Psyched Out

I'm fat. I've always been fat, Venus of Willendorf Fat. It's seldom stopped me or upset me, but if I could take an otherwise safe pill to be thin, I'd do it. It'd pay for itself in clothing savings. Still, when my (then) kindergarten son wrote a list of his 5 favorite things about me for Mother's Day, and number three was "SOFT" in scraggly capitals, I melted.

Off the cuff, from the prof who inspired me to pursue neuroscience after I was shakily returning to school after 8 years feeling dulled by years of menial jobs: "Oh, I assumed you were heavily influenced by Stephen Jay Gould, you think exactly like him." That was nice to hear, until I took his advice and READ SJG's brilliant science essays from the journal _Nature_, when it became clear how unbelievably awesome that casual comment really was.

From an ex - "Please don't take this wrong, but you could make a LOT of money giving blow jobs like that." I didn't take it wrong. :)

"You sing like an angel, will you sing me to sleep?" A friend I'd just met on a car trip. Sadly, I had been punished and shamed for singing, and pretended I didn't hear her by acting asleep. :( Update: "Wow, you can really sing!" My very first ever BAND mate a few weeks ago when we rehearsed together for the first time. And she's a brilliant and experienced fiddler!!!

And of course, "Will you marry me?" :)