Big Brother at the White House

How cool is this? My spikey-haired, motorcycle riding big brother, Dave Chen,

spent some time at the White House with one of Obama's chief strategists!

http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/issues/current-issue/articles/0409-green-machine/1/#

Purpose Driven Society

I loved what my brother, Dave Chen, wrote on his blog as he reflected on Inauguration Day. Just imagine that: our country, a Purpose-Driven society. That we lived by our old values of kindness. Empathy. Citizenship. That our public policy and foreign policy reflected that.

Obama won’t return our nation to its past glories, but he can do something even greater, and that is lead us to our next greatness.

as he has already said many times…and we may not be hearing him…we need to translate that hope into the true grit that gives us the resolve to tackle these very real, deep changes in big parts of our culture, society, and economy…all in the backdrop of a very much changed new world order and physical environment.

will he lead us into a “new” contract with americans…and the world. maybe to steal a concept from rick warren: will he lead us to build a purpose driven society


Today I am grateful for a new face for America, for hope, for our next greatness.

Jia Jia Tang Bao: Best Soup Dumpings in Shanghai!

My friend, Yucca (aka She Who Knows Everyone in the World), took a few of us to The Best Dumpling Spot in Shanghai: Jia Jia Tang Bao (Home Soup Dumplings).

Imagine a little packet of yumminess, stuffed with crab or pork or salted egg, nestling in a sipful of hot soup. Welcome to xiao long bao, one of Shanghai's famous dishes. The chefs at Jia Jia Tang Bao deftly make each and every one of your dumplings to order.

The duck-and-chicken blood soup though? I took my no-thank-you bite. And then it was back to my little dumplings.

And just to prove that Yucca Knows Everyone in the World... She brought along two friends who were passing through China on holiday. One of them has worked with my brother, Dave Chen, on a capital campaign for Oregon State University's School of Engineering. It's a small, dumpling-filled world!

COORDINATES:
Jia Jia Tang Bao
90 Huanghe Lu, by Fengyang Lu
Tel: 021-63276878

Hanging with Librarians @ OASL / WLMA, Day 2

A night after crashing catatonic in bed without changing positions for seven hours straight, I'm happy to report that a more alert Me presented at Day Two of the WLMA / OASL Conference in Portland, Oregon.

My audience was skeptical when I told them that I get inspiration for my novels from so many places: travel. Eavesdropping. Daily humiliations.

Case in point: Lorie Ann Grover informed me post-presentation that my shirt rode up everytime I gestured, leaving a big old two inch swath of bare, stretch-marked belly for all in the ballroom to see. *sigh* So reminder to self: before ANY presentation, move in front of a full-length mirror with my outfit to ensure no undue belly baring or otherwise. (Or perhaps an amendment is in order: check outfit before appearing in public. Anywhere. Why? Oh, like the time when I met a certain bigwig's sister AND found out to my horror later that I had bared half my breast in front of her. And people wonder why I am so connected to my inner teen?)

I'm happy to report that I've made a full recovery of today's humiliation. First, I had a great conversation with Liz Gallagher. Then, my brother, Dave Chen, and sister-in-law, Jill, took Lorie Ann and I out to dinner at Biwa, a fantastic little Japanese restaurant with yummy skewers and homemade noodles. Homemade chubby udon noodles--the sumo wrestler of noodles. I will be dreaming about them...

And then Lorie Ann and I whooped it up (okay, looked bleary-eyed at each) in a swanky boutique hotel in Portland.

I am a princess. And I know it. (Live it up, I'm telling myself. In 24 hours, I return to the land o' squat toilets.)