JQuery :: Passing Information Using Data()?

I am using jqueryUI dialog, and want to pass some data to it. data() seems the best method, right? The following works. $(".delete").click(function(){$("#dialog-delete").data('row','Hello').dialog("open");}); Now instead of just passing a single value, I want to pass an element. I tried the following, but am obviously doing something wrong. $(".delete").click(function(){$("#dialog- elete").data('row',$(this).parent()).dialog("open");});