Nine months here, and I am finally in love with New York. I resisted it for a while, but now it’s wholehearted. Or maybe it�s just because the weather is better. And now who knows if I�ll be here for more than another month? I have a job interview for a position down in the dirty south. I can�t quite believe it myself�that I have the interview and that I�m actually considering moving there if I get it. But I guess that�s called growth. And though I�m still smarting a bit from being rejected for a job I came so close to snagging at that really popular weekly newsmagazine that is not Time, I�m not destroyed. So close, but not quite. I�ll just keep trying.

I�ve been in a funk the last few months, which, of course, is no big surprise. I go through funks like most people go through bed sheets. But I think I�m coming out of my current one right now, so that�s a good thing, right? Anyway, I used to have all these online pals, like Jenn, and Sarah B., and HelenJane, and GeeseAplenty, and all the rest of those good folks listed on my exits page. And I sorta thought they�d all forgotten about me (and let�s face it, I think most of them have), until I received a brief but sweet email from Jenn the other day that signed off with �Please come back to the internet, thanks.�

I love it! I am coming back�it takes so little. Flattery (or any acknowledgment that I amuse you) will get you everywhere. Though I make no promises I can�t keep about regularity and the like, I do realize that I have a lot to say. I miss this. They say the answer to everything, to life, is 42�but I really think it�s The Internet. So here’s a disjointed little update on my life and thoughts:

First of all, Columbia has been an experience. Good or bad, I can�t decide. It varies depending on the day.
To be fair, don�t judge the school based on this one experience. I�ve met plenty of journalists with a capital J thus far, and I�ve gleaned more than a few insights. We�ll forgive this one.

My friend Jen was here last week, and so we spent a few days eating desserts involving numerous variations of decadence disguised as chocolate, and the hightlight was walking across the Brooklyn Bridge on a balmy night with the city sparkling below. I forgot what it was like to have friends. I�ve spent most of my time in New York in a self-imposed social exile, which is a shame, I know, but I needed it. It�s good to know I haven�t forgotten how to play nice with others.

I do have a little secret: I sometimes miss Ann Arbor. Not that often, but now and then it hits me, because you can�t find better Chinese food than at China Gate (Chef Jan really is the best). I also miss driving down Midwestern streets and going to the grocery store at two in the morning. I really long for Meijer and its aisles and aisles of selections. FreshDirect has nothing on Meijer.

In my old age, I find myself gravitating to mainstream music. Anything, really, as long as it�s melodious�especially pop melodies. There are more important things in life than trying to listen to only what�s cool. If I want Kelly Clarkson�s �Since U Been Gone� to fill my dreams, then so be it.

Things I�m craving:
Homemade marshmallows, ripe juicy peaches, and circus peanuts
Getting back to Nirali
My nieces
A second X-Files movie. (Oh yeah, I�m still in love with David Duchovny after all these years, and my love for Michael Vartan has waned. I sort of feel like I�m living in the past, because I�m just not obsessed with new things the way I used to be. Maybe it�s because I�m way too absorbed in myself now, but then, I was always way too absorbed in myself.)

In other news,
DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-TROIT BASKETBALL! We�re number one, baby. My boys are back, and they�re going all the way. Don�t say I didn�t warn you.

Nothing lifts my mood like watching the Pistons make spectacular play after play, all the while me yelling YES! in triumph at the screen. I don�t care if I am alone in my apartment in upper Manhattan, watching on my dinky 13 inch TV. As I bask in the glory of playoff game one, I can hear victory notes of �The Final Countdown� drifting through the Palace during a timeout. I�m smiling because I can�t help but think of Arrested Development. I crack myself up.

With that, I�m off. Who needs friends when you have hoop dreams and The Internet?