2:32 am and haven't found a job.

However, Shashinka has painted her nails, and they look pretty cool. She mentions the Middle East: how ludicrous these girly things are in the face of the world.

I heard an account once; the liberation of a concentration camp. Inamongst the scanty food, the bandages, somebody had given a box of lipsticks. How futile, you say. How silly, how vain. But there were women who rouged their lips and then died still clutching the greasepaint, like a child holding a favorite toy close against the nightmares.

Elsewhere, in space/time: The Egyptians had a fine understanding of wet chemistry, which had its roots largely in the making of eyeshadow and sundry cosmetics. Only recently did we understand the secrets of their blue paint. Small statuettes have been found, ostensibly electroplated, purportedly Ancient Egyptian in origin. A battery is not a hard thing to devise-- nor to forget.

It's the little things in life.