he said it's a funny kind of world

All quotes from StoryPeople

Today's Mental Checklist 1. Things I know for sure - quite a few 2. Things I don't know for sure - quite a few more 3. Things I'll discover I don't know as I go along (only a rough estimate) - about as much as things I currently don't know 4. Things I tell my children that I don't believe myself - lots, but now they're older I tell them I'm making it up & they can believe it at their own risk 5. things that make sense if you stop to think about it a. in daylight - lot unless there's media or government involved b. late at night - almost nothing, so it's better to just go back to sleep 6. Things I believe that people a thousand years ago believed, too - quite a few but I lived in L.A. when I was younger, so I have a good excuse

Favorite to-do list stuff 1. Clean the refrigerator. (Just kidding. That's why refrigerators are so cheap. Just buy another one when this one starts to smell.

I'm feeling overdressed, she said & he held her close & said as far as he was concerned she was always that way & her eyes glowed softly in the light of his desire

The day he first told me he was starting to disappear I didn't believe him & so he stopped & held his hand up to the sun & it was like thin paper in the light & finally I said you seem very calm for a man who is disappearing & he said it was a relief after all those years of trying to keep the pieces of his life in one place. Later on, I went to see him again & as I was leaving, he put a package in my hand. This is the last piece of my life, he said, take good care of it & then he smiled & was gone & the room filled with the sound of the wind & when I opened the package there was nothing there & I thought there must be some mistake or maybe I dropped it & I got down on my hands & knees & looked until the light began to fade & then slowly I felt the pieces of my life fall away gently & suddenly I understood what he meant & I lay there for a long time crying & laughing at the same time.

There are 7 levels of hell, she said, & I think one of them is reserved for people who bring jello salads to every potluck they go to.

She asked my sons what strange countries they had been to & my oldest son said England & my youngest said we live in Iowa & they all agreed that was strangest of all.

I think I'm probably avoiding something pretty big in my inner life, she said, because I'm keeping pretty busy

He told me about Jesus & Arizona & the best way to make beer & I said you're a funny kind of preacher & he said it's a funny kind of world & I still remember his eyes clear as a desert morning.

What do you want? I said & she said, in the abstract or the concrete? & I decided to rephrase the question. I'm going to the store, I said. Need anything? & she frowned & said, Obviously, you meant concrete

When people asked how old she was, she would say 1009365, more or less, because she was so glad to be alive that she counted every day a birthday. She had some disagreement from her knees about the actual figures though. . .

My favorite time of day is just at dark when all thoughts of what must be done stop & small pools of light come alive on tired faces everywhere.

On the lookout for the next big thing because it would solve a lot of the problems of having to deal with the same old stuff.

I'm trying to pack for the future, he said, but I think it's too much stuff. So what are you going to do? I said & he shrugged & said he was going to trust that everything would work out. &, he added, I'm moving back in with my parents

We need a letter that's like i & u together for when we're doing stuff like this, he said & I hugged him & said a lot of people want a letter like that.

I have a friend who took all the doors out of his house one summer. It reminds me there's nothing I have that's worth hiding, he said. No secrets is the key to world peace. He put them all back on that winter. I decided it was peaceful enough for me, he said.

This is a box filled with things that make your body tingle & she's saving it for some time when she's in a long-term relationship & can make better use of it.

These knees have stories, she said, but they'd have to be a mouth to tell you.

this is a mountain goat with too many years of regret for not pursuing a dance career in Vegas, so she bounces around from peak to valley a lot

being as careful as possible because even though he's not sure exactly where he's going, he knows there are some parts of it he's just going to hate

I think I'm having a heart attack, she said, but it's dragging on for hours. I told her not to worry. That's how most people who work a full day feel, I said.

bending over backwards to keep from having to go forwards

doesn't mind carrying a few choice pieces of baggage so she has a conversation starter in almost any social situation

travelling as fast in one direction as she can go before she has second thoughts & goes back to doing the same old stuff

scattering little bits of happiness everywhere she goes, except at home because her family told her to get out & leave them in peace for godsakes

How can you be sure it has a soul? she said. You can't , I said, unless you've got one yourself

Hiding behind a beach towel so all anyone remembers about him is a bunch of orange stripes.

For a long time, she flew only when she thought no one else was watching.

Every time I looked at the picture I thought how I should have kissed her, so finally I hid it in the attic & I wonder if it's still there with us both so young & her waiting to be kissed.

I'll bet you wouldn't even miss me if I died, she said. Depends on if you'd been grumpy in those final days, I said & she tried to look sad but I saw the smile anyway.