I think because I write so many short stories, it's not that hard to come up with characters that are not me.

I steeled myself against laughter; I would rather die than laugh. I didn’t laugh, I did not laugh. But I died, I did die.

I laughed and said, Life is easy. What I meant was, Life is easy with you here, and when you leave, it will be hard again.

I nodded, pretending I was relaxed. I watched the sunlight sparkling on the water and practiced mind-body integration for a few seconds by quietly hyperventilating.

I spend a lot of time obsessing about getting a dignified eight hours' sleep.

There was nothing in this world that was not a con, suddenly I understood this. Nothing really mattered, and nothing could be lost.

Collections are certainly abundant online. It's complicated, because it's not like these people didn't want computers, although there was some nonchalance about it. I would sometimes ask the people I interviewed if they wished they had a computer, and in a lot of cases, it was like they couldn't process the question. You don't know what you don't have, I guess.