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    Hi Daddy! (wave)

    By Jennifer 8. Lee | June 28, 2007

    I was very confused by a sudden small spike in traffic this morning as this blog, in its normal course of events (i.e. no external high-volume links), has a few dozen readers a day at best (mostly friends, and a few refers on my Wakiya post from Japan). But there wasn’t a likewise traffic spike from refer links (as of this morning), so these people were typing the site in blind. Not only that the spike was on the Imprint page about Twelve without a spike anywhere else. There was no spike in search engine requests, and I am no where near the top of Google hits for Twelve anyway. My best guess that it went over some mailing list, but I was perplexed what list that would be. And why the Imprint page?

    Now I finally found the answer: My dad.

    According to my mom’s email today.

    Daddy is the one who stalk you all the time. He suggested that I shall translate your website into Chinese to go with yours.

    She also added in a later e-mail.

    He searches your articles and gets on your website all the time. He admires those who can write.

    (My dad, by the way, is a computer programmer, works with numbers and code. Math guy. Probably the main reason I majored in applied math actually. Though on different ends of the subect spectrum we both spend a remarkable amount of time sitting in front of a computer typing).

    My mom, by the way, instant messages — both AIM and Googletalk. — which is pretty good for a Chinese woman in her late 50s who never learned to drive. She is also on Gmail. I remember a few years ago when she surprised me by asking me (whenGmail was still early rollout), “Jingjing, will you invite me to Gmail?” (Jingjing is my Chinese nickname). I was like, “My mom knows Gmail?”

    Any so I sent mom an e-mail about the blog yesterday. What be the fate of the email?

    I forwarded your message to Daddy this morning. He forwarded to the whole company.

    Oh goodness. But at least mystery solved.

    But while we are on the subject of my parents. My book, while on Chinese food, touches a lot on themes of immigration and the American dream. So I decided long ago to dedicate my book to

    Mom and Dad, for moving across oceans so their children could pursue our dreams. And for all the other moms and dads out there who have done the same.

    Topics: Chinese Food | No Comments »

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