another triumphant return

This post has certainly been long in coming, and things have changed a lot from when I initially promised to write. In the past two years I have changed paths in every way possible, and in a cliché way that is classic me, I think I have very inadvertently worked things out. But you knew that and at the same time didn’t, because you know me--but our friendship has never been overly focused on quotidian details, which I’ve always really liked. Anyway, now I’m happily shacked up and working at a vaccine development institute called Sabin, and may finally have some time and energy to put back into sharing messages and thoughts. Your phone call inspired it and I’m picking up the ball.

Topic of the day: Nail art

I’m sure you’re aware (at least by way of your sis) that nail art is a bona fide thing these days. It’s a subculture that has a following substantial enough to have its own shitty reality show (think Cupcake Wars, but worse), and bolstered largely by Instagram, women are moving past the narrow confines of the title “nail technician.” Chris caught me guiltily watching “Nail’d It” (wow….someone got paid for that) and understandably lamented the very existence of such a thing. So I started considering whether or not this should be considered as an “art.” The majority of the shit these women produced was so prohibitively ornamental I wouldn’t even hang it on a Christmas tree (see below), but I’ve definitely seen examples of hand painted nails that I would be devastated to wipe off (see further below). So, what do you think? Art or not art? If art, I’d recommend nominating some of the below as artist of the week. Also, I bet you could crank out some pretty legit hand-painted nails if you tried. Rocky Raccoon was no one-hit-wonder, and that tiger rock is still perched on my bookshelf.