It isn't whether you do it well or ill, it's that you do it all.

I hate New Year's Eve. One more chance to remember that you haven't yet done what you wanted. And to pretend it doesn't matter.

I shall pray for your soul,' promised Nessarose. I shall wait for your shoes,' Elphie answered.

It may merely be apocryphal that when the Wizard saw the glass bottle he gasped, and clutched his heart. The story is told in so many ways, depending on who is doing the telling, and what needs to be heard at the time. It is a matter of history, however, that shortly thereafter, the Wizard absconded from the Palace. He left in the way he had first arrived-- a hot-air balloon-- just a few hours before seditious ministers were to lead a Palace revolt and to hold an execution without trial.

The moon rose, an opalescent goddess tipping light from her harsh maternal scimitar.

That's the real power of art, I think. Not to chide but to provoke challenge. Otherwise why bother?

Light will blind us in time, but what we learn in the dark can see us through.