2002-07-25 | 5:35 p.m.

corduroy licorice liked things fair and square. that's why he was dating a very pale girl he'd met at a church social.

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please help me wish the debonair and dapper lip-flapper pablo a mirthful birth anniversary!

i'm quite grateful to his folks for procreating such a sweet, clever and dashing wordsmith. bravo, ma and pa kickasso!

speaking of procreation, here is a delightful diaryland series that pablo created.

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sometimes my friend a-boy makes me laugh. ok, usually.

case in point: this entry.

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one of my favorite quotes from the belle of baltimore, malice:

"i think i am growing up. there is this amazing realization i stumbled upon after my life took several unexpected, sharp illegal left turns a while back. i had the ultimate eureka moment wherein i learned that some emotions are delightfully evanescent. i let the witch-hat wearing envy and heart wrench wenches right on in and put their pointy feet up on the coffee table and stay a while. and in the morning, they are dissipated, leaving a few empty beer cans and cigarette butts on the floor, but nonetheless gone. and it took me many many moons to really unlock my door, and know in my heart and head that these girls are merely temporary nuisance houseguests, not subletters. i'm getting quite good at it now. i know when they're coming, and i leave out some potato chips and the remote control. i don't pretend they're not there. i just walk around them, dusting under their crinkly skirts and going about my business as they stay their course."

***

please treat yourself to achren's lovely reflection on new york city at sunrise. here's my favorite bit:

"everything is expectant at this hour.

it's like all my nerves and tensions and worries and fits and starts and insecurities have melted into the sidewalk, melted into the tree outside the fire escape, melted into the hum of the city just before it wakes up, restless, from strange dreams."

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