This reminded me of one of my favorite children’s books: The Monster at the End of this Book! I loved reading it to my little brother over and over again. Highly recommend it to those with children in their lives!
Stand Up 2 Cancer aired the other day and I was able to catch most of it. The timing was fitting as this September 13th marks the 4th anniversary of the day I lost my mom to cancer.
I really appreciated that the show didn’t focus just on Cancer Survivors but that they equally focused on those touched by cancer and those I call Cancer Warriors. To me, Cancer Warriors are the people who tried just as hard and wanted to live just as badly as the Survivors but unfortunately didn’t make it. Not that I’m not thrilled for all the Survivors out there, but sometimes I feel the Warriors who lost their battles with cancer despite all their determination are forgotten.
I went online and order 3 “In Memory Of” shirts; one for myself, brother & sister. Similar to the one you see Halle Berry wearing to the left.
I will be seeing them this weekend for my nephew’s 4th birthday so I am hoping the shirts come soon. My mom’s first grandchild was born the day before she passed away. She never got to see him. I spent my time split between the cancer hospital and the hospital where my nephew was born. I was able to show my mom his footprints; she laughed and said he had big feet. This is the last conversation I remember having with her. I had taken a bunch of pictures on my digital camera but didn’t have time to get them printed. Unfortunately, her vision was going and she was too out of it to really focus on the tiny viewfinder so she didn’t even get to see his picture. I was too tired to go to the hospital early the next morning and that’s when she passed away.
It’s been 4 years, which sounds like a long time, but not a day goes by that I don’t think of my best friend and mom.
You can still order some SU2C gear on cafepress. Don’t worry, this isn’t some random cafepress user making another buck off a charity (which is what I thought at first), this is the official site to buy the gear. It looks like most of the shirts are already sold out. As of this posting the only shirts left are the black “Stand Up 2 Cancer” shirts. The other day when I ordered the rest where available - maybe they will have them again soon?
Some of the highlights of the live telethon were the musical collaborations, including the closing song Just Stand Up performed by more than a dozen of today’s divas which you can watch embedded here.
Partly inspired by my tinkering with the computer painting program, ArtRage, and partly a need to do something different and creative; I decided to get away from the Internet and computers and try Oil Painting.Boy was I in for a surprise. I never knew there was so many kinds of brushes! Oh and we were told to only get red, yellow, blue, and white paint. Apparently, every other color can be made from those. Who knew!
After the class was over all the students were invited to display 2 paintings with other local artists in an art show at the county visitor center. Very cool.
I had started several paintings, but had really only “finished” two. So those were the two that went. The first I did on the first night of class with borrowed paint, canvas, brushes etc. Not knowing what I needed, I came to class pretty unprepared. I don’t know what to say about the second painting, other than that was how I was feeling at the time. 2 Points to whoever knows the source image that provided the inspiration for it though!
#1 - Phoenix Flower
11×14, Oil on Canvas
#2 - Crushed
20×16, Oil on Canvas
Here are a few other pics I snapped of the exhibit, including a few of my favorites. (Most are for sale - not mine - so if any pique your interest I can get you in touch with the appropriate person.) Many of the students/artists have been painting for awhile and I hope I can paint as well as them someday. Now that I have all the supplies I plan to keep it up.
by cancer and those I call Cancer Warriors. To me, Cancer Warriors are the people who tried just as hard and wanted to live just as badly as the Survivors but unfortunately didn’t make it. Not that I’m not thrilled for all the Survivors out there, but sometimes I feel the Warriors who lost their battles with cancer despite all their determination are forgotten.
