- I think I have a crush on Rebecca Schwartz.
- I haven't spoken to her much. It would be like Moses speaking to the burning bush. Whenever I go to speak to her, I feel like I should take off my shoes.
- I picture us walking through the forest in the spring. This is not a particularly original fantasy, I know. For one thing, it is in about every personal ad Tom and I have ever read. "SWM," they say, "seeking SWF, nonsmoker who enjoys long walks in the forest, quiet evenings by the fire, and strolls by the sea." People are not very original when it comes to romance. I think that's too bad. Sometimes you want to see a personal ad that says, "SWM seeking SWF, nonsmoker who enjoys flailing in pig poop, puking, and honking on bagpipes. Women who do not know 'My Lassie Yaks in Bonny Mull' need not apply."
- "Look at this asshole," says my brother. "It's often customary to drive in a lane."
- Downstairs my father is saying, "You didn't have to say it in front of the kids, sugar."
- "Don't you call me sugar! Don't! Or honey!" my mother protests.
- My father should have known better than to call her a condiment. You have to earn the right to call my mother a condiment.
- "Who are you looking for?" Tom asks, squinting toward the trees.
- I shrug nervously. "I'm not looking for anybody. I have never looked for fewer people in my life."
- "You should just ask her out. What's stopping you? The worst thing that can happen is she laughs at you for months and it becomes this big urban legend."
- I would stay and talk to this man, who I can see has an unusual and stimulating viewpoint, except that he is obviously a psychopath and I'm not yet interested in dying.
- When I am alone, I recite five times, "Shit shit shit shit shit."
- (Peaceable Kingdom)
- (dream-starved thoughts)
- The crickets' crazed fluting shimmers around us like music for a wild, nervous dance.
- And I realize that the decision to be human is not one single instant, but it is a thousand choices made every day.It is choices we make every second and requires constant vigilance. We have to fight to remain human.
sep 8 2010 ∞
sep 8 2010 +