artwork for Roxane Gay's writing

Very Lovely Ending
Roxane Gay (@rgay)

Selected and arranged tweets, July 2012.

A great deal of my time is spent thinking, “Do not do something awkward when you interact with this other human being.”

I have been trying to Karate Kid kill this mosquito in my apartment for two days and that bastard is wily.

Couple downstairs having a very heated fight in a language that is not English so it’s even more exciting to listen to.

If you are staying with someone for a few days you are not “living together.” Slow your roll.

Ten lovers. Who has that kind of time?!

“He’s a boy. He’s simple.” GIRL.

You can just hear the MMM HMMMM.

Awwww. There’s gonna be a baaaaaaaby. Yessssss.

In each of these relationships being shown, one person is not fully on board and that is … a problem.

It made me giggle after a while, like, WOW … a shrink would have a field day here.

It’s like a parade of interrogators. THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!!!!

The waiting is agony.

You can’t find innocence where there is none.

And one girl wrote, “Being a young black female is having to ration that your dreams may never come true.” That just breaks my heart.

FEELINGS!!!!

So heavy handed and unnecessarily dark but also shallow. I was like, oh this a hot ass mess.

Alas, the trope of the female in distress.

There are new lesbians and predictably, one of them is in a band.

I honestly did not know I cared this much until tonight! I’ve learned something about myself.

It was good. Complex. Troubling. Imperfect. Moving.

I was saying and asking questions and I thought, WHAT IS GOING ON. Then he said, sad sad voiced, call your mother.

Every conversation with this woman is quotable.

This explains so so much. She was just not having it and was letting us know.

God doesn’t like billboards and yet …

I am so glad to not be driving anymore, I cannot even tell you.

Housekeeping is totally uninterested in keeping house. The lady was like not up for it so we just chatted.

I really want to own a king sized bed. It feels so extravagant.

Gonna make a baby listening to Frank Ocean’s album. Maybe twins.

There are lots of different ways to kiss but at some point, for it to be any good, there needs to be tongue involved.

I like that people are telling me how long they go between sheet changes.

Lots going on in the hotel lobby. Irate man who got sassed by a maid. Tourists from some place where theater is nonexistent. Exciting.

Power outage! Very curious.

Something has happened and it seems bad. Must go read the news.

Also went to a fancy party where I was super awkward so I left.

I just did something professionally impulsive!!!!

My mom just called to ask me if there was something wrong with her kidney. OUT OF NOWHERE WITHOUT CONTEXT.

I just said, “No, your kidney is fine,” and she said, “Okay, bye.” So..... yes.

The body is dangerous territory.

Just diagnosed my mother’s gardening finger injury. I’ve stopped trying to explain I'm not that kind of doctor. I surrender.

One of my other jobs as Daughter is Ebay Dispute Handler. It’s... great.

Sometimes it’s irritating but mostly it’s hilarious. I know my place--listen to garden and grandchild talk and diagnose medical conditions.

We should start a children of immigrant parents support group. It’d be awesome.

I don’t even know why I unpack my suitcase anymore. It’s such a waste of time.

It’s an inability to write letters.

It is very hard to handle shoddy professionalism. I need to develop a stronger tolerance for this but it is … hard.

So many incomplete sentences, so little time.

The models this month are just very, very angry. Probably hunger anger.

Hipster cutoff jorts EVERYWHERE.

Little boy just rolled his eyes at me. Snatched them out of his skull.

There’s something wrong with … headlines about celebrities calling for assault weapons bans. Who gives one iota of a fuck?

Celebrities cannot call for anything but room service.

They do not call me doctor for nothing.

I have to sit through three hours of presentations today. It’s going to be rough.

When in doubt, click on everything!

My dad asked me today what I'm doing now that summer session is over and I said, “Well, working my way through the West Wing.”

Just watched a video of my niece sitting up all by herself. She is real proud of herself. The look on her face basically says, I am a hero.

Some days at the gym are very terrible and today was one of those days. Every minute was … terrible.

I’m mostly planning on ogling athletic bodies.

Touch you in places only I know. Oh yes Frank. Tell me ALL about that.

The industrial revolution took a long time. Wonder when they're going to cover colonialism.

Hate whenever cab drivers ask me for directions. Mofo this is YOUR city.

That cab driver was seriously like, “Do I turn left or right here” and I was like UMMMMM. Good question!

I will get better about remembering times for these things. I have not adjusted to life on the go yet but soon.

Ugh finally got that monkey off my back but …

My promise to do....just about anything for a tiny baby elephant is STILL open, so, let me know if you can hook that up.

I would just hug my baby elephant and wash its trunk and ears and roll around with it. On bad days, I get through by thinking about this.

God, GIVE ME A BABY ELEPHANT. I have been so very good.

Profound existential angst.

That’s it. I am buying a cherry pitter.

Now I’m bored with it. I need something interesting to do this weekend.

I am 5 miles and 40 minutes from my destination. Insanity.

When they ask, “What made her snap?” the answer will be, “Jennifer Hudson Weight Watchers commercials.”

We know so much about each other now.

My but how all the stars are out tonight. Such a gorgeous sky.

I love fireworks. Very lovely ending.



Roxane Gay’s Comments

I love Twitter because it really forces you to think about what you’re saying, no matter how frivolous the conversation. I find a lot of freedom in 140 characters. It makes me sharper, funnier, and also more absurd. These days, I get more of my instant news from Twitter than anywhere else. It’s always on, always moving and it’s by far my favorite way to waste time on the Internet and connect with my far flung friends and acquaintances.

I created “Very Lovely Ending” by looking at my tweets for the past three weeks and trying to tell a story by arranging the tweets just so. I hope that story comes across.


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FRiGG: A Magazine of Fiction and Poetry | Issue 37 | Summer 2012 | The Twitter Issue