Remembering grad school anatomy class

I was cleaning up stuff on the interwebs and ran across an old blog post from graduate school. As much as anatomy was a difficult and demanding class, once I figured out how to study and memorize it all, I actually really enjoyed it! Here's the post, hope you get a few laughs out of it!

"Anatomy Randomness"
Posted on October 20, 2005:

- if our foramen ovale didn't close, we would have an atrial septal defect and your right atrium and ventricle would be huge.

- if your heart valves don't close all the way, you have a valvular insuffiency. if they won't completely open, you have a stenosis.

- the vagus nerve continues as the pelvic splanchnic nerve in the abdomen. it is preganglionic parasympathetic.

- the pericardiacophrenic vessels travel with the phrenic nerve along the anterior of the heart--who the hell names these things?

- the celiac trunk has too many fucking branches.

- the female vaginal muscles look wimpy.

- the spermatic cord consists of: ductus deferens, deferential artery, testicular artery, cremaster muscle, cremasteric artery, lymph vessels, pampiniform plexus of veins to keep the balls cool, and a testicular vein. I may have forgotten something....

- Ever think that you could get a loop of intestine in your nut sac? yep, it's called a hernial sac. but don't worry, that only happens if your testes don't descend properly. I'm sure you're fine.

- Hey ladies, gonna have children? get ready for your central tendon of your perineum to be cut to make your vagina bigger! Just let the episiotomist do his/her job, letting it tear would be worse.

What you missed while I was busy

Another long hiatus. I know, I know. Just means I'm busy.
So here's what you missed when I was busy*
(*I believe I unintentionally stole this title from TheBloggess without even realizing it. You can tell which blogs I read on a regular basis!)

1. Final wrap-up of the Guatemala trip.
On Day 5 we took a boat to the surrounding towns on Lake Atitlan. The first stop was Santiago where we saw the Saint of Debauchery! The Saint is located in someone's home and it's a way for the family to make money. We had to walk up incredibly steep streets to get to this place, but it was pretty awesome!

We walked around the shoppes in Santiago and soon headed back to the boat to cross the lake for San Marcos. This town was much smaller and really didn't have any focal point besides a great view of the volcanoes!
Unfortunately on this day we were all feeling the effects of the food we had eaten after our mountain trek. We ate a cold salad that was prepared with local water. Big no-no. So we took this opportunity to head back to the hostel and lounge around.

The next day we headed back to Panajachel by boat, then boarded the 2 hour shuttle bus back to Guatemala City. Flights the next morning went without hiccup and I was back in the states for Christmas Eve with my family! Amazing trip and now I fear I have caught the traveling bug...I must do it again soon! :-)

@ San Marcos before heading back to our hostel in San Pedro to relax.

2. Second jewelry class at LillStreet:
In January I started my second jewelry class. It is still a beginning jewelry class but it was 10 weeks instead of 5, so we reviewed the basics and then learned bezel stone settings! I have purchased a few of the tools so I can create jewelry with cold connections at home, but haven't made the jump into the soldering tools yet.

My little jewelry studio (aka the corner of our bedroom)

I am hoping to sell some of my designs, possibly setting up an Etsy store since they have a large community already. I really want to design anatomical jewelry and I have a couple examples, but the possibilities are endless! I will post more (and better pictures) soon once I completely finish these pieces and the class.

My skull pendant and my first attempt at bezel setting!

I will update soon with more jewelry / art ideas and products! I need to decide a store name (for Etsy). any ideas??

My LillStreet Adventure

I recently found out about the LillStreet Art Center in Chicago, and it happens to be only a few train stops from my apartment! This is GREAT for my creative impulses, but SAD for my pocketbook as I am pretty sure I am going to take up residence in that place!

The first event I took part in was the One Million Bones project that I talked about in a previous post. I ended up bringing a stack of anatomy books and spent the afternoon sculpting bones out of clay! It was fabulous!

The table was starting to fill up! They had a weekend goal of 400 bones.

Yep, someone even created some fuzzy bones to donate to the cause! Love it!

The only restriction we had was that bones could not weigh more than 3 pounds. Otherwise bones could be anatomically correct or left to the creative mind. I sculpted a vertebra that ended up with a rather long spinous process by the end! And I also sculpted the ear ossicles, in a much larger scale of course!

My vertebra with a well-endowed spinous process!

Larger-than Life ear ossicles!

I kinda rushed these ossicles at the end, but I think they turned out alright considering my lack of clay knowledge. I guess this means I will have to take a clay sculpting or pottery (or both!) class at LillStreet next session!

I actually just started a jewely/metalsmithing class at LillStreet. They are 3 hour classes once a week for 5 weeks. Last week was our first class and already I'm loving it! We learned the basics of sawing, filing and texturing metal. Here's my first creation!

Anatomical Heart pendant. Not to shabby for a first-timer!

I knew I missed the classroom atmosphere, but wasn't sure if more student loan debt another degree was in my future. This definitely feeds my creative hunger! Love to Lillstreet!!

One Million Bones Project

Lately, I have been in a funk, snarky even. Perhaps it's the change in seasons (however I adore autumn) or perhaps it's me going through an "I'm almost 30 life crisis". I decided it's the latter.
So, to combat this disease I got drunk at a bar while watching a horrible football game. No really, I did. But I also came up with a bucket list of sorts to accomplish before I turn 30. It's called my "30 BEFORE 30" Bucket List. (I will go into more details about a few other items later).

One of the items was to participate in some sort of art installation or activist project. There happens to be one right up my alley in Chicago this weekend! (I may or may not have planned that just so I could cross something off the list...)

ONE MILLION BONES PROJECT
October 15-16 10am-4pm
LillStreet Art Center - Register HERE

One million bones- made by artists, activists, and students- will flood our nation's capital in spring of 2013. One Million Bones is a collaborative art installation designed to recognize the millions of victims and survivors who have been killed or displaced by ongoing genocides and mass atrocities in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Burma.

Making bones? BONES!! Freaking awesome! I plan to be there Sunday to create my contribution. Who wants to join me?!?

The Skull Quilt Project

One of my projects this year has been to contribute to the Skull Quilt Project coordinated by Noah Scalin who runs the Skull-A-Day blog. I have had a few months to finish this, but of course my procrastination leaves me being creative at the last minute!

Details of the project are simple: create a 12'' x 12'' fabric quilt block with some type of skull imagery. Does not have to be all fabric--it is an art quilt. Mail to Skull-a-Day by May 28th, 2011. Quilts will be put together and displayed for a month in Richmond, VA celebrating Skull Appreciation Day on June 4, 2011. These quilts will be auctioned off and all proceeds will be donated to DC charity Becky’s Fund, which helps survivors of domestic violence. Full details about the exhibition can be found HERE.

So, my quilt square started out back in March. I tried some new technique of bunching and gluing fabric pieces. Didn't turn out like I wanted, so I scrapped it and started over....this weekend. hehe. Luckily, I can perform under pressure. Here's some not-so-great process photos and the final piece before I send 'er away! Enjoy!

I can sew! (sort of). I painted some hemp twine and super glued it to the fabric. The flower vines are supposed to represent and follow the basic paths of the arteries. I could have added more, but I also wanted it to stay simple.

"Untitled"
VIOLA! But it really needs a title. What would you title this piece??

Skull Beads!

Over the weekend my husband and I discovered an amazing bead shop in my neighborhood called Caravan Beads | http://caravanchicago.com/. They offer classes and a super large selection of beads and jewelry-making supplies! I did not plan to purchase anything when I first saw the shop, but I walked away with a great find!

SKULL BEADS!

I think these will make an interesting and conversation-starting bracelet! I will definitely be going back to this shop! If this doesn't fall into your "must-have" jewelry category, what sorts of things do you like? Any inspirational / tutorial websites out there that you recommend?

Lungskulls [a rainy day doodle]

Lately I have made numerous attempts at creativity, only to be stopped dead in my tracks by that colorful demon called laziness. I will try to blame the weather that has been quite gloomy, but also my kitties have been super cuddly, and those cuddles often end in naps.

A quick update on my projects. The altered book journey has hit a few road bumps. I have not yet received a book to work on!!! There has been communication and an artist will be withdrawing, but still no book. I hate being a pain in the arse, but I really want to get started on this!

The T-shirt quilt. I have gotten out the sewing machine and shirt squares a few times, but just cannot bring myself to sew more than one square at a time. (if that!) Perhaps I am not a sewing girl...who knows. I am afraid that with summer approaching this project will not see progress unless there is a long stretch of rainy days.

But there is some good news to share! On one of the latest rainy days, I got out my trusty sketchpad and just started doodling. The TV was on and I was too lazy (surprise, surprise) to mute the commercials like I normally do. One of those asthma commericals came on with an animation of lungs showing how the medicine works. Somehow, that lung image must have stuck in my head and a few minutes later I had produced this lovely piece.

"Lungskulls"

It is just a rough sketch/doodle, but I intend to work on this some more and have fun with it. The hubs said it looked like an anti-smoking ad! He suggested I add a cigarette hanging out of one of the mouths! I have a few other ideas, so we shall see...

Question of the Day

If you saw this in my living room, would you:

a) Un-friend me and run away
b) Call a therapist for me
c) Slap me a high-five
d) Try to steal it for yourself

A Chair with Guts
http://www.cultofweird.com/art/a-chair-with-guts/

"A chair with guts hanging out. Though it appears to be a part of an art exhibit, the exact origin of this photo is unknown. It may not fit your feng shui, but who wouldn’t want an eviscerated chair for their home or office?"

I want one. :-)

Anatomical Tunes

I promise to update you on my creative endeavors shortly, but first a break for some good tunes. Brought to you by my amazing friend and music arsenal, Ms. Bridget!

"Help I'm Alive" by Metric uses some interesting anatomical imagery in their music video. Some of the medical illustrations I definitely recognize! I like the overlapping animations and band video - gives it a lot of depth and it's really interesting to watch. I really enjoy this and I hope you will to!

Handmade Anatomy

Etsy is a wonderful site and I find myself spending more time surfing Etsy than surfing the general internet!

Their mission is to "enable people to make a living making things, and to reconnect makers with buyers. Our vision is to build a new economy and present a better choice: Buy, Sell, and Live Handmade."

My goal is to one day be able to open an Etsy store and make a little money off my creative projects! But first I need to hone my sewing skills (see previous post) and test out my projects on friends and family! Speaking of family, my cousin Sam found this Etsy store called YourOrganGrinder and I just had to share! It is AWESOME!!

Your Organ Grinder!

I love the Brain specimen in a jar! (and the little worms crawling out of the brains are too cute!) That may end up on my desk in the near future! Cheers to Etsy!

Not Your Average Valentine!

I'm not a fan of the paper valentines with their cutesy messages and annoyingly adorable cartoons. So when I find something that's a little off the norm, I must share! I found these special valentines at PaperBoy in Chicago today.

Happy Valentine's Day from Holly Hostess and her Parasite Pals!

They are definitely not your average valentine, but love comes in all shapes and sizes! Featured friends are "Dig Dig Louse", "Blinky Eyelash Mite", "Tickles the Tapeworm" and "Zzeezz the BedBug!" Parasite Pals toys are available from Archie McPhee & Co. and they have some other interesting items that may find their way to my doorstep! (The Mustache Party is a MUST!)

Do you make your own valentines? What sort of spin do you add to Valentine's Day?