“In my family nudity just doesn’t exist; I’m pretty sure my parents were both born fully clothed and still shower that way.”

“I studied how to use the clothes washer. The handy instructions on the lid helped; so did the box of suds. It instructed me to separate the whites from the coloreds. Laundry will be the last American institution to desegregate.”

“Reputations seldom deliver on promises of happiness.”

“She reaches up and ties the strip of black cloth so that it covers my dead eye.“Now, go Arrghh.“Arrghh.She nods.“There. You’re a pirate.”

“--Tell them to drop their guns and fuck off out of my way.--Allow him to--I clamp my arm tight.--That's not what I said.She gets it right this time.--Drop your guns and fuck off out of his way.They drop their guns and fuck off out of my way.”

“There something I can do to get this over with quick? Like, can I just run in front of a cab and take my lumps and we call it even? As opposed to you cutting off my nose and all, I mean.”

“Institutions are not pretty. Show me a pretty government. Healing is wonderful, but the American Medical Association? Learning is wonderful, but universities? The same is true for religion... religion is institutionalized spirituality. — Mother Jones November/December 1997.”