Entry 17:

Dear Atul,

Me? Obsessed with John Ashcroft? Just because I mention him repeatedly, at the slimmest excuse, and would be happy include him in our discussion of injectable Botox, except I think he has a natural source of Botox within. And you're right about Halle: Through the entire Oscar meltdown, her forehead was frozen.

It's been wonderful talking to you, and I'm so glad I didn't have to visit your clinic to do it.

Back in the days when my grandmother and her siblings were alive, we had very long and painfully complete Seders, said in both Hebrew and English, all interwoven with what my mother called "kitchen Yiddish." And when the Seder was through, they'd all toast, "Next year in Jerusalem."

My toast now is, may there be a Jerusalem next year, and may it be, for a change, out of the news and off "The Breakfast Table."

Great good cheer,
Natalie