most of my friends live. It is exciting and exhausting, so I organize what I can while I still have control over something. When I have a studio I sometimes spend a few hours cleaning and ordering things before I work. Like getting your mind ready for the hard stuff.

Obviously I am not making a lot of new stuff right now but I want to share this countdown clock my friend Jeremy created. His friend made the cups. Twelve cups-one for each session of chemo he is about to endure. When each treatment is through, he will drink whiskey from the cup and smash it. He has a jar for collecting the smashed pieces. I am constantly encouraged by my friends' strength and creativity in dealing with obstacles and the way we make rituals to fit our needs, and share them with friends. The way we create and process and smash when we need to. You can read the whole story here. Or not. Jeremy also makes sea monster bags and was one of the awesomest to me when I was not so awesome. Good night, good friends.

In the Neighborhood

Easter. Without any Easter candy. And it is colder outside than I thought. But I have been inside all day writing a paper about an anti-fascist women's group in Italy during the Nazi Occupation. I needed a walk. Somehow in the two months I have lived in this neighborhood, I have never been to the huge park down the street. So off I went, with my camera and my head full of Easter snot.

Something I like about Milan, is that it is only fancy on the surface. A German I met in Prague said Milan smelled like urine and is covered in graffiti. True. And there are tiny dogs and dog poo everywhere. Except, for some reason, in the dog area of the park. Instead there are these lonely benches. I like Milan for its scruffiness for its we're not downtown who cares about cutting the grass. Families walked through the park, a little girl spoke to her dad on a walkie talkie (I can't believe they still make those things).

There is a pedestrian bridge over the busy 4 lane road you have to cross. Later I realized the road is the same Kerry and I used when taking a taxi from the train station. From the top of the bridge, you can see the Alps and downtown. I made it home, now I'm gonna snuggle in and draw all night.