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direct your eyes to the lower right, won’t you?

Is Brooklyn Allergy Garden funnier? Brooklyn pollen garden? Histaminoligical society? Snifflemark status?
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So I’m at the drugstore buying Spenda tablets which I switched to from packets because they’re easier to melt down and turn into bathtub methamphetamine when I overhear one of the cashiers repeatedly saying to the other one, “What flavor do you got? What flavor do you got?” I have my head down because I’m paying with my ATM card and I’m typing in the code on the little LCD screen but the insistent way she’s asking is not unlike how I pester my sister when I ask her a question and she doesn’t answer. Mind you, I’m the older one.

Anyway, so she’s asking the other cashier what flavor hers is and I’m imagining they’re talking about Jolly Ranchers or sports drinks. That’s what I’m picturing.

“You always carry it in your purse?” asks the cashier. At this point I look up and see the other one holding this, clearly embarrassed:

“You spray it on your thing…” she hisses.

I have two things to say.

1. This Meyer’s countertop spray in basil scent which I bought because I liked the packaging doesn’t really work in terms of cleaning but boy, it sure smells good!

2. I passed a second hand furniture place today and there was a table on display with a small sticker in the corner which said “top potatoes.” It drew me in because it made no sense. Upon closer examination I saw that it said “top rotates.” The whole thing reminded me of “easy pickles.”

Wendy and I chatted about pants.

Also, I’m on Red Eye tonight.

Also, my toe kind of hurts.

Also, I’m uploading a couple videos of Diana Falzone and me right now but they are taking forever. FOREVER!

So many things you guys! I think this calls for a list.

1. Wendy and I chatted today and whilst chatting she posted because she’s stealthy like that. She also taught me a new word: perseverate. This is a big deal because basically wherever I am I’m pretty sure I’m the smartest person in the room. It’s just the way it is. Does it sound vain? It should. But Wendy has now taught me three words I didn’t know so I think she might be smarter than I am. Dustin taught me one word I didn’t know. I always remember where I learn words. I often forget who I sleep with though.

2. The words were perseverate, herding cats (the phrase. It’s funny story because I told Wendy that I overheard someone saying working with someone was like “working with cats” and Wendy asked if the person said “herding cats” and explained that it’s a phrase). The other word was… hm… something you carry people around on. Like a rickshaw but not. Apparently that one didn’t take.

3. Dustin taught me the word concatenate. If I had more energy I would link to all these words but I don’t. My links aren’t very hyper today.

4. My McSweeney’s thing is up: http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/yourmoney/

5. I’m really excited about the second installment of the above column which I’ve already written and is apparently in the queueueueueueueue.

6. That’s how you spell that word, duh!

7. I’m going to two parties tonight. TWO. Who’s fancy? I am.

8. So I’ve been given the opportunity to be one of those comics who comments on celebrity fashion disasters in Life & Style magazine. I’m brushing off my zingers and my ripsnorters as we speak. I have to send them a headshot though. Which one should I use? Help me decide! It will be small and black & white.

9. I’d just go with the first one except an agent once told me it didn’t accurately reflect my personality. It’s all I can do not to post the duckling photo right here right now, by the way.

10. If there’s another photo you think I should use, let me know.

11. Um, what else? Hm. Oh! Well I was working on my stand up set because I’m going to audition for a potential regular slot at a comedy club MAYBE and it turns out I’m pretty heavy on the pedophilia jokes. Who knew? Is that my niche? The super messed up twisted niche? It’s so not what I expected of myself. I may have to abandon all that and instead go in the other direction: jokes about carob.

12. Oh yeah so the store I go to sells zucchini but calls it green squash and I would like to know why. Does zucchini only refer to something specific, like champagne? Does it refer to squash that comes from the zucchi region?

14. See what I did there, number wise?

15. I guess I don’t have anything else to say.

So it’s day 2 of crazy allergies from hell and so far I’m doing pretty well. Except for that rhyme which was unintentional and I hate it. Also, I’m in need of a manicure, girlfriends! I haven’t had one since I was maybe 17? Can you believe I’ve been wearing the same coat of nail polish since I was 17? If this nail polish could talk it would say… “I’m really old.” It might also say things that are more clever if my head wasn’t filled with cotton and my mucous membranes weren’t ready to attack. Have you ever been attacked by a mucous membrane? It only happens in England. Here you can be attacked by a mucus membrane. Anyway, it’s runny and disgusting and I think I’m going to make myself barf if I keep up with this.

I’m sorry, this is yet another post which didn’t live up to it’s post potential. Its postential. And now I’m off to get lunch with a writer with whom I’ve been planning to get lunch for about two years. Two years! I hope she hasn’t been at the restaurant this whole time.

Also… wait no, I’ll just tell you later.

And I don’t think this date will move around. Also, I’m tired. Also, it’s really cold in New York. Also, this couldn’t be less witty or clever if it tried. Also I had a dream that I was wearing retainers and orthodontic rubber bands. I blame Cathy’s teeth below.

It’s totally going to cut into my sitting around and doing nothing time!!!!!!!

Too many exclamation points? Probably. I’ve radically changed my opinion about excessive punctuation. I used to hate it. But now I’m okay with it. Possibly even more than okay, provided I’m the one overusing it. If you’re the one overusing it? I don’t know. Let me get back to you on that.

And now I have to go do important things.

So yesterday I was meeting someone in the village and I noticed, as I was making my way there, that I passed a bunch of people with roughly the same face which is a situation I find myself in not infrequently. In this case, they all looked like Dianne Wiest.

So here is the question: what’s really going on when this happens? Is it that there are only a limited number of faces, which is something I think I may have blogged about before? Is it really that people of a certain type live clustered together or that I possibly stumbled onto a pocket of Dianne Wiests? Of course not, right? So then it must be that for some reason my brain is processing certain stimuli in a certain way and lighting up with all the Wiest potential and either seeing it in everyone or rather just noticing a certain set of similar features and grouping them together. It’s an issue of parsing and perception. Sort of like how once you become aware or sensitized to a certain notion you’ll suddenly see it everywhere and wonder whether it was there all the time and you’re just now noticing it or it’s actually suddenly all around you. For example, I think people everywhere are absolutely in love with me and so I see that quality in everyone I come across. Also, I think dogs and babies are cute and so I see cute babies and cute dogs everywhere, particularly in pet stores and nurseries. Or also I just learned that there’s this place where you can get coffee called Starbuck’s and wouldn’t you know it, now I see Starbuck’s on every corner.

I’m joking, though not very successfully, but this is a situation I find myself in often when I travel. I’ll be in an unfamiliar city and I’ll see someone who reminds me of someone I haven’t thought of in awhile (someone from my past usually) and then I’ll see a bunch of people who look like that person. For example, San Francisco many years ago was filled with people who looked like a guy named Frank. Brooklyn is often teeming with people who look like someone named Michael. And apparently I also used to date Dianne Wiest. But it’s not just people I’ve been involved with, obviously. And all these thoughts make me feel like I’m wandering around in a Charlie Kauffman film. Another film reference? Ok then: Everything Is Illuminated had a scene at the end which captured this face thing perfectly. Did anyone see it?