Quotability

inspiration for T minus 2 weeks...

"Love is never finished, and life is never as clean as the stories we tell ourselves. If that robs us of a certain resolution, perhaps it’s enough that those moments let us sit back and look at one another and say: we almost didn't make it, but we got here. Now let’s keep going."

Daniel Carlson, from his film review of Before Midnight

(photo from Vogue, July 1940)

Joy by Zadie Smith

Read this essay by Zadie Smith discussing the difference between pleasure and joy:

"Occasionally the child, too, is a pleasure, though mostly she is a joy, which means in fact she gives us not much pleasure at all, but rather that strange admixture of terror, pain, and delight that I have come to recognize as joy"

(photo via weheartit)

The Opposite of Loneliness

Have you all heard of Marina Keegan? 

"What we have to remember is that we can still do anything. We can change our minds. We can start over... we MUST not lose this sense of possibility because in the end, it’s all we have."

Gorgeous, haunting, and so inspiring: The Opposite of Loneliness

Quotability

"But for us, it's different. Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every 'superstar,' every 'supreme leader,' every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there - on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam."

Carl Sagan

(photo of the East Coast from space by NASA)

"The Mystery I'm Thankful For"

"I was simply pointing to that fundamental weirdness, that "stranger-in-a-strange land" quality of being human. I was pointing to that mystery because I think its best part of the whole trip.... We just find ourselves here. With our individual birth we just "wake-up" and discover ourselves in the midst of an extraordinary world of beauty and sorrow....I will feel the mystery and be thankful to it, to them and to the world entire."
Adam Frank

The perfect find for today. Happy Thanksgiving.


(photo of Iceland via Krisatomic)

Hippos and Crates

A daily-updated blog detailing my current life. Written in the style of a true romantic and eternal optimist, I think Chris' account will be far more meaningful than most, if not any other attempts. Even as I experience the same classes, labs, and exams, it's encouraging and comforting see them through the eyes of someone who is looking past the daily minutia - one who sees so clearly the so-faint-you-swear-it-can't-really-be-there light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Plus, who doesn't love a little wordplay in a title? Thank you, Mr. VP!

You, the girl who reads

"She insists that her narratives are rich, her supporting cast colorful, and her typeface bold.... You will accept nothing less than passion, and perfection, and a life worthy of being storied."

from You should date an illiterate girl

Sent to me from my (beloved) Yunbear. She said this made her think of me and there are few compliments higher than that.

Thanks Yunbear!

PS. Throwbacks to my English Literature past-life: Syntax? Rich vocabulary? Plot? Yes, please.
PPS. The rebuttal (also from Y): You should date an illiterate boy

Stage Fright

I really have nothing to say during the closing hours on the eve of my first day of classes. I'm calm but tired, nervous but hopeful, ready but so not ready. I remember reading Connie's poignant thoughts as she was about to embark on her own journey to law school and I recall being so moved at her fear, longing, and hope. These are emotions that I too now know.

It is so crazy to think that these were her feelings from only about 11 months ago. In less than a year, my little bear has changed so much and, to put it lightly, she has kicked absolute ass (top of her class, Law Review, etc., etc.). If I am but a fraction of the woman she is, I will be living a dream.

"Tomorrow is the beginning of an odyssey that will change my life, and I am feeling very small indeed."

Conmonster

In Solidarity

But although my ankles hurt and the backs of my legs ached, it felt very good to be moving, and to be free, and to feel the night air on my face and the grass on my legs, wet from the dew. I know my sister was happy too. She was whistling under her breath. Once when we stopped to rest, she dug her toes into the earth at the edge of a field and smiled. When I saw her smile, I felt strong enough to carry on.

Chris Cleave from Little Bee

Congratulations to my sister for earning her first paycheck as a working woman. It's been a rough transition for all of us. For her, most of all.

Gorgeous

"Capacity for love is as good a yardstick as any to measure how alive a thing is. I believe love is a precious gift of evolution that draws from the most advanced parts of the brain."

Humbling and moving thoughts of a medical student (but now MD) on humanity, science, and what it means to love: Elephant in the Room.