I was good at being charming, one of my very few vanities.

It's terrible to have to depend on someone else.

When faced with people who have very limited conversational skills and no apparent desire to cultivate any it's always easier to simply go along.

What do you want a clock for?” “To find out what time it is,” I said. “I think that’s the usual purpose.

It took me a moment. I blinked, and suddenly it swam into focus and I had to frown very hard to keep myself from giggling out loud like the schoolgirl Deb had accused me of being. Because he had arranged the arms and legs in letters, and the letters spelled out a single small word: BOO. The three torsos were carefully arranged below the BOO in a quarter-circle, making a cute little Halloween smile. What a scamp.

Mutilated corpses with a chance of afternoon showers. I got dressed and went to work.

As I've said, freedom is really an illusion. Anytime we think we have a real choice, it just means we haven't seen the shotgun aimed at our navel.