Of Nails

Last Friday I was getting a manicure at the end of my day, which was around 3:00 pm, and my co-worker R. came with me in order to take a break in the middle of her day, which wasn't going to end till well into the night. She wanted to get acrylic nails put on, but she didn't have an appointment and not everyone at the salon applies acrylic nails, and no one who applies them was there at the time. "Well, just get a regular manicure and get the acrylics next week," I said. But she was really bent on getting acrylic nails sometime in the very near future, like probably Saturday.

I was really surprised when she showed up Sunday afternoon at a party we were both attending-- without acrylic nails. She's a very determined person. But it turns out her boyfriend dissuaded her from getting them.

All the talk of nails made me think of this teacher I had in 8th grade for Social Studies. She made us copy the preamble to the Constitution out of our textbook while she read the newspaper. She had super long, curly nails, painted dramatic colors like metallic ruby red and purple.

Then I started thinking about this song by Lil' Kim (with Lil' Shanice) where Lil' Kim goes, something like, "Keep my hair done all the time/even got a manicurist in the booth while I rhyme". The song is "Shake Your Bum Bum" and involves diamonds like disco balls, Dolce and Gabbana flip flops, and Lil' Shanice's anus.

Briefly, I remembered Florence Griffith-Joyner, the amazing athlete known as the fastest woman ever. Now that is something-- the fastest woman ever! She was also known for her flamboyant running clothes and her long, dramatic fingernails.

Speaking of long, dramatic fingernails... last but not least, there's Barbra Streisand! Her long nails are a signature style, and they're almost always painted a natural color. They're very elegant, but sometimes they're downright distracting, like in the movie The Prince of Tides.

Hmm, maybe long nails go along with confidence and power.