Happy mother's day to all moms but especially my mom. QUACK.

Jen

The semester is winding down and things are getting crazier. I've been hanging in there though.

In other news, my husband, Edouard, has decided to start a tumblr about karaoke. Every couple of days he posts a song he sang and talks about whether or not it rocked everyone's world or inspired an exodus to the smoking area of the bar. Another twist: he's been singing one song from each page of our karaoke DJ's song list, which is sizable. It's a pretty cool blog and I STRONGLY URGE FOR YOU TO CHECK IT OUT. It's a good window into the world of karaoke. He'll also include some tips on karaoke etiquette in the future (yes, there is such a thing!)

Jen

The semester is winding down and things are getting crazier. I've been hanging in there though.

In other news, my husband, Edouard, has decided to start a tumblr about karaoke. Every couple of days he posts a song he sang and talks about whether or not it rocked everyone's world or inspired an exodus to the smoking area of the bar. Another twist: he's been singing one song from each page of our karaoke DJ's song list, which is sizable. It's a pretty cool blog and I STRONGLY URGE FOR YOU TO CHECK IT OUT. It's a good window into the world of karaoke. He'll also include some tips on karaoke etiquette in the future (yes, there is such a thing!)

Jen

The best tip I can give to aspiring cartoonists/artists is to keep working. Hard work is what will make you successful in the end. I often hear people say that they don't have enough time, but usually it's a matter of that person not making the time. Be prepared to have many nights of not enough sleep and be prepared to stay at home on some weekends. If you can't do that, you're not ready.

Jen

For some reason I recently recalled a memory in which I went to an event with a person thinking that we were going as peers/colleagues only to realize throughout the day that this person thought that it was a date. Boy was that awkward!

I'm being purposely vague b/c even though I haven't talked to this person since that embarrassing day, there's still a chance that he might still be reading this webcomic. I don't know why I thought of that day back in 2006 or why I'm writing about it, but I just felt compelled to...

Anyway, like I said, there was an event in NYC that I needed to go as a professional and someone asked me if I wanted to meet up with him there. I had communicated with that person via online correspondences and since he was a fellow professional I agreed, thinking "hey we'll chat for an hour or so and then go on our separate ways."

Nope, it did not happen that way. Because he followed me. EVERYWHERE.

I tried to gently hint that I wanted to be on my own because I would say stuff like "Hey, I'm going to check out the top floor- I'll see you later?" or "Yeah, I think I'm going to step out and get something to eat"- basically making it clear that I wanted some me time. Unfortunately, instead of picking up on this and responding "Ok see you later!" he said "Oh, I'll join you!" I didn't want to be rude so I was just like "Oh.... ok...."

At lunch, it was becoming increasingly clear that this dude thought we were out on a date. He offered to pay for my food, but because I did not want him to see our interaction as anything more than it was, I declined. I also turned my body completely away from his and avoided eye contact (also b/c he ate with his mouth open). I could sense him feeling more awkward as I was becoming more distant... I felt bad about it but I didn't want to lead the guy on.

He still followed me around though.

At the end of the day I told him that I was leaving a little early because I had to buy a new dress for some other professional event that I had to go to. I was pretty relieved knowing that my awkward day with this person would be over for good. But it wasn't. Because he actually invited himself to go to the clothing store with me!

I remember looking at him quizzically and telling him that shopping with me would probably be boring and that he would have a better time staying at the event where we were, but he insisted that it would be "no problem." This is before I grew a set of New York balls, so being less assertive, I acquiesced and let him accompany me.

I remember going to some clothing store and pulling out some clothes that looked good for this other event that I was attending... but I felt incredibly awkward about trying them on knowing that this dude was outside waiting for me. I mean... that's a boyfriend/best friend job and this dude was definitely not my boyfriend... he was not even a friend. Finally, overwhelmed with feelings of awkwardness, I told the guy that I didn't see anything I liked and that I was going to go home. Thankfully he did not offer to come with me!

He did, however, ask me out to a gallery opening that was the next evening and I told him I couldn't but that we would keep in touch over e-mail (b/c he was visiting NYC from some other part of the country). I think he got the hint and we never talked again.

So some tips:

1) Don't make a professional event a date.

2) If someone tells you that they're going somewhere, don't continually invite yourself to come along. There's a give and take in relationships, you know?

3) If someone's working their hardest not to touch you or face you directly, they're probably not interested.

Jen

Well I've been very very absent from this blog but I swear I have a good excuse. For one, I've been really busy with work, comics, art, writing journal articles (I'm being published this July!), writing abstracts for conferences, and worrying about Ed's visa. The good news is that Ed is back in the United States finally and is now just waiting for his Green Card, which will supposedly arrive sometime this month. The bad news is that i'm still insanely busy. That said, I'm going to try harder to add stuff to this blog. I've just been distracted!

Jen

Hey all! Other than it being the Superbowl, it's Ed's birthday. Unfortunately, he's still in Paris and it looks like it will be another month before he can come back to the US. It's really sucky news and it's been getting me down a bit.

Thankfully, I'm pretty good at distracting myself, so I've been keeping busy rebuilding my buffer for this comic, writing articles, preparing for recitation sessions at NYU (I'm teaching again this semester!), taking French classes, etc. So yeah... I've been ok!

I've had a couple of crazy things happen to me here in NYC in the meantime:

1) A man and woman- who were complete strangers- got in a fight on my train going uptown. The woman swung her bag toward her opponent's head but missed, hitting me and this other, much older, woman in the head instead. Everyone in our car rushed to opposite ends to give these people room, but then an undercover cop broke up the fight! I had heard that cops go undercover on the trains, but I had never seen it before! BTW, this didn't happen late at night... nope, this was in the middle of the afternoon!

2) Some jerk stole my coat! Thankfully, it wasn't a nice coat and I didn't have anything important in the pockets... but dang, that was the first coat I had ever bought in NY. It was going on 7 years and still in perfect condition- pretty good for $35!

Seriously though, what kind of person steals someone's winter coat? I'm hoping it was an accident!

Anyway, happy sports day. Now that I have some allegiance to both Boston and New York, I'm not sure if I'll care about the outcome either way.

Jen

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't been writing in the blog but I've been very busy and preoccupied lately. For one, I've been travelling a lot and have been very tired. After going to LA to see my family, I went back to NYC for about a day and then went back on a plane to cross the Atlantic again to see Edouard in Paris. For the time being, Edouard is in Paris waiting for his visa interview with the US Embassy. That's going to take place on Jan. 31st. Unfortunately, during this time he cannot come back into the United States, which is why I went all the way back to that part of the world for Christmas and New Year's- I had not seen him since October 7th!

Anyway, I got back from Paris last Wednesday. I was exhausted from all of the travelling but I still had to do stuff like reestablish my comics buffer, clean the apartment, and do an assortment of other chores around the city.

It was a relatively easy transition for me to be back in New York after being in Egypt for so long. For one, I missed how everything in the United States functions properly (such as showers and electrical outlets). Furthemore, compared to Cairo, New York City is sparkling clean, and it is nice to know that at my next job, I'll actually have a toilet.

That said, it's still jarring to come back here. The standard of living in the United States is much higher, especially compared to rural Egypt. Americans take for granted so many luxuries that simply don't exist for many Egyptians... it's strange, and on some level disturbing, to realize this difference first hand. It's also difficult to move from an environment in which one is living with 8-10 other people to a completely empty apartment. While I do like my privacy (which wasn't too much of a problem in Egypt b/c I had my own room), I made friends with some cool people over there and it's strange not to see them everyday.

Anyway, I'm getting back into some sort of routine here so things are feeling more normal. It's still a little hard without Ed around though.

Jen

Back safely from Egypt. I'll be sure to write about the last 3 weeks there... but for now, I must get ready to go back home to LA!

Jen

Hey everyone! I'm still alive in Egypt!

I was actually in Cairo last Thursday and Friday, which is when this series of sit ins and demonstrations started. I had planned to go to the museum on Friday but this nice Egyptian dude at the front desk (who lived in Southern California for 22 years!) told me not to... that's when he told me about some people attacking the Copts in his neighborhood (Shouba). Other Egyptians told me to avoid downtown as well, so in Zamalek I stayed.

Zamalek is actually quite safe (possibly to due with the fact that numerous embassies are located there), and people have said that it pretty much stayed normal even during January's revolution. This proved to be the case on Friday, and today our field directors went and said that you wouldn't even know there was violence happening downtown.

As for the middle of the desert- things pretty much remain the same so far. It's still pretty quiet and dusty. We even played a round of bocce.

So yes, I'll be in touch- but all is well for now!

Jen

Sorry I've been so bad about keeping you all updated about my adventures in Egypt. Most of the time I've been exhausted, working, or hanging out with the other people on this dig. It's been a pretty good time so far.

This weekend is Eid, which is a Muslim holiday commemorating Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son to God. Because of his willingness to follow God, God has Abrhaman kill a ram in place of his son (I think that's the story, anyway) During Eid, one sees a lot of sheep and other animals get slaughtered, which means a ton of blood in the street... with the occasional decapitated head. It's a pretty interesting sight to behold.

Eid also means that we folk at the dig house get an extra day off so we headed to the Fayuum to see some cool waterfalls and an awesome prehistoric whale bone park. If you're ever in Egypt I recommend joining a tour or hiring some guy to drive you out to Wadi el-Hitan to see it- not even for the bones but for the sweet sand dunes and desert structures. It's the kind of place that can't properly be captured on film. You're going to have to go there yourself to appreciate its majesty to the fullest. The hassle to arrange this trip is worth it for sure.

Jen