I'm always prepared for the worst.

I'm always prepared for the worst.

Glen had a disability more disfiguring than a burn and more terrifying than cancer. Glen had been born on the day after Christmas. "My parents just combine my birthday with Christmas, that's all," he explained. But we knew this was a lie. Glen's parents just wrapped a couple of his Christmas presents in birthday-themed wrapping paper, stuck some candles in a supermarket cake, and had a dinner of Christmas leftovers.

Real optimism is not the pep talk you give yourself. It is earned through the labor involved in emotional housekeeping.

I knew that he was as reliable as a mathematical formula.

People generally like happy endings, which is something I learned from my years in advertising. I like happy endings myself, but only if they're honest. I'm just as happy with a terrible, hopeless ending.

Bad news should be followed with soup. Then a nap.