Mika
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perceived.bsky.social
Mika
@perceived.bsky.social
270 followers 710 following 1K posts
Talks to self incessantly; welcomes intellectually stimulating and/or friendly interruptions. Puzzle lover. Curious. Possibly wrong, capable of learning. Optimism: function of an internal locus of control. If there are four lights, there are four lights.
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perceived.bsky.social
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.
September 18, 2025 at 10:29 PM
perceived.bsky.social
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/)
September 16, 2025 at 9:48 PM
perceived.bsky.social
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.
May 3, 2025 at 1:46 AM
perceived.bsky.social
A grimacing cat face
March 26, 2025 at 2:02 AM
perceived.bsky.social
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.
March 17, 2025 at 2:54 PM
perceived.bsky.social
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!
March 17, 2025 at 2:01 PM
perceived.bsky.social
Live in 4 hours 🧠
A blushing smiley face emoji with brains in place of eyes, suggesting a possibly pathological interest in brains. Patient Zero?
March 14, 2025 at 5:01 PM
perceived.bsky.social
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.
March 14, 2025 at 1:02 AM
perceived.bsky.social
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.
March 12, 2025 at 11:52 PM
perceived.bsky.social
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.
March 12, 2025 at 10:10 PM
perceived.bsky.social
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.
March 6, 2025 at 4:55 PM
perceived.bsky.social
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.
January 24, 2025 at 4:18 PM
perceived.bsky.social
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.
January 24, 2025 at 1:05 AM
perceived.bsky.social
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
January 11, 2025 at 7:04 PM
perceived.bsky.social
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.
January 6, 2025 at 4:07 PM
perceived.bsky.social
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.
December 26, 2024 at 4:49 PM
perceived.bsky.social
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.
December 26, 2024 at 3:41 PM
perceived.bsky.social
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...
CT axial, coronal, sagittal frames depicting discrete hyperdensity above hypoglossal canal, posterior to base of clivus.
December 26, 2024 at 3:22 PM
perceived.bsky.social
? 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).
December 26, 2024 at 3:12 PM
perceived.bsky.social
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).
December 14, 2024 at 3:35 PM
perceived.bsky.social
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?
December 10, 2024 at 9:47 PM
perceived.bsky.social
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.
December 10, 2024 at 9:08 PM
perceived.bsky.social
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.
December 2, 2024 at 4:43 PM
perceived.bsky.social
Or this:
Screenshot of a healthline.com article showing this text: "Why you can’t just take more The advisors also explained that examining phenylephrine at higher doses was not recommended since it can elevate blood pressure and pose a serious health risk. “Increasing the dosage increases the risk of side effects,” said Dr. Wynne Armand, a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital. “There have been studies that even at a higher dose it still wasn’t effective or better than a placebo.” In the doses available over the counter, phenylephrine is known to elevate blood pressure, Bharati explained. Since it already does this at a low dose, it may have a more profound effect on blood pressure at higher doses. “Finding that this medication is ineffective at treating nasal congestion, is an important finding because it can elevate blood pressure in patients without providing them the intended improvement in their nasal congestion,” Bharati stated. “So far, the over-the-counter doses have ...
November 26, 2024 at 6:37 PM
perceived.bsky.social
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.
November 20, 2024 at 9:55 PM