iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

I finished salvaging this purse today. I bought it for around $5 at the thrift store, knowing that it smelled of pee. One wonder whether it had served as the travel enclosure of some terrified diminutive animal. First I washed it with soap, then Bubba's Rowdy Friends Enzyme Cleaner. (1/

A close up of my black leather purse, focusing on the burnished edge of a handle that I sanded and waxed after removing the cracked edging.

The same black purse, sitting against brown and colorful patchworked textiles. It is pictured from the side, unzipped, revealing a bit of monochrome tan leapord print lining.

The black leather purse that I salvaged; with leather tassels on all the zipper pulls, and silver toned hardware. It sits on a brown couch against pillows with an autumnal paisley pattern and bright patchwork.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

I finished building my dust collection system, and moved on to tidy up the art space. It's almost where I thought I'd be a month ago, when I was called away to say goodbye to my mother for the last time. I am doing everything I meant to, seeking a sense of agency that has never been mine. (1/)

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Here are a couple of the "circle with dot sign" suspects I mentioned in my previous post (red arrows). The skinny green arrow is just another random shape I was curious about-- I think I've seen it on other people's MRIs. T2 Brain MRI from 2023.

Frame from a 2023 T2 MRI of my head, with red arrows pointing to circle-and-dot shaped things in CSF spaces, and a green arrow pointing to some probably-anatomical thing I was curious about.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Shaping and polishing opals.

Opals glued onto dop sticks for easier shaping and polishing. The image is focused on a colorful near-finished stone with green, purple, and pink flash.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Good morning, BlueSky! I've begun printing parts for SweetgumNYC's DIY lapidary all-in-one machine! I've definitely spent more than $75... That said, I'm delighted with the project and the new skills I'm learning. Knowing how things work opens so many possibilities!

A collection of partly-finished 3D printed parts, a pair of fine needle-nosed pliers for removing scaffolding therefrom, and a nice mug of tea. Aside: The mug was a lucky thrift store find; it is hand-made ceramic with a bird-shaped whistle on the handle!

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

Greetings, #medsky, #radsky, #ENT people. I would like to ask a question I haven't had any luck answering on my own: Does bright T2 signal at the fossa of Rosenmueller mean anything ?

Axial T2 MRI of the nasopharynx with a red arrow indicating high signal at the L Rosenmueller fossa.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Re-reposting the same day because I realized the video was not an improvement over the first photo. Here are some slightly better photos that I had to crawl around on the deck to take and I refuse to have suffered for nothing so here they are!

The opal shows flashes of orange, yellow, pink, and green.

Flashes of green are especially intense in this shot. Also the opal vaguely resembles a Picasso-esque rainbow gummy bear!

In this shot the opal displays an abundance of pink and yellow fire. It is sitting on a wooden deck (quite dry and maybe in need of weatherproofing), and casts a crisp shadow.

The opal shows a particularly brilliant speckle of red fire. From this angle its form suggests a pecan kernel.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Managed to get a better polish! I know it could go further, but I broke it *again*, twice, so I'm calling this done and sticking it in a shadow box. I was unable to find a "before" photo, but this is essentially the original shape of this opal, with sand cleaned out and edges smoothed.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

I could use some #lapidary advice. Maybe an artifact restoration/ preservation perspective. I began work on this #opal some years back, and tried to keep its natural form. I broke and repaired it more than once... How can I get a mirror polish in small, delicate spaces?

Two tellingly inflamed digits carefully hold aloft an opal of moderately complex shape, about 30mm greatest dimension, replete with sculptural planes and negative spaces.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

Noooo! I thought I was doing so much better at using alt text! Well, it's possible to check again in the future and limit the range. dame.is/ratingalttext

A screenshot from dame.is/ratingalttext reveals my pitiful score of 63.41% of images alted. I will try to do better.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

I rough-cut some more rocks. I'm not doing well with my attempts at polishing, and I don't know why... This will require my least favorite thing, effort 😑. But for pretty rocks, OK, I will get there. These are Broken Arrow turquoise (the 4 greenish ones), "Brazilian green opal", and larimar (blue).

A hand on which sit six rough-cut gemstones in blue and teal colors.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

Apparently it takes me ten minutes to post a picture

A snow-covered tree line, stark grey-white, with hints of red leaves and evergreen in the underbrush

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

I am hand-sanding a cool rock I brought with me from AZ. Its state is "In Progress", so Bjorn agreed to model and give the photos some added interest.

Bjorn's face and side from above. He is lying on a blanket, and his muzzle and nose are distorted to enormity. His expression is a cross between annoyance and interested puzzlement. On the thick velvet of his side-fur is a green ovoid stone, out of focus.

A close up of the back of the stone on Bjorny's grey-brown-black stripes. The stone has some clear quartz(?) inclusions surrounding 1--2mm white nodules. There is a rust- colored band across the top of the stone, and a small peripheral inclusion of chocolatey red.

Pictured from above, Bjorn holds the rock aloft on his head, patient and steady. It is a small rock, the size of a plump fava bean. The "front" of the rock faces us, warm and cool greens, bands of white, clear, and coffee; soft-edged blue-black inclusions.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

I rough-cut some fire agates last night! That blazing rainbow... Is getting put aside till I've practiced more so I'm less likely to ruin it 😬

My open hand, gleaming wet in the sunlight, on which rest four equally wet bottle-brown translucent stones. The two larger ones display internal bands of iridescence, coming through in small but vivid patches of red, green, orange and yellow.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

Not much on axial view, but coronal views show... blood vessel?

MRI Coronal: T1 post gadolinium, T2 SPACE (two consecutive frames). Green lines and arrow indicate approximate location of item in previous CT images.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

Related? Superior view: CT axial, coronal, sagittal frames depicting discrete hyperdensity above hypoglossal canal, posterior to base of clivus. I've always wondered what it is. Using multiplanar reconstruction, located it on MRI...

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

? for #radsky Does the indicated line on this axial CT have any significance? It looks like a reflection of L atlas lateral ponticle. But on coronal touches the base of occipital bone. Looking for cause of occipital headache. Full anonymized CT: www.dicomlibrary.com?study=1.3.6....

Axial and coronal CT frames showing the atlanto-occipital joint. White arrows on axial frame indicate a thin hyperdense line in the expected (?) location of the border of a R lateral ponticle (absent/ unilateral L).

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

Good Morning, BlueSky! 😺 I repurposed this photo display as a decorative wall planner. Not much on it at the moment.

A shadowy white wall with a jute string - and - tiny clothespin photo/ art display. On the right are hung some empty craft paper pocket frames. Roughly centered in the photo, a black note card and a panoramic dental X-ray are pinned on the string. Below the clothesline to the left is a paleolithic (?) knife in a shadow box-- my proudest found treasure.
__
The note card reads: "Renew Passport"
The X-ray has a broad swathe of darker value on the right (patient's--my-- anatomical left).

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

3D multiplanar reconstruction is a thing you can do? *Easily*?!! As usual I show my enthusiasm for technological advances years later than is strictly cool. #radsky #medsky I've often wondered about this apparent hole in the hard palate (much better visualized with MPR). Should I show my ENT?

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

I finally got the memo that there's easy software to convert my CTs to 3D. I used #RadiAnt Viewer, default "Bones and Skin 1" setting on a 2mm axial noncontrast Maxilofacial study. I expected thin spots in the sphenoid and frontal bone, but with this amt., one expects a rendering artifact. Any tips?

3D rendering of my skull base, from above. There are kind of a lot of holes... I think? R greater wing of sphenoid, L sellar floor, and clivus looks lacy. The frontal bone looks like a delicious Swiss cheese that is more hole than cheese.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

Disambiguation. At left, a pecan. At right, a pee can.

Image shows a(n ostensibly) delicious shelled pecan half. To the right of it is an orange plastic 24 hour urine specimen collection jug, courtesy of LabCorp.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Here's a flower pot I finished yesterday. I like textures. I'm getting over a sinus infection and have yet to recover access to all of my mental faculties. Otherwise I might have more to say about this flower pot. Maybe the alt text will be worth reading? No promises!

The flower pot in question hangs cradled in a jute macrame net. Blurry in the foreground, the fuchsia- limned leaves of the tradescantia plants growing from the pot frame the scene. What if all sentences were that tortured? But they are not, and the pot has a scaled texture on the side facing us, picked out in rose gold and sepia, with brushed highlights of turquoise.

Another view shows my hand stabilizing the pot. On this side, the pot has scales as well as deep textile folds. The hand is dappled with the same paint that adorns the pot, and in it is clutched a talisman made of stick, lichen, sea sponge, fossilized sea sponge, and sparkly and brown twine. But of course the flower pot dominates the scene. The undersides of tradescantia leaves like fat purple teardrops mirror and mafnify the pot's decorative scales.

In this view the dramatic textile arrangement can be appreciated, ridges picked out in vibrating blue against a metallic coat of rose gold paint, crevices carved out in dark sepia.

The flower pot is partially backlit through Venetian blinds, and harsher shadows describe the textural sequence; on this side textile wrinkles enfold and sequester a proliferation of round nodules, bubbles or warts that might yet burgeon forth to colonize the entire surface of the pot.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

The flower pot looks like this now. I think the red undertones are a little intense with the contrast. I might lighten the brown a bit. Alt text: A flowerpot textured with fabric folds, loose strings, and dragon scales, supported in my hand.

A flowerpot textured with fabric folds, loose strings, and dragon scales, supported in my hand.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

I'm mixing media again in my quest for artsy flower pots. It looks a patchy mess of weirdness right now, which is exactly the sort of thing I get excited to work with! This sustains me as I wait out a cold. I think getting sick has gotten harder. I've done a lot of reading and had observations(1/2)

Close up a mixed-media-encrusted flower-pot. The majority of the viewable surface is covered with white acrylic sculpting medium with a deep bubbled texture stamped into it. On either side of this is brown fabric with deep folds and wrinkles glued firmly in place. Above it there is lightweight foam clay, giving the pot an uneven undulating upper rim.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 09/11/2024

(I'm re-posting this without the highlighter, because it might have obscured the details I want to ask about. ) This waviness of the bone marrow, it's a lot more pronounced since an MRI four years earlier. So... Does it make a difference, or is it just aging? (1/2)

The L side image from original post, but without a highlighter annotation.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 08/11/2024

Check the comments for the exciting conclusion 😁

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 06/11/2024

Ooh, I can do this one! Without downloading any new pics, where are you mentally?

An anterior frame from an MRI of my head; showing the orbits and a portion of the maxilla which gives it an appearance reminiscent of Edward Munch's iconic painting, The Scream. However as I was not screaming during the imaging procedure, it looks more dazed than horrified; and the orbits appear of different sizes due to positioning, rendering it into some simulacrum of the abstraction of consciousness that can only be gained by staring too long and deeply into the absurd.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 04/11/2024

Good Morning, BlueSky! (Today's alt text has a colon AND a semicolon!)

A bedside nightstand: Clean, modern, of passable quality (IKEA). Upon its lower shelf a cipher of cuddliness or menace confronts you: A fluffy-scruffy white body, demurely seated, with the broad, deformed calvarium of some other poor creature masking its true visage. As a curious final detail; the circular spectacles of bygone years, perched over the pilfered nasal bone, serve to underscore that YOU are the one being observed.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 03/11/2024

I had to make sure, but it seems that's bone marrow. I was confused because in places it seems to connect directly to the grey matter without the black of bone between (maybe that's positional or something). I don't think the wavy margins and heterogeneous signal are normal.

Close-up of a more medial frame of the above-pictured L-side frontal bone marrow. It shows areas of hyperintensity seeming to directly abut grey matter, no black bone signal between.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 03/11/2024

#radsky I'm seeing an ENT neurologist this week and would like him to review an MRI. In six years, I've had as many MRIs and two CTs of the head, all normal. Do I share this image with him or not?

Two sagittal view T1 MRI frames of a head, L and R. L shows a middle-intensity wavy/undulating appearance along the frontal bone, R does not. What is it?

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 31/10/2024

Good Morning, BlueSky! Let's start the day right:

Black and white ground-level photo of a big-eyed, furry, bewhiskered face peeking out from under a bed. My cat, Bjorn, being adorable!

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 15/10/2024

I really wish I could be more concise. Every day, I work at it. Oh well.... We put a plant in the pot! Our poor Ficus Benjamina lost a lot of leaves. I'm hopeful that between the repotting and a move to this brighter location, it will make a recovery ♥️🌱

The terracotta pot I painted, put to use! Pictured on a beige carpet with a glider chair behind it. It's filled with dark potting mix from within which the braided stem of a Ficus Benjamina protrudes.

A wider shot of the potted plant reveals the sorry state of our Ficus.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 15/10/2024

And and then it was finished. The colors remind me of Bisbee turquoise in its reddish brown matrix. I top-coated it too soon and the colors bled. But I didn't mind re-coloring it; I tried different media and methods. Not being a Polly Anna -- It's a while since I was able to work that long.

A close up of terra cotta pot: Added textural variety intended to simulate age, weathering, and patina

Second close-up of chunky texture suggesting paint blistered by long periods of dampness. Brown and terracotta red with isolated swathes of pale turquoise.

The finished pot, sitting on the corner of a crowded wooden workbench, in front of a shelf -lined wall with plastic baskets and drawers housing various art supplies.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 13/10/2024

Then it was like this...

Same grungy -textured pot, now with brown, orange, and blue variegated paint

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 13/10/2024

First it was like this, and then it was like this...

A 14" terra cotta planter pot, elegantly tapered, slightly marred in spots.

The same planter as in previous photo, now with a chunky surface texture made with a mix of acrylic mediums, paint, and baking powder.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 11/10/2024

Any LEXX fans remember this? static.wikia.nocookie.net/lexx/images/...

A screenshot from the SyFy series LEXX, depicting an alien species' carrot-shaped mechanical drones. (IMO they bear a resemblance to the image in the shared post.)

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 10/10/2024

Here's an annotated view. And here's the anonymized study: www.dicomlibrary.com/meddream/?st... Likely this will turn out to be yet another artifact of high resolution imaging. I can't find anything about a lesion only visible as isointense on T2 TIRM/FLAIR

Same image as above, but with lines demarcating "the thing"

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 10/10/2024

I'm investigating this T2 TIRM isointensity in the left buccal space wrapping around the ramus of the mandible. Nothing at all shows in that location on T1 Post, and there's no plain T1 in this study. #medsky #radsky #neuroimaging

Two consecutive frames from a T2 TIRM axial MRI sequence, depicting a fairly clearly delineated isointense-to-muscle shape in the L buccal space wrapping around the ramus of the mandible anteriorly.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 04/10/2024

I use super glue and paint 😔

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 30/09/2024

I've also been mapping my findings onto Skullcifer. (I think that spot on the clivus carries over into the pons.)

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 24/09/2024

Today while transplanting a few more plants I found this beautiful tortoise... Leaving my garden on a trajectory for the neighbor's yard 🥺

A tortoise in the grass, head partly tucked in as it regards the human holding an object up in front of it. The tortoise's shell is approx 5-6" long. Its color is a dull brownish grey with contrasting areas of ochre-yellow. It has a ridge down the length of the shell, and a pattern of hexagons comprised of multiple concentric textured ridges.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 24/09/2024

I found an iridescent earthworm in the garden last night!

An earthworm, best estimate 7-8" long, coils visible through a pile of upturned earth and mulch. Faint, broken bluish stripes, which shift according to the light, are visible along its sides.

Another view of the earthworm in which the stripes, visible only on a short segment, appear more of an electric lime green than blue.

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 17/09/2024

Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #5,621,991 (I omitted the exclamation point)

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Mika @perceived.bsky.social · 13/09/2024

Plant love: Mirabilis jalapa, "marvel of Peru" (or "four o'clock flower" as it blooms in late afternoon). It has healing and soil remediation properties, none of which I can expand on more than a basic web search. My affection stems (ha) from the simple joy of collecting its plump little seeds.

A handful of black Mirabilis jalapa seeds, perhaps 40, collected in just a few minutes from one prolific plant. The seeds are around 3-5mm in any direction, black, round, and wrinkled, with a stubby base.

Mirabilis jalapa plant, close up on a black seed almost ready to drop.

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