int'l life 2.0: breaking bad news over fb chat

(Runner-up title: Telling Your Mother God is Bunk, the nerd way)

Facebook and twitter have dominated my life recently. In my defense, I'm fifty-five hundred miles away from 99% of the important people in my life and majorly afflicted by rather-not-talk-on-the-phone-disease. As a result, I conduct many of my hi-hello-how-are-yous via online chat (yes, I've heard of skype. skype = phone. duh).

This is an excerpt from an actual conversation with my mother on facebook chat at 5am today:

Sherri
Whaaaaaaat????
OMG

Jen
what what?
huh?

Sherri
Oh, you are are awake right now

Jen
still,
woke up at 6p
i like to be awake and asleep at my leisure

Sherri
Commenting on your post...you don't really do that 'I dunno' business
[ref to my fb status at the time: "So hot right now: Saying "I dunno" instead of "adonai" in all Passover prayers."]
Yes, I know that you have reconfigured the traditional sleep rituals

Jen
I was being funny, but
many of my close friends are atheists

Sherri
Awwwwhhh, sorry to hear that, well, perhaps my need for religious conviction has to do w/ my being almost 50

Jen
haha
yeah

Sherri
I'm old, u r bold

Jen
well I don't believe in the big man upstairs, mom

Sherri
OK, I'm having a heart attack, come home immediately!!!

Jen
what?
you are silly
you KNOW this

Sherri
AAAhhhhhhh!!!!
Gurgle, gurgle

Jen
hahaha
You're being a silly person!

Sherri
OK, so if you really are waking up at 6 PM, how is class going???

Jen
oh i was just napping
class is good
only once a week

Sherri
My kinda class

Jen
yeah, I know!
only 1.5 hrs too
programming class though
so there's a *bit* of HW
but I can do it on my mac
b'c I partitioned the hard drive so I have Linux on my machine :)
heheh (nerd alert!)

Sherri
bless the cell phone cards...and all the other sh** you can do that I don't even understand

Jen
hehee

Sherri
Yes, that's what you went to college to learn, sweetie...good for you

Jen
yup. but I don't want to do that.
I just like to carry it around in my pocket

There was a bit more small-talk nonsense here...

This next part is in reference to her recent (re)nuptials with Matt:

Sherri
We did a real Catholic wedding on March 7th...his 93 yo dad and mi familia all came out...it was really cool
So the religion component really came into play here

Jen
oh wow

Sherri
BTW, u r a baptized Catholic, just in case the Jewish thing doesn't work out

Jen
hhahah
I'm an atheist

Sherri
Aargghhhh.....
Oh, my heart, my heart

Jen
I totally thought you knew that

Sherri
It takes time...

Jen
yup
like evolution

Sherri
Perhaps I can convert...or evolve...you

Jen
nope. doesn't go in reverse

Sherri
Just wait until you become a 30-something, baby

Jen
I'm sure,
I understand why you believe
I just don't

Sherri
We're coming immediately
Soooo, seriously, our school holiday is next week, girl... and I think you could use a pre-emptory parental visit

Jen
no, mom
you cannot come
...

Sherri
ILY, girl and hope to see you sometime in the next decade or two

Jen
yup
ily too!

Fin.