Part of the writer’s task is to recognize what he’s done, then dive back in and make the connections clearer. I’m a strong believer in getting things right the ninth or tenth time.

Algebra-Read pages 7-14. Do the odd numbered problems. From what I’ve seen, they’re all pretty odd.

Books are growing more honest at a younger age, and the world is becoming less warm and fuzzy. Or at least the monsters are out in the open.

Wait. I will say something. This is too important. And if you don’t listen to anything else I tell you, I hope you’ll listen now. No matter what you might hear about all these tragic figures, and the whole romantic image of the suffering artist, suicide is not cool. It’s not heroic. It’s not romantic. It’s like running away. Abandoning your family. And leaving someone else to clean up your mess. Only, it’s even worse, because once you go there, you can’t come back. And that would really suck.

See Scott run, Run Scott run. See Scott die, No such luck.

It’s just as easy to lie to yourself as it is to lie to other people. Maybe easier.

A kid might help another kid who fell into a river, and a kid might help another kid search for a lost baseball, but there isn’t a kid I’ve met who will help another kid out of a humiliating situation. We just aren’t built that way.

Athlete or not, I’m going to make sure you know how to read.

But at least this got Mouth thinking about how his loneliness wasn’t unique. We all suffered. And I guess we all had good times too. Man – if every person who ever felt lonely killed himself, the world would be littered with corpses. And far lonelier.

Reciprocity is not mandatory.