—IS THIS THING WORKING?

 

 

…It’s a good thing sanity has a wide spectrum.

 

…People often tell you that they’re there for you, that they always will be, that they have your back unequivocally, but sometimes they’re lying, or else they’re just wrong about the things they say. 

 

…If I added it all up, it was hardly that many hours at all, yet there it sits. There it is.

 

…Maybe I just have a case of tinnitus.

 

…I don’t know what I need, but I need something. Don’t we all?

 

…This is a little long, but trust me, it’s worth it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4OlL0OpbW8

 

…Everybody’s life is a shipwreck at times.

 

…I know I really love a book when it keeps stopping me, making me write.

 

…I wonder how many people regret the tattoos they’re wearing.

 

…Sometimes you just can’t look away from a bad movie, especially when it’s about you.

 

…Sometimes you have to ask a question you don’t want the answer to.

 

…No, I never said I was too old to learn new things, though I might have insinuated it from time to time.

 

…You shouldn’t worry about me, unless you really, really want to.

 

…Sometimes the truth is askew.

...Whee!

 

…“Here’s your solution. Ask him what no one else will ask him. Ask him what he wants.” Charles Baxter, Blood Test

 

…To answer your question—I’m not sure why I’m this way.

 

…Sometimes it’s hard not to feel like a fugitive.

 

…I wish my body would stop disagreeing with me.

 

…Do you really want to know what I think, or is that just something to ask during the silence?

 

…It’s pretty hard to hate someone. I mean, like, really hate someone, yet...

 

…Sometimes you have to pause and watch the elephant, even when it’s stomping on your chest.

 

…Something that’s stuck with me was a story (told by his widow) about this writer who once did a poetry reading with only one other person in the audience. His wife talked about her husband’s excitement and enthusiasm, how he performed as if the room was packed, how there could have been one person there or five hundred and he still would have given the performance of his life.

 

…It’s easy to get confused when someone’s speaking pig latin.

 

…It turns out that you can’t always counter reason with faith.

 

…As a rule, always be a good listener. Even with the person you see all the time.

 

…As long as it doesn’t hurt someone, shouldn’t you be able to do what you want to do?

 

…The tricky part is still tricky, but it feels good being there.

 

….Who’s worse—Marco, or me, because I once said I’d vote for him?

 

…Whenever someone says, “I don’t want to be that guy,” I always wonder what guy they’re talking about.

 

…“We are star stuff, pondering stars.” Carl Sagan

 

…You were always looking for a reason to give up, and now you’ve got it.

 

…There’s something to be said for drinking, and those who can avoid it.

 

…“Your body, my choice.” How is that even possible?

 

…Dreams are really bad at giving directions.

 

…It’s only macabre if you think it is.

 

…The Emperor’s New Clothes—I’ve so much to say about that, so I’ll leave it right there.

 

…Some people ask how you feel, what you think, when they really only want you to confirm what’s already in their head.

 

…“The difference between poetry and rhetoric is being ready to kill yourself instead of your children.” Audre Lorde

 

…It seems like a good idea to have a few people in your life who challenge you in ways you’re not comfortable with, who maybe even make you feel a little unsafe. At least, I think it is. At least, I hope so.

 

…Aren’t we all more alike than not? I used to think so, but now I’m not sure at all.

 

…If it sounds like I bitch a lot, your hearing is probably really good.

 

…Is it possible to have a best friend you never see? Hmm.

 

…“The Big Dark” sounds like a horror movie and sometimes it looks that way as well.

 

…I’m always paranoid when it comes to computers. Back in the early days, say around 1992, when people used floppy disks for storage, I wrote a novel, finished it, and when I went to save it, the entire thing disappeared—poof!—just like that. I had one of the smartest tech guys I know come to the house to evaluate things. Larry Webb was his name, a really sweet guy, and a complete caricature of a nerd who wore thick, black-rimmed glasses, short-sleeved button-down shirts, his pocket stacked with pens and an ink protector (really). After an hour or so, he looked at me and said, “I’m sorry, but it’s gone for good.” 

I ended up re-writing that book, and while the second draft was better, it still wasn’t good. Nevertheless, that experience has rendered me skittish when it comes to techy stuff and the inevitable problems that arise, like my email shutting me out yesterday.

People always ask if I miss it and when they do I tell them I miss the Help Desk.

 

…It’s the books that linger, that stay with you, that show up unannounced during a banal part of your day that matter most.

 

…Maybe I read too much. Maybe that’s the problem.

 

…A lot of times social media feels like a club or sorority that I’ve somehow joined and can’t seem to escape from. A Hotel California, if you will.

 

…When you no longer drink, alcohol shows up everywhere, all the time, like the one that got away.

 

…Sometimes my friends will say such simple yet profound things and not even know it.

 

…One gift I have is making babies and infants smile or laugh. I must resemble a happy clown. Then when they’re toddlers, they mostly ignore me.  

 

…To survive, you need forgiveness. There’s no getting around that.

 

…If you ever find yourself here, well, that’s half of the point.