--PUT IT ALL ON ME 

…It could only mean one thing—that I am the dumbest human to have ever lived.

…Twenty-seven days.  Is that too much to ask for?

…“I should have known better” is something that’s always said on the flip side, when it’s already too late.

…I am brave.  I am bruised.  I’ve got a room at the top of the of the world tonight and I ain’t coming down.

…There’s always going to be a part of me that’s loud and sloppy, but I kind of like it that way.

…Like a coin you are mint and I am dented.

…There are a lot of different forms of identity theft.  But then you already knew that.

…Everybody could have peace if they just tried a little harder.  The sun wouldn’t have it any other way.

…I stopped looking.  I mean, what’s the point?

…Tool (n): a device or implement, especially one held in the hand, used to carry out a particular function.

…Some people enjoy symphonies, and others the sound of breaking glass.

…I am trying to flinch less.  No really, I am.  I am trying to flinch less, so please don’t sneak up on me or drop another bombshell.

…Let it leave.  Let it go.  Let it happen.  Nothing in this world was promised to you or belonged to you anyway.

…Right there is the answer you’re looking for.

…What is it with you and squirrels?   I mean, you can’t find anything more interesting?

…The thing about sunflowers is they worship the sun and only when it arrives do they stand up straight.  When the sun leaves, they bow their heads in mourning.

…Sometimes I stop myself from saying the words out loud as if leaving my mouth too often might wear them down.

…The most important conversations we have are usually with ourselves.

…You’ll see what apologies look like when one of us is dying at eighty-five.

…This morning I told the flowers what I’d do for you and they blossomed.

…On bad days I think about it, what I might do if the apocalypse comes and the planes stop flying and there is all that time to do nothing but think.

…I am made of water.  Of course, I’m emotional.

…The right one does not stand in your way.  They make space for you to step forward.  Yet, sometimes they trip you while you’re walking.

…What I thought was an endless conversation was actually me just talking to myself, talking to a ghost person.

…I’ve learned everything is temporary—moments, people, feelings.  I’ve learned vulnerability is not always the right choice.

…The universe took it’s time working on you.  You’re a masterwork.  You’re a piece of work.

…I am the ghost of ghosts everywhere.  I am the magic trick no one sees.  The sleight of hand doing its bidding off stage.

…Upon the birth of each child a mother says, “There is God in you.  Can you feel her dancing?”

…Life and death are old friends and I am the conversation in between them.  I am their late night chatter, their laughter and tears, and most times their greatest source of laughter.

…To hate is an easy, lazy thing.  And still I do it anyway.  Such a bad, bad boy.

…I don’t want another nickname as long as I live.  You can call me Al.  After all, that was my dad’s name.  One of them, anyway.

…Dear God,

What does it mean to belief in you?  Can you draw me a picture of what that looks like?

Thank you

…Well, that was fun.

—FIFTEEN IN A THIRTY,  I AIN’T IN NO HURRY

…I wonder if the earth is ever surprised by the beauty of her sunsets.

…It’s going to be an irregular week, flying to the opposite side of the country well before dawn, so these posts won’t fall into their usual pattern.  Sorry about that.

…What does it matter?  The stark reality is it doesn’t matter.

…Every morning will be a little different now, but it’s still morning, and apparently, I’m still here.

…Jekyll and Hyde types are hard to handle, especially for people like me.  I mean, you never know what you’re going to get.  You never know what to trust, or not to trust.  The hammer can come down at any second, not caring one bit where it lands or what it crushes.

…“Crushed” is a heavy word, even though it implies being pulverized.

…One of the first things a child learns in a healthy family is trust.  That’s a pretty important thing.

…There’s a baby crying in the other room.  In my house.  Right over there.  What, what?

…I’m very much concerned, as I know you are, about what is being delivered to our children.

…Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!  One more time: Stomp!  Oh hell, why not one more time, just for fun: Stomp!

…Sandy, my darling, you hurt me real bad.  You know it’s true.

…We deal with such simple things as getting a haircut, or the feelings one has toward brothers and sisters, and the kind of anger that arises from simple or non-simple actions.

…Believe me, when something miraculous happens—like a sip of champagne or a forget-me-not among the roses—don’t try to repeat it.

…Self-preservation—now there’s a word for you.

…I am determined to walk home now, limping a little from all of the falseness, all of the breaking.

…“Look,” I murmured to the green bird who crashed into the window, “you can do this.  You can make it.”

…You cannot simply burn the past and expect it to stay burned forever.

…Straw puppets are my least favorite kind of puppets.  After all, they’re flammable.

…It was as though someone had slid ice cubes down the back of my shirt.  That, or a chainsaw.

…This is what I want to give every day—an expression of caring.   

…Wherever I go people think I’m Dwight.  I’m not Dwight.

…The love you get is equal to love you give…  Not so sure about that.

…“The unexamined life isn’t worth living.”  I think Socrates or somebody like that said this, and it kind of makes sense.

…Abraham and Rehab… Now there’s a pair, but really that’s just you and I, each one of us a duality.

…You’re crazy.  Why would you go up that mountain?

 

…What I thought were faces turned out to be mirrors that were actually skyscrapers riddled with graffiti.  It bothered me at first, until I understood that people just want to know that they exist. 

…You’ve made this day a special day just by being you.  There’s no person in the whole world like you, and I like you just the way you are.

…If we can only make it clear that feelings are mentionable and manageable, we will have done a great service.

…I’m grateful, not only for your goosebumps, but for the kind of communication we have. 

…This has to do with that good feeling of control that we all need—What do you do with that mad that you feel?  When you feel so mad that you could bite?  When the whole wide world feels oh so wrong, and nothing you do seems very right?  What do you do?

…Be careful who you ask favors from.  Even a simple favor.  They might say Yes but not even mean it at all.  You could even get scalded, and burned very badly, in the process.  

…It wasn’t supposed to end this way, but this is it—the end.  Mos def.  Fini.  Time for you to start a new game.  Get that shredder cooking.