—NO STRINGS, NO MAGIC TRICKS

…A little insomnia is not without its value.

…If you only remember the good stuff, you might as well get a lobotomy.

…In the end what matters most is how well you lived, how well you loved, and how well you learned to let go.

…But for that, we have to figure out who we are first.

…Learning how to suffer more successfully seems to be the key.

…It only matters because it matters now.

…It’s kind of terrible to keep a bird in a cage.  They were meant to fly, and so were you.

…There is an art to making people feel better, and usually it takes a lot of practice.

…So, what if, instead of thinking about solving your whole life, you just fixed a few broken pieces first?  Wouldn’t that be a good strategy?

…How was your Christmas?  Mine was nice, but those ghosts still showed up from time to time during the day.  So sly and stealth they still are, after all these years.

…Little by little, day by day, what is meant for you will find its way.  Or so I’ve heard.  Or so I’d like to believe.

…Don’t forget you’re human.  It’s okay to have a meltdown.  Just don’t unpack and live there.

…Even in my most desperate moments, I have never conceived of anything more horrible than the inside of a jail cell.

…The acknowledgement of our mortality encourages us to reevaluate our priorities.

…I wish I was the kind of person who could hear God speak.  I’ve tried lots of times, but it never seems to work for me.  I must be doing it wrong, or else God has nothing to say to me.

…The truth is, I’m still figuring out what I want to be when I grow up.

…If you believe the Bible, the thing about Global Warming is it’s supposed to happen.  The world is supposed to burn to a crisp.

…Perfecting the art of small talk is something I’m not good at.  I like small talk as much as I enjoy fake-laughing at a bad joke.

…It’s not something I’m proud of, but I was a pretty believable liar when I was a kid.  That’s how I got through it all.  It was the biggest key to my survival.

…Sometimes there’s so much to think about that it’s like having an ant hill inside your head.  All that scurrying.  All those tunnels and caves collapsing.

…When two people part, it is the one who is not in love that makes the tender speeches.

…The truth is, reasons to be inconsolable abound.

…My good friend Cabernet called me greedy, but still it’s nice to have friends who can be that honest with me.

…Sometimes I feel a lot like all that rain falling down.

…Dear God.  Please make this next year the best one for everyone involved.