Chapter 3 Summary

Howie does not make the sort of technical progress he makes learning to tie his shoelaces until he is twenty, when he learns that L brushes her tongue. He never understood this was even a possibility. When he starts dating L, she tells him that to keep her breath fresh, she brushes her tongue and Howie is revolted. Another major advance is learning to apply deodorant while he is dressed, but this is a digression.

Howie jumps to his sixth "advance" which occurs in his second apartment following college. He discovers taht some people clean in order to improve their mood. So one day he tries it, cleaning his room, sweeping, and so on. Just as he finishes, L calls and he shares his cleaning with her. She has just done the same thing and they discuss what was great about it. The...