I spent forty minutes chewing the same piece of gum this morning, convinced it would come back to life if I just believed hard enough. By minute thirty, I'd moved on to believing it was actually a very small, very boring piece of rubber, and I was just a person alone in her car committing to a bit. Threw it out at a red light like I was disposing of evidence. The gum won: two chews, and I'm left working my jaw like a cow that's accepted its fate.