OMG, Spaced is finally going to be released in the US, in less than a month!!!

I love Weeds and I just saw the Secret Diary of a Call Girl... I'm not sure how I feel about it... but this game brought out a mean competitive streak in me...

See that red X in the middle of the map there? That's my 'hood. Good old Glendale. You see how it's so close to downtown? That's really convenient for getting around, I'm really close to both 215 and I-15. It's a cute little residential area with nice old houses.

Recently I got a new neighbor, a new addition. I shall call him, "Appropriately-Time-of-Day-Challenged" Rooster. The ATODC Rooster, if you will, is just that, challenged. He likes to crow, whenever he damn well feels like it. The sun comes up, cock-a-doodle-doo... Wow, that's entirely appropriate, the sun has come up, it's a new day, HARKEN THE NEW DAY MR. ROOSTER!!!
11:00 AM? Not so much a time to be crowing.
2:35 PM? Whatcha doin' buddy?
8:15 PM? Are you fucking kidding me?!

I like animals. I have two cats and a dog. I have a bird feeder for the wild birds. I took horse riding lessons (English AND Western, thank you). I can't watch movies where an animal gets hurt, I just lose it.

I do not like the ATODC Rooster. We are not friends.

Now, I think there might be a reason the ATODC Rooster is so talkative. He seems to be completely alone. Yeah, no chickens to follow around, no other roosters to intimidate. It must be a lonely life. For a rooster. 5 minutes from down town Salt Lake. Please refer to the above map.

I am so confused.

I spend so much time talking about my own illness that I have completely forgotten to mention the amazing efforts of other people I know battling their own problems.

My friend Dov Siporin was diagnosed with colorectal cancer this year. He has gone through one course of chemo and radiation, and then surgery. He had over a foot of his intestines removed! During the surgery they found a tumor on his liver. So now he has started his second course of chemo and will be having surgery on his liver in a month or so. And in the midst of all this, he's been training for a 175 mile relay race. Yeah, no, seriously. Dov is bad ass. He's one of the funniest and smartest people out there. While he's going through this, he's consistently made sure that I'm doing ok. What a guy. And people are noticing how impressive he is. ABC 4 Utah did a segment on him recently. They set it to "Dear Prudence" by The Beatles, but he really wanted Social Distortion's "Far Behind"...


He was also on X-96 Radio From Hell's "Ask a..." segment. I'm trying to find the podcast for peoples listening pleasure, I'll update that as soon as I find it. Edit - (I have found the Radio From Hell podcast, it is from the May 28th episode, you can listen to it for free on iTunes at this link.)

He's working on writing a book about the whole experience, and has been keeping a blog about it as well.

Oh and P.S. Fuck Cancer.

I love my little house, it makes me inordinately happy. I'm sure I've harped on this before, but it is so adorable, I can't help myself.

Now that the weather is nice, I've been doing some fun things in the yard. Although trying to rip out all the weeds in the front garden beds do not really equal fun on most days... I'm still really enjoying it.

Look, I planted some tomatoes!

I can't wait to host my next craft day, cause we will certainly be comfy on this back porch.

My friends rock, I mean it. They totally rock. I've been lucky enough to have them re-post my little art sale all over the net (through which I got my first sale, thanks Maureen!!), but now look what Niki is doing! She's hosting a yard sale in my benefit. How awesome is that?!

Take a look at her blog entry for all the details, including how to contact her if you want to donate stuff to get rid of.

Rock on Niki, rock on.

Put the Fun in Fundraising!

Hey all,
if you've been reading my blog lately, you may have noticed that I have a few, you know... health issues. If you don't know, there is a painfully detailed post here about it.

Well, one of the consequences of all these problems has been my loss of income. I haven't been able to work since March, and haven't received any income since then. I used up all my paid time off and long term sick while in the process of getting diagnosed. I'm going on disability through my company, which will mean I'll be making 60% of what I used to make. If I just had rent and utilities and those usual things to deal with, it'd be tight, but I could do it. The problem is, my medical expenses are steadily racking up.

So, to make a long pitch a little shorter, I'm going to try to sell some of my art work for donations that'll go towards these medical bills.

Right now, I have 18 prints from a show I participated in at Kayo Gallery. It is a 5 inch by 5 inch print. Linoleum cut, letter press and hand coloring on black cold press paper. This is what they look like, sorry for the grainy image.

As I said, there are only 18 available. I am creating a new set of prints that will be available if these run out, they will also be a limited numbered edition.

I am asking for a minimum donation of $20 + 2.50 (for shipping in the US) to receive one of the prints. Of course, if you do not want a print and just want to donate, I will gladly and appreciatively accept that as well. :)

It is through the support of my friends and family that I have been managing to stay so up beat, and also stay afloat. You people continue to amaze me every single day. Thank you for being there.

Love,
Mindy

Today was the Arthritis Foundation Walk. I managed to rustle up $75 in donations, thanks to you guys! My darling friend Niki came with me to share in the joy of walking a mile in the freezing (hello, June, is that you?) weather. And she very patiently put up with all of my excuses to stop: "I think that Burns needs to potty." "I want to let this group pass." Ooops, I think my Camelback is clogged." "Uhm, can I just stop?" She put up with all of this, even after I managed to do this to her...




There were cute kids and dogs, and beautiful views at the Wheeler Farm.




After all this madness, and a yummy meal at Brewvies. I took myself over to Kate's pad where we tie-dyed some onesies in preparation of a very special October arrival.