Searching for work - will you hire me?

That's not actually a desperate plea. I have some options, I believe, though none of them confirmed on any end.

Today I met with one of Zhang Ting's friends (Zhang Ting, you'll remember, is Jiuma's best friend), Cathy, who works as a department head at Aigo, one of the largest electronics companies in China. She seemed to take a liking to me as she showed off Aigo's latest products, including an MP5 player -- you heard that right; it's a device shaped like a PSP that can do live streaming without a monthly fee -- and an audio book thingy majig that utilizes a laser scanner (you aim it at a page in the book and a voice will read that section; there's Chinese and English). Long story short, Cathy happens to know a person who used to head the advertising department of City Weekend, a weekly lifestyle magazine for expats (they also have a blog, which is now on my blogroll), and she worked for five years at China Radio International. We were sitting in the downstairs coffeehouse (Blenz) when she offered to connect me with editors at both places. Emails were exchanged and I went home happy (though after reading this City Weekend story, I'm a) a little angry, and b) slightly perplexed at why Cathy insisted the place would be a perfect fit for me).

INTERLUDE: I was able to meet with Cathy only after Jiuma couldn't deliver a supposed meeting with one of the Olympics Organizing Committee's chairmen. I didn't really expect anything, but she stringed me along for three weeks. Anyway.

I've also emailed an editor at That's Beijing, which runs TBJ (blogroll), and Simon Elegant, Time's Beijing Bureau Chief, who I'll be meeting after the weekend (Lexis-Nexis, you're about to be logged in to). And tomorrow I'll email the Beijing Bureau Chief of NPR's Marketplace and a Sports Illustrated writer who runs the FanNation Beijing Olympics Blog (blogroll, again).

Sorry, this is way too much name-dropping... I'm ashamed of myself.

(Editing video of Fang Fang and Fei Fei... I think you'll like this...)

UPDATE, 12:16 a.m.: I jumped the gun: the video won't upload. Still pictures may have to suffice.