I'm a shy, nervous person, and I don't like teaching with "terms." I didn't teach them, like, "This is first person, this is second person, this is foreshadowing," or whatever, so no one probably felt like they were learning anything. But I feel like teaching in that way reduces the concept to a term.
Tao LinThere was an enjoyment to being alive, he felt, that because of an underlying meaninglessnessโlike how a person alone for too long cannot feel comfortable when with others; cannot neglect that underlying the feeling of belongingness is the certainty, really, of loneliness, and nothingness, and so experiences life in that hurried, worthless way one experiences a mistakeโhe could no longer get at.
Tao LinIt sometimes seemed to him that for love to work, it had to be fair, that he should tell only half the joke, and she the other half. Otherwise, it would not be love, but something completely elseโpity or entertainment, or stand-up comedy.
Tao LinLately, they were always reassuring each other that nothing was wrong; and probably it was trueโlife wasnโt supposed to be incredible, after all. Life wasnโt some incredible movie. Life was all the movies, ever, happening at once. There were good ones, bad ones, some went straight to video.
Tao Lin