Passivity Is Corrosive To The Soul; It

Around The Time I Began Starving, In The Early Eighties, The Visual Image Had Begun To Supplant Text As Culture's Primary Mode Of Communication, A Radical Change Because Images Work So Differently Than Words: They're Immediate, They Hit You At Levels Way Beneath Intellect, They Come Fast And Furious.

On The Broad Spectrum Of Solitude, I Lean Toward The Extreme End: I Work Alone, As Well As Live Alone, So I Can Pass An Entire Day Without Uttering So Much As A Hello To Another Human Being. Sometimes A Day's Conversation Consists Of Only Five Words, Uttered At The Local Starbucks: 'large Coffee With Milk, Please.

My Recipe For Bliss On A Friday Night Consists Of A 'new York Times' Crossword Puzzle And A New Episode Of 'homicide;' Saturdays And Sundays Are Oriented Around Walks In The Woods With The Dog, Human Companion In Tow Some Of The Time But Not Always.

Cats Are Narcissistic. Their Needs Come Before Ours. They Don't Understand The Word "no." They Carry Themselves With That Aloof, Arrogant Sense Of Perpetual Entitlement, They Will Jump Up And Insinuate Themselves Wherever They Please--on Your Lap, On Your Newspaper, On Your Computer Keyboard--and They Really Couldn't Care Less How Their Behavior Affects The People In Their Lives. I've Had Boyfriends Like This; Who Needs Such Behavior In A Housepet?

Was He Smart Enough? Introspective Enough? Was It Just Enough To Love Him, Or Should I Attach Myself To Someone Who Seemed Farther Ahead Of Me, Someone Smarter And More Ambitious Than Me, Who'd Be Sure To Carry Me Along Into The Version Of Adulthood I Thought I Should Be Striving For?