My Infinite Lizdom

Hello Boobleites,

Hope everyone's enjoying their break from bread and vices this EastOver season. Spring is upon us and I don't think it could get here fast enough. My shmoop and I are taking a share in a house out east this summer and I can just feel the sun freckling (read: damaging) my face as I write this. It's just another gift for which I have to be thankful. 

While on the topic of being thankful, I had a good doctor's appointment on Thursday. I hadn't had a follow up in a month and my on-call-ogist said my lungs sound OK despite the residual hack I have from the cold I caught a couple of weeks ago. It's a bit reminiscent of my "cancer cough" which is a bit disturbing, but the chest x-ray was fine (e.g. no pneumonia, no evidence of new tumors) and surprisingly, with the exception of the cough, I bounced back rather quickly. The next cat scan of my lungs will take place in mid-April. Stay tuned for more good news.

I've recently stumbled across postings on a few websites that some people taking Xeloda get very weepy. I definitely have found myself getting emotional sometimes when I least expect it. A few months ago on the way to my friend Nicola's baby shower I met up with my friend Kate and when I saw her I started sobbing. I was fine at the shower but when I was saying good-bye to Nicola, I sobbed more. Trust me when I say I love both of these ladies and like most friends I don't see them nearly enough, but I typically don't weep when I see them. I couldn't tell if my tears were a result of my "cancer wounds" still being fresh, if it's the Xeloda, or perhaps I'm just overwhelmed with the abundance of love I have in my life (but maybe once took for granted)? This past Sunday I told my friend Tara about a really sweet gesture someone recently made for me and her response was, Liz, this doesn't surprise me; people love you. I'm tearing up as I write this. 

The gesture? In January I was introduced to this fabulous jewelry designer, Pauletta Brooks. I bought a few of her pieces (no, not all for me!) at a trunk show that took place in her awesome Chelsea loft and subsequently I made a couple more purchases on line. I've been in touch with Pauletta a few times to tell her I get oodles of compliments whenever I wear my geode pendant and that I am now on the market for an amethyst piece from her collection; I read about the stone's amazing healing properties, specifically but hardly limited to the lungs. Lo and behold two days later I get a little package from Pauletta, a woman I've personally met only once. She sent me a blue velvet pouch filled with amethyst stones, which I now carry around with me daily. Of course when I opened the package, the waterworks opened as well.

The hugs, phone calls, emails, stones, stoner cookies(!), songs, a green tambourine.........is there an end to this love because I have an infinite capacity for more! And speaking of infinity, my sister-in-law Harumi, a burgeoning sculptor, blew me away with her recent project, Infinity. Harumi was inspired to make Infinity this year as a tribute to my stepmother, Arlene, who has been dealt a hardcore crappy cancer card (pancreatic has metastasized to several organs), myself and all the other women in the world struggling with cancer. It's with heavy heart that I share Harumi lost her mother to cancer when she was just a teenager and the love and passion she has for wanting to help others shows in this beautiful piece of work.

May I present to you, Infinity...

Some information about Infinity:

Style:                 Female bust sculpture without a base

Title:                  “Infinity”

Medium:             Plaster cast

Color:                 Plaster white             

Size:                  W 4.5” x D 2 3/4” x H 5 3/4” 

Weight:               616g/1.35 lbs.  

About Harumi:

Harumi moved to New York from Tokyo with her husband in 2004.  She studied Life Figure Sculpture at The Art Students League in Manhattan with Jonathan Shahnstarting in 2007.  To understand more about human anatomy and form, she also began drawing live figures at the Spring Studio in SoHo run by Minerva Durham.  She continues to draw live models to get inspirations. 

Harumi studied Environmental Design at Joshibi University of Art and Design in Tokyo, Japan, where she trained herself to feel and read light, shadow and air flow. In that sense, her works can be a part of space wherever they belong or the other way around, where they create space.

Harumi has created a mold for this project which means that it can be duplicated. Currently only three have been made and mine sits proudly on a side table in the Barbie Dreamhouse (my apt). If you are interested in purchasing this beauty (and seeing some of Harumi's other works; I'm a huge fan of her drawings), the cost is $350 a portion of which will be donated to the charity of your choice. Please let me know if you are interested and I will put you in touch with the artist; the turnaround time for the final piece is approximately two months. 

I know I'm probably biased, but I really love this sculpture. I like to think she is looking into the future wondering what life will bring her while at the same time wondering how she will use all of her strength, determination, and support of others to get there.  I'd love to hear your thoughts about Infinity, too.

Well, folks, it's a beautiful day, the sun is shining and I'm inspired to go out and make the best of this day. I hope you will do the same. 

My heartfelt thanks to all who are reading this. 

Much love, 

Elizabeth