It’s this occasional hit of success that makes for a real addict. The breakthrough was always imminent; there was always something about to happen. In the dim interstices between flashes of hope you make your life.
Nothing. The first thing you should always do is nothing.
Actually insane, as in mentally ill, or mad as a hatter insane?
She herself, like every woman she knew, only recognized her own youthful perfection in retrospect, with deep regret not for losing it but for not seeing it at the time.
Look, I cleared you a corner.” Tom pointed to an area near a large window. It was dark then, of course, but in the daytime it would get plenty of light. “I was going to surprise you and put a comfy chair there so you could sit and read while I worked, and we could, you know, hang out.” He tugged her closer and kissed her. “I want to be with you the way you are, the way you’re going to be, and the way you end up. Every way you are is beautiful to me.
She’d read somewhere that hurricanes had winds so powerful that a piece of straw could pierce an oak, thrown so hard it became deadly beyond its weight. She was the straw, pushed by forces she only barely understood.
He looked at me thoughtfully, and smiled slowly, his green eyes warm. He smelled of the outdoors, he was so tall and broad shouldered and so... male... in this house of women he was shockingly different. All I could think of was how much I wanted to kiss him. I was clearly losing my mind.
Sister,” she said, “you need to work on your banter.
Anxiety is what kept us alive, back in the day. It helps us know when things are wrong, when situations are dangerous or people mean us harm. It’s just sometimes it gets ahead of itself, right?” Nina nodded. “I know.
Libraries were her favorite places, and when she traveled, she would start out at the local library, thus immediately identifying herself as a total nerd.
Book nerds are daredevils, as you know.
Body language told you so much; text on its own was subject to misinterpretation in every way possible.
That’s one positive thing about texting; you can pause and consider your options, whereas in face-to-face conversation, a silence of three minutes would be weird.
Maybe there is no real thing for anyone. Maybe all of us change depending on where we are and who we’re with.” “And that’s why you like to be alone.” Eliza looked at her and smiled. “How do you mean?” “Because you prefer who you are when you’re alone.” Nina shrugged. “It takes a lot of energy to be with other people. It’s easier to be myself when there’s no one else there.
Gaiman once memorably said, “Books were safer than other people, anyway.
She sometimes made lists of things she’d already done solely so she could cross them off, which she couldn’t help feeling was pretty pathetic but strangely satisfying.
It didn’t matter what hit the fan; as long as there were unread books in the world, she would be fine. Being surrounded by books was the closest she’d ever gotten to feeling like the member of a gang. The books had her back, and the nonfiction, at least, was ready to fight if necessary.
You had to STAY married in the brief pauses between BEING married and those pauses so often had to be rescheduled.
I don’t think she let herself go, Charlie. I think she just lets herself be.
Life tends toward chaos, sadly. I thought I had my life all planned out nicely, and then... everything changed completely. It’s all very well to have a plan – its a good idea – but you have to be able to walk away from it if you need to.