My Sherpa

Saying goodbye is always a difficult thing to do, but lucky for us and our publishing company, we have the chance to say good luck to one of the best employees whose name has graced our masthead. On Friday, Gold Coast magazine will bid adieu to Jennifer Math, our associate editor, my right-hand woman, my sidekick, my sherpa, my cohort, my friend.

Jennifer has been with us for nearly 2.5 years, and it can't be mentioned enough how her impact and talents will be missed. She's revolutionized our front-of-the-book sections and brought in amazing copy editing skills that will undoubtedly be unsurpassed.

But there's a lot of tasks Jennifer performs for our magazine that you might be unaware of. Keeping in line with our Gold Coast editorial department, Hearsay, I present:

6 Things You Didn't Know About Jennifer Math:

1. She's the only magazine member who can wear a child-sized glove.

If you're looking for a good laugh or two, ask Jen to palm a basketball. Or even a tennis ball.

2. She's been called a "workout workhorse."

For one assignment, Jen tested a Metabolic Assessment Profile Test at a local gym. There, the professional trainer asked her to run an ungodly amount of time on a treadmill while wearing an unattractive mask that measured the volume of oxygen her body absorbed. After about a gazillion minutes of running and showing no signs of fatigue (as verified by this oxygen machine), the trainer exclaims, "Man, you're a workout workhorse! Triathletes don't even have the endurance you do!"

3. She's our resident taste tester.

If there's a South Florida key lime pie or mojito of note, Jen's conquered them all. Her expert palate and taste buds have been utilized in every taste test we've done these past 2.5 years.

4. She pronounces "drawer" the good ol' fashion New York way: "drahw-yer."

For the most part, Jen has no trace of her native geographic background in her speech. Except when pronouncing this fun lil' word. Sometimes I'd purposely trick her in saying the word (like, "Where did you put that file, Jen?" "Oh, it's in my drahw-yer.").

5. Jen claims to have a "good" side.

Well, to the rest of us, every side of Jen is her good side, but when taking pictures, please note Jen prefers to be on your left side.

6. She can do a mean Cupid Shuffle.

For last year's annual Florida Magazine Association conference in Orlando, Jen single-handedly showed us why our editorial staff won three fancy-smancy Charlie Awards -- it was because of her post-award ceremony Cupid Shuffle at the Universal CityWalk. Down, down, do your dance, do your dance, Jen.