x marks the spot

they say your strongest sense is smell, and i am firm believer. for me it's colognes. i can pin point a guy walking past me if he is wearing a friend or ex's cologne in 2-3 seconds. sometimes it draws up fine memories, sometimes not.

lately, new york has become a series of remembered places: a seat at he laundromat where i wrote an email on a receipt then ran upstairs to send it during the rinse cycle. a block east of union square when a tipsy phone call made me laugh so hard i nearly peed my pants. (that will teach me to leave a bar without vising the ladies room first.) the garden in tudor city where i called my boss to set up my arrival time on my first day at jwt. the astor place subway station steps where i called my dad screaming that i got my apartment. the cross streets of 2nd and 19th when i pounded the hood of a cab that nearly hit me, then felt stupid afterward for doing so. the first time i saw bobby van's again, realizing the last day i ate there was the day before i left for atlanta.

sense may be a strong memory trigger, but location and landmarks are too. and if you take a look at that list above, apparently cell phone conversations are as well. maybe since i'm walking everywhere or gazing out a bus window i have more time to stop and check out my surroundings, since i'm not on the connector northbound trying to avoid rear ending other vehicles with road rage. who knows

regardless. i guess we can start out every morning by asking ourselves, what memory am i going to make today?