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	<title>Art Takes, Outtakes, and My Take</title>
	<link>http://www.chronichope.com</link>
	<description>Chronic Hope - a band name? Your sister-in-law? Nope, it&#039;s the hope a person with chronic illness has.</description>
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		<title>The Uphill Road</title>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;If the English language made any sense, lackadaisical would have something to do with a shortage of flowers.&#8221; -Doug Larson
I admit it: I am a hermit. Disappearing under a rock or into a cave for several days is my kind of thing. Creativity seems to do that to a lot of people, or so I&#8217;ve [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.chronichope.com/2010/04/20/the-uphill-road/</link>
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		<title>At What Price (Mental Illness)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I recently interviewed two professionals regarding post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and how equipped the largest town within a sixty-mile radius was handling the issue of mental illness. The pastor of the church I attend, albeit infrequently, told me our congregation was &#8220;poor&#8221; in dealing with mental health issues, and people are reluctant to say anything [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.chronichope.com/2010/04/03/at-what-price-mental-illness/</link>
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		<title>Collages</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I haven&#8217;t disappeared from the blog world. Not yet, anyway!
Recently I finished a set of seven collages for the 12th International Collage Exhibition and Exchange due in March. Dale Copeland from New Zealand is the organizer &#8211; kudos to her for making this event possible and past events successful!  I hope to see many of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.chronichope.com/2010/02/09/collages/</link>
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		<title>Hey You</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Recently I purchased the book, &#8220;Love Poems From God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West&#8221; by Daniel Ladinsky. A short attention span like mine, replete with fibrofog, likes Daniel&#8217;s page-or-less poetry that is fairly easy to read and comprehend. A random page-picking revealed my very first love poem from God entitled &#8220;Hey&#8220;. The [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.chronichope.com/2009/12/16/hey-you/</link>
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		<title>I Am An Artist, But I Am Human First</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art&#8230;. It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to life. ~C.S. Lewis
Lately I&#8217;ve been focusing intently on a mixed-media polymer clay art project that is building up the ol&#8217; muscles ravaged by RSD and fibromyalgia. Every day I wake up, excited to [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.chronichope.com/2009/12/07/i-am-an-artist-but-i-am-human-first/</link>
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		<title>Breathing Fumes</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Recently my blogroll pal Jenny Ryan announced that her blog, &#8220;Using My Powers For Good&#8221; will officially be changed to &#8220;Cranky Fibro Girl&#8221;. Her reasoning is completely understandable to me, as she says the person she started out as four and one-half years ago writing witty observations about everyday life isn&#8217;t the same person who [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.chronichope.com/2009/12/02/breathing-fumes/</link>
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		<title>One Saxy Evening</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In a tangle of confusion and tears, she bent forward on the couch in her new home two states away, put her hands up to her face, and sobbed through every poisonous memory of the last year. What wasn&#8217;t a stabbing pain in each memory, was grief over everything she recently lost &#8211; her health, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.chronichope.com/2009/11/18/one-saxy-evening/</link>
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		<title>Picture Daze</title>
		<description><![CDATA[There are few days when my REM-filled sleep is restful, and most miraculous of blessings, today is one of those days. That is, until my wary husband awakens me mid-dream to remind me that I am supposed to get my drivers&#8217; license renewed. After doing Bugs Bunny-like contortions, I realize it isn&#8217;t just any day [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.chronichope.com/2009/10/05/picture-daze/</link>
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		<title>Poetic Places</title>
		<description><![CDATA[
My home is wide open blue sky
The kind tourists take pictures of as they drive by
A Southwest that is safe
Open markets, multicultural plays
Art not subjugated to juried stays
A cafeteria pick of foods
Whole grains, smells of roasted chiles, too
High desert dry air
Colors rich, placed everywhere
Hot air balloons free to roam
Hideaways not always known
Trilingual sounds
Mountainous grounds
This is [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.chronichope.com/2009/10/03/poetic-places/</link>
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		<title>What Eye Mint Two Say, Part Won</title>
		<description><![CDATA[While ordering at a nearby Schlotzsky&#8217;s, my sometimes technically-impaired husband relays, &#8220;Hey, they have &#8220;wiffy&#8221; here.&#8221;
&#8220;&#8216;Whiffy?&#8217;&#8221; I repeat, squinting my right eye at him while my nostrils waver, checking if this is some new scent I should inhale. Maybe I&#8217;ll like this secret scent and order one of those, too.
&#8220;Yes. See? It looks like it [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.chronichope.com/2009/09/24/what-eye-mint-two-say-part-won/</link>
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