Kiplinger: “10 Quirky Economic Indicators.” Some of them really are quirky. Others, not so much.

So we don’t buy as much plastic surgery during recessions. And we don’t go to the dry cleaners as much.

Pretty quirky, huh? Um…well, no. Yet, those still made Kiplinger’s list of 10 “off beat barometers of the economy.”

Yeah. I think somebody needs a new dictionary.

Luckily, there are some pretty quirky things on the rest of the list:

• According to the National Association of Theatre Owners, the number of movie tickets sold in the first quarter of 2009 increased more than 9% from last year.

• Online dating service Match.com notices a pattern in its site activity during tough times. The fourth quarter of 2008 was their busiest in seven years.

• In 2008, Harlequin’s sales were up 32% from the year before. In 2009, its sales are still rising.

• Total eye makeup sales at supermarkets and drugstores were up 8.5% in the one-year period that ended on March 22, compared to the previous year. In that time period, more than $260 million was spent on eye makeup — in particular, eye liner was up 9% and mascara almost 13%.

Besides that, alligator hide sales are down, and mosquito numbers are up. That’s because of all the abandoned houses, with their abandoned pools. Yay, retirement communities!