the cometbus #45 quotes
"jess proved my point, which is, everything that's found was once lost, hidden, or thrown out. maybe better not to know why. better not to know where it came from or exactly what it is. better sometimes not to ask for the rest of the story, better sometimes not to tell."
"'that's the difference between a shlemiel and a shlemazel,' mom tells me many years later. 'any shlemiel can get their coat splashed in mud by a passing car. but to do it without even putting it on or going outside, that takes a shlemazel.'"
"our paths don't cross and intersect by chance, but by the choices that we've made."
"my ears rang, i was so happy. to be seen by strangers, noticed by people without even knowing it, looked for and remembered. suddenly i felt much less alone. it's good to remember that now. how just passing by, we touch lives that we don't even know, and become part of stories told by people we don't even know exist."
"but a bad sign was like a green light for me. a good sign and i would have been the one to run."
"if i could only make that moment last. not the crescendo of burning down the house, not the beginnings of building a new one in its place. just a cigarette in the rubble to pause and take in the change. because, like sex, the sweetest part is not the climax, but the calm after the storm. followed by the coffee, cigarettes, thai food and ice cream after the calm after the storm. sex and life, both too good to last, yet perhaps too good to rush. yes. you could argue that the world is not a woman and life is not a glorious yet embarrassing one-night stand. but really, what's the use in arguing about it?"
"easier to leave something you hate, easier to to stay away from something you like, but if you love it no one knows what to do and you feel cheated and confused, which is i think what yolanda was going through that morning with corey and what i'd been going through with berkeley, getting ready to split. torn between understood and unknown, challenging and conforting."
"everyone turns on the charm when it's time to say goodbye. how can you help falling in love with them all over again? how can they help but run and hide knowing it will only make you miss them more?"
"'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger,' that's what they say. i say, 'death is painless, but everything else hurts like hell.' would i willingly run the gauntlet and be hit by everything which has hurt me, shaped me, and given me strength and character over the years? not on your life. i would sit on the couch instead, relaxing and catching up on old mail. i would be a spineless, formless, boring schlep."
"trying is very important, failing is also good, and success can do great things for your confidence and ability to persevere. but trying too hard always makes you look like a bad joke."
"one of those tricks life plays on you. get older and they call your anger bitterness. your alienation becomes a burden instead of a badge of pride. oh, i don't know, maybe we could live together still, make stir-fry on the coleman stove and walk to the library in the mornings. but you wouldn't want to do it now, and what's worse, maybe i wouldn't either. something of the innocence is gone."
"they build a cage with little pieces of stories and keep the real feelings and meanings locked inside. you have to try to find the key, and they have to try and hide it. that's the art of romance, and friendship, and all conversation."
"life was meant to be lived, not weighed down by bitterness and nostalgia, criticism and complaints. life was about change and the willingness to try new things."
"'that's the difference between a shlemiel and a shlemazel,' mom tells me many years later. 'any shlemiel can get their coat splashed in mud by a passing car. but to do it without even putting it on or going outside, that takes a shlemazel.'"
"our paths don't cross and intersect by chance, but by the choices that we've made."
"my ears rang, i was so happy. to be seen by strangers, noticed by people without even knowing it, looked for and remembered. suddenly i felt much less alone. it's good to remember that now. how just passing by, we touch lives that we don't even know, and become part of stories told by people we don't even know exist."
"but a bad sign was like a green light for me. a good sign and i would have been the one to run."
"if i could only make that moment last. not the crescendo of burning down the house, not the beginnings of building a new one in its place. just a cigarette in the rubble to pause and take in the change. because, like sex, the sweetest part is not the climax, but the calm after the storm. followed by the coffee, cigarettes, thai food and ice cream after the calm after the storm. sex and life, both too good to last, yet perhaps too good to rush. yes. you could argue that the world is not a woman and life is not a glorious yet embarrassing one-night stand. but really, what's the use in arguing about it?"
"easier to leave something you hate, easier to to stay away from something you like, but if you love it no one knows what to do and you feel cheated and confused, which is i think what yolanda was going through that morning with corey and what i'd been going through with berkeley, getting ready to split. torn between understood and unknown, challenging and conforting."
"everyone turns on the charm when it's time to say goodbye. how can you help falling in love with them all over again? how can they help but run and hide knowing it will only make you miss them more?"
"'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger,' that's what they say. i say, 'death is painless, but everything else hurts like hell.' would i willingly run the gauntlet and be hit by everything which has hurt me, shaped me, and given me strength and character over the years? not on your life. i would sit on the couch instead, relaxing and catching up on old mail. i would be a spineless, formless, boring schlep."
"trying is very important, failing is also good, and success can do great things for your confidence and ability to persevere. but trying too hard always makes you look like a bad joke."
"one of those tricks life plays on you. get older and they call your anger bitterness. your alienation becomes a burden instead of a badge of pride. oh, i don't know, maybe we could live together still, make stir-fry on the coleman stove and walk to the library in the mornings. but you wouldn't want to do it now, and what's worse, maybe i wouldn't either. something of the innocence is gone."
"they build a cage with little pieces of stories and keep the real feelings and meanings locked inside. you have to try to find the key, and they have to try and hide it. that's the art of romance, and friendship, and all conversation."
"life was meant to be lived, not weighed down by bitterness and nostalgia, criticism and complaints. life was about change and the willingness to try new things."