#TBT Yellow and Red Planck Bracelet

I'm categorizing this piece under the Throwback Thursday label because, while the bracelet itself is relatively new, it's a destash attempt to use up some very old stock in the ol' bead box.

Yellow and Red Planck Constant Bracelet by Kokoba

The reds turned out very weird when trying to photograph this one. I don't know if it's the combination of weak, pale daylight (#WinterIsComing) with the overhead "warm white" LED and  fluorescent bulb in my office/the itchen, or if there's something about cherry red that's hard to capture or if I did something funny to my settings, but the first round of pictures of this bracelet came out looking hot pink.

All the beads involved are Czech glass. The yellow ones have a cool stripeyness to them that doesn't show up well in the pictures.

It's the yellow beads that "spell" out h (Planck's constant), as per the latest CODATA value. The red round beads are the spaceholders in between digits.

What I Read: Ancient, Ancient

This was another selection for Austin's feminist science fiction book club. (Maybe I'm an honorary satellite member now?) I went in with high hopes and was mostly....

There were a lot of cool ideas in this book that ended up suffering from overly workshopped, possibly way too abstract writing. In a lot of ways it reminds me of Freshwater, but where Emezi takes that abstraction and works with it until you get it, grounding it with concrete language and imagery and deliberate call backs to specific mythology, Salaam just leaves it all out there, confusing and weird in a world that seems to be entirely of her own creation but without any rules or explanation.

The stories are the strongest when Salaam remains more or less in this world: "Marie," "Rosamojo," and "Ferret" were probably my favorites, as well as a very short piece about ants whose title I can no longer remember and that no one else seems to mention in their reviews so there it is. A trilogy of short stories focus on moth-like aliens who can take a human form and who harvest nectar from humans, most often by seducing them. The premise is unique enough that it really deserved to be its own book rather than a handful of short stories. So as it is, they're just kind of weird.

And unlike almost everyone else, I didn't care much for the first story ("Desire") or the last one ("Pod Rendezvous"). "Desire" is just too distracting, caught up as it is in what is (as far as my Googling can find) a fictional mythology and an unusual-and-completely-unnecessary narrative structure. The same can be said for "K-USH" and "Battle Royale," though people tend to rave less about those two. (I wonder if people pick up the book, read the first and last story, and then declare that they've read the whole book?) "Pod Rendezvous," like the nectar-gathering moth aliens, had so much in there that it should have been a proper novel rather than an overly long short story. A story should be as long as it needs to be, and "Pod Rendezvous" was definitely the wrong length.

Overall, a disappointing collection. It wasn't bad, but I made the mistake of going in with impossibly high expectations.

Friday 5: Functions

What are you holding your breath in anticipation of?

2018 midterms! Can we please do damage control on this administration already? Also, looking forward to WorldCon Dublin and going to Korea for a wedding in 2019!

What most recently gave you goosebumps?

Probably just straight-up being cold, because it's November in Stockholm.


What’s giving you that pain in the neck?

My work setup is less than ideal. I have my beast of a laptop, Regan, to the left and my work notebook (Samwise) in the middle. But since I do all of my blogging from Regan, I have to contort my neck and back to get anything done. Or just scoot my chair over, which I just did.


What’s making your heart ache?

I miss so many people and places, but that's the neo-liberal cosmopolitan life, I guess: nowhere and everywhere feels like home; you're always missing someone.


What are you yawning at?

Just trying to get my ears to pop because my head is full of fluid. Hurray, being sick. =/

#TBT Amber Pi Necklace

This is another Kokoba beta release, so probably from around 2010 or 2011. First it was stuck in storage in the US, then I brought it to Sweden and it languished in different storage for nearly a year before I got around to photographing it. And then it took another month to list it, and a couple extra weeks to finally write up this blog post.

Amber Pi Necklace by Kokoba

Well, better late than never, right?

I like the look of this necklace a lot. I don't usually work with bulk chain, and I don't know why, because every time I do I like how things turn out.

This necklace features glass beads in the bulk chain, and then carnelian, red aventurine, and genuine amber chips in the dangles. Which "spell" out the digits of pi, but you knew that already from the name.

Fall is almost over but you still have time to enjoy these cozy oranges while you sip your PSL (or enjoy the One True Fall Beverage, apple cider). TREAT YO' SELF!

What I Read: Journal of a Solitude

This was a book that I bought at a library sale I don't know how many years ago. After falling in love with Walden in high school, the similar premise of this book (memoirs of living alone in the countryside) intrigued me. Yet somehow I never got around to reading it until I was going through my books to ship across the ocean. Out of all of the books I hadn't read yet but really wanted to, this was at the top of the list. So I tore through it during my last days in Pennsylvania and up the highways to Albany, then ended up re-homing it to my friend and hostess in Maine. Incidentally, this also hits two items on my 101 in 1001 list: it's nonfiction and it's a book I've owned for over three years!

Image courtesy W. W. Norton & Company

I could tell that I had started and stopped this book at least a few times: the first few entries were familiar to me, and I had dog-eared a page or two. Younger Me wanted to like this, or wanted to be the kind of person who liked this, but I guess she needed a few more years to be able to really get into it. Now Me couldn't put this book down.

There isn't much that happens, which is what you can expect from something titled Journal of a Solitude. That might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it was mine, at any rate. There's a directness and simplicity to her writing that pulls you along, and I think it's exactly the kind of cozy book that makes for perfect winter reading.

Newly Listed: Faux Pearl and Green Marbled Clay Pi Bracelet

Big ups to friend and former coworker Kelly, who dropped a whole load of old jewelry off with me with the explicit instructions to salvage them for parts and make something new out of them. This is one of the lovely Frankensteins that resulted from those parts.

Faux Pearl and Green Marbled Clay Pi Bracelet by Kokoba

I should note that I normally stage my pieces so that you can read the numbers from left to right. This one got flipped and I don't have time to take new photos when these are otherwise serviceable, so it stays, but it bugs me a little bit!

I'm not 100% on the provenance of the green marbled beads, but they are light to the touch the same way that polymer clay beads are, so I expect that they're made out of something similar. The faux pearls are plastic with a coating for that faux pearl shine.

The clasp and all of the metal beads are your standard base metal alloy (copper/nickel/zinc) and come from my own stash rather than anything repurposed. 

Friday 5: October 6 Through 10

The first week of October is National Customer Service Week in the United States and Kenya. Where have you received especially good customer service?

Flying Scandinavian Air Services (or whatever SAS actually stands for) is always a treat. But that said, I value price over comfort in air travel, and Norwegian wins on that front. And they're pretty good for a budget airline. Skimpy meal service (but I hate eating on planes anyway—the food is okay but it's just so cramped), but the planes are new and comfortable.

Noraebang! // Image courtesy PBS News Hou

Noraebangs (karaoke boxes) in Korea also are really good at customer service. One more than one occasion my friends and I received "service" items from the noraebang we were partying it up at: free beer, ice cream, or an extra half-hour of room rental.


The second Saturday in October was National Tree-Planting Day in Mongolia. When did you last do anything resembling tree-planting?

When you're a teacher, every lesson is like planting a tree!


October 4 was World Animal Day (the feast day of Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint of Animals). What’s an obscure animal you know a thing or two about?

Okapis are related to giraffes and, just like giraffes, have blue-black tongues. They're also endangered, so maybe consider supporting okapi preservation as a holiday gift to yourself or others?


October 6 was National Poetry Day in Ireland and the United Kingdom. What’s a line of poetry that springs to mind now that you’re thinking about poetry?

I've been thinking about Karin Boye recently, so here:

Ja visst gör det ont när knoppar brister.
Varför skulle annars våren tveka?
Varför skulle all vår heta längtan  
bindas i det frusna bitterbleka?
Höljet var ju knoppen hela vintern.
Vad är det för nytt, som tär och spränger?
Ja visst gör det ont när knoppar brister,
ont för det som växer
                              och det som stänger.

Ja nog är det svårt när droppar faller.
Skälvande av ängslan tungt de hänger,
klamrar sig vid kvisten, sväller, glider  -
tyngden drar dem neråt, hur de klänger.
Svårt att vara oviss, rädd och delad,
svårt att känna djupet dra och kalla,
ändå sitta kvar och bara darra  -
svårt att vilja stanna
                              och vilja falla.

Då, när det är värst och inget hjälper,
Brister som i jubel trädets knoppar.
Då, när ingen rädsla längre håller,
faller i ett glitter kvistens droppar
glömmer att de skrämdes av det nya
glömmer att de ängslades för färden  -
känner en sekund sin största trygghet,
vilar i den tillit
                              som skapar världen.

What’s in your pocket?

Nothing, because my pajamas don't have pockets!

#TBT Neon Fibonacci Necklace

As it turns out, when you have three jobs, it's hard to do all of them really well simultaneously! I listed this neon Fibonacci necklace in the shop weeks ago? probably? but am only posting about it now.

Neon Fibonacci necklace by Kokoba

This is a Kokoba beta release. I'd date it as around 2010 or so? Hence this post going up on the Throwback Thursday tag. It's definitely not to my usual style now (so busy! much bright! very color!) but I appreciate the sentiment it's coming from, especially with the drab, dark days of winter in Stockholm staring me down yet again. 

And I'm not trying to throw shade on you if this is is your style. If I thought this was genuinely hideous, I would have cannibalized this necklace for parts and never spoken of it again. Even if I wouldn't make it today, it still has a certain charm to it.

Like, I can't deny that it has a funky Miss Frizzle vibe to it, and quite frankly I think the world needs more Miss Frizzles. Be the Miss Frizzle you want to see in the world!

What I Read: Murder in Retrospect, or, Five Little Pigs

This book was a selection for my Facebook book club. I was surprised to learn that many of the members had never read an Agatha Christie novel before, or even seen one of the innumerable screen adaptations! I went through a huge Agatha Christie binge in middle school. This was about the same time I went through a big band jazz binge as well, so I guess I was a little old lady in a 13-year-old's body.

Even during my pubescent enthusiasm, I never tackled all of the novels and short stories. (Our school library only had so many books, after all.) Murder in Retrospect (or Five Little Pigs, whichever title you prefer) was one that I hadn't originally read, so I was excited to read it. I had a nice afternoon in the Bethlehem Public Library doing just that: reading. I finished it in one sitting.

I still love a good Agatha Christie novel, even today, but I have to admit that this one was a little disappointing. There are lots of recurring secondary characters that make a Poirot novel what it is—Miss Lemon, Captain Hastings, Inspector Japp—and none of them make an appearance. The nature of the mystery also means that the bulk of the book is everyone repeating their testimony of the same day. This is, of course, part and parcel of any mystery, but because this is a cold case (or rather, an already-closed case), there's nothing else for Poirot to go on, nor is there any sense of urgency.  Without any clues to inspect, without any banter with Hastings or Japp, and without the possibility of bringing the true murderer to justice, Murder in Retrospect is more repetitive and less fun than the Christie novels I read when I was younger.

If you're a mystery buff, you can't go wrong with an Agatha Christie novel. Even a bad Christie novel is still pretty fun; I've always like Christie's writing style just as much as her mysteries. Overall, I'm a completionist when it comes to writers I like, so I'm glad I read it. I don't think Murder in Retrospect will be a novel I pick up again, though.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation, Day 6: Bethlehem, PA

After a busy weekend full of social activity and sight-seeing, I take it easy for the next few days at my parents' house. I spend my first morning back just putzing around the house and going through the books I had packed up four years ago (surprise, there are more that I can bear to part with!), and then I drive to Lost River Caverns to catch up with my old boss and coworkers and do some shopping. It's busy, at least compared to what I would have expected mid-August, so my old boss tells me to just help myself. I must give off "I work here" vibes still; people ask me questions about how to get to the bathrooms or where things are.

The inside is all done up and it looks fabulous—so much better than when I was still working there—and I linger a while to talk to my old bosses and coworkers and some of the new shop ladies and guides. Everything is familiar despite the fabulous makeover and once again I miss my weirdo minimum wage retail job.

Next stop on the agenda is the Bethlehem library. I don't bother driving in during Musikfest; I just wait for the bus (have I gone full European native?) and meander towards the library from the parking/bus hub. There's no Amerikaplatz next to the library anymore, which I don't like (fond memories of Tea Leaf Green and Royal Noise Brigade at that stage), but I suppose the library employees appreciate the new-found quiet. I pick out a book—Murder in Retrospect, or Five Little Pigs, which is my Facebook book club's August choice—and sit down and read, and alternate my reading with checking Facebook and talking with friends on gchat.

After I finish the book, I wander through Musikfest, grab a "Marga-mead-a," and head down to Volksplatz to wait for The Skatalites. I sit through The Hillbenders, a bluegrass act, and enjoy them enough to buy an album as roadtrip soundtrack/thank-you gift for my ride up to Maine. I totally sneak a preview listen later and the album is way more straight country, and kind of worse, than their live performance. :( For me, the highlight of that show was probably a high-energy cover of MGMT's "Kids." I had spent the whole day being sad and moody over leaving Austin, and that moment was the point where I started to maybe feel like not everything was a total garbage fire.

Then, after time to change sets and move the first rows of chairs out of the way, The Skatalites come on, and I dance my heart out. They do their cover of the James Bond theme and I get a powerful hit of high school nostalgia. I had listened to their version of the incomparable movie theme a lot in high school, but this was in the days of Napster and people being really ignorant and slapdash with labeling artists ("Wish You Were Here" by Oasis? Really?), so I was never sure if it was actually The Skatalites. I went into the show with zero expectations I'd hear that song, so it's a nice surprise to hear that opening bass riff.



Later in the set they also do the theme from "From Russia With Love" and I wonder: is that a coincidence or a political statement? Other covers include "A Message To You, Rudy" and "Three Little Birds."

I ducked out in the middle of an encore to make sure I could get a bus home, only: surprise! The late bus I thought was running wasn't, so I dropped in at a friend's instead. Not the most gracious way to make an entrance from across the ocean ("I can't read bus schedules, Tesia, can I crash your guest bed?") but friendship is magic! And I'm stopping by home to celebrate Tesia's PhD, after all.  It's not super late, but I still conk right out.

Friday 5: More Questions About Buildings and Food

What’s the best layered food?

Lasagna, for me, is basically the only layered food. I may be Swedish, but smörgåstårtar (pictured above) freak me out.

What’s the best rolled food?

There are so many options, aren't there? Enchiladas (and I would say burritos count, too), cannoli, gimbap, California rolls, kanelbullar...the list goes on! But for nostalgia purposes, I'll have to say it's a tie between cannoli and gimbap.

Gimbap: confused with sushi, but actually not.

What’s the most recent cuisine you’ve tried for the first time from an ethnicity not your own?

I had some Turkish pistachio candy at a student's house on Monday.


What’s a food that scares you?

San-nakji: octopus arms. While the octopus is technically dead by the time it's on your plate, octopus anatomy means that the nerves in the arms and tentacles are still doing their squirmy, moving thing by the time they're on your plate. The Japanese puffer fish won't kill you if it's prepared correctly, but even if san-nakji is prepared correctly, the very nature of the dish makes it a potentially deadly choking hazard.


What’s something you eat solely because it’s good for you?

Even the healthy food I eat, I eat because it's tasty. The only thing I consume purely for health reasons are vitamins.

Friday 5: Dear Old Golden Rule Days

when did you last raise your hand to be called upon, to get someone’s attention, or in response to a “how many of you…” question? or heck, for any reason at all?

I probably did it to get the moderator's attention at the last English Debate Club meeting I attended a few weeks ago.


When did you last have to do anything akin to homework?

Around a year ago, for Academic Swedish.


when did you and your friends last go outside to play?

Me and friends? I guess the last time I was at a picnic, which was probably sometime last year. Me by myself? On my run yesterday.


how’s your penmanship nowadays?

Pretty good. Teacher skills, etc.


among stuff you periodically eat, what reminds you most of your lunches in the school cafeteria?

I don't remember school lunches much except chicken nuggets and "French bread pizza." The laziest, easiest thing I eat is boiled pasta with a dollop of creme fraiche and some roasted onions. It doesn't take much to make me happy.