I saw my earlier selves as different people, acquaintances I had outgrown. I wondered how I could ever have been some of them.

I know, too, that death is the only god who comes when you call.

Time passed slowly, like and old man climbing a hill.

That's life: trust and you're betrayed; don't trust and you betray yourself.

Good-bye and hello, as always.

Strygalldwir is my name. Conjure with it and I will eat your heart and liver." "Conjure with it? I can't even pronounce it, and my cirrhosis would give you indigestion.

I don't know that I ever wanted greatness, on its own. It seems rather like wanting to be an engineer, rather than wanting to design something--or wanting to be a writer, rather than wanting to write. It should be a by-product, not a thing in itself. Otherwise, it's just an ego trip.