two days in New York

Yesterday walking on the street in midtown, I saw a man with a smudge on his forehead, followed by another man something on his forehead, and I thought, it must be Ash Wednesday.

Then I realized it wasn't even Wednesday.

And I did a double-take and realized I had just seen two men with forehead birthmarks walk by -- an Indian guy and then a large, old white guy -- one after the other.

Also in recent people-observing, I was standing in line in Starbucks when I heard someone say, "I think it's been better since we switched to Mac."

What a fun game, I thought. Let me try to guess -- before they give it away -- if they are talking about the computers or the makeup line. I turned and saw two artsy-looking fortysomething Caucasian women. The computers? I guessed in my head, and continued eavesdropping.

Turns out they actually meant a guy named Mac, who played in their jazz band.