Of course she said that. She’s my mom. She also hung my crayon drawings on the wall like they were masterpieces. You can’t really trust her analysis of my artistic endeavors.

This was my James Bond moment. Except, rather than racing a sports car along a cliffside road overlooking the Mediterranean, we were crammed onto the subway riding the Red Line toward Metro Center Station.

I don’t get involved in anything that’s stupid.

He was tall like a basketball player, and superthin. His hair had been dyed shoe-polish black, and he had dark circles under his eyes. He wore mismatched earrings and, judging by the splotches along his jawline, he also wore makeup. Very bad makeup. Even by New York subway standards he was weird.

Mr. Campbell and I did so many high fives the palm of my hand turned red.

The video was impressive the first time or two we saw it, but by the fifth viewing we pretty much hated everything about the school.

Nerds really do make the world go round.

Only fools and liars speak with certainty about things beyond their control.

It seemed like everything was moving too fast for me to do anything about it.

If we lose faith and trust, then we’ve lost everything.