Dear Eric, Pick up your socks. Clean the house once in a while. Go to the dentist. Start being more sensible about money. If you're going to read, make sure it's a book that amounts to something. In general, you mistake lethargy for stability. Your strong reaction to discipline is a remarkable point of view. It has inevitable and regrettable consequences. A restless mind is not necessarily an energetic one. "Today's poetry is a fight for breath." Remember that? Then what have you done with the knowledge? There are no easy ways. Sentimentality will not do in the place of emotion. Confusion is not profundity. Reform your heart. Withdrawal is not the same as solitude. A secret held from all others is a stone in the gut. Oysters make pearls of such irritants, humans do not. How can there be pleasure in isolation? Do you ever vacuum? A Critic
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