Saturday, July 5, 2008

My Favorite Part, episode 2

“What's with you, kid? You think the death of Sammy Davis left an opening in the Rat Pack?” – Mel Horowitz, Clueless

And would it have been worth it, after all,
Would it have been worth while,
After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets,
After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor—
And this, and so much more?—
It is impossible to say just what I mean!
But as if a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a screen:
Would it have been worth while
If one, settling a pillow or throwing off a shawl,
And turning toward the window, should say:
“That is not it at all,
That is not what I meant, at all.”
-T.S. Eliot, Love Song for J. Alfred Prufrock

There’s something in the way you laugh that makes me feel like a child. – Jason Mraz, After an Afternoon

“On the run from Johnny Law, it ain’t no trip to Cleveland.” – Dignan, Bottle Rocket

”Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry, it merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It’s beyond me.” –Zora Neale Hurston, How it feels to be Colored me.

“This is the squalid, or moving, part of the story, and the scene changes. The people change, too. I’m still around, but from here on in, for reasons I’m not at liberty to disclose, I’ve disguised myself so cunningly that even the cleverest reader will fail to recognize me.” – J.D. Salinger, For Esme—With Love and Squalor

You want the sunrise to go back to bed, and I want to make you laugh. –Joshua Radin, Paperweight

“But in the love poetry of every age, the woman longs to be weighed down by the man’s body. The heaviest of burdens is therefore simultaneously an image of life’s most intense fulfillment The heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to the earth, the more real and truthful they become.” – Milan Kundera,
The Unbearable Lightness of Being

“Lloyd wears washable neckties.” – Dorothy Parker, Men I’m Not Married to

“Oh my. What have we here? A rainy night in the city has cleared the sidewalks of all but the most intrepid pedestrians, and those who didn’t brave the elements have no idea what they’re missing. Because there you are, gliding along on your bicycle, just a few feet ahead of me.
“You’re obviously not one of those tedious hard-core cycling enthusiasts—no skin-tight black spandex for you. No, just a simple white T-shirt (soaked through to the skin, clinging to the small of your back) and a long blond ponytail, whipping back and forth like the tail of a cartoon pony, as those long legs of yours pump the pedals and you raise your face to the sky, letting the raindrops freckle your cheeks with sweet diamonds of moisture.
“Dare I try to catch up to you? I’m on foot, carrying a bunch of shopping bags, but you’ve paused at a red light, and—what the heck? I don’t know what I’ll say to you, but even the clumsiest of introductions on these glistening nighttime streets will give us a romantic how-we-met anecdote that we’ll love telling for years to come.
“Caught you! Here I am!
“And there you are. I see now that you’re a dude. My mistake. It was the ponytail that threw me off.
(Duration of crush: thirty-three seconds.)” – Paul Simms, Four Short Crushes

“Stay away from him. He’s a boy!” – Gymnast Nun, Girls Just Want to Have Fun

“No, ‘The Love Guru’ is downright antifunny, an experience that makes you wonder if you will ever laugh again.” – A.O. Scott, NYT review.

“My first jujitsu class was three and a half months ago. Self-defense was something that I was extremely curious about, for obvious reasons, and Mom thought it would be good for me to have a physical activity besides tambourining.” – Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

“This is like ordering someone to find you attractive, and it doesn’t work. I’ve tried it.” – David Sedaris, Keeping Up

“When behind a young man on a bus, she finds herself staring at his neck. The urge to touch it is almost overwhelming! And then he scratches it, as if he knew.” –Zadie Smith, The Autograph Man

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