spring fever; March comes in like a lion, and society's fancy turns to outdoor pursuits.

Byline: William Norwich

Social optimists dance on thin ice these days. Even polite dinner-party conversation can dump you headfirst into the minefield of modern political correctness, or lack thereof.

Having once been told that one of the safest conversational openers is "Is that your bread or mine?" I smilingly tried this the other night at a seated dinner. Almost immediately I realized that I had offended the lady to my left by suggesting she was not on the correct low-carbohydrate dietary regimen.

Suffice it to say, I will not even try to express anything significant about the heartbreaking tsunami and its tragic aftermath. But like everything good or bad in contemporary life, it has its manners side. In a country where people think nothing of wearing pastel pantsuits or print sportswear to a funeral, is it bad form for celebrities to announce the amount of money they have donated to relief efforts? Probably yes, but it may also be a form of guerrilla fund-raising, a kind of wake-up call. Learning that Steven Spielberg has promised $1.5 million to Save the Children, CARE, and Oxfam ups the ante for other rich celebrities and well-heeled potentates. Doesn't it? I hope so.

Well, moving on, or as they say in better parlors everywhere, never let the tear drop: Think spring. Ah, spring.

So it came to pass that Diane von Furstenberg, Anne McNally, and Amanda and Christopher Brooks wended their way to the downtown Manhattan studio of the artist Anh Duong one cold and stormy afternoon not long ago. A petite vernissage, so to speak, before a series of flower paintings were packed and sent away for exhibition at the Jerome de Noirmont gallery in Paris this month. Best known for her portraits, the artist explained how the flower paintings evolved. "When I look at a bouquet, I see all these different faces looking at me. Every flower has its own expression, and a direction."

More spring: Thanks to Pale Male and Lola, the Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne of the aviary world, famous for being famous, bird-watching might become all the rage this season. ("Today's peacock is tomorrow's duster," a friend harrumphed in the midst of the Pale Male and Lola uproar. He thought the hawks were social climbing.) The literary agent Joni Evans is already there, looking up from her reading at the William Morris Agency long enough to go on fresh-air outings organized in the U.S. by the Audubon Society. With another group earlier this winter, Joni flew to Tanzania. "I saw 162 species, and I have each and every one written down. Want my list?"