Mary H.K. Choi

“The thing about living in New York as a writer is that you hit that age where it feels like everyone has a book all at the same time. It's like that one year where you're invited to twenty weddings.”

“The second single from 'Purpose,' Justin Bieber's fourth studio album, 'Sorry' is an infectious confection - a Dorito for your ears.”

“Never hold up your entire group of friends in real life trying to capture a perfect Instagram pose. Nobody cares.”

“Never post boring back-to-back selfies.”

“'Sorry' is unlike anything Bieber has made in the past. It has been classified as 'tropical house' and 'dancehall,' but everyone seems to agree on one thing: It's a banger.”

“I've always been a texting advocate.”

“I always get super confused by the way we look at technology, because since when were all phone calls created equal? It's not like every text is the same or that all texts are human interactions that are compromised. I don't get how conduits somehow dictate sentiment.”

“Learning to ride a bike in a public park means anyone can see you.”

“I love my mother a not-normal amount.”

“'Awkward' is a ubiquitous teen word to denote socially unsanctioned behavior. It usually implies first- or secondhand embarrassment when you or a friend step outside the rules. Awkward doesn't sound overtly judgmental or negative; it's deliberately vague.”

“When I was five, I compound-fractured my arm, pulverising my elbow.”

“I like science a whole bunch, but I love 'The X-Files' more - I want to believe.”

“A fanboy's heart is filled with love, enthusiasm, and insecurity.”

“I commit words to paper and the Internet for everyone to pick apart, so I think I tend to be a lot more cynical and dulled.”

“Your mom is the first person you fall in love with, so it's loaded forever and carries all this baggage. There's almost always a communication barrier in place. In my case it's a language and cultural barrier, but other times, it's because your mother's love is conditional or because you're fundamentally different.”

“The thing that I find interesting about teens now is that no matter how desperate we seem to be taxonomically 'othering' them, for one reason or another - because the Internet, because whatever - I feel like a lot of the benchmarks and the experiences are, you know, same for teens through time immemorial.”

“Pirates, me hearties, are the Patronus of the freelancer.”

“Pedicures are disgraceful.”

“My mom is an excellent mom. She knows I am irascible, prickly, and antisocial. She knows that most human interaction makes me tired and that I either scare people away with precise invectives or trot out the fakest, nicest skinjob of myself because it requires zero effort.”

“I would never give up 'The Wire,' 'Breaking Bad,' and 'Game of Thrones.' I'm grateful for all these expensive, excellent, graphically ambitious programs.”