And then like a song we'd forgotten was even on the mix, you stepped into the house and my whole life.

In America now there is this phenomenon called helicopter parenting, where you're hovering over your child for the whole time. Parents there view their job as being to make sure their kid never has a moment of unhappiness. Of course, as a parent myself, I can understand the urge, but I don't know whether it would be healthy or possible.

If we wait until we're ready, we'll be waiting for the rest of our lives.

And then of course the music sprang up, lousy rock as bold and dull as a giant potato. "Love this song," Todd said, like it was unusually brave to like what was number one on the radio.

It is not the diamonds or the birds, the people or the potatoes, it is not any of the nouns. The miracle is the adverbs, the way things are done. It is the way love gets done despite every catastrophe.

You can't believe everything you read.

There is a pair of snakes who have learned to drive a car so recklessly that they would run you over in the street and never stop to apologize.