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Jessica

Oakland, CA

Interests: narratives, making things, food, playing amateur anthropologist

Recent Activity

Travel Tuesday: Falun Gong in Chinatown

Does anybody remember the Falun Gong? I think they emerged in China in the 90s and scared the crap out of the CCP, with their (to those in power) eerie echoes of the Taiping Rebellion and the talk of the mystical powers of martial arts. Sometimes I wonder if the... Continue reading

Posted Aug 28, 2012 at Words and Roots

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Travel Tuesday: Mission Peaks

Whenever I think of the California flavor of natural beauty, I think of dry, brown hills, of golden stalks of weeds rippling in the wind, of the bay wetlands, of freeways cutting through flat hills rising low beneath the blue sky. We hiked Mission Peak because of the view, because... Continue reading

Posted Aug 21, 2012 at Words and Roots

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Hardball and softball

So ... I'm kind of a self help book junkie. Can't help it, I'm drawn to them like a moth to lamplight. Joan Didion once wrote (and I'm paraphrasing her here) that when she's at a loss, she turns to books. She researches and reads and through that process of... Continue reading

Posted Aug 19, 2012 at Words and Roots

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Travel Tuesday: Monterey CA

The Pacific coast, from Seattle all the way down into the southern part of California, is absolutely beautiful. Highway 1 meanders along this path, and I once worked at an organization where our Executive Director would drive along it in the middle of the night to relieve the stress of... Continue reading

Posted Aug 14, 2012 at Words and Roots

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Apologies, it's been rather quiet around here. I gave in my notice today at my job, and things will be a bit in flux here for the next month or so as I wrap up there, move out of my place and back in with my parents, and prepare to... Continue reading

Posted Aug 8, 2012 at Words and Roots

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Small snippets. What I remember most from seeing my grandma in the hospital, was the way she looked so fiercely unhappy to be where she was. I could sense from the way she pulled at her IV and kept asking why she was in the hospital, that she wanted desperately... Continue reading

Posted Jul 15, 2012 at Words and Roots

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Travel Tuesday: Sisterhood of Knitters

Whenever I'm on the road, I like to keep an eye out for other crafters. It's one of my "things," like the way I hunt out fabric or yarn stores. Other people I know travel with an eye towards bird watching opportunities, or hiking spots, or my dad always wants... Continue reading

Posted Jul 10, 2012 at Words and Roots

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Testing ... Small Stones

So Sigrid totally called it. Morning pages are nice ... in theory. Ah! I seem to remember why I've never been able to make these a habit. Most mornings, if I can carve out the time to write, I don't have time for both morning pages and writing. So anyways,... Continue reading

Posted Jul 8, 2012 at Words and Roots

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More quilt blocks

Slow, steady process. I'm enjoying taking my time with this. Continue reading

Posted Jul 5, 2012 at Words and Roots

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Travel Tuesday - Cinque Terra

For the longest time, I thought that I liked traveling by myself. Then I went to Italy and I realized that I do like traveling by myself, when I speak the language. Still, the Italian coast was absolutely breathtaking, and I wouldn't trade that trip for the world. Snapped April... Continue reading

Posted Jul 3, 2012 at Words and Roots

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Accept it girl, it's winter

You know those films where the protagonist is totally stuck in their quiet life, moving rotely through work before coming back to a quiet apartment and empty evenings, making their way through life as though stuck underwater? That's totally how I feel right now. I mean, I have good friends... Continue reading

Posted Jul 1, 2012 at Words and Roots

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Travel Tuesday - San Francisco Bay

It always amazes me how many beautiful hikes there are within mere miles of San Francisco. This trail, for example, is probaly less than 2 miles from my house and looks out over the Bay to San Francisco. Snapped June 2012. Narratives are more than words. A regular feature showcasing... Continue reading

Posted Jun 26, 2012 at Words and Roots

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Deliberate practice

Have you heard of deliberate practice? The idea comes from the research of they psychologist K. Anders Ericsson, who noticed that the path for becoming an expert at a skill does not merely involve repeating that skill a large number of times, but rather breaking down those skills and practicing... Continue reading

Posted Jun 24, 2012 at Words and Roots

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Travel Tuesday: Dongdaemun Market

Vendor at the Dongdaemun Market in Seoul. Koreans sure love their seafood! Spotted April 2012. Narratives are more than words. A regular feature showcasing people, place time ... and a reminder to myself to keep looking up, keep taking photographs. Continue reading

Posted Jun 19, 2012 at Words and Roots

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Personal histories, stitched together

I have been slowly stitching away on my quilt, the one I was working on when I had my little accident. I am making up log cabin blocks and I am taking my time with this quilt, pressing each seam after I finish sewing it, carefully trimming blocks as I... Continue reading

Posted Jun 17, 2012 at Words and Roots

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Have you heard of morning pages? I first learned about them as a tool for unblocking creativity in Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. Morning pages are 3 pages of longhand that are written each morning. They can be about anything, they can be about nothing. The point is to keep... Continue reading

Posted Jun 15, 2012 at Words and Roots

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Travel Tuesday - WWOOFing in rural Washington

In my early 20s I had this strong urge to live on a farm for a year. I think I felt strongly disconnected from the earth and the rhythm of the seasons and wanted to escape from the city and to a place where I could begin to hear myself... Continue reading

Posted Jun 12, 2012 at Words and Roots

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Eyes of the beholder

(Block party in my neighborhood) “Such a suck-up coffee kind of place. I love it. You could just sit here and read a book.” That’s my brother. He’s been in California for a month now to study for his Boards (he’s a medical student), and since tomorrow is the big... Continue reading

Posted Jun 10, 2012 at Words and Roots

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May you live in interesting times ...

I work in the health field. I am an administrator, part of the breed of folks that people at my organization joke belong to the “black hole” because nobody ever knows what goes on in Admin. Half the time, I don’t, either! Surprising as this may be to others, the... Continue reading

Posted Jun 8, 2012 at Words and Roots

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Travel Tuesday: New Orleans Crocodiles

My dad is a doctor, and every year he attends several conferences to keep up with his field and earn CME (Continuing Medical Education) credits. Sometimes my mom will join along, but in 2008 I quit my job a couple months before starting grad school and headed down to New... Continue reading

Posted Jun 5, 2012 at Words and Roots

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The Space Between Thoughts

First of all, I wanted to thank everyone who has stopped by to read this blog, commented, offered well wishes on my finger, or shared a story with me – I really appreciate your support and interest, and feel so grateful to be part of this supportive online community! Due... Continue reading

Posted Jun 3, 2012 at Words and Roots

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Travel Tuesday: Fall in New York

As a West Coast girl, I had always heard about this season we call Fall, and even thought we had some pretty spectacular views out here. Then I moved to the East Coast for school and realized, wow, the word takes on a whole new meaning here. Snapped in New... Continue reading

Posted May 29, 2012 at Words and Roots

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A Trip To The ER - And The Need For An Antidote To Multitasking

I had intended to open this post with a photo of a couple in progress log cabin quilt blocks. However, a trip to the emergency room squashed those ideas. There I was, cutting strips of fabric for the quilt, when the rotary blade jumped the plastic ruler and sliced straight... Continue reading

Posted May 28, 2012 at Words and Roots

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A Single Pink Daisy (Writing Rewards)

"Can I buy just one?" I held out my pink Gerber daisy. "I don't work here," the man replied. He had gray curly hair, a smile. "You can buy whatever you want." I laughed, then examined my daisy with satisfaction. "What are you going to do with it, put it... Continue reading

Posted May 25, 2012 at Words and Roots

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Travel Tuesday: Longji Terraces

The Longji Terraces in western Guangxi Province, China. Over hundreds of years, the people who have cultivated the hills of northwestern Guangxi have painstakingly carved these terraces to maximize their available farming space. Spotted on a hike amidst the terraces, May 2012. Narratives are more than words. A regular feature... Continue reading

Posted May 22, 2012 at Words and Roots

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