Another Periodic Paralysis Patient Lost

Kendra Rowan has died at age 33. She was a highly gifted artist. This is such an unfair disease and the loss of this young woman is more devastating than I can express.

I can only hope my obituary is half as nice as this one when it's my turn to go. As it states, Kendra was a volunteer at Common Art for the Homeless. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made in Kendra's name to Common Art for the Homeless. Send checks to: Common Cathedral, 15 Newbury Street, Boston MA 02116 (write "Common Art" in the note section). You may also donate online at http://commoncathedral.org/donations. Where it says "Add special instructions to the seller", write: "Direct to Common Art".

I'm so angry I can't stop crying.

I'm taking a break. I don't want to talk about this anymore.

August 2018, In Pictures

I went to see Dr. B, who decided to test a new med.

It's going somewhat ok, but I am just...blah. So tired.

It spite of that, I managed to accomplish some things this month.

I recycled a back seat full of glass, plastic, and paper.

The nearest recycling center is pretty nice.

Another artist happened to be there at the same time.

She claimed my still life props, so that worked out nicely.

I have a clean and organized living room again. Woohoo!

I have a difficult time sitting up at a desk, but I'm trying.

I'm mostly still propped up on pillows in bed or on the couch.

Next up, the kitchen! I've been working on it all week.
I have more things going to the recycling center next month.

I'm saying goodbye to old glassware and other random items.

I'm pretty happy with the result. Minimalism is happening!

How adorable is my Christmas owl mug?! See you soon, little cutie!

This is still a lot of stuff, but a few of these items were gifts, so I'll never part with them.

The pantry is coming along. That pretty box holds open containers of noodles.

The Thai neighbors gave me more habaneros from their garden!

I vacuum-sealed them for the freezer, since it'll take a while to use them all.

I returned to the park on Portersville Bay for a few photos.

I scored a fresh red snapper filet, so I made fish stew and ceviche!

And last weekend, I made enough Ramen for an army, ha! It was for my vegan gaming group.

Pandemic Legacy (Season 2)

I mostly watched, as I was tired and couldn't really sit up long enough to participate. I'm glad I was able to at least be there for a little while and share the veggie ramen I had wanted to make. I had to avoid the beans and legumes myself, but it turned out pretty tasty! Hopefully in the future, I'll feel like hanging out with my friends a little longer.

I've been watching drawing lectures, and I'll sit up and draw along with the professor as my muscles allow. I will update my art blog as I go along. I received a lot of feedback from friends about my mild concern with figure drawing (long story, just know that very little about my life has been normal), and I appreciated it very much. It turned out to not be a big deal at all, and in a rare moment of bravery, I even drew myself in the nude (work I will neeeevvver share, so don't worry about that). I feel like I have learned a lot with this professor in a short period of time, and I look forward to more drawing practice. On an unrelated note, I have an acrylic painting in progress also.

In between all of that? Meltdowns, thanks to Periodic Paralysis, chronic pain, digestive disease, and sleep deprivation, but I'm managing it all as best as I can one day at a time.

Hurricane Katrina changed my life 13 years ago today. I've spent some time reminiscing, but it's not something I've wanted to dwell on. Keep rebuilding, Gulf Coast. We may have a love-hate relationship, but I'm proud of ya.

There have been a ton of hits on the blog this year. Thanks for reading my mess, y'all. Enjoy the rest of your summer. Or winter, if you're on the southern side of this spinning ball of insanity.

XO

Explore Mobile Day (Massive Photo Drop)

A few months ago, Indy500 the rolling walker and I attended Explore Mobile, a free museum event in downtown Mobile, Alabama. This isn't going to be fancy, I'm just unloading photos from my tablet, finally. I think if you click on the first photo, it will pull up everything in a slideshow for you.

If you want to know about Mobile and Gulf Coast history, the Colonial Mobile Fort and Museum and the History Museum of Mobile are two great places to visit. They reside across the street from each other, both are handicap friendly, and they are educational in a raw and unbiased way (I'm trying to put this nicely. It's not "whitewashed" is what I mean. It's truthful, as it should be).

Enjoy if you like. I may eventually add captions to everything, but today is not that day.

The ultimate tourist trap

Maybe I'll still be around when they open this time capsule

I went to jail. I did not pass "GO". I did not collect $200.

This is El Cazador. The website makes me cry,
and I am planning a short story about it.

Unintentional cameo by Indy500 the rolling walker (ha)

The History Museum has awesome murals

Azalea Trail Maids

There is an entire room of spectacular miniature houses

There is a section that explains slavery.
I couldn't bring myself to take photos of everything.

The women of WWII

As the city of Mobile frequently boasts,
the first documented celebration of Carnival (Carnaval) in the U.S. happened here.

And here is the guy responsible for that.

I also visited the Mobile Museum of Art recently, which is a place I enjoy. I took a friend's mother with me. It was her first time there. My body melted down, and it took days to recover, but I'm glad I was able to see the exhibits I wanted to see before they closed.

I'll try not to fall behind on sharing things like this in the future.

It's almost September, and I could not be more ready for the fall.