~paris~

 now i can see how some people become

obsessed with france. it's as quaint and

fan~cy as all the books + movies make it seem.

the streets, bakeries, sights, smells

result in constant sensory overload

(in a good way).

 i was admiring this puff of nasturtiums, so i waved
& to my delight, the elderly man waved back!

 musee rodin! i got to see the Thinker

and Burghers of Calais in person :D

parisian markets are so much fun. i bought a mini

wheel of goat cheese from a fromagerie in the

town of versailles and ate it on the train
with a baguette (that had a "symphony of crackle")
we also ate some snails;

they oozed in butter and garlic.

this sandwich had 2 of my favorite things:

goat cheese + eggplant.

the luxembourg gardens was eerily PERFECT.

every flowerbed and hedge was trimmed to perfection.

children sail little boats here:

after watching masterchef, i've decided

to try cooking something new every day!

day #1: stuffed bell peppers

still the best and easiest cake recipe out there.
cake
+
frosting

[mkondo, noun. Current, flow, rush, passage,

run, e.g., of water in a river or poured

on the ground; of air through a door or window;

i.e., a draft; of the wake of a ship,

a track, the run of an animal.]

i read 6 books this summer; now it's
time to begin fall reads :D
and this is my reading companion:

!barcelona!

i love the narrow labyrinth-like alleyways and how

the old + new mingle in a seamlessly eclectic way.

i also became enlightened that
"catalunya is not spain" and watched solidarity
protests from our hotel window. 

la boqueria market

thanks GAUDI for such a decorated city

 the massive-ness of sagrada familia cannot be described..

dreamy view from casa batllo

you know you're jetlagged when you

sleep at 5:30pm and wake up at 3:00am

and listen to the amelie soundtrack

while eating cereal in the pitch darkness.

now i can watch the sunrise
EVERYDAY~

The Thinker at Musee Rodin!

after spending a week in Paris, i came to the
conclusion that everything is better there.

although the city reeks of smoke & urine,

it also smells like flowers, butter and poems.

~baguettes + croissants~

~ it is adventure time again ~

margaret atwood is writing a new book!

and it won't be printed for another 100 years.

it's part of this

time capsule eco-experiment for the
Future Library.

as i read Donia Bijan's "Maman's Homesick Pie",

i wanted to taste every sentence she wrote.
if you are interested in duck recipes, diaspora,
or the iranian revolution, read her book.

lentils. rice. raisins. eggplant.

saffron. rosewater. pistachio.

(in ice cream waffle sandwich form).

i will eat this every day from now on.

grow my little seedlings.

(nasturtiums + dahlias)

sadly, my eggplants, hollyhocks and violas
died in this heat.

 Dancing in Jaffa is on Netflix! Watch it.

it's a documentary about how one teacher uses

dance as a medium to encourage children

to mutually see the Other as human.

  ~

"education is the most powerful weapon

which you can use to change the world."

hiding behind the discreetness of my sunglasses,

and my on-and-off pretending to read,

i couldn't help but observe suburban race relations

playing out in a chlorinated pool

on a sunday afternoon.
~ ~ ~

~ * w a t e r c o l o r s ~ *
the wonderful world of mushroomsssss

i took time today to make a yummy breakfast.
^_________^

According to Slavery Footprint, a slave is:

“anyone who is forced to work without pay,

being economically exploited and is unable to walk away.”

Right now, there are ~27 million slaves globally (!!)

they are making your phone, gutting shrimp,

mining for mica for the glittery sparkles in make-up,

weaving rugs, growing cocoa beans, etc.

The website (Slavery Footprint) has a really well

designed interactive graphic to educate people about

the supply chain and serves as a good reminder

to become an even more critical consumer.

to avoid being hunted, wear orange.

this blog is 9 years old.

w0w. how time flies.

gardening gone wrong

(very wrong).

#mutantcorn

new discovery of the day:

kombucha is a good trap for fruit flies.

#capitalism

 "what happens with these beans?"

"we just grow them, but we don't know."

my sister shared this video with me

time to go to 
s l a t l a n d~

found some light while browsing during my
daily dose of almostlosinghopeinhumanity (aka the news)

a taekwondo school in a syrian refugee camp in jordan:

mops, it's yo birthday.
hope you enjoyed the meat

my beautiful pizza
i wish i could make a pizza
for every kid who wants a pizza.

sitting under a fiddleleaf fig tree

i made my mom a berry happy birthday cake~ 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 生日快乐~

fern groto caves, swimming holes,
redwoods, + hazy sunsets. 

it was so nice to be back in santa cruz~*

until next time!

maryna and i went up to san francisco to visit

theresa in the city! we ate alot of pastries,

strolled a botanical garden and

played with jelly (her chihuahua mix)!

then we got some plants and baklava.

got to catch up with my anthro tutoring buddy jeff.

we got strawberry sorbet, sat in the red room

and talked about genocide & cactus festivals.

thanks for the little dried opium poppy flower;

i shall stick it in my aloe vera plant's pot.

watched 4 youtube documentaries on:

~slavery and voodoo in haiti, didgeridoos

alaskan grizzly bears,
& nefertiti: history and hair

while painting this:

oh snowman,

they have extra skins like you.

                      

f r e e

g a z a

~ ~ ~
"You who are so liberal, so humane,
who take the love of culture to the point of
affectation, you pretend to forget that you have
colonies where massacres are committed in your name."
Jean-Paul Sartre

a warm day hiking the canyons with maggie.

unfortunately, it ended when i got heat stroke.

thank you for taking me to get rehydrated after

i threw up all over black-eyed susans. (sorry flowers).

after attending a culinary workshop demystifying

"exotic" cuisines of the world and using

old world peruvian techniques to

grow and cook food sustainably,

 i felt inclined to..make pasta from scratch:

maggie, mops, cassidy and i went on an

avocado adventure today.

she read animal tracks in the dust and

i picked avocados from a un-surveillanced grove.

went exploring with mops today.

some type of giant black bird

(maybe a turkey vulture) soared in the sky.

and the world watches on
yet another apartheid.

for the sake of basic human rights and compassion;
world, come on.

hollyhocks are germinating!
(violas, dahlias and eggplants too!)

museum of anthropology at

university of british columbia.

had a super great exhibit about the diverse ways

indigenous youth navigate urban spaces and identity in

Canada, the US, New Zealand and Norway.

they also had hallways of drawers filled with
STUFF somehow acquired from all over.
thousands of mini egyptian figurines,
puppets from korea and masks from everywhere you can
imagine, all piled together without organization.

"museums are just institutionalized hoarders"
-my sister

vancouver, at low tide.
i sloshed around in the 
 sludge and tried to dig up clams.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

nibbled some ahi tuna poke,

waded in the pacific ocean,

and cruised down PCH in the

golden misty afternoon glow.

found a notebook of obscure drawings:

a very cool map of

aboriginal Australian languages

(250/700 of which are still used today)

dipped my toe in pool water

for the first time in months;

i became inexplicably happy

at the feeling of chlorinated water.

 ~ ~ ~

"What county in the world
best fits your personality?"

i got new zealand; good thing i studied abroad there!

"You are an adventurous individual who enjoys being

outdoors and spending time being active. You are a risk taker and

have no problem striking up a conversation with a total stranger.

When you travel you love to get to know the locals,

and their customs, and are always up for a challenge.

You thrive in a culture where others share your deep appreciation

for land, and believe life is best lived outdoors..

You thrive in a society with diversity and appreciate

a simpler way of living. You are keen on learning about cultures

and customs that are different than your own, and enjoy a deep conversation,

whether it be philosophical or spiritual."

is here!!!
(after one cray cray year of nonstop
writing, planning, drafting, collaborating,
analyzing, experimenting, trial + error,
community events and panel talks,
sleeping at 3am, lunch break chats, 12 hour days,
the entertainment of kindergartners' humor,
and a few great moments of teaching glory)

ok, back to weeding and pruning roses~