I never saw him that he wasn’t wearing a shirt with large square fold marks, as if he’d just come out of a store, pulled it from its package, and put it on.

My old friend appeared at the door. He had always been, if not vain, fastidious in his presentation. Now he was only partly shaven, with his shirt worn inside out. “Rand,” he whispered, “Thank God.” I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone look so exhausted. He dragged his fingers through his long greying hair and waved me in. The apartment was nearly bare, with a recliner parked in its center—the site of his long, lonely vigil.

4 am—
What genius first put together the words CIRCLING THE DRAIN?

When someone tells you they’re behind you “1000 percent,” you know you’re on the way out.

I already had those side effects before taking the medication.

Once you’ve had a thought there’s no reason to ever have it again.

We miss you terribly, without the comfort of knowing our love and respect was ever reciprocated.

If you make the mistake of asking him something, his eyes glaze over and his mouth twitches into the private smile of a predator who’s just found his victim. Well, he says, that’s an interesting question. In the endless pause that follows, you think, oh shit, we’re in for it now.

Sooner or later, one way or another, the workplace will steal your dignity.

He comes to in the bathtub with no memory of how he got there. He looks in her eyes and sees pity and fear. Has this happened before? Has he already asked her this? Eventually he retains her answers, hanging on like a drowning man, terrified she’ll let go.

In the future, kimchi will be the only currency.

If people keep asking if you’re ok, you start getting the idea you might not be.

The universe deposits money in our accounts every day, in the form of reality.

She inwardly cherished the same neurotic traits she despised in the rest of her family.