Wherever we go we do harm, forgiving ourselves as wheels do cement for wearing each other out. We set this house on fire, forgetting that we live within. (from "To a Meadowlark," for M.L. Smoker)

So when I made some money, I didn't have any idea how one handled such a situation because no one in our family ever had any money.

Michigan is two radically different places - the North and the South which makes for good drama and contrast.

Yeah, but now suddenly - you know, universities are notoriously market oriented, too.

The danger of civilization, of course, is that you will piss away your life on nonsense.

The old fun thing is when somebody typed up the first chapter of War and Peace. And then made a precis of the rest of it and sent it out and only one publisher recognized it.

The wife picked out ceramic tile for floor covering, not realizing that cost was determined by square foot, not square yard like carpet. Thinking the price was plenty reasonable, she had an extra room of tile ordered for installation. When the bill arrived, it was staggering. She and her husband began a fight that continued all through the construction job. They ended up divorced, but not until she had broken every window.