First night of Chanukah,

and my latkes (potato pancakes, sort of) were an unqualified success. This did not surprise my roommates, but it did surprise me, as I have never in my life been in charge of making latkes before. I was always either the sous-chef on grating detail or the person following the instructions on the box. There was no box this year. There were merely potatoes and onions and salt and pepper and eggs and baking powder and flour and lots and lots of olive oil, fried and served with applesauce and sour cream: heavenly. We all sat in the candlelight and ate latkes and spinach-and-cheese (roommate #1 decided that we needed green vegetables with our carbohydrates and fat), drank alcoholic pear cider, sang. It feels like Chanukah, now. It's a good feeling.

Meanwhile, I must sing the praises of my friends.

caffeinediary and I met ten years ago (I am still boggled -- where on earth did those ten years go?!) in Hebrew high school, and our friendship made the ghastly place tolerable. caffeinediary has wonderful taste in music; she taught me to love Tori Amos and Philadelphia's independent radio station WXPN. She helped to hook me on Dar Williams and the Nields, and recently she introduced me to Tegan and Sara. We talk about good books and bad dates, and somehow manage to keep in touch despite thousadns of miles of physical distance.

Oh yes, caffeinediary gave me my LJ invite code last year, a few weeks before LJ dropped the invite code requirement. I would not be here today if it weren't for her. Round of applause for caffeinediary, please.

Still to come: odes to emidala, prosewitch, debka_notion and muffinbutt. If you forgot to request an ode and you want one, leave me a note here.

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Happy Chanukah, everyone!