I wish I could remember the moment when I was a kid and I discovered that the letters linked into words, and that the words linked to real things. What a revelation that must have been. We don't have the words for it, since we hadn't yet learned the words. It must have been astonishing, to be given the key to the kingdom and see it turn in our hands so easily.

Hello, my name is ees Lebkuchen Spice, and I vant to show you my coooooookies.

I don't want to fall. All I want to do is stand on solid ground.

Her vulnerability is open, but she’s safe within it.

But whether or not you are here, you are here—because these words are for you, and they wouldn't exist if you weren't here in some way.

The thing about champagne,you say, unfoiling the cork, unwinding the wire restraint, is that is the ultimate associative object. Every time you open a bottle of champagne, it's a celebration, so there's no better way of starting a celebration than opening a bottle of champagne. Every time you sip it, you're sipping from all those other celebrations. The joy accumulates over time.

If you start the day reading the obituaries, you live your day a little differently.