Originally published at Robin Hobb. You can comment here or there.

There's a Cats Laughing song called "Signal to Noise."  I think Emma Bull wrote the lyrics; anyone who knows for sure is free to confirm or correct me.  But there are times that those lyrics bounce right back into my head.  Here's the first verse:

Drinking coffee, have to stay awake and think of you
Aching awfully, knowing my perceptions aren't true
If you were what I've made you, not as your acts betrayed you
How could I keep...