Jessica

Today is weird

2008-11-26T18:32:20Z

I was up all night with Hattie. She's really sick. We went to the vet this morning and she got some medicine and hopefully she will start getting better otherwise she will have to be hospitalized over night. The vet said her prognosis sounds good, but we have to wait until Friday to get the blood work back. I don't know what this means for my trip to Massachusetts, but right now she comes first. I'm worried about her because she doesn't want to eat her medicine. I also wish my own financial constraints weren't such a barrier to her getting the care she needs. Fortunately, she's a pretty tough cookie. Please send her health-promoting vibes!

I was quoted on the front page of the Metro this morning on women's safety, re: the MTA budget cuts:
"You're always thinking about safety. I would take cabs, but I'm a graduate student and don't have much money."
- Jessica Silk, 28, of Park Slope
Kinda dumb and eerie how my "broke graduate student" whines made front page, but at least I got to back up the importance of guaranteeing women's safety. I was caught off guard. The only smart thing I had to say was about how these cuts will be more likely to affect already disadvantaged communities. But people I know saw it, which is funny.

Too bad they didn't include the photo of me sitting on the train and reading a book about Viagra.

New hair

2008-11-12T18:43:35Z

Wavy:

Blow-dried/straight:

She left my curly-Qs long and I don't know how I feel about them. I tried to straighten those, but I think my flat iron is broken/dead. I wish I had a better photo to show the details, but my camera batteries just died.

crushilepsy @ 2008-11-11T15:15:00

2008-11-11T20:17:15Z

Can I tell you how much I love this?

A poster of this saying with this picture hangs in my optometrist's office. I went there 2+ months ago and I am still laughing.

I know of the saying from the Halo Benders album, but the picture of the kid is priceless.

Holy shit!

2008-11-05T04:36:33Z

Yes! I am crying and want to hug everyone.

crushilepsy @ 2008-09-26T12:30:00

2008-09-26T16:34:24Z

I just booked a flight to San Diego for the end of October. My professor is paying for my flight and registration for the annual APHA conference. I am going to present the findings of my research to the Abortion Task Force and I guess I am also going to present our proposal for a new abortion-related policy at some legislative type of session. How professional-sounding.

I just need to do some couch surfing. I am looking forward to vegan Mexican food and chilling near a beach in the Fall.

That vanity meme

2008-09-22T15:55:55Z

* take a picture of yourself right now.
* don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair...just take a picture.
* post that picture with NO editing.
* post these instructions with your picture

Drinking coffee and being lazy since today is my late day. Note: Diana cut my hair yesterday. I don't feel like growing it out anymore. I'll probably cut it shorter in the spring. It feels bouncy and free. I feel cute again.

End of the summer update

2008-09-02T00:37:13Z

This weekend was awesome! On Friday, there was a surprise birthday for me. Christina and Laszlo were really sneaky and pulled together a dinner with awesome friends at Organic Grill, which was followed by some karaoke. I was not suspecting a surprise AT ALL. In fact, at first I didn't even see that Christina was part of the crowd and when I spotted her I instantly made a confused baby face (pouty lip face) and started crying tears of joy. It was kind of romantic. Thanks to many awesome friends who made me feel loved! I love you.

(Christina and I wearing "best friends" heart necklaces that she got me!)

(I like this funny photo of me being very happy)
Gillian took some more photos here. Best birthday ever!
On Saturday, we went to Boston and on Sunday Joey and I had a family birthday party. My mom made vegan key lime cupcakes and I ate far too many of them:

And today I went to a BBQ.
So far, 28 feels cool. I am back to school already: doing my fieldwork (which is working so it's not really a class, which means my schedule is awesome this semester), an evaluation course, a grant writing course, and a sexuality elective. Maybe I should start thinking about a thesis?

Who knew?

2008-08-21T00:23:53Z

My immediate family is pretty much estranged from the other Silks, but the power of Facebook has connected me to my oldest aunt, Barbara, who is the only Silk that we really talk to. She is a lesbian minister and I knew that made her cool/different, but she saw I studied public health and the conversation below was sparked. I seriously had NO CLUE that anyone I'm related to did anything like this and maybe the Silk genes are more dominant than I thought:

B: What area of Public Health are you pursuing? I
worked for the Mass. Dept. of Public Health Childhood
Lead Poisoning Prevention Program in the 70s. I
had to do community education and awareness,
building inspections, prosecution of landlords if they
didn't follow the legal requirements after the inspec-
tion and I also took blood samples mostly from kids
under 6. Sometimes I worked in the lab processing
the blood samples if they were short-handed. That
job was anything but a boring office gig!!

Me: I didn't know that you worked in public health before! That sounds really awesome. I've read about a lot of interesting community organizing that they did in NYC around lead poisoning. Maybe the field is in our genes ;)

I'm getting my degree in community health education and I've been doing work around reproductive health and teen access to sexual and reproductive health information/services.

B: Hi Again Jess!

Boy do we ever need more workers in the areas you are concentrating in. I am still amazed
that so many girls have unwanted or unexpected pregnancies in the 21st century. It was
different in the days when contraception information for just about anyone was illegal, but most of all for single women. I can remember Bill Baird going to jail because of his advocacy for female
reproductive rights/control. Today, all kinds of options are around but it is as if when an unmarried teen couple uses birth control it's more wrong than not using it. I kind of reminds me
of the "I didn't know it was loaded" cop out when someone shoots a person with a gun. Unless
the couple uses something, the "gun" is "loaded" and usually it's the female that pays the
highest price. I also used to volunteer for Planned Parenthood and helped to get information out
to people, especially non-English speaking persons...

When I lived in Woburn I started a grass-roots organization to call attention to the dangers of
lead poisoning. My volunteering led to my being offered the job with the Public Health Dept.

Me: Barbara, it's great to hear this and it further motivates my own work. I also volunteer at Planned Parenthood and it's inspiring to hear that you were doing your own grassroots organization. Sometime we'll have to discuss your previous (and current) work in person. I'd love to hear more about it! I love this.

Aww

2008-08-10T14:50:15Z

My dad's model car collection (that started when I was a kid and has now turned into our entire basement) was featured in the local newspaper here.

I love my dad.

crushilepsy @ 2008-07-30T23:34:00

2008-07-31T03:48:53Z

This is not something to boast about, but I haven't made any "me" purchases (i.e. fun purchases like clothing, make-up, junk) all summer. While this didn't start by choice, it feels surprisingly...OK aside from some general feelings of alienation. I still look cute. I'm trying to separate my self-worth from material goods. This sounds pretty elementary, but I actually think it's pretty challenging--especially for women and for living in NYC. I think that realization feels better than anything I could ever buy. I really want to shed away the sense of entitlement that I adopted from being raised in my generation. I hope this sentiment lasts.

I'm also reading up on economic policy for the class war.

crushilepsy @ 2008-07-17T11:43:00

2008-07-17T15:46:04Z

Stolen from BCO: This is my new favorite webpage: Recreating children's drawings via photography.

Nerd Alert

2008-07-08T18:55:00Z

I was mentioned in the APHA Population, Family Planning and Reproductive Health Section Spring newsletter.

Abortion Task Force Report
...
In 2007 a subcommittee of the Abortion Task Force (ATF) began a project to review all of the abortion-related policies in the APHA policy database. This resulted in development of a comprehensive access database with each policy number, year, name, brief description, etc. This spring, the policy review process continued as part of an Independent Study Project of an MPH student (Jessica Silk) at Hunter College (City University of New York), in conjunction with Diana Romero and Lisa Maldonado. This analysis has resulted in a report summarizing an in-depth review of the policies, including whether active policies are still relevant, outdated or in need of updating, and a set of specific recommendations for the ATF to consider in that regard. The ATF will now begin developing policies addressing the gaps identified.

Last fall the ATF submitted a late-breaking policy entitled “The Need for State Legislation Protecting and Enhancing Women’s Ability to Obtain Safe, Legal Abortion Services without Delay or Government Interference.” This policy was provisionally approved in 2007 and is now under full review and will be considered for approval at the 2008 Annual Meeting.

The ATF also has subcommittees focusing on communications and scientific sessions. Join us to ensure that abortion issues are well represented within APHA. To get involved in the Task Force...

crushilepsy @ 2008-06-30T19:17:00

2008-06-30T23:17:53Z

Here is a brief video of Hattie being lazy with a stick in the hot Summer sun.

crushilepsy @ 2008-06-19T20:53:00

2008-06-20T00:57:49Z

This lady is my new idol (NSFW)

crushilepsy @ 2008-06-19T17:12:00

2008-06-19T21:12:47Z

This is my zen:

Thank you, Envirokidz

2008-06-10T01:37:36Z

For incorporating my favorite things:

- lemurs
- baby lemurs
- chocolate
- peanut butter
- cereal
- organic stuff
- a reason to eat cereal for dinner

crushilepsy @ 2008-06-09T19:03:00

2008-06-10T00:23:45Z

Blah, blah it's freakin' 96 degrees and hot outside, but it's summery, so fun is here and my hair is crazy. NYC in the summertime is amazing because there are so many free things to do, plenty of people who hang the fuck out, and there are subway and/or bike accessible beach/water adventures.

I had a very summery weekend:
- Took L. to Coney Island (for his first time) where we ate funnel cake (bad idea), went on a ride called the Polar Express in which you go around in a circle real fast while hip-hop jams are playing, in front of a mural of a polar bear DJing with Tupac and Biggie on either side, and chilled on the beach in a lifeguard chair

- My clinic escorting at Planned Parenthood was not exactly summery, but we got mad props from some people walking by
- A bunch of us danced at the Rub and it was a good time
- Met up with Liz at Governor's Island where some weird jazz nostalgia concert was happening, accompanied by Charleston dance lessons and junk. It was my first time on the island. Next time I will bring my bike!
- Hattie is all slow and sleepy from the heat

Future summer things:
- Hang with friends
- Fix my bike
- Wear more skirts and dresses
- Continue my armpit hair experiment
- Little or no make-up
- More beach times
- Swimming
- Picnics
- Park times

crushilepsy @ 2008-03-28T11:05:00

2008-03-28T15:12:48Z

After 5+ months of working at the epicenter of "Law & Order" filming, I finally had my first L&O celebrity sighting:

If only he looked at me like that instead of holding his head down in hopes that I didn't recognize his bashful-looking red face.

Since this is like collecting Pokemon cards, I clearly need to catch the following:
- My doppelganger, Julianne Nicholson (not sure if she's still on)
- Christopher Meloni! (unlikely because they mostly film court scenes around here, but I think they may actually film some police precinct scenes in my office building)
- Chris Noth! (see above)
- Bonus: The person walking around with Jerry Orbach's eyeballs

Cute

2008-03-27T17:05:42Z

Next week, there is a double bill of "Rock n Roll High School" and "Assault on Precinct 13" at BAM. I messaged my friend Nick about it.

Me: Beer is mentioned, too. Too bad I have a statistics midterm the next day.

Nick: here's a statistic: 100% of party animals prefer beer to midterms. study that.

vs.

crushilepsy @ 2008-03-26T12:57:00

2008-03-26T17:04:02Z

My abstract was accepted to do a poster presentation of my domestic abortion policy analysis project in a few weeks. This is good news, but I am nervous because I have a crippling fear of public speaking. How do I cure this in 2 weeks?

Crown Heights

2008-03-22T14:56:27Z

- Drank homebrewed beer
- Ate vegetarian patties at 1:00 am
- Had a group of West Indian kids yell "white girl" and then, when that failed, "Jennifer" at me to get my attention. The latter made me LOL

I love the Internet

2008-03-13T04:13:09Z

Teenage Feelings

2008-03-07T15:46:49Z

Lately I am feeling really connected to my punk/riot grrrl/activist roots. Sometimes I forget that I actually used to do shit. Now I want to fuck shit up (FSU) in a major way.

Anyway! I think I can attribute much of this to my organizing class and getting my degree at a program which integrates social justice issues. This feels very right and life-affirming to me.

Tomorrow is International Women's Day. To my NYC friends, this is happening:
3/8 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

Jennifer Sunderland, Vice-Chair of the Redstockings Allies and Veterans Social Wage Committee, will speak at an event sponsored by the Brooklyn-Queens chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW). Sunderland will present on the unfinished agenda of women's liberation movement in the U.S.- what obstacles women still face and what we need to move forward.

Saturday, March 8, 2008 from 3pm – 5pm.
The Church of Gethsemane
1012 8th Avenue (between 10th and 11th Streets)
Park Slope, Brooklyn (Take the F train to 7th Avenue)
For Questions about the event call Sherry @ 718 263-7638

Also, to my Boston friends: I will be in town next month for this conference at Simmons! Maybe we can hang.

crushilepsy @ 2008-02-18T18:06:00

2008-02-18T23:18:06Z

Today was warm and I've been too lazy to attack this pile o'work, so I went on a walk just to listen to some music and document some of my favorite everyday neighborhood sights. I'm collecting them here if you'd like to look.

(Taxi cab graveyard on 20th Street)

Unfortunately I could not get a clear shot of the mannequin factory since I don't have a fancy camera or nothin'.

crushilepsy @ 2008-02-06T12:40:00

2008-02-06T17:41:13Z

This weather feels like love and hope. Thank you, Jesus.