NOWSHE'SMYRUCA,I'MBARELYWAITINGFORMYHEINA

(inside joke.)

it's rare, i think, when you meet a kindred spirit. you know what i am talking about? that rare soul who makes you feel like you're not alone in the world, who appreciates and values similar things, who understands you, sees the best in you and gently advises you about the not-so-great parts and how you might go about making them better?

well, i've been fortunate enough in my thirty years to have met as many of these kindred spirits as to make me feel very blessed indeed. this afternoon, however, i want to single out one of these spirits: my friend jz. (no, not the rapper, but likewise lyrical and poetic and musical.)

when we met several years ago, i gave jz cause to nix our budding friendship from the beginning. but for whatever reason, jz forgave me my transgression and our friendship persisted. in fact, in our own way, it blossomed. we don't speak often--not nearly as often as we should since it's always both delightful and illuminating (from my end, anyway)--but when we do i am reminded of just how lucky i am . . . generally, of course, to be surrounded by such great people, but also in particular, for having jz.

usually, jz and i will shoot the shit by trading ethnic insults back and forth. mostly because none of the stereotypes really apply. (though, i do eat a lot of tortillas and yes, i admit that i gesticulate a lot with my hands. oh, and yeah, i like big earrings, ok?) and also because there's no better way to dismantle such things than by making fun of them, right? sometimes, though, our conversations detour from comic barbs to more serious fare: what we want from life, what are our fears, our hopes, our dreams.

anyway, last week, as you know, something i thought was good and true and real turned out to be little more than a mirage in the desert. and i'll be honest, i felt like shit. amazingly enough, at that precise moment, jz sent me one of his random emails just when i was in dire need of some of that straight-shooting, no-nonsense advice that only a new york jew can deliver . . .

the emails are always the same. title: WTF? on the inside: So?

and thus it went. i emailed him back and we talked. well, i blithered and complained and he, as usual, set me straight . . . told me the truth and helped me to see more clearly.

every time we speak i feel like moses on mount sinai. jz's the burning bush. i go up the mountain a totally meshugena (sp?) shiksa and come down a slightly less meshugena shiksa. and all thanks to jz, who never fails to enlighten me (burning bush, get it? yeah, i'm here all week, folks).

it all sounds very cryptic and bizarre, i suppose, from out there, but suffice it to say that a) i'm grateful and b) yeah, you know, i love the guy (not THAT way. though, yes, he's very handsome).

jz, i raise my 40oz. bud light to you . . . with my really long, really red, acrylic nails . . .