cats

The nice thing about cats is that sometimes
when you're alone and lonely and sad
they will come up next to you,
gentle and quiet,
and sit down and curl up
into a ball of purring warmth
and press their soft foreheads against your leg.
And they don't say anything,
but they know
and they're there.

a thought

"You're nice," he said. "You're like the smell of coffee, but not the taste."

I thought about that as I stood on the rainy beach, holding a cup of hotel-brewed hot-chocolified half-strength coffee. The weather was grey and cold, but the cup was warm through its little cardboard sleeve. It made me happy.

And I thought that that's one of the nicest things anyone has said to me in a while.

1 AM

Sometimes I stay up very late, feeling scared and inadequate and lonely. When I get like this, a little shaky and too tired to sleep, I sometimes read a book. Sometimes I write emotive embarrassments in yellow legal pads, or watch the beginnings of movies I'll never finish.
 Tonight I went downstairs to make myself a cup of tea. I took it outside, and sat down on the wrought-iron rocker bench on our back porch. I pulled my knees up to my chest and looked up at the stars. We live in the suburbs, so the stars are whispers, not declarations. But the longer I looked, the more stars I could see. Look at the stars, look how they shine for you. They have always seemed so friendly. Between the tea and the chilly night air, I managed to calm down.

(You said I should write something in that half asleep, half awake state that sometimes happens late at night. Just leave it up for 24 hours.
Why? I asked.
It will be funny, you said.
I don't know what you had in mind. 
But here's...this.)

together

Sometimes my girlfriends will ask me what I imagine my "dream guy" to be.
But I think that one of the few things I've always wanted is someone who will read books with me.

(Video from Foolish Oats)

an observation

One of the nicest things I can think of is when you find yourself laughing very hard about something, and someone you like tremendously is laughing equally hard with you 

about the same thing.