“Come on, give me a shimmy!" Ruby screeched from the couch as she ground out one cigarette and then lit another. "You're fighting a battle of good and evil with your dog pimp! Your only weapon is the shimmy! There is power in the shimmy! Make him fear your shimmy! Now, goddamnit, show me your war shimmy!”

“You cannot make your shimmy shake on tea”

“Dr. Bone Specialist came in, made me stand up and hobble across the room, checked my reflexes, and then made me lie down on the table. He bent my right knee this way and that, up and down, all the way out to the side and in. Then he did the same with my left leg. He ordered X rays then started to leave the room. I panicked. I MUST GET DRUGS."What can I take for the pain?" I asked him before he got out the door."You can take some over the counter ibuprofen," he suggested. "But I wouldn't take more than nine a day."I choked. Nine a day? I'd been popping forty. Nine a day? Like hell. I couldn't even go to the bathroom on my own, I hadn't slept in three weeks, and my normally sunny cheery disposition had turned into that of a very rabid dog. If I didn't get good drugs and get them now, it was straight to Shooter's World and then Walgreens pharmacy for me."I don't think you understand," I explained. "I can't go to work. I have spent the last four days with my mother who is addicted to QVC, watching jewelry shows, doll shows and make-up shows. I almost ordered a beef-jerky maker! Give me something, or I'm going to use your calf muscles to make the first batch!"Without further ado, he hastily scribbled out a prescription for some codeine and was gone. I was happy.My mother, however, had lost the ability to speak.”

“Discourse on virtue and they pass by in droves. Whistle and dance and shimmy, and you've got an audience!”

“Jade opened her mouth - assumedly to shoot off another snipe - but froze. Arms flailing, she gave a small shimmy and squealed, "Notabunny. Notabunny!”

“Luca knows we're following him." His voice, soft and deep, seemed to roll right through to my bones. "We don't have time for you to shimmy up and down drainpipes like you usually do."My coat dropped in a heap on the floor, and I suddenly felt able to breathe without the hot, sticky weight of the leather clinging to me. Maybe we didn't have time to . . . ."Did you say shimmy?"He nodded."I never shimmy. I climb.""Then you and I have different views on what climbing is.”

“You are basically a flophouse and a pimp away from Pepcid rehab, you know that?" I informed Nana.”