Three things I'm going to give him props for.

Firstly, the power to transport you into a particular milieu -- characters, concerns, places, events. The blog is probably at least semi-fictional, but it always feels like autobiography.

I remember the first time I wanted to kiss you. We were in Queens Plaza and there were people moving all around, a kid being cute, a lonely man in the corner, couples, families, cleaners, employees, people bustling all about.

Secondly, through metaphors, psychological insights, incidental and intimate detail, and grainy, impressionistic photos, Dean transports you into a particular sensibility, a particular way of looking at the world. It's about the music of yearning, and the bitter-sweet of the fleeting. Significance and symbolism are found in the trivial, and everyday phenomena are elevated, poeticized.

It wasn’t fair. Things in my head were sad. The people in my head were sad. There was a five o’clock shadow on everything. But I kept smiling at you like I was high. I needed that kiss.

And thirdly, he's basically a master stylist. He's particularly fond of anaphora and enumeration. Check out the flowing, rhythmic paragraphs, the repetitions, the variety and contrasts and surprises, the patternings of information and emphasis.

I kissed you but never liked you, and I never told you that. I just kept kissing you. I just kept watching you. We flirted at work. You undid my buttons. Your hair was long but it felt short. I never said I love you.