potential insanity

The Greatest Shave Adventure…

by frogpondsrock on February 8, 2012

in cancer,Family,friendship,good causes,potential insanity,real life

I would like to start this blog post by thanking you. The words thank you seem so small when I write them down, they don’t really capture the enormity of grateful emotion that swells in my chest every time I receive help from you.

As each email telling me of a donation comes in, I feel an excited *squee* bubbling up and I am so very, very grateful to you.

The section of the internet that I frequent really is filled with lovely, lovely generous people. And due to your help in spreading the word of my shave we are going to be able to help the Leukaemia Foundation help families who are facing the darkest battle of their lives.

Cancer really and truly does suck. It is a terrifying reality to have to face.

It is the little things with cancer that you don’t expect.

I wasn’t prepared for how much I spent on petrol driving to the hospital over and over again, the car seemed to be continually running on empty(as was I) and all other household bills were put on the backburner as the costs of Mum’s cancer came first.

When you live any distance away from the hospital, appointments seem to take up whole days. I don’t think I cooked a meal for my family in the last few months of Mum’s life. I know I certainly didn’t do a scrap of housework.

Small things internet, small things that build up and can cause huge stress in a family.

It is my own experience of cancers destructive impacts upon a family that made me decide to join the Worlds Greatest Shave. I was grumpy with my hair and I saw an ad somewhere for the Leukaemia foundation and BAM just like that I signed up.

Now of course I am shitting myself and trying not to think about the impending haircut, as each time I think about it I start to hyperventilate a little bit.

I am impulsive and I never ever think about the consequences of my actions. I just decide to do stuff. I certainly hadn’t thought about the logistics of actually shaving off my hair until a conversation happened on facebook and I was given a link to this page, Miss Be Shavin’

And before I could say “Roller Derby looks like fun” I had joined up with these girls and the logistics of the shave are all being taken care of for me.

Tasmanian Roller Derby meets ‘World’s Greatest Shave.’
Tasmania’s Derby Leagues will be coming together to support The Leukaemia Foundation’s ‘World’s Greatest Shave’ in Miss-Be-Shavin’.Convict City Rollers will be facing off against Devil State Derby League, followed by South Island Sirens taking on the Van Diemen Rollers

Join us on Saturday the 24th of March at the Derwent Entertainment Centre in Hobart as the North and South leagues take each other on in two rounds of this unique sport in a family-friendly event!

I just wont think about the venue, or the hundreds of people that will be there.

I will do my best Scarlett O”Hara impersonation and think about that tomorrow, internet.

On my birthday Veronica took some photos of my hair for me.

After all that hair modelling I was exhausted and the kidlets and I retired to the couch, with chocolate.

If you would like to support me  and donate a couple of dollars I would be most grateful.

So far internet we have raised Raised: $1,508.00

You can DONATE HERE. *grins*

 

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If 500 people donate $10 each I can reach my total

by frogpondsrock on February 1, 2012

in blogging,cancer,good causes,potential insanity

I think that is do-able internet.

I am sure that between us we can round up five hundred people who are willing to donate Ten Dollars each.

What am I talking about?

In October 2011 I was sick of dyeing my hair purple. My hair grows so fast and I am almost totally grey these days. I seem to be dyeing my hair every few weeks so I don’t look like I am perpetually wearing a skunk hat. Albeit a smell free skunk hat.

So I thought “fuck it” I am going to cut it all off and raise some money while I am at it.

Enter the Leukaemia Foundations World’s Greatest Shave

And so I signed up.

To cut off ALL my hair.

 

Which was all well and good BACK IN OCTOBER, when March was months away and I didn’t have to think about the consequences of my actions.

There were all sorts of lovely distractions, like weddings and pregnancies and Christmas and exhibitions and MONAFOMA and the list goes on and on.

I had been thinking that if I didn’t say anything about the WORLDS GREATEST SHAVE online I could just accidentally forget to cut off all my hair.

I could say that I had been far too busy and I totally forgot and promise to do it next year and all sorts of other lovely excuses.

But the reality is that cancer doesn’t accept any excuses. And if I am frightened about the prospect of  cutting off all my hair at least I am choosing  this path, not having the choice thrust upon me by chemotherapy or radiation.

So internet will you hold my hand again?

Will you help me reach my total?

Will you write a post for me on your blogs?

Will you donate Ten dollars?

Will you knit me a purple hat to hide under?

You can DONATE TO MY PAGE  FOR THE LEUKAEMIA FOUNDATION”S GREATEST SHAVE  HERE

*** Edited on the 6th Feb. So Far internet, 40 people have donated $1231.00 I am thrilled to bits. Thank you all so much.

***Edited on the 7th of Feb. 46 people have donated $1418. Thank you *grins*

{ 46 comments }

We can’t let the shouters, silence the rest of us.

by frogpondsrock on January 18, 2012

in Distractions galore!,potential insanity,real life

Melinda Tankard-Reist shouts a lot.

She shouts about porn and the exploitation of women, she presents herself as a feminist and campaigns against the sexualisation of our girls.

Playboy bunnies on eight year old girls knickers make me a bit shouty as well and I think we should all be making a lot more noise about the sexualisation of our little girls.

BUT

What Melinda Tankard Reist would prefer that we didn’t know about her is that she is a fundamentalist Christian.

A god botherer of the first order who attends a Baptist church.

I didn’t know this, because to be honest even though I follow Melinda Tankard Reist on twitter I find her hysterical screechings to be a bit exhausting and I only notice her occasionally.

Once I was made aware of Melinda Tankard Reist’s religious leanings a lot of her opinions were immediately put into context.

A context that Melinda Tankard Reist doesn’t seem to like me having.

And it also seems that Melinda Tankard Reist  would prefer that her religious preferences aren’t talked about.

Melinda Tankard Reist says,

“She tries to follow Jesus, but she doesn’t want anybody focusing on her religion because that will distract from her work.”

I tend to disagree.

I think it is of critical importance that we have a context within which to frame our responses to Melinda Tankard Reist’s anti porn and anti abortion campaigns.

I think that  Melinda Tankard Reist’s religion is very, very important to how I perceive her and her work. It doesn’t distract me from her work at all, it gives me the previously mentioned context.

 

Dr Jennifer Wilson has been persistent in her  public questioning of Melinda Tankard Reist and Dr Wilson writes that she is now being sued by Tankard Reist for declaring on her blog, “No Place for Sheep” that Tankard Reist is a Baptist and attends a Baptist church.

MTR threatens Sheep with legal action if we don’t censor our posts about her immediately

In the conversation that ensued on twitter between No place for Sheep, Weezmgk and myself, I offered my public support to Dr Wilson

This conversation in turn inspired  Machine Gun Keyboard to write this post in support of Dr Wilson

Melinda Tankard-Reist is not the internet nor sex police

So here I stand on my soapbox on my blog declaring loudly that I am Spartacus, because it is incredibly, incredibly important that WE DO NOT LET THE SHOUTERS WIN.

We the public should always, always question the motivations of high profile public campaigners,politicians or anyone else that purports to speak in our name.

I AM SPARTACUS!

{ 9 comments }

The Smug. She has it.

by frogpondsrock on January 10, 2012

in potential insanity,whingeing

This cat, Veronica’s cat, is stopping me from doing any work.

We are engaged in an ongoing battle over the computer chair.

I leave the computer. The cat jumps into chair.

I throw the cat onto ground (gently), the cat jumps onto the desk, somehow she manages to press ctrl, alt, delete with her paws. Then she blocks the screen for good measure and starts banging her head into my hands, DEMANDING that I pat her.

Cat hair goes everywhere.

I need a tissue and get up out of my chair.

Cat jumps into my chair.

I think she is winning.

The Smug, she has it.

 

{ 19 comments }

Don’t Panic! Don’t Panic! (this is my newest mantra)

by frogpondsrock on December 31, 2011

in ceramics,friendship,potential insanity

I am not panicking but the temptation is there internet, the temptation is there.

Do you remember when I mentioned I was having an exhibition on January the 26th with Eve Howard? An exhibition that was mostly all my friend Eve’s idea? Well internet, Eve has reluctantly cancelled as she is too busy to do our Albatross exhibition justice and we will have a fabulous joint show together at a later date.

This in itself isn’t enough to make me panic, not even enough to make me falter in my artistic stride internet. No, not at all.

What has made me contemplate panicking is the fact that another exhibitor at the Off Centre Micro Gallery has cancelled their booking and because of this cancellation, I decided to bring the date of my exhibition forward 2 weeks.

Commence panicky breathing and OH MY FUCKING GODS now.

That means that I have to have my work ready in TWELVE DAYS internet. Not the luxurious twenty six days I had up my sleeve yesterday.

12 days.

Eeek.

On the upside, I have asked another ceramic friend of mine, the very talented Philadelphia Hansen-Viney to share the space with me. Philly is going to bring some of her work up here tomorrow and we will do a bisque firing on Monday and then I plan to do a glaze firing by next Saturday the 7th of January at the very very latest.

I am going to be cutting it very very fine internet.

Very fine indeed.

I will keep you posted.

*image by Robin Roberts.

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