“poor boy. with a name like atticus, every word he utters ought to be inspired and wise, spoken with a voice that compels all within earshot to sit up and listen. i wonder how disappointed atticus’s parents must be. such a noble and lofty name full of great expectations, and they end up with a heavyset boy with a prominent brow and underdeveloped frontal lobe who says “um” a lot and scratches himself in the cafeteria.”
-steve brezenoff, guy in real life
“i may not be old but i’m too old to have this much nothing.”
-jonathan topper, this is where i leave you
“it is an impressively arrogant move to conclude that just because you don’t like something, it is empirically not good. i don’t like Chinese food, but i don’t write articles trying to prove it doesn’t exist.”
-tiny fey, bossypants
“he sighed. it was a long sigh, weary and worldly-wise. the kind of sigh you could picture god heaving after six days of hard work and looking forward to some serious cosmic r&r, only to be handed a report by an angel concerning a problem with someone eating an apple.”
-neil gaiman & michael reaves, interworld
“knowing what i know now, it is difficult to describe what it was like, loving Ray. years ago a recovering crystal meth addict spoke at my son’s school. she said that even after ten years clean, she still missed the way it felt to have that deadly substance in her veins. still, life without the drug felt, sometimes, like a lesser thing. a sad though necessary comedown. listening to her speak in that auditorium filled with my fellow concerned parents, sitting next to my good husband with whom i’d lived at that point for close to twenty years, the image of Ray’s face was all i could see, and a wave of grief and longing overtook me, so strong i had to cover my eyes. even after all that time.”
-joyce maynard, the good daugthers
notable online reads:
15 career tips from smart women
childless women
introverts unite!
anthony bourdain travel tips
how cooking for others is selfish
homecooking
Visiting Médoc, France: Where Vines Outnumber Visitors
what have you been reading?
morestomach 
I thought the collection of quotes from women who never had kids was great. I always feel that my answer to people who ask (AND IT IS NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS) is inadequate, but a) I don’t need to explain myself to anyone and b) there are so many important reasons. Anyway well…. thanks for that!