That's why I write, because life never works except in retrospect. You can't control life, at least you can control your version.

Just let your hand drop; and let fate decide for you.

The photographer in my head says: Give me peace. Flash. Give me release. Flash.

Books can create a depth of story, a background of information and ideas, that televison and movies can't. Sure, the television shows may shock, but only on a superficial level. They'd never risk market share to really explore the issues. They report, but don't analyze or suggest any new ways for living our lives.

Dude, the place is filling up," I say. "It feels like we're living in the bottom half of an hourglass." Like somehow we're running out of time.

Only in death will we have our own names since only in death are we no longer part of the effort. In death we become heroes.

This isn't about guilt or innocence, he says. The dinosaurs weren't morally good or bad, but they're all dead.