030706-1
I’m looking for the real thing; but then again, what’s to say that the real thing isn’t merely a “shade” of some other, perhaps more wonderful… similarity.

simulacrum \sim-yuh-LAY-kruhm; -LAK-ruhm\, noun;
plural simulacra \sim-yuh-LAY-kruh; -LAK-ruh\:
1. An image; a representation.
2. An insubstantial, superficial, or vague likeness or semblance.

It becomes harder… to distinguish the genuine from its simulacrum.
— Wayne Curtis, “The Tiki Wars,” [2]The Atlantic, February 2001

Simulacrum is from the Latin, from simulare, “to make like, to put on an appearance of,” from similis, “like.” It is related to simulate and similar.

Looking for similes:

chilled in NYC…

tsg