Snap judgments? I'd gotten over those about the time I was toilet trained. Swore off diapers and faith in the human experience all in one week.

I have people in my life, of course. Some write; some don't. Some read; some don't. Some stare vacantly into space when I talk the geeky talk and walk the geeky walk, but they make killer chocolate chip pancakes and so all is forgiven.

Niko caught my hand and slapped it lightly down on the bar. “Pistol whipping elderly women isn’t precisely our mission statement, Cal.” I hadn’t been going to pistol-whip her. Yell at her a little more, then pick her up and toss her out into the street. Some risk of a broken hip there, but that wasn’t pistol-whipping… unless she tried to come back in.

People--stupid when they lived; potentially stupid when they died.

Pick up your clothes. I am not your maid. How do I know this? A maid cannot kill you with a tube sock. I can.

We all have our security blankets in this world. Some are just sharper than others.

You're so very good at that. The temper, the scowl. You must drink shots of testosterone in your morning coffee.