I've Met Little Meanness, Wherever

Southerners Ask Intimate Questions In The Way Monkeys Groom Each Other For Lice, Not To Pry But To Make You Feel Cared For.

I Think We Southerners Have Talked A Fair Amount Of Malarkey About The Mystique Of Being Southern.

A Need To Tell And Hear Stories Is Essential To The Species Homo Sapiens-second In Necessity Apparently After Nourishment And Before Love And Shelter. Millions Survive Without Love Or Home, Almost None In Silence; The Opposite Of Silence Leads Quickly To Narrative, And The Sound Of Story Is The Dominant Sound Of Our Lives, From The Small Accounts Of Our Day's Events To The Vast Incommunicable Constructs Of Psychopaths.

You Have To Realize That Your Work Is Done By Your Body, And If Your Body Is In Very Bad Health, It's Not Going To Work For You No Matter How Young You Are. So, I'm A Bit Of An Athletic Coach When It Comes To Trying To Respect My Body's Needs And Tendencies, And When I Teach Students, I Try And Persuade Them Of The Same.

What I Still Ask For Daily-for Life As Long As I Have Work To Do, And Work As Long As I Have Life.