Colin thought about the dork mantra: sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. What a dirty lie.

I liked Augustus Waters. I really, really really liked him. I liked the way his story ended with someone else. I liked his voice. I liked that he took existentially-fraught free throws.

The Degree to which I am blessed staggers me... the degree to which I take that for granted shames me. -Streetwalking with Jesus

We look back to the most important moment in our history, and that becomes the dividing line between what we were and what we are now.

You're not going to impose the patriarchal paradigm on me.

Observation: It would be awesome to fly in a superfast airplane that could chase the sunrise around the world for a while.

Her underwear, her jeans, the comforter, my corduroys and my boxers between us, I thought. Five layers, and yet I felt it, the nervous warmth of touching – a pale reflection of the fireworks of one mouth on another, but a reflection nonetheless. And in the almostness of the moment, I cared at least enough. I wasn’t sure whether I liked her, and doubted whether I could trust her, but I cared at least enough to try to find out. Her on my bed, wide green eyes staring down at me. The enduring mystery of her sly, almost smirking, smile. Five layers between us.