Stolen from NPR, excerpts from Faulkner's nobel prize speech

[T]he young man or woman writing today has forgotten the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself which alone can make good writing because only that is worth writing about, worth the agony and the sweat. He must learn them again. He must teach himself that the basest of all things is to be afraid; and, teaching himself that, forget it forever, leaving no room in his workshop for anything but the old verities and truths of the heart, the old universal truths lacking which any story is ephemeral and doomed - love and honor and pity and pride and compassion and sacrifice. Until he does so, he labors under a curse. He writes not of love but of lust, of defeats in which nobody loses anything of value, of victories without hope and, worst of all, without pity or compassion...I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. The poet's, the writer's, duty is to write about these things.
Composed and delivered drunk

Regrets?

Two days after leaving, the selfish little bitch of a recluse who has backstabbed me multiple times...just sent multiple emails begging to return to this job. First, bwahahahaha! I hate the pathetic little worm, he makes me uncomfortable as he shuns us, he always asks for help but never provides any, and I've had him try to harm me multiple times. However, I can't ignore his value as a litigator - he does good litigation work on what he does. Not my decision but my opinion is counted. My opinion is...mixed.

I don't like him personally but I'm not going to write off all of his value based on my personal feelings - even how he acts towards me. This is the problem with being liberal - you don't just hate, you admit the complexity of the situation. Well, I don't do this 100% of the time, perhaps 95%. This is work though.

It also makes me really curious about being unhappy here. However, yesterday I talked to another recent USDA ex-pat, and he wanted me to understand how very different the pace was in other Agencies - even DHS and defense.

(no subject)

The Apaches are back! Look, Tee Pee in your trunks!
My pants are haunted - my pants are haunted!