Kissing Galileo

Right now, it feels like I’d be completely erasing who I was before,” he blurted, swallowed, and then lifted his eyes to mine. They weren’t so sharp. “And I liked that person, even if no one else did.

People treat other people like shit for all sorts of reasons—size, shape, color, scars, amputations, disabilities, mental illness, religion, politics, just look at what the gays have to deal with!—it fucking happens. Get over it. Stop letting other people make your decisions for you. Live your best life. Move on.

If one persists in asking oneself, “Why does it matter?” the answer always eventually becomes, “It doesn’t.

It's so easy, to split girls into sexy or nerdy, smart or pretty. One or the other. Us versus them. 'There are two kinds of women, those who do xyz, or those who do abc.' But that's not true. There are billions of types of women, infinite possible combinations, and people change over time. Why do we want to regulate ourselves into a tidy little box? Limit ourselves?

...Persistence is only admirable when it isn't based in ignorance, otherwise it's called whining.

don’t care if you’re afraid, because—God—I’m so afraid. I’m terrified.” I swallowed, feeling the welling of tears and knowing there was nothing I could do to stop them. Allowing my chin to wobble, I took a deep breath, hating how I knew my voice would sound but needing to say the words. “The only thing I care about is whether or not you have enough courage to trust me, to have faith in me, that you can share every part of yourself, this person you keep locked up and hidden, and I won’t turn into a Jane Eyre.

But your actions spell out indifference, or confusion at best. Cruel game playing and manipulation at worst.

fat people’s existence tends to make other people—again, not all people—mildly uncomfortable. However, if a fat person also has good hearing, it seems to make them indignant as well.

Food never judges. Food is not made uncomfortable by my existence. Food does not whisper about me or make jokes about how I look. Food is necessary for survival, it is nourishing, it is comforting, it is inherently good. Food can be surprising, interesting, thought provoking in a way that humans seldom are. And aside from the rare case of food poisoning, food always, always makes me feel good. Until it doesn’t.

Great science—like all great things—begins with doubt, with questioning, with a fundamental abhorrence for the status quo. If you do not care to inform yourself for the sake of your grade, then at least do so for the sake of your mind. And if you do not care about your mind, then you are not invited to attend my lecture.

Research design and analysis require conversation and dialogue, and often that dialogue is contentious. Do you think great science occurs in a vacuum? With politeness? With pleases and thank yous? Do you think you are allowed to hold ideas and beliefs without ever having them openly challenged? No.

persistence is only admirable when it isn’t based in ignorance, otherwise it’s called whining.

Persistence is only admirable when it isn't based ignorance, otherwise it's called whining.

These are just words, but they’re all I have. I will earn your trust. But please know—” he swallowed, his gorgeous eyes clear and bright “—I have no escape plan. I’m holding nothing back. The terms of this surrender are complete, because there is no alternative for me other than to give you, and this beautiful thing between us, everything I have.

It’s not something that will ever go away for me, it’s something I’ll probably live with forever. Sometimes, there is no resolution, no answer. There is only doing my best.

Nothing you say will be the right answer, because it isn’t a question for you. It’s a question for me. I have to like who I am and be comfortable in my skin, no matter what you or anyone else thinks, even if I gain five pounds, even if I gain a hundred.

I squared my shoulders and crossed my arms. BAH! I just wanted to-to-to . . . smack him and kiss him and scream and take off his pants.

It’s so easy, to split girls into sexy or nerdy, smart or pretty. One or the other. Us versus them. ‘There are two kinds of women, those who do xyz, or those who do abc.’ But that’s not true. There are billions of types of women, infinite possible combinations, and people change over time. Why do we want to regulate ourselves into a tidy little box? Limit ourselves?

It was the picture of a twenty-sided die with a “1” showing, and it read, “You reach out to push the orc off the bridge. But instead, lightly caress his back. He is uncomfortable.

Pragmatism, I’d discovered, is an efficient inoculation against chaotic feelings. If one persists in asking oneself, “Why does it matter?” the answer always eventually becomes, “It doesn’t.

giving other people power over my decisions, as though I could spite them by making myself uncomfortable,

Explain it to me like I’m a two-year-old who hasn’t taken a nap, because that’s about where my patience is right now.

Ah, wine, clearly my only friend in the room.

I mean, who calls anymore? Didn’t he understand the rules of engagement? The only people who get a pass from the text-first rule were grandparents, parents, and best friends.

I never eat bread like this.” Dipping a slice into the olive oil, garlic, balsamic, and spices,

So some ignorant assholes treated you like shit because you were big, and now they don’t. But guess what? People treat other people like shit for all sorts of reasons—size, shape, color, scars, amputations, disabilities, mental illness, religion, politics, just look at what the gays have to deal with!—it fucking happens. Get over it. Stop letting other people make your decisions for you. Live your best life. Move on.

Misirlou,” by Dick Dale & His Del-Tones carried out of Dr. Hanover’s office and I froze. Pulp Fiction.

oftentimes be the culprit of excess weight gain. I just really, really liked food, because food—unlike most humans I’d encountered—is fucking awesome. Food never judges. Food is not made uncomfortable by my existence. Food does not whisper about me or make jokes about how I look. Food is necessary for survival, it is nourishing, it is comforting, it is inherently good. Food can be surprising, interesting, thought provoking in a way that humans seldom are. And aside from the rare case of food poisoning, food always, always makes me feel good. Until it doesn’t.