Ben Katchor’s weekly strip, Cardboard Valise (formerly Julius Knipl: Real Estate Photographer), more than any other comic, belongs back in this paper’s classifieds, warehoused with the yard sales, bankruptcy services, and “make money at home” ads. His miniverse of salesmen, small businesses, and dishwater diners is located so deep in the pockets of cities and towns that the sunlight in his drawings looks pale and exhausted from the trip. His slide-illustrated lecture “Graven Images in the Popular Yiddish Press and Other Illicit Objects of Worship” is a mouthful in comparison with the title of his new hardcover, The Jew of New York, but tonight’s presentation promises to have the surreal charm of a rediscovered toy box, its items eccentric, familiar, and handled with care. To find out what Borges might have written had he been a nighthawk at the diner, or a mailman for Jules Verne, turn up at 7 p.m. at Borders, 18th & L Sts. NW. Free. (202) 466-4999. (Kenneth McLeod)