The mean things of this world had only one lesson-we are meaner than you'd ever imagine.

In the Flats, half the people didn't have lawns, and the fences sagged, ... When you wanted to party, you partied, because ... you sure as hell deserved it.

People surprise you sometimes.

People changed. Even the people you thought you knew as well as you knew yourself.

There are so many more important things to worry about than how you're perceived by strangers.

I believe so deeply in the primacy of language, in lifting your prose to the highest level you're capable of and making your words symphonic.