There, I was just a secretary-shaped confederation of atoms, fighting the inevitability of mediocrity and decay. But here, in the Juliaverse... energy was never lost, merely converted from one form to another. Here, I took butter and cream and meat and eggs and I made delicious sustenance.

So the end may be a long time coming, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have a way of sneaking up on you.

But hard bitten cynicism leaves one feeling peevish, and too much of it can do lasting damage to your heart.

There are times with your friends when you just have to put their whole mess out of your mind for a while.

Cooking saved my life! Sure, there were some miserable moments, but that was sort of the point, to find something challenging and consuming enough to take a place in the center of my life into which was creeping a horrible feeling of stasis and the doom of mediocrity.

There, I was just a secretary-shaped confederation of atoms, fighting the inevitability of mediocrity and decay. But here, in the Juliaverse... energy was never lost, merely converted from one form to another. Here, I took butter and cream and meat and eggs and I made delicious sustenance.

The nice thing about having a friend who is crazier than you are is that she bolsters your belief in your own sanity.