Riding the Pooka

Going Platinum – Visions of Carboplatin

Platinum, the rare, the noble, the impervious to corruption. Also a toxic heavy metal when administered as the drug Carboplatin. What does it mean to go Platinum? I will answer that today, continuing the summing up of my take on the chemo drugs I took. Why would I want to do that? After all it has been over two…

Movie Review: Living Proof, the story of Herceptin

Last night we finally watched Living Proof, the Story of Herceptin which came out in 2008. The central character is based on researcher Dr. Dennis Slamon, and was played by Harry Connick Jr. in the film. The story was first captured in the 1998 book HER2, the making of Herceptin by Robert Bazell. Usually I am distracted while watching a film adaptation of…

The Teeny Tiny world within.

You are what you eat. Food is Culture. The way to a person’s heart is through the stomach. Let food be thy medicine. Food is Love. You eat first with the eyes… and on and on. Everyone eats, and we have countless adages about food that attest to this. The question is how can we eat to…

Feeling sexy is an inside job.

Today, I was a Beauty Queen. I walked in the Astoria Regatta Parade at the front of the Blue Scorcher “Float” which we put together out of banners we made yesterday, combined with the signs from our farmers market booth, and flags made for the Lughnasa festivals of the past. It was held together with bamboo and zip…

Dreams of Yew, or coming to terms with Taxotere

While reading on the blogs of some gals, who are currently going through chemo, I have been reminded of the immense respect and love I now feel for the beautiful Pacific Yew tree. These complex and gnarly trees are in a fabled family associated with mystery from way way back. Like two hundred million years…

What the world needs now. #istandforlove

There is this incredible artist woman in Portland, Sarah Love. She rocks my world, and she is working to transform the whole wide world. She has proclaimed tomorrow, August 8th, International I Stand for Love day. She has written a love manifesto help you celebrate. I invite you to join anyway and anyhow tomorrow. Even if it…

Any way you slice it, the fiscal realities of cancering

Let me start by saying I am immensely blessed. That even though the financial consequences of my cancering extend into the foreseeable future, I get just how lucky I am. I get that the good fortune is inclusive of my financial picture. Despite the fact that my healing sabbatical led to taking on debt to cover my lost wages,…

Chapter One: Waiting

The other evening on my walk home from work in the beautiful summer warmth I started thinking, “What if learning about a serious diagnosis could be empowering, and life affirming rather than terrifying?” What would that look like? Here is the first installment of the story I imagined. I will add to it in the coming weeks. Sort of…

Joseph Campbell and Me

The Journey. Okay. This summer I’ve had the chance to read a whole lot written by other breast cancering babes. I have also ended up clicking through to many editorial articles. After about the third time I saw a snarky remark about the “ubiquitous journey” of breast cancer I changed the byline on my blog…

Lughnasa!

This weekend might have marked the 9th annual Lughnasa Festival at the Blue Scorcher if the stars had aligned differently. Lughnasa! the ancient Irish festival of first harvest. Celebration of berries, grain and the descent of the sun. I organized three community festivals to recognize it from 2007-2009. Each year approximately 1,000- 3,000 people attended. It required nearly 100…

To soothe the savage beast

Music soothes the savage beast. Which is another way of saying it goes right to the core of us. This is why it is inserted into movies, advertisements and department stores to manipulate us. Music has the direct line to our emotional centers. When is the last time you slowed down to really savor some music? When…

Going Public . . . and now the rest of the Story

To what purpose is this blog? The universe deemed that my little intro draft be published when I merely wished to save it yesterday. So the question still stands, is this blog meaningful to anyone besides myself? Are there standards as to how many people need to be reading or liking or commenting in order for…