We happen upon ourselves when nothing much happens to us, and we are transformed in the process...

Still, there remains so much to relish and remember.

We are not merely tempered and schooled by failure but compelled, in however subtle a fashion, to become something other than we were.

The obvious precedent for Beijing 2008 was the Berlin Olympics, in 1936. Both were showcases for a muscle-flexing nation, although Hitler made an elementary error when he chose not to dress his young National Socialists in lime-green catsuits laced with twinkling fairy lights.

We happen upon ourselves when nothing much happens to us, and we are transformed in the process...

I do have one very brutal writing ritual. If I'm working in the morning, I don't allow myself a cup of tea until I've written two paragraphs. It's harsh.

There is more suspense, more dramatic torque, in one page of [Nathaniel] Hawthorne's heart-racked ruminations onthe Christian consciencethaninall Demi Moore's woodland gallops and horizontal barn dancing.