Finally, it's not the lies we tell others that do the most damage, it's those we tell ourselves. From this all troubles rise.

It's definitely a rude awakening. We're going to have to get better. We're going to have to get better every step of the way.

It's definitely a rude awakening.

I was woken by a shell-burst in the trench of sleep. Heart skipping, with eyes fighting light, my thoughts sprang up like a field of starlings startled by a farmer's gunshot, a thousand separate, autonomous specks that swirled into a single united black shape.

She was dry. She was lying on something soft. She was wrapped in quilts. There was a star of light drifting above her, and a smell like a herb garden. Taggle was a long warmth stretched out at one side, his chin in her hand, his tail curled over her neck. She thought they might be in heaven.
Taggle farted.
Plain Kate coughed and sneezed. And then she really was awake.

Joey D had a little rude awakening to the big leagues last year. But the kid has a lot of talent and a tremendous ceiling ahead of him. We're hopefully going to help him reach it the best we can. I know where I was right out of college, and I wasn't where he's at.