multitudes

this morning, circa 10am.
i'm dropping my car off at the shop across the street from work.
patrick, the nice man who works there, is waiting for me to answer a question.
but i am transfixed by the TV -
my attention first caught by the sound of conan o'brien's voice
(i had such a crush on him back in college)
then snared by the sight
of martha stewart
with a head of dark brown hair.
"wow," i say to patrick.
"martha stewart has brown hair. what's next? the world is changing
too fast, i can't keep up."
he laughs. i give him my phone number. there is a giant pumpkin on the counter
covered in ballpoint-pen signatures, adorned with a
big
red
bow.