Look Who's Talking

Girl, girl, girl, the Vagina Monologues was all that and then some! But it wiped my behind out! I finally got my 6 lines down and it flowed really well with the group that I was with on stage. Actually it was easier and more comfortable doing it in front of an audience than in rehearsals.  The furniture for our set was some really cool contemporary screens, chairs and a couch...we looked like we could have been one of those women gab shows that I've seen on the Oxygen channel...sitting there talking about "periods" in different voices that "bled" into one another.  The audience of 700 people where having a great time and gave the show a standing ovation.  I'm glad I followed through and didn't back out after getting the diagnosis I mentioned in an earlier post.

Speaking of which, I'm sitting here waiting on the O2 technician to come refill the helios tank...yeap, as part of this pulmonary hypertension I'm to be on oxygen all the time...my reaction to this was...., I'll just sum it up and say it was over the top followed by a meltdown.  I still do not have the courage, lack of vanity to wear it out or wear it to work...just can't do it, don't know if I want to do it.  I'm relieved (almost calm) to finally have a reason for the symptoms that have been progressing over the last 3 years but this has been and will be an adjustment.  I'm still working but mainly because I'm scared of being without health insurance.  I'm not that familiar with what Medicaid will do or not do and I definitaely do not want to be stuck under-insured because this is not a common diagnosis and treatment still seems experiemental and new from what I've read.

Back to the VM.  Each cast member received a t-shirt with a design by a visual artist from Lexington named Tanya Lewis (pictures of her work are forthcoming. she gave me permission to post them here but my camera is at the zoo with P., A., & M).  Also, we received a copy of the documentary about the impact of VM world wide along with a "pussy purse" which can be viewed here.  (it is not pornographic)  I showed this to P., (the purse, which I thought was cute) and he asked "is that in good taste?"   (no, he was serious). He couldn't watch much of the HBO edition of VM.  Politically he can be described as liberal to borderline radical...but he is socially conservative around topics for public discourse, i.e sexuality.  Like spirituality, he feels it is very very private matter. 

But on the fabric front...I've been making these shapes over and over, in a variety of sizes and then last night it dawned on me that it was in the shape of the vagina! Oh my! Then I went to town cutting them in all different colours...not sure what I will do with them but I think this calls for a Vagina quilt!   

And, yet, another discovery about myself as a quilter...I'm challenged to mix design motifs on the same piece.  There is this piece I started...blocks of stripes running vertical, horizontal, vertical--that is one row, the second is just the opposite...the overall appearance is simple to boring leaning toward whimsy, but the colour carries it and I think it has potential if I could add 1 or 2 more motifs.  I'm thinking about adding equal size panels on both sides and adding multiple size circles as applique or re-creating the stripe blocks in smaller scales or maybe both.  I'll get a picture up in a day or two. 

The O2 tech was suppose to be here between 8-noon.  He has 20 minutes.  I'm going to have to go.  Wait, wait, before I do, I wanted to mention that Gabrielle, at Handmaiden is being kind enough to share her teaching experience at Asilomar.  She asked her students to come up with 2 words to describe where they are now and where they want to be as quilt artists.  I'm taking the bait and my two words are "sparse and prolific".  It is hard to build upon what I learn because I'm stop and go (sparse)  with weeks between actually working and when I'm focused on doing something it is like I have to take a mental exlax to clear the clutter.  Thats what the vagina shaped pieces where about...clearing the clutter so that I could see. Anyways, check ya' later 'gator.