Off Topic: An ode to Ashby Nails
[Originally published in the Berkeley Daily Planet http://berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2011-06-08/article/37942?headline=First-Person-Luxury-Living-Returns-to-South-Berkeley]

Not everything that goes on in south Berkeley these days involves drive-by shootings. There is some pretty neat stuff in my neighborhood too. I can't imagine living anywhere else besides across the street from the Berkeley Bowl. And what about the Ashby flea market? Or the Daily Kos or the East Bay Community Law Center? Or the Ashby BART station that can whisk me away on the first step of a journey to Antarctica or Iraq? Or how about story time at the south branch of the Berkeley Public library? Wonderful stuff. I rest my case.

But one of my absolute most favorite places in my neighborhood is Ashby Nails (http://www.yelp.com/biz/ashby-nails-berkeley). Did you ever see that old movie with Queen Latifah, about a local beauty salon? Ashby Nails is like that. You not only get a fabulous pedicure on the cheap that involves a foot and leg massage to die for, but you also get to be caught up on all the neighborhood hot gossip.

Imagine my distress when Ashby Nails actually closed down for remodeling last February. Sure, I wasn't as upset as when Washington's Bush-Obama-Bush sandwich declared war on Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, etc. But I still was upset. So when I discovered that Ashby Nails was back in business again, I was delighted. One less thing for me to worry about. Now I could concentrate on fretting about the thieves in the Federal Reserve Bank.

According to traditional Chinese medicine, every season has a color that goes with it, and so, thanks to Kim at Ashby Nails, now my toenails are all beautiful and sparkly and GREEN -- and I'm back up to speed on all the neighborhood hot gossip. Thank goodness Ashby Nails is back in business!


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