According to Stick, it’s ok to eat all the Halloween candy if he says “Trick or treat” while doing so. I wonder if I should buy a second bag so our real trick-or-treaters can have some.
China Bloggers
It’s actually painful for me to pass this on, since I want to win so badly. But it’s still an awesome contest:
Mashable and VisualCV have teamed up to send a Mashable reader to China in November with Robert Scoble, Shel Israel, Sam Lawrence, Christine Lu, Elliot Ng and more. Travel with this group of high-level tech entrepreneurs and leading social media influencers on a multi-city tour of China’s tech sector. Blog about your trip to China with a chance to post on the official China 2.0 Blog and maybe even have a guest post on Mashable. Don’t miss the opportunity of a lifetime. Create and share your VisualCV today to have a chance to be selected as a blogger on the China 2.0 Tour in November.
Sign up here (FOR FREE), create your VisualCV and use it to tell us why you think you should be selected to go on The China Business Network’s upcoming China 2.0 Tour. Share your VisualCV with us at china2.0@visualcv.com so we can select a winner. Good luck!
I entered yesterday, because how could I pass up the chance to go back to China and blog, without all that tedious lesson prep and going to work? I think there’s still another day left to enter, though. Good luck, and if you win, bring me back some hawthorn leather.
Via Visual CV – You Need a Better Resume (seen all over the China blogs but I believe this is the source page)
Posted in Raleigh
Tagged awesome, back to China, bloggers, China, China blog, China Blogs, lifetime, Raleigh, social media, tech, travel
Leave a comment
Everyday Expressions
When I first went to Yantai, I imagined I’d come home and slip effortlessly into fluent Mandarin to quote ancient Chinese wisdom. Fortunately for people who have to put up with me, that didn’t happen.
A few characters have somehow made it into my notetaking, which is completely mindblowing to me. I tried to train myself to write any characters I did know at every opportunity as practice, and some of those words stuck. Which now makes my handwriting extra illegible!
I don’t have any complete phrases, or ancient Chinese sayings, but one Chinese word has made it into our everyday vocabulary. Stick and I both use la da to talk about food, instead of saying spicy-hot-not-hot-hot.
Posted in Raleigh, Yantai
Tagged Beijing:Raleigh, chinese, learning Chinese, mandarin, Meg Vs. Mandarin, Raleigh, Stick, Yantai
Leave a comment
Supervillian Applications
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Joss Whedon’s new project, recently put out a call for supervillains to submit their applications. Stephen Follows sent me his villain, The Garnisher. It’s very Mystery Men, only with music. And garnishing.
The Garnisher – Application to the Evil League of Evil from The Garnisher on Vimeo.
Related: Stephen’s Space Chase
Posted in Other Blogs, Raleigh
Tagged Dr. Horrible, Evil League of Evil, Joss Whedon, mac, other blogs, Raleigh, Rome, Stephen Follows, videos
Leave a comment
Ending A Phonecall with My Sister
“I have to go now, Meggie, my plasmas are solidifying.”
–Beth
Posted in quotes, Raleigh
Tagged Meggie, my sister Bethie, quotable friends, quotes, Raleigh
Leave a comment
Durian Romance
The awesome Mental Floss Blog has a new post on 5 Innovative Ways to Encourage Safer Sex. All 5 are funny – condom ringtones, anyone? — but I just had to share this one.
Ethiopians claim they hate condoms because the smell of latex sickens them. To combat the odor, DKT International, a United Sates nonprofit, created coffee condoms. These dark brown condoms allegedly (I’m not testing the products) taste and smell like the favorite coffee of Ethiopia—the macchiato, an espresso with cream and sugar. … These condoms bolster national identity because Ethiopians claim to have invented coffee. DKT International also created flavored and scented condoms for Indonesia (durian fruit) and China (sweet corn).
Yes, that’s right. Durian fruit flavored condoms.
Durian is a strange Asian fruit, which is either considered a delicacy or one of the most revolting smells on the planet. I fall into the second category… I still regret once putting my nose near a durian just to see if that funny spikey fruit could really be making that sickening rotting smell. (It was!) Even in countries where durian is eaten, durian are not allowed in public places, like on subways, or on planes, or into hotels or hospitals because of the smell.
I find that retching and gagging discourages romance, but to each his own, I guess.
Via mental_floss Blog » 5 Innovative Ways to Encourage Safer Sex
Legally Southern
I got my North Carolina driver’s license yesterday. I just can’t get over how polite and friendly people are here, even in the DMV. It was still a long process, partly because nothing n North Carolina moves quickly, and partly because I was trying to use a Yankee license and a Yankee checkbook, and I don’t have the same last name as the main policyholder on the car insurance. (Is it bad to get married because the paperwork is driving me nuts?)
Out-of-state drivers need to take a written test to get a North Carolina license. One of the questions was about how to pass farm equipment on the road… I guess I’m not in Montclair anymore Most of the questions are pretty simple, here are some sample questions.
Question 1. You are driving along and you see a charging elephant! You should:
A – Act like an aggressive jerk
B – Behave courteously towards the elephant
C – Banana
Question 2. If you get 9 naughty points on your license in 7 years, or 6 points in 5 years following a suspended license or 11 points in 11 years if you’re a Libra, and you are pulled over for an additional moving violation, resulting in 6 more naughty points, what will happen?
A – The cop will be happy.
B – The cop will be sad.
C – The first train arrived in Detroit 2 hours after the second train.
Although I did have to skip a couple questions about what to do in poor driving conditions because there wasn’t any D. – Ask Stick to drive option.
Posted in North Carolina, Raleigh
Tagged cars, driving, Montclair, moving, North Carolina, Raleigh, Stick
Leave a comment
A Different Lens
Last night Stick and I hung pictures in our new apartment, which really means that I framed some of our China photos and artwork, arranged them artistically on the floor and told him I wanted them like that, only on the wall.
When the hammering was finished, we stepped back to admire the effect.
“Do you think those people would be surprised to see themselves hanging on a foreigner’s wall?” Stick asked, pointing at a black-and-white photograph of Yantai men playing street chess.
Then we looked at each other, wondering just how many of our foreigner photo-ops have made it to Chinese photo albums and onto Chinese walls.
Applegate Farms
Applegate Farms is famous because it was my high-school job… ok, actually, it’s famous because some scenes of The Sopranos were filmed there.
My friend Garan worked there for a while, too, but he doesn’t have a hat because his head was too big to wear one. True story. He had to wear a white paper soda jerk hat, but even so girls were STILL chasing him around. Some days it was very hard to be friends with Garan, what with all the girls following him around and agreeing with everything he said.
The Applegates website says they are one of the largest ice cream retailers on the East Coast, and they have new shops all over. We worked at the first Applegates, on Grove Street, which was the only Applegate Farms when we worked there.
Also we had to walk there. Uphill both ways.
Posted in New Jersey, Raleigh
Tagged Applegate Farms, Garan, Jersey girl, New Jersey, Raleigh, unpacking
Leave a comment
