September 2010
“I knew a guy who was dyslexic, but he was also cross-eyed, so everything came out right”
—Gummo
“It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything.”
—Tyler: Fight Club
“If everybody married someone from a different race then in one generation there would be no prejudice.”
—Tracy: Thirteen
“But I guess you can’t see the planets when you’re staring at the sun. You just get blinded.”
—Nick: Nick and Norah’s infinite playlist (the book, not the movie)
“…just drink life up, ya know? I mean, if life was a glass of water, I’d guzzle it.”
—Muck Sticky
“I, Jack, the Pumpkin King have grown so tired of the same old thing.”
—Jack: Nightmare before Christmas
Honestly, I’m not sure how much longer I can keep doing this. It’s like there are seven candles lit in my stomach. One, two, three, four, five , six, seven. Seven candles burning and smoking-lit-seven flames of doubt, fear, sorrow, pain, waste, hopelessness, despair. They turn my insides black with soot and ash. There is something at the back of my eyes-a pressure building, building, building-hot like the flames of seven candles, which no amount of breath can extinguish.
I imagine drinking glasses of water. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. I dive into the clearest pool. I drown myself in the course, dry sand. I swallow handfuls of crushed white salt, but the flames burn higher still-brighter, hotter, deeper. Sweat runs in delicate patterns down my back, over my crooked spine and jutting hips. I scratch at the wounds these last weeks have left, but I can’t break free of them. The flies gather and vultures circle overhead. The fire eats away my flesh. The fire spreads. The fire runs through my veins. The fire courses beneath my muscles-my tendons-the marrow of my bones.
I sit rocking on the street corner. No, I can’t keep doing this, I just can’t.
-excerpt from Tweak by Nic Sheff
Your Horoscope - Today, Sept. 27, 2010
Today you might spend a lot of time on the phone or exchanging e-mails with people in distant states or foreign countries, Christa. You might be making arrangements for a trip, or perhaps putting together a project of some kind, maybe one concerning education in some way. This may seem routine at the moment, but don’t be fooled. It could in the long run bring about some major changes in your life, so be prepared.This is the day I met the love of my life, in person
This is the first day of my life
I swear I was born right in the doorway
I went out in the rain suddenly everything changed
They’re spreading blankets on the beach
Yours is the first face that I saw
I think I was blind before I met you
Now I don’t know where I am
I don’t know where I’ve been
But I know where I want to go
And so I thought I’d let you know
That these things take forever
I especially am slow
But I realize that I need you
And I wondered if I could come home
Remember the time you drove all night
Just to meet me in the morning
And I thought it was strange you said everything changed
You felt as if you’d just woke up
And you said “this is the first day of my life
I’m glad I didn’t die before I met you
But now I don’t care I could go anywhere with you
And I’d probably be happy”
So if you want to be with me
With these things there’s no telling
We just have to wait and see
But I’d rather be working for a paycheck
Than waiting to win the lottery
Besides maybe this time is different
I mean I really think you like me
And now, I miss her more than ever.
“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”
—Robert McCloskey
