Today, I was trying to find evidence that I used to be funny, so I began paging through my Notebook of Genius™. For those unfamiliar with Notebooks of Genius, they're pocket-sized writing pads, usually of this variety, used by writers and comics and incredibly swift thinkers to record their thoughts and insure that other people in public spaces – people without a Notebook of Genius – are made to feel palpably aware of the difference between us (GENIUSES) and themselves. (SHEEP) It's pretty simple, when you think about it.
I keep a Notebook of Genius. I used to write original ideas in it; now I basically just write out my set list before doing a stand-up show, which means my NoG is filled with page after page of bulleted lists that look sort of like this:
- Jewey
- Gay people - why so gay?
- Pineapples & Artichokes/God hates us
- etc.
While flipping through my set lists and growing more and more ashamed of myself with each page – "Erosion Pornography"??? What's wrong with me? – I found this list I most likely scrawled out on the subway, while feeling very sick very early in the morning. The list is titled "NEW RULES" and those rules are as follows:
- Meat only 3x / week
- Less sugar
- No more caffeine
- Nothing fried, as often as possible
- Dinner prepared at home 2-3 times / week
(There was also a notation I wrote in the margin of list. It reads, "This is how crazy people talk!" with an arrow pointing to the list. Beneath that notation I added, parenthetically and inexplicably, the words, "NO DOUBT, PONCHO.")
Judging by the surrounding content in my NoG, I think I created that list sometime last June. And how are my new rules holding up? Well, here's what I ate today, in order:
- Medium (grande!) iced soy latte with two sugars
- A handful of grapes and an orange slice
- Tuna salad sandwich
- M&M cookie
- Caramel popcorn
- Caramel popcorn dipped in chocolate
- Sugar-glazed popcorn
- chewing gum
However! I cooked myself dinner last night, for the first time in several months. I made grilled Oreos.