I was of the opinion that the past is past, and like all that is not now it should remain buried along the side of our memories.

Is that growing old? Or is it something worse?

Ninety-nine percent of all land animals eaten or used to produce milk and eggs in the United States are factory farmed. So although there are important exceptions, to speak about eating animals today is to speak about factory farming.

I want to talk about God in a literary way. But I think I would have a very hard time praying to God.

As for the bracelet Mom wore to the funeral, what I did was I converted Dad’s last voice message into Morse code, and I used sky-blue beads for silence, maroon beads for breaks between letters, violet beads for breaks between words, and long and short pieces of string between the beads for long and short beeps, which are actually called blips, I think, or something. Dad would have known.

Only now do I understand the war against boredom, the lost cause of empty hours, of empty days and nights.

The books could be completely worthless, and things we don't even read now could be considered the most important books.