Gabe Durham > Quotes

“Now here we are, smiling, all that stuff behind us, slates clean, fresh air, ready to laugh over new jokes.”
― Gabe Durham, Fun Camp

“BEST FRIENDS SHOULD BE TOGETHER
We’ll get a pair of those half-heart necklaces so every ask n’ point reminds us we are one glued duo. We’ll send real letters like our grandparents did, handwritten in smart cursive curls. We’ll extend cell plans and chat through favorite shows like a commentary track just for each other. We’ll get our braces off on the same day, chew whole packs of gum. We’ll nab some serious studs but tell each other everything. Double-date at a roadside diner exactly halfway between our homes. Cry on shoulders when our boys fail us. We’ll room together at State, cover the walls floor-to-ceiling with incense posters of pop dweebs gone wry. See how beer feels. Be those funny cute girls everybody’s got an eye on. We’ll have a secret code for hot boys in passing. A secret dog named Freshman Fifteen we’ll have to hide in the rafters during inspection. Follow some jam band one summer, grooving on lawns, refusing drugs usually. Get tattoos that only spell something when we stand together. I’ll be maid of honor in your wedding and you’ll be co-maid with my sister but only cause she’d disown me if I didn’t let her. We’ll start a store selling just what we like. We’ll name our firstborn daughters after one another, and if our husbands don’t like it, tough. Lifespans being what they are, we’ll be there for each other when our men have passed, and all the friends who come to visit our assisted living condo will be dazzled by what fun we still have together. We’ll be the kind of besties who make outsiders wonder if they’ve ever known true friendship, but we won’t even notice how sad it makes them and they won’t bring it up because you and I will be so caught up in the fun, us marveling at how not-good it never was.”
― Gabe Durham, Fun Camp

“A woman’s greatest knack is how well she can hide how much sleep she’s been missing. There’s a little tally board inside each of us labeled, “Number of days since someone has told me I look tired” that resets itself whenever we make the mistake of looking like we feel. And the alternative? Even if you fulfill obligations, party like you mean it, and somehow get your sleep, your decisions will be too well-informed to be spontaneous. You’ll never be susceptible to life.”
― Gabe Durham, Fun Camp

“Growing up, I was often told that you can’t just pick and choose which parts of the Bible you want to believe—it’s all or nothing. But every preacher, parent, picture book publisher, and Christian game developer must at least decide which Christian stories they want to highlight, just as all God-fearing Christians walk around with different versions of the Good Book in their heads, each impression distorted by the believer’s tastes, interpretations, and imperfect memory.”
― Gabe Durham, Bible Adventures

“Because everybody knows the best camp activities are those rich with mnemonic potential, and memories remain longest when attached to changes of scenery.”
― Gabe Durham, Fun Camp

“Let us not fear death. There is too much to do while yet on this earth.”
― Gabe Durham, Fun Camp

“It's funny that I mostly remember the people at Color Dreams more than I do the games.”
― Gabe Durham, Bible Adventures

“The worst thing about the age we live in? Any slovenly Howard can crawl out of his chive-chip hovel to meet his female algorithmic dopple for neutral non-threatening coffee to laugh over season two episode six of some bullshit, the one where everyone at the space station gets a free case of Sprite and poor deaf Ronnie finds a dollar. And to each other they say, “How’d people even meet before the blessed holy internet?” Well Nintendo Power, I’ll tell you. They locked beery eyes from across the bar, palpitated wildly, jostled their way past flying darts and poking cues until one stood only a couple feet from the other, close enough for smell to factor in, and then—without even knowing what the other thought of Woody Allen—they sacked up, leaned in, and said, simultaneously: “Hi.”
― Gabe Durham, Fun Camp

“EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT MUSIC
"When you’re improvising and you hit a bad note, hit it again a few times. Own the note, shine your brights on it, let everyone know you are up to something. The Law of Facial Control holds that 90% of the audience is evaluating your performance with the wrong organs anyway. Dilute and mask, not for your comfort but for theirs. Everybody wants to be lied to sometimes, which is to say, cared for. Other times, well. My lover: If I smile naturally, suspect I’m up to something. My friends: If I ever kiss all of you, you’ll know I’ve just made a terrible mistake.”
― Gabe Durham, Fun Camp

“Sunday pulls the rug out from everyone.”
― Gabe Durham, Fun Camp

“You can’t or you won’t, or in a more formal setting, you cannot or will not.”
― Gabe Durham, Fun Camp

“It felt like shivers and coffee and God’s favor.”
― Gabe Durham, Fun Camp

“When you’re improvising and you hit a bad note, hit it again a few times. Own the note, shine your brights on it, let everyone know you are up to something.”
― Gabe Durham, Fun Camp

“Clock Town, meanwhile, is bursting with problems without obvious solutions. Each character has their own story (and often a quest for you to complete), but almost nobody spits out what you must do to further their story without you first putting in some detective work. The mailman seems so stressed out—how do I help him? The little person in the fox mask comes out when I ring the bell—how do I get him to talk to me? These dancing sisters seem dissatisfied with their routine—what can I possibly offer? Majora offers the opposite of the directive-based quests of most adventure games, in which you know what you must do as soon as a distraught townie has finished lecturing: “Hello, young traveler! Won’t you help an old lady? I seem to have misplaced my eight STRENGTH BOOST PIES. They are scattered throughout the city. I have added them to your MINIMAP.” Instead, you encounter people distracted by problems they would never expect you to fix. The citizens of Clock Town have no idea you’re the famous Hero of Time in their sister dimension. You’re just another kid.”
― Gabe Durham, Majora's Mask

“According to Lawton, Lin wanted to print a t-shirt that read, "Grab you joystick, here comes Moses!"

"I had to talk him out of that one," Lawton said.”
― Gabe Durham, Bible Adventures

“A mystery of the NES age is that for how enjoyable and lucrative The Legend of Zelda was, imitators did not come out of the woodwork the way Mario clones did.”
― Gabe Durham, Bible Adventures

“Question, Dave. At what age is it appropriate to stop dreaming of the year I sweep the Nobels, and really hunker down and specialize on the talent that’s gonna win me international acclaim and sex? Fourteen? Eighteen? Six? I got to tell you, nothing discourages the ambitious twelve-year-old like a bilingual Japanese fifth grader who gets onstage at skits, all humble and nervous, and busts fiery concertos out her violin like it’s nothing, or like a linguist mom who tells me that if I were to make it my life’s pursuit to learn the little fiddle prodigy’s primary language, it’s already too late for my brain to pick up on the nuances necessary for fitting in. I’m too late to dominate at something, aren’t I? If I’m too late, it’s fine, I just need to hear you say it so I can transition out of having goals and start nudging whoever’s beside me at skits and going, “Yeah, but at least I’ve got a life.” Or, wait, “Yeah, but at least I’ve got a life.” Well. Not there yet. I’ll work on it.”
― Gabe Durham, Fun Camp