No matter what time of year I come here, people always say the same thing: Its not usually like this.

Take care of your friends. Because there will come a time when you'll be no good to anyone, and the only reason for people to talk to you will be sheer habit.

Even in a time of elephantine vanity and greed, one never has to look far to see the campfires of gentle people.

I love New York, and I'm drawn to a certain intensity of life, but I've just never felt like I want to escape from the Midwest. A writer lives a great deal in his own head, and so one intuitively finds places where your head is more clear. New York for me is one of those places.

In the end, all solutions are temporary.

Where I come from, when a Catholic marries a Lutheran it is considered the first step on the road to Minneapolis.

... life itself is brief, and that is what charges the day with such ridiculous beauty.