things I like more than people

We didn’t domesticate cats. They domesticated themselves. But not totally, you know? You take a good look at any house cat, and you can tell there’s eventually going to be a day when it goes back wild, you know? When it reverts to its true nature. You fall over and die in a house with your dog, and your dog will lie down beside your dead body, maybe right on top of it, and starve to death. But a house cat will feast on your eyes as soon as its stomach starts growling.

“

—	Sherman Alexie, “Lawyer’s League”, Ten Little Indians

Vera Lynn – White Cliffs of Dover »

“A lot of good people went to their deaths with this tune in their heads.”

Customer 1: Where is the Underdog Café?
Carmen: You're here.
Vanessa: I thought it was over there, that this side was Emporium Wines and that side was the Underdog Café.
Carmen: But isn't it like the border between life and death, which doesn't really exist?
Vanessa: Interesting! I've always thought of it as a Venn diagram.
Carmen: Oh, so there's an overlap?
Vanessa: Right. You can exist within the border. But if you go far enough toward one side (or the other), you can exist wholly in one (or the other).
Customer 2: I don't mean to interrupt this philosophical discussion, but can I get a muffin?
Carmen: Will it be traveling? To the café?
Vanessa: Crossing the border? Does it need a visa?

As we entered the fetal development hall there was a sign that warned people that they should take a second and think about whether they wanted to see the fetuses, while assuring us that all of them died of natural causes (that is, not abortion). I think it’s bizarre that we’re supposed to find these fetal bodies disturbing, but not the bodies of people who lived lives and loved others and were loved and all that good stuff. There is something weird about the priorities here, as if the fetuses were somehow more human than the adults. Also, while we were looking at the deformed fetuses, a woman standing next to us said that all teenagers should have to see the deformed fetuses because “that’s what gonna happen” if they start having sex.