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“When we got to the part where we had to improvise an argument in a poetic language, I got cold feet. "I can't do this," I said. "I don't know what to say."
"Say anything," he said. "You can't make a mistake when you improvise."
"What if I mess it up? What if I screw up the rhythm?"
"You can't," he said. "It's like drumming. If you miss a beat, you create another."
In this simple exchange, Sam taught me the secret of improvisation, one that I have accessed my whole life.”
― Just Kids
"Say anything," he said. "You can't make a mistake when you improvise."
"What if I mess it up? What if I screw up the rhythm?"
"You can't," he said. "It's like drumming. If you miss a beat, you create another."
In this simple exchange, Sam taught me the secret of improvisation, one that I have accessed my whole life.”
― Just Kids
“So my last image was as the first. A sleeping youth cloaked in light, who opened his eyes with a smile of recognition for someone who had never been a stranger.”
― Just Kids
― Just Kids
“It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.”
― The Age of Louis XIV
― The Age of Louis XIV
“The tigers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction.”
― The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
― The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
“Emotions, in my experience, aren't covered by single words. I don't believe in "sadness," "joy," or "regret." Maybe the best proof that the language is patriarchal is that it oversimplifies feeling. I'd like to have at my disposal complicated hybrid emotions, Germanic train-car constructions like, say, "the happiness that attends disaster." Or: "the disappointment of sleeping with one's fantasy." I'd like to show how "intimations of mortality brought on by aging family members" connects with "the hatred of mirrors that begins in middle age." I'd like to have a word for "the sadness inspired by failing restaurants" as well as for "the excitement of getting a room with a minibar." I've never had the right words to describe my life, and now that I've entered my story, I need them more than ever. ”
― Middlesex
― Middlesex
Gays of Goodreads
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— last activity Jan 11, 2026 08:02PM
everyone welcome! let's all find cute, bookish (boy)friends. ...more
Conor’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Conor’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
511 books
|
380 friends
2,659 books
|
457 friends
16,086 books
|
1,146 friends
1,039 books
|
400 friends
2,696 books
|
305 friends
1,249 books
|
947 friends
656 books
|
591 friends
2,300 books
|
782 friends
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