hi, i'm jenn

my parents are in China for the next two weeks. here is the first email.

So not much to say about Beijing yet. Arrived late yesterday, somewhat comatose, and checked in to a gorgeous hotel All I can tell you is that I have never seen so many skyscrapers or bikes in one city.

So for my fans who think I speak an awesome Chinese at work… it’s clearly not the right dialect. Joined some other lawyers and spouses for dinner in the hotel last night at a Chinese style restaurant. Equipped with my food list I marched into the restaurant feeling very confident (and hungry) Nothing on the menu resembled what I had on my allowed/forbidden food list. There were translations on the menu, but those required someone to translate the English. For example, can anyone out there tell me what bran dough is? Sounded hi fibre and good for the digestion, but looking at the hideous grey color made it impossible to even taste. Mixed into a cabbage and lettuce concoction, it destroyed any potential that dish may have had. Excited to see lettuce wraps on the menu, I suggested we order 2 of those (Used to be a favorite at Donalda til it disappeared from the menu) It actually looked familiar and I was just about to jump in when I decided to check what the finely chopped meat in the dish was. “Chicken?” I asked pointing to the only waiter who spoke a bit of English..Smiling he said no chicken….. pigeon. Now friends, why didn’t anyone tell me to add “no pigeon” to the forbidden food list. And forget “sauce on the side” It has a function camoflaging the disgusting visual of a lot of the food. Even green tea seemed to have giant spinach leaves floating at the top making it impossible to drink unless you put a strainer in your mouth

OK Slept in 2 hour spurts.. Up since 5. Will hit the gym before the day starts and then off to the silk market before the conference kicks off at noon. Keep you posted

XXOO

Hungry in Beijing

Is it strange that my reaction to this note is a wave of jealousy? I so wish I was traveling right now to a silk market. I guess my bookclub is a pretty close second.

this weekend dayna and jesse got married after a whirlwind romance.

it only lasted 11.5 years.

anyway, i was honoured to march for dayna, and as a bridesmaid (one of 14!) wore a black floor-length dress.

while i managed to stay clean all evening as far as food was concerend, i dropped the hem of the dress in the toilet. gross.

and that’s why i’ll stick to short dresses whenever possible.

Since I’ve been pretty lame so far this year, I decided to blog about my friend. A friend of mine who shall remain nameless took it upon herself to post this on craigslist when she found her boyfriend’s sock at her place:

Lone sock, looking for my sole mate. I like taking long walks in the park, and going for the occasional freewheeling spin in the dryer. Sometimes love stinks, but if you think we’d make a good pair, call me. If you’re tall, dark, and spotted, then you’re a shoe-in.

Now, I think that’s funny, and pretty cute. Apparently so did a bunch of other folks and so she’s replied numerous replies to her ad. For example:

[Subject: I used to be Black but the colour faded in the washing machine… ]
So now I am white.. 29 years old and looking for a friend and a “Sole Mate” I am crazy, I am insane but you can’t blame me for that because I am an I.T. Specialist
whom supports users on a daily basis so… I am losing my sanity every now and then I start cooking…
Yep… Cooking helps me calm down..

Wanna hear more about me? Drop me a line and we will take it from there.

KrAzy Jay[ed: this one also had a picture of a white sock puppet.]

There are also the kinda sweet ones like:

Hi,
I’m responding to thank you for making me laugh! I still can’t get the grin off my face! LMAFO Fantastically creative with a puch!
I’m probably way too old for your taste (48) and don’t worry about it. I’m a big boy and I haven’t stalked anybody since Kindergarten. Following is an imaginary post in exchange for the funny enteraining laugh you brought my way. No response required unless you want to.
Subject: Looking for a Button. If you are cute and round, I’d like to meet you.
If you are colourful and hold your end of things, even better.
If you lose your grip sometimes and bounce around in the dryer, well I understand, so do I.
If your best friends are in bottles, I congratulate you for staying out of one yourself.
If you can fill this gap in my life () you will hold me together.
If you can sew yourself into the weave of my life, then I will finally be able to button up and stay warm.

The plain creepy funny ones [Edit: This email actually had a picture attached to it — a pair of the same socks. So on second thought it’s not really creepy]:

This may seem a tad forward, but have you ever considered a three-way?

The poetic ones:

[Subject: Love is good for the sole]
A perfectly ordinary day it was, and now here you are.

Those days, how I remember. Which was you, and which was me? I forget…

The walks in the park, our perfect synchrony. And how the static crackled between us in the dryer – how could we ever be apart?

You who are my equal, my exact measure, return to me, that the tips of our toes might touch again…

And of course the stupid ones:

….yuck!!! Wash that damn sock, I could smell it through my computer screen 😛

I think the boyfriend better keep a better eye on his socks next time

it’s 5768. this year i promise to make my blog less lame.

shana tova!

i am the worst packer ever. after 5 years in a coop program where i moved every four months, and several travel adventures you’d think packing for 10 days of heat would be a piece of cake. no worries about rain or cold, you know?

but it’s not.

time to pull stuff out. i suspected 14 skirts might be a few too many. sigh.

as excited as i am to go away on vacation, i’m a little nervous about what i’ll be missing here in toronto while i’m gone.

funnest. summer. ever.

tomorrow i’m off to israel for 13 days. i’m leading a bus of 18-26 year olds from across canada on a CIE/Taglit/Birthright trip. I haven’t been there since my own more than two years ago. And I can’t wait.

I’ve also decided that it’s critical to the trip that I find ipod speakers to bring along. I’m weird like that.

Pictures along the way will be posted to the CIE photo gallery (I’m national 7) in case you’re bored or something.
Now to get through the rest of the work day.

I was on a call talking about blogging with some people far more senior than myself. I wanted to give them an example of a group blog that’s used to share information (not just as a journal). So I told them to check out blogto.com as an example of a blog I read often to get information about what’s going on in this lovely city.

Needless to say that this is the top post right now. Boy, these women are going to be very impressed with me.

Last week was EX.I.T.E. camp here at the Toronto Lab. I was one of the co-chairs.

Camp got a lot of media coverage which was fun. It was also great to see how creatively they spelled the camp name. At least they got mine right (well, one called me jen).

For the record, it’s EX.I.T.E. (EXploring Interests in Technology and Engineering). How hard is that?

Now that camp is over, I can start having a life again. Which means more fun stuff for me, and more blog posts for you. Wooo!