When you have freedom, you don’t think about its fragility and the nurturing it requires. — On the airplane, they sprayed us. Up and down the aisle walked the French flight attendants, releasing a spray over Iranian passengers as if we were livestock whose Tehran germs weren’t allowed in Paris. It’s reasonable to assume that wasn’t how they meant it, but with no previous warning and…

The lifelong addiction to love — I once had a little burgundy room that required seven coats of the color when I painted the walls. On the floor lay deep red hand-woven rugs, silk purple cushions and Moroccan tables. I called it the Opium Room. …

Forget about plucking “They love me, they love me not…” flower petals. How does your love interest hold up against the “wild pig” test? — At first I thought the condition was made up. The novel Enduring Love referred to erotomania by its other name, de Clérambault’s syndrome. It was so specific and strange, it had to be a fictional syndrome. …