my careless contagion

Stop sounding so fucking sad.   This is a screenshot from American Psycho , a movie I've never seen. I've read the book, and that's enough, as I'm still disturbed by that book many years later. No work of fiction I've ever read has affected me like American Psycho . Bret Easton Ellis' characters are so devoid of humanity, it's unreal. Or perhaps too real. His books are about characters I don't care about, even hate. But they are compelling. It's amazing to read a book and not find a single character you enjoy or relate to. Sometimes my life has resembled his fiction, sadly.  There are a lot of reasons for me to feel sad. There are a lot of reasons for me to feel upset. Those reasons have always existed. Some will never go away. But, sadness is a choice. And, if sadness is a choice, then it follows that happiness is a choice. I've had enough sadness to last a lifetime. I choose happiness. I choose joy. I choose silliness and fun and all the...

The Little Prince is a children's book written in a different era. Like so many children's books, it has remained popular. There is something about it that makes parents want to pass it along to their children. I came upon the Little Prince as an adult and read it in disbelief. It deals with love and loss like few adult books do.  I painted the Little Prince on his planet for my ex-sister-in-law many years ago. When I gave it to her, she started crying; I guess the Little Prince resonated with her. I'm a terrible painter, by the way, so I'm sure my skill or lack thereof had little to do with her emotional response.  Everyone has their favorite quote from the book. For my ex-sister-in-law, it was, "You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed." That has stuck with me for many years.  For brief moments, I feel I tamed my ex-wife. She was a different person when I met her. She became something else over the years. She was wild, staying...