The Parasites are Here

The other day I was driving back from having taught my class at WCC and listening to wbur.org You should have seen my face: during that 1/2 hour my face went through a range of facial expressions and sounds expressing abhorrence, panic, fatalism and pure joy... all in that order :)

What was I listening to you ask?

Radiolab. Their performance of the report was very entertaining while the content was making me jitterry. The topic was Parasites...

This particular subject was quite fascinating. The subject was Toxoplasm gondii which is a common protozoan parasite. It causes a disease called toxoplasmosis. "Although not normally harmful to humans, in immunocompromised hosts and in new born babies toxoplasmosis is harmful," according to House Ear Institute. Below is a micrograph colorized with NIH Image.

Enjoy the story!

Back from a Night Class at WCC and more

It's been some time since I wrote last...
A lot of things and some of them wonderful have been happening and keeping my mind away from self-expression in blog format.
The self-expression in other media is going strong :)

• SOWA is done for the year. I think I will apply to do it again next year in part because of the new customers and the artists' community.

By the way, last time at SOWA I wasn't myself but rather shape-shifted by the Dark Spirits of Halloween. Below is a photo of me that a customer offered to take and he sent it to me recently.
What am I? If you guess "right" I will send you a bead.

• Tonite I started teaching an evening flameworking class at Worcester Center for Crafts. Jake Vincent who has been heading the Glass Department there makes wonderful glass art that I thought you might like to see it. Check out his website by clicking here.

• My Mother-In-Law and her brother visited with us for a week or so and we all went to Acadia National Park and then Bar Harbor. Standing on Cadillac Mountain on a very very windy day was quite an experience. The marks left by the glacial waters on the mountain and the wild flora arising amidst the cracks in the ancient stone - one powerful and yet very fragile landscape. Bar Harbor, on the other hand, a very quaint town with beautiful by-the-sea scenery, is a great place to relax and enjoy aquatic culinary delights. We stayed at Bar Harbor Inn which is directly on the waterfront and the rooms were very comfortable. Visit there when you have a chance.

Open Studios for Natick Artists

This is one busy week as I'm getting ready for the Open Studios this week-end.

Saturday and Sunday
October 17-18
Noon - 5pm
http://www.natickopenstudios.org/

Stop by and say hello.