God, I'm having such a great time in New York! There was actually one moment when I thought "Why did I leave? And how would it feel to come back?" But I quickly realized that if I moved back it wouldn't be the same. I'm having a great time because I'm on vacation. I'm not worrying about how to pay a sky-high Manhattan rent or looking out my window on a dreary winter day onto a slushy New York street and feeling lonely. I'm hopping from friend to friend, having a grand old time, and psyching myself up to go back to real life in Jerusalem. It's a good life. Especially now that I'll be working for myself again. Scary, since I won't be able to blame anyone else if I don't succeed, but exciting because the decisions will all be mine. It's a good place to be!

I've made a couple of decisions about my professional future --it won't be all journalism-- perhaps to be written about in a later post. Suffice to say that I feel really excited (and like I said, a little scared) about stepping into the next phase of my career.

OK, a few people to acknowledge:

The venerable Dr. Manhattan, an old college friend, who is now a hot shot lawyer and took out his poor starving-writer friend from Israel to Wolf and Lamb. Awesome steak and even better conversation. Thanks, Dr. M!

After downing a steak with Dr. M, I met up with friends at Dougie's for an Onbelievable Onion and burger. Sickening diet (though I enjoyed it tremendously-- infer from that what you will!) but great times all around. Thanks Efrex, The Lovely Wife (tm), Yosef, Esther, and Batya for coming. (Remember: I own the intersection of Broadway and 72nd. The city is mine, baby!)

I had a nice visit with Melissa B (of "Pinny and Melissa" fame) and met adorable Ariella.

Went down to NYU again to take out Professor Richard Blood for coffee. The man is still a great teacher, still loves it, and still won't admit it. Crotchety old guy, but we love him.

Sushi at Estihana with Roseanne and her husband, Dan. When she was a freshman (sorry -- that's "first-year student") at Barnard, I was Roseanne's "Sophomore Sister." We haven't seen each other for about 10 years. I'm happy we got together, because sophomore year was among the worst of my life. I was a basket case! I'm glad Roseanne got to see me now, when I'm a little more put-together!

Went to Barnard to see my former academic advisor, Prof. Patricia Denison, who is gracious as always. I also met with an admissions counselor about my idea of hosting an event in the spring for seminary girls who are headed to Barnard the next year, to meet with alumnae who live in Israel. They are very interested in the idea, but we'll see whether I get any budget to do it with . . . .

Great coffee "date" with Judah. Hi, Judah! Don't forget to bring me the Ace of Bace CD when I see you on Sunday.

And finally, a wonderful, wonderful night of eating and talking with my good friend Jessica, aka "Q," the kind of friend who makes you say "life can't possibly be bad when I have a friend like Jess."

One more thing: Today I ordered an account with Vonage, so I'll have a New York area code in Israel! All you peeps in the USA have no excuse for not calling me anymore. God bless modern technology.

A Shabbat Shalom to one and all.

**UPDATE**

How could I forget? The Sox won!!!!!!!!! Yahooooo!!!!!! It's great to be from Boston! At last, a bit of happiness for Sox fans. Unbelievable. Unbelievable day. Wooooohoooo!!!!!