Here's some snippets I loved from a Harlan Ellison interview in my "Curmudgeon's Garden of Love."

"Their [oriental] gods are not mean-spirited, nasty, gimlet-eyed gods who'll give you a bolt of lightning in the ass if you masturbate."

"Bland is no protection."

"I only have x amount of life in my body, only x number of days in my life, and I simply don't have the time to spend not being enriched."

"Romantic, of necessity, is shallow."

"[Brother Theodore] 'You know, Harlan, we are very much alike, you and I, very much alike in one way. It is the reason women run shrieking from us. When they meet us, at first we are full of life and passion and intensity, and they are attracted to this. It is dangerous. They say, "Ah, there is something alive here" and they seek that heat and they get involved with us and it goes on for a week and then a month and then six months and then a year and they say, "When will it end? When will it stop? When will there be some peace? When will there be some quiet?" And there is none, so they run shrieking from us.'"

Anybody find that controversial or arrogant? I only find it to be true. A half hour with some people is like running 40 laps, and you could sleep for days afterwards-- if only. It's debatable though whether that's due to their disproportionate abundance of passion, or a lack of coincidence with your own passion. There's fighting your own battle or doing your own dance, then there's being dragged around by someone else into their battles. After all it isn't quiet most of us are after, it's growth.

Brother Theodore, by the way, was the voice of Gollum in "The Hobbit" and Rukh in "The Last Unicorn." And nothing else. Ah, coincidences. A documentary about him came out last month.

"...the basis for my happiness is that I love being in [my wife's] company and she seems to enjoy my company. Go figure."

"The one thing I know about love for sure is that it's the only game in town and that you must keep going back to bat again and again. I have no respect for anyone who says they've given up, or that they're not looking or that they're tired. That is to abrogate one's responsibility as a human being."

I must not have loved too hard or too deeply because I can stand going to bat again. Or perhaps I am exceptionally strong or resilient. I have Wolverine's heart that gets ripped the shit out of and pulls back together, like that vampire's face in "Vampire Hunter D," the first one. Not even a scar! Well, wish I could say that. But love is kind of old hat. Ineffable, sure, powerful, definitely, and it happens all the time and is found everywhere like I keep on telling you folks. Nobody died from not being loved, so much as not feeling loved. (This is nonsense, I don't know where my head's at.)

Patter, patter, patter!