Hello from a well-manicured schlepper:

In one classic "Absolutely Fabulous" episode, though I've forgotten which one, Patsy, ever nostalgic for the '60s, recalls having had her "tits" painted. When asked, "As what?", she responds, "as tits." I kept thinking of this exchange when getting what I believe was my third-ever manicure, the last of which was over a decade ago. This time around, I went for a French manicure. For the uninitiated, it--unlike 90% of the classes I take-- has nothing to do with France, but rather consists of having your nails painted like nails, with extra-white ends painted on. It's kind of tacky but for some reason I spent the whole day thinking how absolutely fabulous it would look--sort of like that rare craving for a food you don't usually like--and gosh, it looks fantastic.

That was the immediate post-French-class activity. A bit later on in the evening, Alex and I went to the PresenTense Magazine launch at NYU's Bronfman Center. This was exciting, and not just because of the free diet Coke. I got to meet a number of fellow bloggers, including Esther of Jewlicious, as well as a "kvetch" blogger named "DK" who, if he reads this post, can give a clearer account of his identity than I just have. There was also an exhibition "Forgotten Heritage: Uncovering New York's Hidden Jewish Past." To be distinguished, presumably, from New York's not-so-hidden Jewish present, which Alex and I encountered just now in front of Zabars, at the Philip Roth bookstand, where I had a chat with the man who sells autographed copies of Roth's books about whether Alex or I counted, in that particular instance, as a "schlepper," based on the number of items each of us was schlepping.

All told, yesterday was Francophilic and Zionistic through and through. And now, a triumphant return to my reading.