Snippet

Ohhhh ... I am experiencing MSG overload.  It's my last week, and so I've been out to lunch every day this week.  I work in Chinatown (and in Asian hubs), and we love hole-in-the-walls, so there is MSG up the wazoo.  I think the older I get, the more sensitive I get to it.  This makes me sad.  At this rate, I am not going to be able to eat in China, or in hole-in-the-walls, anymore.  I bet overloading has not helped the body's coping mechanisms, either.  I've spent the entire night drinking water, and I still feel a bit woozy.  I finally threw up my hands and decided that tomorrow, we are going for burgers.

I'm back!

Landed today ... noonish ... struggling to stay awake and stave off jetlag. The best remedy so far? Singing the "I'm not sleepy" song. The lyrics keep changing, but the latest rendition goes something like this: I am NOT sleepy Not sleepy am I! In the bright, bright sunshine I will stay awake! Best sung improvisationally, off-key is better, though if you go too far off key, well, just keep going and turn it into a joke =). That's what I always do. Hope to be back later this week with some photos!

Celebrating Twenty-Eight

Awhile ago I was flipping through the archives of the blog I'd kept in China and stumbled upon an entry that I'd written to myself on one of my birthdays, listing out as many things I loved about myself as years I'd spent on this planet. If I remember correctly, I was probably in a blue mood when I wrote that post (as I am apt to be on my birthday), and the little "me celebration" was an attempt to cheer myself up. Self help-y as that sounds, it totally worked. So I thought, why does one need to wait for their birthday to celebration themselves? We all occupy an interior universe centered around ourselves anyways, and there's a lot in it that's pretty darn amazing.

Celebration of Myself: 28 Things (I Love) at Twenty-Eight (and a half)


*I love that you love running outdoors.
*I love that water is your favorite drink.
*I love that you wear so much orange.
*I love that, in response to the realization that you have a hard time letting go of the need to attain a certain "status" or "prestige," you bought yourself a self help book on bragging.
*I love your propensity to laugh at yourself, even in trying times.
*I love that you have friends from different walks of life.
*I love that you give yourself permission to lie in bed all weekend, if that's what you need ... and to do it multiple weekends over, if that's what you need.
*I love that you sometimes bring a roasted sweet potato, leftover roasted asparagus, almonds, and an orange for lunch.
*I love that you think that biking to Lake Merritt is one of the best ways to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon.
*I love that you find that audiobooks of your childhood favorites are just about the right speed.
*I love that you think gigantic plaid elbow bows are A-OK.
*I love that you are OK with spending 20 hours making sad gigantic plaid elbow bow shirtdress and not finishing it in time for winter's enid, and putting it away until next year.
*I love that, even as you are arguing with your mom that she + your dad should NOT eat around the mold that has grown on their cheese, there is a part of you that agrees with her and would do the same. Life is messy, never truly black and white, isn't it?
*I love that you walk barefoot in the grass.
*I love that your friends bond over things like baking desserts or rock climbing or leaning against the couch and catching up on life.
*I love that you are open to advice, open to growing yourself even when it means admitting that you are wrong.
*I love that you have not owned a car or a TV for all your adult life.
*I love that you sometimes mix half-and-half into the heady, Black Chinese teas they have at work, just because it's exactly what you want.
*I love that, instead of reading magazines, you watch films for fashion inspiration.
*I love that you're growing more assertive. I love that you're realizing that speaking up about your own needs doesn't have to be a zero sum game, but that you can find ways to make things win-win for everyone involved, even if you take that mindset into a couple too many scenarios and your friends laugh over it. That's OK, cuz other times they come running to you to help them smooth over situations. And you're happy to help, if you can.
*I love that you like scrubbing toilets and cleaning sinks, especially if you can do it for your mom and save her some housework.
*I love that your singing is very bad, to the point where you purposefully go off key to induce laughter in the people around you.
*I love that you hold your ground with the COO and Medical Directors at work, even if it scares you. Or step up and take the messy and the uncomfortable tasks.
*I love that you occasionally watch Saturday morning cartoons and laugh like crazy and clap your hands and find it the most refreshing thing ever.
*I love that you sometimes have dreams that are narrated in such beautiful prose that in your dream, you wrestle with yourself over whether or not to wake yourself up adn write down the words flowing through your mind.
*I love that you have more hobbies than time to invest in them.
*I love that you booked a 2-week trip to China, solo, and that the thought of being alone for so long only slightly terrifies you.
*I love that you booked the trip anyways.

Darlings, I am headed out of here for not 2 but 3 weeks - visiting a friend in Korea, and then wandering to my heart's content in China. I don't plan to update while I'm away and will participate in MMM in a perfunctory sense (I am bringin a couple handmades, not many), but look forward to catching up when I get back!

Twenty Eight

If only these came in adult sizes, I would order them in a flash -- my "birthday indulgence" gift to myself. After all, is there really a better time in life to wear bright purple shoes with orange moons, an owl and a pussycat? I mean, it's not like it gets to be an increasingly better time in life as one gets older, right?

This is how I justify every whimsical purchase I've ever made. And you know what? I've never regretted a single one of them.

Now, if only they came in my size!

Ridiculous

The other day Ali was discussing her desire to make up a dress in a whimsical print. She knows I adore a good whimsical print and am all for more people wearing whimsical clothing more often. And we started saying how it would be great to take on a "stretch" project like that this summer - something that's outside our comfort zone but which we think we'd really enjoy. Something ... something ridiculous.


I like this notion of ridiculous. Ridiculous can mean so many things to different people. For Ali, ridiculous might mean a whimsical dress (erg, or maybe I stuffed those words in her mouth, I'm pretty sure the word "ridiculous" actually came from me). Or Sigrid was telling me about a fantastic coat her son showed her, one with built in mittens that can be "activated." She says [and I hope she doesn't mind the direct quotation],

Ever since I have wanted to try something like that. It seems more liberating than trying to create the "perfect" this or that, which is what I seem to be hung up on right now.


Totally agree! For me, "ridiculous" means trying to squeeze a 6-paneled skirt out of a Men's button down, or knitting an entire sweater, stranded no less and my first time stranding no less, on size 1 needles. Who does that??? Or rather, why are there these random projects that fall way outside our comfort zone, something totally new to us, but which we are compelled to take on regardless? And isn't it odd that these are sometimes the most satisfying projects?

Maybe they're the ones where, like Sigrid, we're not aiming for perfection, and the process (or the product) is that much better for it - perfectly what we wanted, perfectly suited to the moment, perfectly quirky in all the right ways. Maybe they're the ones that bring some of the joy and spontaneity back into crafting, a sensation of que sera sera that can easily be lost as we hone our technical skills or recreate a runway garment.


So I'm proposing this. Let's make some ridiculous projects this summer. Whatever "ridiculous" means to you. It will be fun. There may be wadders ... that get salvaged ... and become 10x's better than the original concept. It will be low pressure, because after all, isn't "ridiculous," by definition, free from expectations of perfection, technical prowess, and practicality? It will be something to blow off steam when that other project isn't coming together. It will be a procrastination foil for all those garments that sound good on paper but aren't quite as exciting to dig into. It will be a mojo builder - let's just tear into this and see what happens! It will be ... whatever you want it to be. Whatever you need it to be. Amusing, stress relief, forehead slapping, a chance to try something totally wacky or really new, a place to ask questions or get inspiration.


I call it ... Challenge: Ridiculous. I've certainly got some ridiculous schemes up my sleeve (not in the least of which includes trying to talk Ali into making matching dresses with gigantic eyeglasses on them ... and then organizing a blogging meetup and showing up as TWINS. OK, now that I've revealed myself on the blogosphere, I may have to bury that crackpot scheme and come up with an equally ridiculous one.)

Anybody care to join? If there's enough interest I'll put together a Flickr group, or at least create a mini sew-along/ collaborative challenge. I'd love to see what other ridiculous ideas are floating around out there! We could cheer one another on! Gather inspiration! Push each other to new ridiculous ... I mean creative ... heights!

Tagged ^2!

Wow! I've been tagged, not once but twice by two lovely, inspirational bloggers. Hope you don't mind ... double duty dose of getting to know Jessica coming up here.

From Ali, whose passion and insights never fail to move me:

1. What song never fails to move you?

Hm ... good one. I listen to a lot of random stuff, but ...
"El Duelo Unplugged" La Ley featuring Ely Guerra
"Hero" by Faye Wong [theme song to the movie]
Most songs by Vienna Teng, I especially love Homecoming, Harbor, and Blue Caravan

2. What's your sewing threshold? As in, what will you let go, what must you absolutely fix?

Hm. Wonkiness that is hidden [from me] I can let go of -- strangeness in the back, if its hidden under another layer. I guess I'm kind of finnicky about fit and proportion, which, especially when I was drafting all my skirt patterns [which I still do, for the most part], meant it could take 4x's as long to complete. I once redid a refashioned skirt 4 times, only to donate it to Goodwill because it didn't hang right. OCD!

3. What's your "desert island" book/movie and why could you read/watch it over and over?

I grew up watching Fried Green Tomatoes and A League of Their Own over and over again, because they were my mom's "desert island" movies, and I'd say those still hit the spot. In terms of books, anything in the Harry Potter or Anne of Green Gables series. I'm someone who is driven by optimism, inspiration, laughter, and a feeling that there is hope and joy in the world, and I love books that remind me of that because it's so easy to get overwhelmed by all the problems in this world!

[random house in my neighborhood, a little eye candy to break up the text!]

4. What garment/accessory do you wear the most?

Skirts! Oh wait, do we want just one garment or accessory? I can actually do this properly [see #8 for explanation] ... excluding winter coats, the single garment I have worn the most to date is a red v-neck cashmere sweater that I picked up in Mongolia in 2006. Classic winter staple.

5. What wouldn't you be caught dead in?

Leggings with a short shirt. I've already done that look once in my life and can lay it to rest!

6. Your motto/mantra?

It's a big world and a long life [i.e. you really never know where life will take you, so chill out and be open]


7. A designer you consistently like and why?

Not so much a designer but a brand. There's this boutique in China that I adore. It's label is 红英 or "Red Hero." They made the aqua and black/gray dress here, plus this skirt and this skirt. I love their combination of funky/quirky details, cut, and color, plus their construction and material quality is pretty good for China. And I always feel strongly about supporting homegrown Chinese designers, as opposed to supporting the knockoff of Western or Japanese or Korean designs in cheap-ass factories. Unfortunately I am only in China like every 3-5 years or so, so they're clearly not a wardrobe staple of mine!

8. Something about you we wouldn't expect from reading your blog?

Um ... hahahaha. This is something that very few friends know about me, although the ones who do very kindly say, "Can I keep you?" I actually track almost everything that I wear. Like, frequency. I used to rationalize clothing purchases by saying, "Yeah but I'll wear that a lot!" and then I thought about it ... was I deluding myself how much I actually wore stuff and therefore the cost-per-wear? So I realized I needed more data [Lisa points out I am way more a data nerd than I care to admit] and started counting.


But before you think I'm too too neurotic [just neurotic, thanks], I've noticed this does a couple things: 1) It's a good way to keep my wardrobe in check! Once I notice my skirts are taking up more than a page on my tracking sheet, I know I need to start culling. And you can see from everything that I've crossed out that I've been pretty diligent about this. 2) It gently reminds/encourages me to keep pulling out those handmade items! I mean, isn't it a shame that I've knitted a Trina cardigan and only worn it 4 times? Next time its cold, you KNOW what I'm going to pull on. Actually, after I started this and started making my own skirts, I started wearing skirts almost exclusively because I realized that if I was going to 'honor' all the time and effort that goes into handmade, then I needed to wear the stuff a heck of a lot more often. 3) It's surprising that some of my "favorites" actually don't get worn as often as I'd think, because they all fall into the same seasonal category ... whereas other stuff I don't like as much gets worn a lot more often because it fills a wardrobe gap. So if I was really thinking about this, then I would use it as a guide to plan what to make that would be really, really useful to me.

I admit this takes some effort and recently I've thought about stopping, or at least cutting back on the items that I do bother to count. You know, we all go through phases in life. Maybe I'm reaching the end of this one.


OK! That was super long, and there's another 8 to go [eek] ...


From Zoe, the genius behind Me-Made-May and makers one of one of the best handmade wardrobes I've seen in a long time!

1. If you had to choose a famous person to be your new best friend, who would it be any why?

Oh help. I know very few famous people, as I haven't owned a TV in 9 years and don't read the papers much. Joan Didion is a phenomenal writer, I love her wry sense of humor and way of seeing the world, and she seems to have had a lot of really interesting experiences that make her the person that she is today.

2. What proportion of your wardrobe is handmade?


Yikes. Say hello to 4 seasons of clothing jammed into a closet that isn't even wide enough to hold hangers! Luckily I have a dresser right next to it. Um ... I dunno ... maybe 35%? I do supremely well in the skirt and sweater arena, and it falls off rapidly when we get to pants, blouses, coats and dresses.

3. Where would you live, if money, jobs and responsibilities were taken out of the equation?

China! Maybe. Portland or Austin, Maine in the summers ... I would love to bicycle around the world. I would love to tell the stories of all the cool things people are doing in Africa and Asia to solve their country's problems, which would involve going there of course. [seriously, enough with the gloom and doom dominating newspapers! There are some passionate, vibrant, creative and brilliant people out there who need celebrating!] I'm a bit of a wanderer.

4. Describe the weirdest or most horrendous place you’ve worked.

Ugh. When I was applying to grad school, I worked part-time for 6 weeks at a neighborhood center in SF. It was the most I had ever been paid in my life ... and I did absolutely nothing. There was no programming, there were about 10 youth who came regularly to the center. I felt so useless, I couldn't believe how much money they were taking from the city, and at one point my boss even said, "Why do you actually show up 20 hours/week? Just bill them for the hours and go have fun!" It was horrible.

5. What is your favourite sewing technique or part of a garment to sew (eg, collars, piping, etc.)?

I like the fresh enthusiasm of the start of a garment! So whatever seams come first.


6. Which sewer out there do you envy the most?

I really like Alicia's aesthetic, Gertie's wardrobe, and the way that Amanda makes clothing that I love but don't think I could actually make myself.

7. Do you collect anything?

At one point or another, earrings, nail polish, snowmen paraphernalia, happy face paraphernalia. Right now, I just keep an eye out for fun indie designers.

8. What’s your personal motto? (I stole that one from the Burdastyle featured members questions because it’s my favourite)

If I had to pick a second one, it would be to try to be understanding/empathetic of what other people are going through and to not rush to conclusions about what any set of actions or words mean. The world is complex enough as is! No sense in creating extra drama.



Whew! OK. That was probably enough self-disclosure to last the next year, although I feel quite honored to have been tagged twice! Let's see, 8 bloggers for me to tag ...

Rita
Zonnah
Antoinette
Sigrid
Lorna [the best swap buddy in the world]
Jodi
Jessica
Stephanie [although I know you're busy, so no expectations!]

Questions:
1) What is your favorite "me time" activity?
2) Favorite made-by-you item?
3) What is your "crap I have no time but must make something to eat" go-to meal? [I need more of these in my repertoire and am shamelessly hoping for new ideas!]
4) One way you've changed that would seem most surprising to the other people attending your high school reunion?
5) When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
6) The next craft you want to learn?
7) Do you like having your photo taken? Why/not?
8) Current favorite color combination?

Snowy White ... and Seven

Wow! I won a blog award! That's never happened to me before ... and makes me feel pretty darn special. I will do the seven random things about me at the end [actually, this whole thing was supposed to go at the end but my brain got addled re: photo posting order, and, well, it turned into one of those 'ah, never mind' kind of moments] ... but thank you Ruth Anne for the nomination! It was really sweet of you.


I'm getting really backed up in my posting. Not that I've made anything new recently, but I actually finished both these projects in early March. Eek!

Here's the doll quilt I sent out for DQS8. My partner mentioned she likes simple and modern ... which ... is an aesthetic I've never really done before. But I scoped out her blog and found some inspiration quilts, dug into the stash, crossed my fingers, and hoped for the best.


Hm. You couldn't expect me to not put a tad bit of quirkiness into it, could you? I tried to keep the hand quilting simple though. The floral is Lecien, the solids are linen or cotton, and there's some Robert Kaufman and Denise Schmidt thrown in for fun as well.


Experimented with the patchwork strip on the back. The aqua binding was also my penchant for complementary colors showing through, but I think it turned out OK. I like the one little blue square ... I hope it doesn't bother my partner!

Here's that second Ingenue I was talking about, a.k.a. the white sweater I've been missing for years now. This time around I lengthened the sweater sleeves to full length, though admittedly I was knitting up to the very last yard of yarn and so they're a couple rows shorter than they could be! Or maybe I'm so used to sleeves that are too long that they're actually the right length.


Everyone who sees this sweater asks about the stitch for the collar. It's really simple! Just p2tog, then kfb for the following row, then 2 rows of stockinette, and repeat. I have to say, I wear this sweater a lot and a lot. In fact, I'm wearing it this very second.


And the back. It's funny. These past two years in school, I've noticed that every Fall I stress out and lose weight because I don't eat due to stress, and then every Spring I stress out and eat chocolate like crazy and gain the weight back. Not terribly healthy. My friend commented there was probably something seasonal going on, which at first I wasn't sure about because the timing seemed off ... and then I remembered that I'm kind of a late bloomer, so it would totally make sense that, come January or February, I would feel this incredible need to store up fat reserves for hibernation. Yes.

OK! We should make that random fact #1 about me. 6 more to go.

2. I primarily cook vegetarian meals, though I often eat meat when I'm eating out [very rarely, like twice/week unless I'm totally submerged in school work, in which case I may buy lunch at school 3-4 days that week]
3. I have a younger brother who is my best friend, brother, and sometimes twin [i.e. I try to strong arm him into close friendship with me, to varying degrees of success]. My parents are pretty cool, too.
4. I looooooooooooove to read. Even more than watching movies.
5. I do love watching foreign films though. It satisfies my inner anthropologist.
6. I didn't start wearing sweaters until college, because I thought they made me look fat. I was very sensitive about my body during high school. You could say I had food/exercise control issues. I'm much better now.
7. I did a lot of dancing in college and really miss it. I'm hoping to pick it up again once I graduate! [Stephanie, you're inspiring me!] I'm thinking ... Brazilian capoeria? Bellydancing? Or maybe swing, which I've always wanted to learn.

OK! That's it from me. I don't think I'm going to tag anybody, but if you'd like to play along please leave me a message cuz I love to read random lists about people!

Daily Miscellaney

Your daily dose of miscellaney. 6/29/09.

I had no cash on me today so I used my student ID to swipe in for some candy from the vending machine. Are my eyes deceiving me, or did it charge me $0.27 for a $0.90 candy bar, and is this normal? This could be dangerous. Very dangerous.


Oh, but look! My CSA. I am in lurve. Lurve, I tell you. So many greens, such an affordable price. Eating local, supporting family farms, trying out new greens. Heavenly goodness.

G3's:
-For meeting with my boss at 11AM today. Thank goodness he didn't take me up on my 8AM offer, sheesh. Sometimes those extra couple hours to get started in the morning are really, really nice.
-NYC this past weekend! I stayed with some friends from my Fulbrighting days and oh my, it was fabulous. I haven't seen XLT or Steve since 2006, and Laurie and I always manage to find interesting moments in mundane places, like when we were staring at a random flea market and trying to decide which cuff links to get her boyfriend for a hypothetical big gift moment. She went for a jousting knight, I opted for the bejeweled gold circles that looked both green and pink, depending on the lighting.
-For this "Hour of Power" concept that Laurie introduced me to. Apparently she and Mark will work for one hour, no email, no talking to each other, just focus. It's a really good way to get those procrastination-prone projects started, and Laurie's always been good at coming up with catchy names. One of many reasons why she's so well suited to journalism.

Putting pen to paper

School starts again tomorrow. This past week I've been on spring break, lounging around Boston and getting back to the small details that I've been too impatient to deal with for the past 8 weeks. Things like making my bed properly, doing my taxes [almost done!], cooking a proper meal, making up a batch of cornbread. That's my sign that I'm no longer living consciously: when I grow too impatient and agitated to make time for the necessities in life. Never mind the small joys, if I can't even properly take care of myself because I feel too stressed or harried, it's the universe's way of telling me that I need to stop, reassess, and figure out what's not working, because obviously something isn't working.

The first Saturday of spring break I was filled with ambition of places to see and things to do for my week of freedom, so I hopped the T for Davis Square. Greater Boston is really a conglomerate of smaller city centers, and I'd heard good things about Davis Square. On the way there, on public transportation which I do love from the deepest of my hearts for its ability to let you submerge yourself in the currents of strangers moving past one another, I met an old man from Shanghai, 81 years old now and retired twice, once as a professor at the age of 60, at which point he moved to America and spent another 10 years at a design firm before retiring for good.

These days he teaches taichi to his neighbors in the elderly complex in the streets behind my own apartment building; stops off at Chinatown to grocery shop; takes classes at adult ed centers and Chinese schools around the greater Boston area. But one thing I like, he tells me, is to paint.

What kind of painting, I ask, traditional Chinese brush painting? [known in Chinese as 'mountains and water' because those 2 elements always appear in traditional Chinese brush painting settings]

Yes, yes, he says, that and watercoloring. Neither one is easy, I comment to him.

But one thing I've realized about them, he says back, and about brush painting in particular, is that painting an qigong are one and the same. I had heard that said before, just never experienced it for myself so I couldn't fully understand what others meant by it. But its true. One stroke of the brush - and here he mimics a firm long stroke with his entire arm, as though pulling out the essence of a mountain or a stream with a single line of ink - is exactly the same as a breath of qi.


These were my first attempts at calligraphy, not written with a paintbrush but with a calligraphy pen instead, holding the pen in the exact same way: grasped between third and fourth finger, elbow and wrist never touching the table so as to write with the entire arm, and, by extension, the entire body. The entire qi. Otherwise the intention cannot be transferred to word on paper. It has a meditative quality, this writing of calligraphy, the same word over and over again. Eventually I hope to graduate to writing out entire poems and with a proper calligraphy brush at that. But right now, little rituals are helpful for daily meditation, and for patience, the patience to start attending to daily necessities once more.

Lists!

Things I have done

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

A New Week

... a new list of things to get through.

But instead, let us contemplate water. Water and snow.


Crafting-wise, goals for the week?

-Finish one of the two skirts I have laying around just begging for those last few runs through the sewing machine. OK, um, to varying loose definitions of "few."
-Doll quilt? Maybe?
-More granny squares?
-Hem jeans. Twiddle with waistband of other pair, utilizing the magic thread-elastic-through-back-waistband-to-salvage-jeans trick.
-Figure out craft gifting options for Anna [possibilities identified], Jamie [ideas], Rudy [source material], Henry [no clue as of yet].

Hm, I don't think those are goals. I think that's a wish list. I also think that if you come back in a month, half those things will still be on the wish list.


Ah yes, a clear work space. A world of difference!

Nonsensical words

Eaten properly, beets make the best possible natural lipstick. I like.

Year In Review

Year in Review:
Go to your calendar and find the first entry for each month of 2008. Post the first line of it in your journal, and that's your "Year In Review."

January
Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

February
This and more can be found at my 365 Project.

March
Except that, really, my mom takes most of the credit for this one.

April
... all of a sudden I had to make decisions about schools, and then all of a sudden I was contacting people and making arrangements and away visiting, and now I'm back and 90% decided ...

May
Chicken napkins!!!

June
A couple weekends ago Alex's professor hosted a potluck, so I offered to help him make the cupcakes he signed up to bring.

July
I put out to you, with some trepidation at making a clean breast of it, that I have four quilts in various stages of completeness this summer ...

August
Well, let me say first and foremost that this skirt is 98% inspiration from this amazing skirt, and 2% Jessica's addled brain trying to make a go at recreating that loveliness.

September
Because I already have a middle name and that's Living D [cousin to Tenacious D, I'm told] so there was nothing left but to offer up my name as nickname to Wonkiness, which generally describes much of my sewing adventurings.

October
Today the security guard stopped me and asked me about my shoes.

November
Making rapid progress ... on the steady march towards freezing temperatures, that is.

December
I like that. It looks like we belong to the genus E. and the species twinning.

Soccer

No photos today, just wanted to pop in and say ...

... ah, soccer. Our IM soccer [probably?] ended last night [barring entry of our team into the playoffs, I don't know about that!] ...

... and it was super fun! Who doesn't love running around a court and getting all sweaty and mashing into people as a way to make friends? ...

... of course, some people 'skillfully' use their bodies to shield the ball in soccer. Me ~> lack of skill ~> many inadvertent mashings. I hope the other team understands. I just pretend that I am petite and a girl and therefore it is OK ...

... hopefully more to come in the spring! But I think my parents were right about the shin guards [sh, don't tell them I said that]. I'm sportin' bruises on each shin. Of course, that's nothing like the giant bruise I had on my thigh the other night - it was bright red through the entire game, and when I got home I noticed it also had welts in the form of the soccer hexagons ...

Handwritten

Sometimes it is just the thing.

A Brief Hiatus

Shanghai, March 2006. View From Jennie's Place.


So I admit these photos have nothing to do with the post. But every post needs some pictures to make things interesting, no? And I realized I've been really bad about posting China pictures, so here we go. Maybe this will be a start. Gosh, looking at these photos, I realize how long ago China was. I mean, sheesh, practically a YEAR since I took these photos. A year. My goodness. It seems [and is] a world away, and yet in the smallest details in my life and in the way it clings to my heart, China is everpresent, memories cherished and lessons still impactful, even to this day.

The PAD is going to take a brief hiatus because I left my photo uploader at home and I'm not quite sure of the next time I'll be back in the PA. I'll still be shooting away, some days more successfully than others, but in the meantime ...

... in the meantime, what an excellent question. What have I been doing with my time? Mostly unwinding, to be honest, but this way I actually feel balanced. I think I need to furnish the room a bit more to actually make it feel inviting. Comfortable. Home. Like tonight, waffling forever in Walgreens, trying to decide which lightbulb to get to brighten up that little lamp [I know this really doesn't seem like the hardest decision in the world, but I get all ... hm ... which flourescent should I get ... 60W equivalent or 75W equivalent? Do we think 75 will be too bright? But won't it be a pity to just go for 60W equivalent and then not have sufficiently increased the lighting in the room, therefore wasting the money I spent on brighter lighting because it still isn't bright enough? ... oh, halogen, now that sounds familiar ... what is this wattage business again? ... and then ... darnit, the bulbs I bought won't fit and I really don't want to settle for incandescent, must I???].

I suppose this all would be easier if I wasn't working weekends. I need a desk that is actually proper desk height and not a couple inches shorter [i.e. neck stiffness inducing], and large enough that I can comfortably fit my laptop [later, the sewing machine will cozy on up too] and a leeeeeettle bit of crap/mess [because I can never be counted on to be perfectly spic-and-span], a lounging/curling-up chair would be nice, for reading and crafting and writing and generally contemplating this life and this world [ideally something quirky, unique, individual, NOT Ikea or Target], and probably another bookshelf or two, because we all know I need the storage space. And I need more lamps, because there just isn't sufficient lighting in my place.

And then, maybe, things will really start to come together. Oh life, must I really start you over again every time I move? Oh Jessica, must you really move around so very often?

Rhetorical. Always rhetorical. Them's the paradigms in life.

24-26

24: Because We Like Red Doors. From my walk with E during lunch. Yeay lunchtime walks. I think I am officially behind on the 500 Mile Goal.

Also from that evening, fruit for Alice. A small token of appreciation for taking me in so often during this past month. I brought some of these from home, and then since at work we sometimes get food from the food bank and I am the only one in the office to eat the green apples [remember those?], I loaded up on some more to give to Alice.

25: The Evening Commute Home. Shot of the civic center area. I'm not crazy about this shot, but hey, some days you only snap a couple shots. S is totally right, this is an awesome place to walk by on the way back from work. Just like I hike a mile up Van Ness most mornings to start off my day, often I hike a mile back down to catch the bus right after everyone gets off at Market and the 47 is blissfully empty on its way to deadending at the Caltrain depot.

26: Mirror, Mirror On the Wall. Actually the original purpose of this shot was to highlight my gorgeous flower pin, a great garage sale find that I found as part of my January challenge. The woman said she thought it might be from the 60s. I love accessories, I really do, and this one ... well, I love the statement that it makes. Definitely on the lookout for more outfits to carry the color and boldness. I love those things but I also love feminine and bohemian-skirt-slightly-ethnic-chic looks, as well as the TotalClashing look [more like TOTALclashing look], and then there's the GeneralImpracticalnessLook. Almost too many personalities to be contained in one wardrobe. Really, I know it sometimes seems shallow in this society to be very into clothing [not much for fashion, but I do love putting outfits together], but I can't help it, its something I like. Now personal grooming on the other hand, I still need a lot of work on. Makeup? *looks around wildly.* Those eyebrows? Eh. Oh well. Maybe one of these decades.

See now this is a great example of how much I still need to learn about photography. This was another effect that I went for via Picasa, and I have to say that I'm rather conflicted about the result. I think I like the first version better. I mean, sure this focuses in on the flower, which was the point [and I guess if it was on the other side then you could be melodramatic and say it was symbolic of the heart, etc.etc.etc.] ... but I dunno. I think it doesn't quite work as well. But maybe other people think otherwise.

Hehe. Laundry nights at the apartment. Being the slight-environmental-freak that I am, I've been convincing the parents to hang dry a lot of their clothing. Elsa and I did it all the time in China cuz dryers just didn't really exist there. But I used to do it in college too, with some of my clothing, even though it might be a pain to run up and down between the laundry and my room, carrying baskets of wet clothing and then hunting around for every bare spot in my room to hang up damp socks and underwear and assorted t's and jeans and whatnot. I dunno. I kinda like it. And I'm sure the environment thanks me too. Kinda makes up for the other ways I'm not so environmentally conscious.

Looking ahead to 2007

This has been a wonderful holiday season so far. Time with friends and family, some back from states far, far across this large nation, many of whom I haven't seen in about 18 months due to the little China Interlude of my life.

I rarely make resolutions anymore. Prefer to think of them as "goals," concrete goals at that, stuff like, "Read 25 [non-school] books." I've slowly been gathering together my scattered thoughts and reflections on my current life and where I'd like to go this coming year.


First up, everybody's favorite topic: money.

As the Bay Area is an Expensive Place to Live, and I Make Little Money as an employee of a non-profit organization, I've begun taking a good hard look at my finances. I think a small part of me has always been very taken with simplicity and intentional living, even though I'd never thought of it in those terms and hadn't heard of the Simple Living movement until years later. Probably why i've been obsessed with environmentalism for a very long time now, in one of those synergistic vibe-y thingies [my vocabulary is currently in hiding, apparently].

But anyways, I've been tracking all my expenditures ala Your Money or Your Life [recommended, BTW], trying to be more intentional about where I spend my dollars, conscious of where it all goes. And this coming year, I've decided, I will play small games as a way to challenge myself in growing and changing my attitude towards money.

So. January is Buy Nothing New month. Yes, I realize this probably means foregoing lots of end-of-the-season sales [haven't even hit a single post-christmas sale to date, and apparently I've got one more day to go], but you know what? There's really nothing I need right now, so why throw good money after something that really doesn't do much for me?

Playing games. I like.

Issue the second. Food. Food, oh, glorious food. Where would I be without you?

I've had an interesting relationship with food over the course of this lifetime. Health maniac on the one hand, closet snack junkie on the other. Seriously closeted, seriously a junkie. My friends consider phrases such as "Mix food groups, mix food groups!" common fare for this wayward one ... nobody is ever surprised when I go off on weeklong tofu obsessions ... or hummus obsessions ... or edamame ... or ... yeah. I'm the girl who fed her lactose-intolerant friend Calcium tablets in high school, and who got really excited anytime anybody forewent soda for water.

But I snack. A lot. I've tried this 2 years ago and it didn't last very long [aka Operation Cold Turkey], but here's another crack:

The 31 Day Snack Fast.

Just as I'm trying to be intentional about where my money goes, I would like to be much more intentional about the foods that I consume. This means no sweets and no unplanned snacks for the month of January. Ack. I half think I will die and half think that my body will be the happiest it has ever been.

Two exceptions to the No Sweets Rule:

1) My friend/coworker/family member comes running in and is terribly excited because they just baked a pan of scrumptuous sweets, and would I like to try a piece?

2) Someone has a birthday and a piece of cake/etc. is passed my way.

For the Unplanned Snacks Rule, this is where intention comes in. I can, for example, bring frozen pumpkin bread in that was baked during a November Pumpkin Mania; so long as I have predetermined that this will be a midmorning snack, there is nothing wrong with this. Also, I don't really consider pumpkin bread to be "sweets," especially since we had no chocolate chips on hand during the November Pumpkin Mania. So. Perhaps I shall hunt up a recipe for banana bread or poppyseed bread or nut bread or something, because in my mind that seems healthy enough.

But enough of this a little piece of chocolate here, a cookie there, handful of chips during lunch business. There is no sense nickel-and-diming myself to death, monetarily or calorically.

Oh beautiful dessert, we shall have to wait until February to meet once again. The hope is to recalibrate the internal sweet tooth, but maybe this will mean better enjoying desserts, without the little nagging guilts and sugar saturations of lots of little pieces of junk.

Frugal tip of the day

When you just can't squeeze any more out of that tube of toothpaste, cut it open. You'll find there's enough for another brushing or four [depending on the size of the tube and the amount you like to use].

Wait, WHAT time of year is it???

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is in a week. A week!!!

It just doesn't feel like it should be Thanksgiving yet. I think that's due, in part, to the weather here. Today I went for a walk wearing jeans, a tank top and cotton/poly turtleneck [I think - Chinese clothes don't often have labels in them]. That's it. For the middle of November??? Are we joking?

Not meaning to gloat. But heck, I don't particularly enjoy this unseasonably warm weather. It makes me worry for our little planet. In the past five years or so, I honestly can't remember a single year where the weather was predictable or even the same two years in a row, you know, where you walk out of your house and feel the way the sun soaks into your bones and think, "Yes, this is what this time of year should feel like." Year after year of anomalous weather, one year a freezing spring the next a warm spell hits in February - what's up with that?

There were times over the summer when I thought Beijing felt like Palo Alto, and back home California is having the heat wave of the millennium [luckily we aren't even ten years into the millennium so I can say that, right?] Trust me, Beijing summers are famous for being horrible, so what happened last year?

I'm no scientist or climatologist, so I won't spout off on climate change and global warming, since I don't really know what's going on and haven't looked at any of the data. But I do find it unsettling, even if it comes out in my "Hey wait a minute, how is it already Thanksgiving?" moments. Hm. Let's just all do our part and try to convince our FriendsFamilyNeighborsCoworkersBossesDogWalkers to do theirs too...

Of course, maybe the other reason is that I'm so used to the flow of holidays fitting into the rhythm of the school year, that when Thanksgiving rolls around and I'm not plain exhausted and driving myself nuts with work and pleading for a break and going on an empty tank and my eyes threaten to swell shut every morning, it just feels a little odd.

I used to think of school as akin to washing a tall tottering pile of dishes, no matter how many you washed more were added on to the pile even more quickly, and all you could do was slap-dash away and hope that you could outlast the semester and crawl in past the finish line before the stack came crashing down all over you.

Too bad I can't paint or I'd have myself a lovely little visual metaphor. Well, I'll leave you with a different vision of my upside-down-world instead ...

Lovely, just lovely. In that "NO" sort of way.