By things so achingly small are lives measured and marred.

We salvage what we can, what truly matters to us, even at the gates of despair.

Fantasy is, at its best, the purest access to storytelling that we have. It universalizes a tale, it evokes wonder and timeless narrative power, it touches upon inner journeys, it illuminates our collective and individual pasts, throws a focus beam on the present day, and presages the dangers and promises of the future.

Dave hung up. And unplugged the phone. With a fierce and bitter pain he stared at it, watching how, over and over again, it didn't ring.

The military preferred - invariably - those who could be readily defined, assigned roles, understood, and controlled.

In this world, where we find ourselves, we need compassion more than anything, I think, or we are all alone.

Liu Fang is a truly gifted, world-famous player of the pipa and the guzheng, classical Chinese stringed instruments.