Death all around me, Life surging inside... this is the crux of being human.

[Carla Cryptic]

Some updates...

My sister-in-law died on December 9th at home with her husband as was her wish. We had a wake on January 10th where many came to celebrate her life and share the loss. There was a tribute by 35 horses and riders! It was awesome. Many people who knew her but didn't know each other had a chance to meet, including relatives. There is a link to a short video of the horse parade and tribute on Jessica's memorial page. I also held a live benefit on my internet TV show, Carla's Friday Improvs, on January 8th in which musician friends from Portugal and the UK helped me raise some money to take care of Jessica's horses and help pay off her hospice bills (not covered by her insurance!). Between that and other appeals, we were successful in covering the majority of these costs and my faith in human beings is again replenished.

I really want to thank the mail artists who participated in the Mail Art for Jessica call last year - your art, and just that you'd send it to someone you didn't know, meant a lot to her and my brother Frank has it all in an album I made for him. My godfather, Peter Bennett, whom some of you also sent mail art to, is really enjoying your efforts and was amazed to find out that the eternal network exists. It was very heartening for him to know that there are artists who exchange art without boundaries through the post and online.

Here is a list of those who participated in these two calls:

Anu & Puppy Elvis / Linda Milligan
Laura Barletta / Henning Mittendorf
Tricia Burr / Keiichi Nakamura
Stephanie Chao / NeRRa Da
Debbie Dosanko / K. Nikoltson
Wilma Duguay / Clemente Padin
José Manuel Figueiredo / Carla J. Patterson (Carla Cryptic)
Audrey Fisher / Ti Ar Raden
Natasha Hanna / Michelle Sass Hake
Ruud Janssen / Wolfgang Skodd
Andrea Jay / Xtina Solano
Miguel Jimenez (El Taller de Zenon) / Ptrzia Tictac
Dewi Johan / Test Tower
Amandia Kapsalis / Guido Vermeulen
Susanna Lakner / Gail D. Whitter
Samantha Manchester

You all rock! :)