What's In Jen's Purse?

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They say you can tell a lot about a girl by what she keeps in her purse.  So, I got the idea that showing you a picture of my purse and its contents may help you get to know me a little better.

Ice Cubes are favorite gum.  I actually didn’t buy this gum very often because the box was pretty clumsy, but they recently started packaging the gum in plastic boxes.  Yeah, the price went up a little bit, but who cares?  I don’t have to pick gum out of the bottom of my purse anymore!  That’s worth the extra 12-cents or whatever it is.

What does this gum say about me?  That I have bad breath?  That I like peppermint?  I dunno.

That polka-dotted thing you see is a card case.  I use it for my subway pass and the gate key for my condo.

What does this say about me?  I think it says I’m organized.  Why keep your cards in a wallet that you have to unsnap and dig to find when you can keep it in a case that is easily accessible.  It probably also tells you I love accessories.  And purses.  And purse-like things.  I’m girly that way.

The colorful little case you see is a business card case.  If you look closely, you see the LV logo for Louis Vuitton.  Not because I’m a snob – because I found it in Indonesia for like $4.00.  No, it’s not real Louis Vuitton, but admit it, you wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t told you.

 What does this tell you about me?  I have business cards.  Oooohhh.  Ya want one?

The wallet is also a knock-off.  I picked up this little Coach wallet in Indonesia too.  I think it was like $6 bucks.  It’s a really good knock-off and I like how it looks with my purse, which I love, by the way.

The red case is holding my prescription sunglasses.  A girl’s gotta see even when the sun is shining!

You can see the little change purse in the back right corner – pink plaid kinda pattern.  I bought that when I lived in Tokyo.  It’s one of my favorite things.  I love how when I open it up it’s kind of a square shape and my money doesn’t come falling out.  I can see all my coins perfectly well without having to dig.

I think this should tell you that I’m organized, not high maintenance.  So if you were thinking high maintenance, you’re wrong.  So you can stand there in your wrongness and be wrong.

There is a bottle of Tylenol next to the sunglasses.  I’ve got two teenagers.  I get headaches.

The little green bottle next to the gum and the wallet says M-Grain on it.  It’s an essential oil I use for migraine headaches.  Yep.  Teenagers.

You see the Wet Ones?  Those are because I’ve got teenagers, and without a doubt, we get somewhere and one of them has sticky fingers or something on their arm or … whatever.  You’d swear they were six.

The blue case with the girl’s face on it is my passport cover.

The purple thing on top is my inhaler.  That lets you know that I’ve got asthma.

You see the fireball and the Twix?  Yeah.  They’re no longer in my purse.  I figured, “Why bother going to the trouble of putting them back in there when I can just eat them and throw the wrappers away?”  See how efficient I am?

There are two glass bottles standing up behind the passport case.  Both are shades of purple.  Those are oils I use for headaches, stress, etc.  They’re roll on oils so they’re easier to apply than the other stuff.

My orange flowery thing is a tissue holder … in my favorite color!

Last you see three pens.  Why three?  Because chances are someone is going to borrow one from me and not return it, so I will need a back-up.  Two is not enough because what if the one I’m left with runs out of ink?  See?  I’m a planner!

Hoping this little game of, “What’s In Jen’s Purse?” has helped you learn a little more about me.  I’d love to know what’s in YOUR purse!  Drop me an email with a picture and the list of contents.  Let’s see if I can figure some things out about you!

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Tweet Tweet

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Today I spent a good bit of the day on Twitter. I go through phases with this microblogging thing. Some days I may post two or three tweets. Other days it's more like 40 or 50 updates. If you're on Twitter and not following me, I'm @radiojen. If you're not on Twitter and you wonder what this whole crazy thing is about, I have selected a few tweets at random from some of the people I follow.















































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Getting Stupider

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How accurate are those online IQ tests, I wonder? I know I had my IQ tested as a kid, but I don't recall ever knowing what the results were. I took the online test a couple of years ago and scored a 137. I took that same test today and scored a 126. Did my IQ really drop 11 points?

Okay, I'm not really complaining. A 126 is nothing to sneeze at. It's considered above average. But my old score of 137 fell under the "gifted" category. According to IQ.com, only 2.3% of test takers fall into that category. 

So am I getting stupider? If you ask my teenagers, they will probably tell you that I am indeed. And some days I really feel that way. Both kids are taking Algebra One this year and I am completely useless to them. I used to be so good at math. Algebra was one of my best subjects! But now I know nothing. Graph inequalities? What's an inequality? Rational numbers and irrational ones? They all seem irrational to me! The truth is, I really was an excellent math student but I haven't used this stuff in so long. I'm not saying that my kids don't need Algebra. They may. Right now my daughter is talking about becoming a doctor. For sure, she will need her math. My son? Probably won't be an engineer or anything else that requires more than simple addition. And then, it better not be anything more than what he can count using fingers and toes. It's possible that he'll never use this stuff once he puts it down at the end of this school year. I, for one, am looking forward to the end of Algebra One.

I do realize now, though, that most of my learning has come after high school and since college. Most of what I know now and fully understand has come from life's lessons. Not just things like, "treat others the way you want to be treated," but all the stuff I had a hard time grasping during my years of formal education. Things like geography and history. All the travel I've been able to do since I left school has really helped me figure out where on the globe some of these places are. Before moving to Singapore, I didn't know where it was in south east Asia. Until we spent time in Tokyo, I couldn't have told you the difference between Japanese people and Chinese people.  In high school, I took two years of Spanish.  I've since learned about 150 words in Japanese and two phrases in Chinese. No, that's not a lot, but I can also tell the difference between when someone is speaking Chinese and when someone is speaking Japanese. That's not really something you learn out of a textbook.

I've been to Moscow, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. I'll probably also go to Vietnam, South Korea and possibly New Zealand or Australia in the near future. One of my best friends is living in Turkey. I'd love to go visit her. We've been talking about a trip to Israel this November. Nothing beats learning geography through travel. Nothing!

When I was in middle school, I loved to read. Mostly I read teenage stories about babysitting and boys and those types of things. During high school and college I was too busy with school and work to read. But now that I'm a pampered expat housewife, I get more time to read and I've broadened my horizons a bit. One of my favorite books that I would never have read had I not moved to Tokyo is Memoirs of a Geisha. It's a great story with such a wonderful explanation of old Japan. It really helped me understand more of that country's history. When I knew I'd be going to Amsterdam on a 12-hour layover, I read The Diary of Anne Frank. It's strange to me that we didn't read that in high school. Or maybe we did and it meant nothing to me. I really don't remember any of it from my teenage years though, so I don't think I read it in school. I never understood so much about the war or about how the Jews felt during the Holocaust. Reading Anne's story helped me put it all in order in my head. And then visiting Amsterdam and walking through the building and rooms where the Frank family was holed up during this time ... wow! All I can say is wow! It was such a surreal experience to walk the floors where she walked and see the tiny rooms they were forced to live in.  Looking out the windows where she peeked to see the people outside ... all of it was just completely unbelievable. I've never experienced history quite like that. I'm currently reading Mein Kampf. Yes, Hitler's story. It's a very disturbing account of what happened in Nazi Germany. I don't remember learning much about World War II in high school.  I know we studied it, but I don't remember any of what I was taught. This book has really given me a great insight into the mind of an incredibly brilliant, yet evil man. Evil and genius. Those are two great words to describe Adolph Hitler. Some of his plans and ideas were remarkably great. But then he's got these insane beliefs that make me wonder how someone so incredibly brilliant can be so insanely stupid! A friend of mine who also read the book offered this review, which I have to agree with wholeheartedly:

What is most striking about Hitler is that I've yet to feel "his" struggle. He seems more bent on revenge than some admirable cause, much like Edmund Dantes in The Count of Monte Cristo. V in V for Vendetta shared much in common with him as well. They all justified violence as a means for liberation or empowerment. He seems to genuinely care for the German people but his hatred of Jews overshadows his ability to reason or act rationally. His "movement" may have genuine nationalistic ingredients but I can't help but feel it's all too personal in nature. When you see how he treated the SA in later years you'll realize people were recruited to his cause as just the means to his ends.

Travel ... reading ... having conversations with friends about my travel and about the books I'm reading ... these are things that have really broadened my horizons and helped me learn far beyond what any book or classroom could have taught me. So I may not be able to graph an inequality, but I can find Myanmar on a map and I know why Chinese men grow their pinky nail so insanely long.

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When the Wrong Girl Gets the Boy

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Watching the latest Bachelor series got me thinking about something. Why is it we care so much which woman he picks? Why do I care which woman Jake wants to spend the rest of his life with? Does watching this show for an hour and a half once a week give me some special say into who he should marry? I'd like to think so, but it does not. Still, I know I'm not alone on this one.

I was really shocked Jake did not choose Tenley. I just knew he wouldn't pick Vienna. I mean, aside from her age and immaturity, there were so many warning signs. None of the other girls liked Vienna. She just never could say things right, and I think she was a bit too much of a princess. I can't help but feel that since he had to fight for Vienna (to convince the other girls and his parents she wasn't who they thought she was), there was some psychological advantage.

But why do I care? Why do women care that the boy gets the girl and the girl gets the boy? Hollywood has made a fortune off this very thing with movies like Serendipity, City of Angels and 13 Going on 30. We love a good chick flick, don't we ladies?

Somehow we allow ourselves to be sucked into these love stories, reality shows and even the stories our friends share with us about their own lives. We want the nice girl -- the one with the kind heart and the bright smile -- to get the boy. Not the sarcastic, mean girl who seems to be out only to serve her own needs. Yet, that seemed to happen in this case with The Bachelor. Maybe that's just real life. Real life is messy. Bad decisions are made. There are no writers to come fix things, no producers to call the shots and make things pretty, no directors to change things at the last minute so that it's a happier ending tied in a bow.

As a woman, I can honestly say there have been times when I was still dating that I absolutely chose the wrong boy. In high school, the wrong boy got the girl. But just the same, there were times I was overlooked for the "wrong girl."

Of course, I also believe that we can be our own authors, producers and directors. If we don't like the way our lives have turned out, we have the power to change things. Not just in love, but in all facets of our lives. If you don't like your job, quit complaining and find a better one. If you don't like your house, decorate it or sell it and buy a new one. If you don't like your boyfriend, dump him and get a new one. Heck, in this day and age if you don't like your nose, you can even change that.

All this doesn't explain why we care so much that Jake chose Vienna over Tenley. Or even more, why he didn't let Ali come back. That was really his biggest mistake. Again, why do I care? Why do we, as women, care?

Maybe because we were raised from little girls to believe that the prince always chooses Cinderella, and that Cinderella gets to be a princess. We're taught that the kind, sweet, pretty girl always gets the man of her dreams and they ride off on a white horse into the sunset. And when that doesn't happen, maybe it makes us question our fundamental beliefs.

Now, where's my glass slipper?

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Four Eyes

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I've had glasses for almost two months now. It's not the first time I've had specs, but it's been about ten years since I've worn them, so I had forgotten what it was like. The first couple of days I was so glad to have them. It was nice to see again! But now I can tell you I remember quite well why I was so ecstatic after my LASIK eye surgery. I am so sick of wearing glasses already!

Don't get me wrong, I'm appreciative the technology exists to be able to make the nearly-blind see again. But most people with sight issues have the option of wearing contacts. That option does not exist for me. Therefore, I have to put up with the downside of wearing glasses and living on the equator. Namely, it's humid 365 days a year and the sweat causes my glasses to slide down my face. If I'm wearing make-up and it runs, it often gets all over my glasses. Aside from those issues, sometimes your ears start to hurt or your nose hurts from the nose pads.

The upside of wearing glasses, or apparently in my case, is that they make me look smart. The first time the kids saw me in my glasses, both remarked, "Mom, you look so smart!" I'm not sure, but that feels kind of like a back-handed compliment. Are they saying I looked stupid before?

The first glasses I ordered when I was told I'd be going back to four eyes were a pair of red Baby Phat frames. It took them a while to come in, so I went to a one-hour optical and ordered some purple Ralph Lauren frames to wear while I was waiting for the red ones to come in. These back-up frames have now become my favorite ones. Red and purple are great, but I'm thinking I also need green and black and white and silver and gold and ...

I mean, c'mon, if I'm going to be forced to wear glasses, I may as well use them as a fashion statement, right? I get to change my clothes every day. Why not my glasses too?

So, why don't I just wear contacts? Yes, most people who wear glasses also have the option to wear contacts, but not me. I was so blind when I had my LASIK done that they had to shave the maximum off my cornea. That means I have very little cornea left, and what I do have isn't in great shape, from what my eye doctor tells me. So another LASIK surgery is not advisable nor are contacts. So I am definitely going to be wearing glasses the rest of my life. Lucky me.

Fortunately for me, they've come a long way in eyewear. The first glasses I had were large, round chipmunk-looking things. Of course, that was also the style in the 80s. Don't judge. But I've seen some really hideous frames from days gone by and I'm just so grateful I live in a time when I can actually have four eyes and look cool.


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Spaz

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Earlier this week I found out the hole that allows food down my esophagus is a bit of a spaz. I was having issues eating last week, so I had to go to a specialist to find out what was going on. My first thought was acid reflux. I didn't have all the symptoms, but it seemed the most logical. We also thought maybe an ulcer or a hiatal hernia. Turns out it's none of those things. Just a little spaz attack of the esophagus hole thingy (not the technical name).

In order to find this out, though, I had to go in for a surgical procedure. I admit, I was a bit nervous. Anytime they make you slip on a robe that shows your butt, you know that's serious business. They wheeled me into the room where they were going to perform the operation, sprayed my throat with some numbing thing, then injected me with some sedative. Then the doctor shoved a long tube down my throat, into my esophagus then my stomach and took a little peek. When I was allowed out of the recovery room about an hour later, they showed me the video. Pretty freakin' COOL! If they'd have given me a copy, I'd upload it on YouTube so you could check it out, but all they gave me were a few pictures of my insides. I guess it's the closest I'll ever get to a sonogram, so I think I'll scan those and share them with my friends.

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