Graeme Simsion

I asked you here tonight because when you realise you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.

Lost love belongs in a three-minute song, pullling back feelings from a time when they came unbidden, recalling the infatuation, the walking on sunshine that cannot last and the pain of its loss, whether through parting or the passage of time, reminding us that we are emotional beings

But why, why, why can't people just say what they mean?

Do not mess with this man's threads!

If you really love someone,' Claudia continued, 'you have to be prepared to accept them as they are. Maybe you hope that one day they get a wake-up call and make the changes for their own reasons.

Humans should be permanently under development.

Restaurants are minefields for the socially inept

I worked in information technology and academia for a long time and met many people who were better with things and ideas than with people.

I watched as Humphrey Bogart__ character used beans as a metaphor for the relative unimportance in the wider world of his relationship with Ingrid Bergman__ character, and chose logic and decency ahead of his selfish emotional desires. The quandary and resulting decision made for an engrossing film. But this was not what people cried about. They were in love and could not be together. I repeated this statement to myself, trying to force an emotional reaction. I couldn__. I didn__ care. I had enough problems of my own.

I think if a woman describes herself as a brilliant cook, she__ a bit full of herself.

An inability (or reduced ability) to empathise is not the same as an inability to love. Love is a powerful feeling for another person, often defying logic.

I've sequenced the questions for maximum speed of elimination,_ I explained. __ believe I can eliminate most women in less than forty seconds. Then you can choose the topic of discussion for the remaining time._ __ut then it won__ matter,_ said Frances. ____l have been eliminated._ __nly as a potential partner. We may still be able to have an interesting discussion._ __ut I__l have been eliminated._ I nodded. __o you smoke?_ __ccasionally,_ she said. I put the questionnaire away. __xcellent._ I was pleased that my question sequencing was working so well. We could have wasted time talking about ice-cream flavours and make-up only to find that she smoked. Needless to say, smoking was not negotiable. __o more questions. What would you like to discuss?

The day might come when I had nothing but memories, and the choice of whether to indulge my romantic side and wallow in them, or my cynical side and reflect on the reliability.