I met Sana at LimmudLA.
We hit it off.
I just read her first book and wanted to discuss it with her.
I call her at 7 a.m. April 24, 2008, with evil on my mind.
Sana: "You’re up so early. It must get light at 4 a.m. in LA."
Luke: "About 6:15 a.m."
Sana: "Do you have a morning ritual? [...]

I talked to her for two hours by phone Thursday morning. It got bumpy.
My legendary charm was nowhere to be found.
From my chat room:
YourMoralLeader:  Emma, just tell your parents you have to go to LA to fundraise for the IRA
Emma:  lol
Emma:  I love your wit
YourMoralLeader:  tell em you regret you only have one life to [...]

During LimmudLA, I become fascinated with the plight of Soviet Jewry.
My new cause is fueled by one Soviet Jew in particular — author Sana Krasikov (the Forward, the Atlantic, the New Yorker). She has a book of short stories coming out ("One More Year") and she’s easy on the eyes.
After confessing my amazement that I [...]