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Jessica

@wordridden.bsky.social
150 followers 123 following 59 posts

Translator, foodie, traveler, crafter, reader, writer, musician. Swimmer (wild and otherwise), balletomane and (not-our-)cat lady. She/her 🇪🇺🇺🇦 Also at @wordridden@sunny.garden on Mastodon

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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
There's this scam targeting writers/translators where you get an email from someone raving about your book and promising to help you promote it. Translators typically get emails addressed to the authors they've translated, so every once in a while I get a message addressed to "Mikhail Gorbachev."
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Sitting at home listening to the distant soundcheck for Nick Cave's gig in Brighton today: "I wanna tell you about a girl, one two three, check check" 😂
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
The exhaustion of having migraine and constantly questioning your body: Is this a normal headache or a migraine attack? Just a sore neck or a migraine attack? Just tiredness or a migraine attack? Do I need food or quiet time or caffeine or aspirin, or do I need migraine meds? (Today: migraine meds)
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
I see one of my translations on this table ☺️ (American Journalists in Hitler's Germany, by Norman Domeier - the red book peeking out on the left!)
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Surprised and sad to hear that Hampshire College (Massachusetts) is closing permamently this fall. I went to nearby Mount Holyoke, and though we lightly poked fun at Hampshire and its unconventional ways, it was an integral part of the five-college community in the Pioneer Valley. 😞
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
I've had a client all but begging me for the past week to take on a job I wasn't sure I had time to do. Yesterday I finally relented and said I'd squeeze it in, and today they came back to me and asked if I could do it for a lower rate. 😑😑😑
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
I'm watching a livestreamed Einstürzende Neubauten performance, and after banging on pipes and playing cymbals with drills and screeching into mics for the past hour, the band is now standing around sipping sparkling wine and toasting 46(!) years of existence, and it's incongruous and adorable.
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
My favorite Irish word at the moment is grianghrafadóireacht (photography) because it's very fun to say. Choose your pronounciation: www.teanglann.ie/en/fuaim/gri... (grian - sun, grianghraf - photograph, grianghrafadóir - photographer, grianghrafadóireacht - photography)
teanglann.ie
Irish Pronunciation Database: grianghrafadóireacht
How to pronounce 'grianghrafadóireacht' in Irish
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Reposted by Jessica
Salter Cane @saltercane.com · 09/03/2026
Join us on Saturday, April 4th in the Hope and Ruin, Brighton—Salter Cane, The Equatorial Group, and Skyscrapers! Tickets are £8: saltercane.com/tickets
A poster for the gig showing all four members of Salter Cane. The poster reads: Salter Cane & The Equatorial Group & Skyscrapers, Saturday, 4th April, The Hope & Ruin 7:30pm saltercane.com
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
Eating a cold Cornish pasty while standing in the drizzle waiting for a bus feels like peak Autumn in England.
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
I'm swimming 10k again in November for Cancer Research UK - any donations are much appreciated! fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/jessica...
fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org
Jessica's Giving Page
I took on this challenge last year to support Cancer Research UK and kick off my training for an English Channel relay swim (which I didn't wind up swimming, but that's another story!). This year I'm...
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
I got to talk to the Financial Times recently about how "AI" is destroying my personal career, the translation industry as a whole, and everything else. Yay. on.ft.com/4hczb8b
on.ft.com
‘They wanted me to make myself obsolete’: translators find themselves at the sharp end of AI
[FREE TO READ] One linguist on the challenges of working in an industry most at risk from automation
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
I finally wrote (in detail) about not swimming the English Channel - but going along for the ride anyway! wordridden.com/post/1067
wordridden.com
Jitterbugs 2025 - WordRidden
The journey isn’t always what you think it’s going to be
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
I went to a Channel swim training camp in Ramsgate this weekend and it kind of wrecked me. But you don't know how these things will go until you try, and I've certainly tried: wordridden.com/post/1058
wordridden.com
Channel dreams (and realities) - WordRidden
I can’t say I didn’t try
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
Remember I mentioned that I'm going to swim the English Channel with a relay team in August? Well, that's just four(!) months away. This is really happening. 😱 My team is raising money for Mind, a UK mental health charity, and all donations are much appreciated! www.justgiving.com/page/jitterb...
justgiving.com
Swimming the English Channel - Jittergbugs 2025 team fundraiser for Mind
Help Jitterbugs English Channel Relay raise money to support Mind
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Reposted by Jessica
Salter Cane @saltercane.com · 13/04/2025
Thanks to Union Music Store for having us ’round for yesterday’s in-store gig—that was fun!
The four members of Salter Cane—Matthew, Chris, Jessica, and Jeremy—standing in row in front of the small Union store in Lewes.
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
I thought Brexit was the prime example of a country shooting itself in the foot, but no.
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
I swam 10k in all of November, and I’ve swum 8k in the past five days alone. Channel training is getting REAL. 🏊🏻‍♀️
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
“Thursday, March 12, 2020, was the last really ‘normal’ day…” Five years ago. The start of the first entry in what turned out to be my Journal of the Plague Year. wordridden.com/post/771
wordridden.com
A Journal of the Plague Week - WordRidden
Life in the time of Coronavirus
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
Acknowledging the fact that every band photo is inherently cringe to some extent, I still think we did a pretty good job in the practice room yesterday by setting the timer on a phone, which was perched on a drum on a crate on an amp. Take that, Anton Corbijn!
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
I know that Trump and his cronies and collaborators will go down in history as the villains they so clearly are, but it's cold comfort to those of us stuck with them in the present.
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
Every day I wake up and think I can't be any more enraged and disgusted and horrified by the news coming out of the US, and every day I am proven wrong.
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
On hold with @octopus.energy and they're Rickrolling me 😭
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
I bought some waterproof bone-conducting headphones for swimming and was confused by so many people online saying they couldn't work out how listen to music through them—until I realized they'd never used an MP3 player before. I am an old. (But an old with an ample collection of MP3s, haha!)
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
I've done my utmost lately to avoid being sucked into the black hole of American politics, though I dip in lightly to stay broadly informed of what's happening and what might be in store for us all. But even these light dips now have me screaming inside. Just absolutely fucking *screaming*
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Reposted by Jessica
Jeremy Keith @adactio.com · 21/01/2025
> When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find that far more, and far more hideous, crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion. — C.P. Snow 🔗 adactio.com/notes/21662
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Today my swim coach (and coach of our Channel relay team) looked at me and said "you should consider a solo." As in a solo Channel crossing. HAHAHA no. I am NOT considering a solo, but I can't lie: my already substantial swimmer's ego was massively stoked. I'm swimming into the weekend like 👸🏼👸🏼👸🏼
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
Sunday brunch recommendation: Çılbır - Turkish poached eggs and garlic yogurt with Aleppo pepper 🥚🌶️ ozlemsturkishtable.com/2016/12/poac... Neighbourhood Café in Belfast (and now Austin?! - neighbourhood.cafe) does an outstanding version of this.
ozlemsturkishtable.com
Poached Eggs with Garlic Yoghurt, Turkish Style - Çılbır | Ozlem's Turkish Table
We Turks love eggs done many different ways; one of our favorite ways to enjoy egg is as being poached and served over garlic yoghurt, a special dish called Çılbır in Turkish.
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 11/01/2025
is finally deleting all her old tweets.
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
I feel like they could have been more specific about which part of this product is made with recycled plastic
A bag of Tyrrell's mature cheddar and chive potato chips/crisps. A banner on the front of the bag says "now made with 25% recycled plastic", but it does not specify that the plastic is in the bag, not the crisps.
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
You wait ages for a book and then two come along at once! I just got copies of my most recent translation: "American Journalists in Hitler's Germany" by Norman Domeier. I really enjoyed working on this, and the publisher was great. This industry can be quite thankless, but sometimes things work out.
A hardback book titled "American Journalists in Hitler's Germany" by Norman Domeier, translated by Jessica Spengler. The top half of the cover is red with white type, and the bottom half is a black and white photo of Hitler standing with three American journalists.
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
Yesterday I did my last swim for the Swim 10k challenge for Cancer Research UK - I reached 14.7k total in November! I’ll keep the donation page up for a few days in case anyone wants to make a last-minute contribution. Thank you all so much! 🩷🩵 fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/jessica...
A picture of me standing at dusk near an outdoor pool surrounded by glass walls. I'm looking at the camera and bundled up wearing a bright blue Cancer Research UK bobble hat, a sort of matching blue and grey scarf, and black-rimmed eyeglasses. The bright dot of Venus is just visible in the upper left of the picture, and the horizon is still orange from the sunset.A graphic of a yellow trophy against a bright blue background that says "Challenge complete! 10k accomplished!" for the Cancer Research UK Swim 10k Challenge.
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
It was over two and a half years in the making, but I finally have copies of my first (and hopefully not last) translation for Oxford University Press. Thank you for naming the translator, OUP! #NameTheTranslator #Translation #History
A box of copies of the book "Europe in the Long Twentieth Century: A Transnational History" by Christoph Cornelissen, translated by me. Both of our names are on the cover, which is black and white and also features a picture of the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, a strikingly geometric building in Rome designed in 1938.
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
I'm going to swim the English Channel in a relay team next year! Read about it here: wordridden.com/post/1045) But first, I'm swimming 10k in Nov. for Cancer Research UK. Donations are most welcome (and thank you to everyone who's already donated!) 🩷💙 fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/jessica...
fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org
Jessica's Giving Page
I'm taking the plunge (literally!) and doing the Swim 10k Challenge in November for Cancer Research UK. If you could show your support with a small donation, I would really appreciate it!
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Jessica @wordridden.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
I resolved to cut down on my social media use and then promptly signed up for a new social media service. Hi, folks. To set the tone for all posts to follow, here's a picture of Coco. She's not our cat, but she doesn't seem to know that.
A long-haired tabby cat with a fluffy white chest, white paws and pale green eyes, sitting upright on a wooden deck against a garden fence, bathed in sunlight. She's staring straight at the camera and doesn't seem thrilled about having her picture taken.
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