Saturday in the big city

Right now it is 20 17F with winds of 30+ miles an hour, and the rest of the family's away camping. The AccuWeather woman on TV says the wind chill is in the single digits. You better believe her.

Since the guys are away and I don't have to keep an eye on their schedules, yesterday I headed to New York to meet some friends. I had a wonderful time.

Right after I got to Penn Station I took the subway to the 79th street station and walked to Sarabeth's Kitchen on 80th and Amsterdam. It was as cold as it is now. I was bundled well enough that the wind didn't cut through the layers but my skin was suffering.

Where's that global warming when I need it?

At Sarabeth's I had an early lunch with Allyson Rowen Taylor, who's working with Stand With Us. Allyson gave me some excellent materials to read, and the Israel, Small Country, Big Ideas CD. Stand With Us has developed a high school curriculum, Israel 101, which should be a must-teach at every high school in the country.

Later in the conversation, Allyson asked, "how do you explain George Soros?" I haven't blogged much about George Soros but have been reading about George Soros since back in the days before he triggered the collapse of the British pound in 1992. Over the years I have reached the conclusion that Soros is an enemy of our country, after hearing statements like this (h/t Larwyn)

After asserting that the United States is recognizing the error it made in Iraq, Soros said, "To what extent it recognizes the mistake will determine its future." He went on to say that Turkey and Japan are still hurt by a reluctance to admit to dark parts of their history, and contrasted that reluctance to Germany's rejection of its Nazi-era past. "America needs to follow the policies it has introduced in Germany," Soros said. "We have to go through a certain de-Nazification process."

I considered Allyson's question and honestly said that I can not explain Soros at all.

The wind and cold weather have been killing my thin skin so after we finished our meal I headed to Saks 5th Avenue looking for some high-octane moisturizer. A charming gentleman named Greg sold me a bottle of Steven Victor MD Miracle Serum and after an application my chapped skin felt wonderful.

More on that in a minute.

In the afternoon I had lunch with Mary and Judith at the Museum of Modern Art.

I'm a member of the MoMA because it's a great place to meet with friends when I'm in town. The museum is easily accessible for NJ commuters, the food is good, the portions are mercifully small, and you can carry a conversation indoors, or, when weather allows (definitely NOT yesterday) outdoors.

We talked about their trip to Lebanon and Israel.

Mary has more guts on one knuckle than I have in my whole body. Last December she headed for Lebanon at Michael Totten's invitation. Michael's a great guy and I'm very fond of him but as I said to him last year, they don't make enough Valium for me to do what he does.

After Lebanon, Mary and Michael headed to Israel where they met with Judith, who shares my sentiment, to attend the Media as Theater of War, the Blogosphere, and the Global Battle for Civil Society conference in Hertzliya, on December 17-18, 2006. Judith, Mary and I talked about the conference. Read all their posts and follow their links. Judith and Mary are delightful and I always have a great time being with them.

I had to leave early because I wanted to take the express train and get home before 7PM - Saturday trains are fewer and slower than weekday trains and also more crowded. Saturday evening trains are rolling sardine cans that make stops to deliver milk. In the train I read the Israel 101 booklet and highly recommend it.

I got home and found that the postman had left a small box in the porch. I didn't recall ordering anything and didn't recognize the name, but I opened it, and found a package gift-wrapped in gold foil with a gold ribbon around it. It was from Leigh-Ann of Newstext, who sent me three three bars of Elite No Sugar Bittersweet Chocolate for signing up with Newstext. Thank you Leigh-Ann!

After having dinner and a shower I watched the Israel: Small Country, Big Ideas CD, and also recommend it highly - you can find it at Learn Israel.org. Then I started working on translation for Pajamas Media until it was bedtime. I applied more Miracle Serum.

Alas, when I woke up this morning I found that I've had an allergic reaction. Will have to call Greg tomorrow to tell him I'm returning the Miracle.

One of the things Allyson and I had talked about is how many friends we have lost because of differing points of view on the war. It is indeed great solace to share a day with such wonderful friends.

And the chocolate bars are great, too.
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Later...
Remember how I thought the NYT had finally stopped delivery?

I.Was.Wrong.

They delivered one today. Again.