I am a guy, and I was tearing up badly reading “Pop Art.” Joe Hill is an amazing writer, and if you get the chance, I would definitely recommend “Heart-Shaped Box,” though I caution you it is much darker than most of the stuff in “20th Century Ghosts” (Think more along the lines of “Best New Horror” than “Pop Art”).

As for the crying, I think some types of people are just more sensitive than others. I enjoy being a guy who can cry almost as easily when I find something beautiful, as when I find something sad.

Sometimes tears just seem like the only way to “say” it.

I don’t believe that I’m extra sensitive at the moment. I’ve always been a sucker for a sad ending. Only before, because I knew I was such a sucker, and because I have never wanted anything to do with something that would get me called a “girly girl,” I avoided sad movies and books like the plague. I would never watch a movie in which I knew the main characters would die, and I would read ahead in books to make sure none of them died before I got too involved.

It has only been within the last couple of years that I’ve decided to sacrifice my stoic pride for the sake of reading good literature. I knew something bad was going to happen to Odd about a quarter of the way through, but I persevered – something I would have never done four years ago. And I’m glad I did too because, even though it sucked that I cried, it was worth it.

Now, about the crying thing. I wonder if there’s something in the air or whether I’m just going through some weird angsty time. I cry when I read a line of poetry or prose that’s sad. Hell, I cry when I even think about these things!

It sounds like your weepiness is justifiable, although I wonder if perhaps, like me, you’re extra sensitive to beauty and tragedy at the moment. Why are we feeling this way? It can’t just be a “girly” thing, can it? I’ve never been very girly anyway.

Keep me apprised…