G.N.O.

one of the things my life has seriously been lacking since i arrived in new york is a group of girlfriends. in college, i rolled with a posse of sassy ladies, most of whom i still keep in touch with now, but who live in locations quite remote (from me) such as d.c., ann arbor, chicago, san antonio, and san francisco. and my local nyc girlfriend, slomo, has been galavanting in florida, virginia, and the lower east side. between school, the internship, and everything in between, little time has been spent cultivating that special bond that exists between women. you know, the kind of bond that allows me to speak about the unique female experience and receive empathy, hugs, and assurances that i'm good enough, smart enough, and doggone it, someone will love me! not that i don't get plenty of nurturing from my male compatriots, because i do... and they are absolutely wonderful. but no man, however sensitive, can ever truly understand a woman the way a woman can understand a woman. or, rather, a man can never understand what a woman is thinking about a man the way a woman can. you just don't psychoanalyze the subtext like we do... just like i will never truly understand how you guys can memorize every random factoid about NFL, from player stats, to team stats, to games that were played in 1972, before you were even born.

so, one of the best resolutions of my new year (shana tova, btw) is to spend some quality time with the softer sex. actually, it wasn't so much my idea as it was lexi's, who demanded that a weekly dinner after strategy class every tuesday was in order. sure, there are always articles to be read and research to be done, but girls need to eat and talk and gush and cry and giggle and empathize and bemoan and laugh and sound off and reach out and everything. so now, after class, kim, lexi, and i abandon our male counterparts, cam, steve, and carl, for our G.N.O... Girls Night Out--strictly no boys allowed. though there's plenty of discussion of them, believe you me.

which leads me to my final point: i was actually thinking about a comment lex made during our inaugural dinner last week, that women, no matter how smart, diverse, talented, or accomplished, will often, in the company of other women, find themselves talking about nothing but relationships. i would say this is 80 percent accurate, because 15 percent of the time we've discussed anxiety about jobs and school, and maybe 5 percent of the time i contemplated cutting my hair. but i find this completely acceptable, particularly for women, such as myself, who have such limited time with other women. i can discuss politics or philosophy or jack bauer with just about anyone (well, maybe not the last one)... but i only really get to discuss being a woman and my relationship with men with other women.