July 19, 2001 | 11:14 a.m.

This morning, halfway down my block, a bouncy fellow passed me and asked, "Will you be my neighbor?"

I might have been offended but he immediately started laughing - as if he was laughing at himself, for saying such a silly thing - and I just smiled and kept walking.

In the permanent puddle at the end of the block, the mass of water, garbage, cigarettes, and miscellaneous other items (a mass which somehow turns the green of antifreeze in spring and fall), there was a Budweiser bottle in the shape of a bowling pin.

I don't think that was really necessary.

I'm still not looking hard enough, but I'm remembering to try.