Two Things Found on the Internet That Gave Me Great Joy Today

The first is this quote by Michael Cunningham (Pulitzer winner, wrote The Hours). I found it heartening and a much-needed boost of encouragement.

"The stuff I was writing at 22 was embarrassing. It was all theory about the world and how to live in it and almost no practical experience. I really needed to work and fall in love and work some more and fall in love again before I began to get a sense of what I call emotional physics — which are often counterintuitive. People don’t necessarily act the way you think they ought to act. We are not logical organisms."

I feel like pretty much everything I'm writing right now is crap, so thanks, Michael Cunningham! Even though I'm 23, no longer 22, these words make me feel as though things can only get better.

The second is from Ron Charles, a book editor for the Washington Post. He does virtual book reviews that are a big hit with my department at work, and just generally delightful. This is the most recent one on (coincidentally) Michael Cunningham's new book.



I especially like the part where he frolics through the sculpture garden.