I have been standing on the side of life, watching it float by. I want to swim in the river. I want to feel the current. -Loving Frank

It has always been on the written page that the world has come into focus for me. If I can piece all these bits of memory together with the diaries and letters and the scribbled thoughts that clutter my mind and bookshelves, then maybe I can explain what happened. Maybe the worlds I have inhabited for the past seven years will assume order and logic and wholeness on paper. Maybe I can tell my story in a way that is useful to someone else.

In the end, what really matters? Only kindness. Only making somebody a little happier for your presence.

I'm like the trunk of a cactus... I take in a dose of culture and time with friends, then I retreat and go live on it for awhile until I get thirsty again.

It's not good to live so much inside oneself. It's a self-imposed exile, really. It makes you different.

What did a person need to survive? Food. Water. Shelter. Warmth in cold weather. And something else... books.

How small we humans are. All our scrambling around, trying to buttress ourselves against death. All our efforts to insulate ourselves against uncertainty with codes of behavior and meaningless busyness.