“Food coloring’ll kill ya.” This would have been my immediate conclusion had I studied Mandarin at any point. A man or woman posted a comment overnight on a recent blog entry of mine. In Mandarin. So I turned to an “expert” — my earnest 15 year-old who has studied the language for several years and spent a month in China this past summer. He both solved the mystery and inspired today’s blog post. Alas, no good deed goes unpunished. Oh, and he will likely demand that I delete this post in its entirety. But I shall persist. 🙂

So to summarize —

1. I need better code names for my confidential informants. 
2. Resist the urge to be helpful to your Luddite dad when he texts you a Mandarin translation request during school hours. A lose-lose situation. 
3. Lay off the midnight eating of the bright red, cancer-causing, braces-gumming candy. The authorities are not above rifling through recycling bins in search of contraband. 
4. Digging is admirable, even in Mandarin! 

Thanks for reading.