It bewildered Ig, the idea that a person could not be interested in music. It was like not being interested in happiness.

God saves - but not now, and not here. His salvation is on layaway. Like all grifters, He asks you to pay now and take it on faith that you will receive later. Whereas women offer a different sort of salvation, more immediate and fulfilling. They don't put off their love for a distant, ill-defined eternity but make a gift of it in the here and now, frequently to those who deserve it least. So it was in my case. So it is for many. The devil and woman have been allies against God from the beginning.

Was there any human urge more pitiful-or more intense- than wanting another chance at something?

Aren't you going to tell me I'm not so bad? she asked. Mmm-no. I was thinking how every man loves a hot girl with a history of making mistakes. Because it's always possible she'll make one with you.

But God fears women even more that He fears the devil- and is right to. She, with her power to bring life into the world, was truly made in the image of the Creator, not man.

The blood of a redheaded woman is three degrees cooler than the blood of a normal woman. This has been established by medical studies.

I'll take the shooting. I'm used to that. I've been shot a few times in the past, and I guess I can stand it, again.