“The first time I saw hundreds of fiddlehead ferns boiling in an enormous pot I realized what an odd person I must be to hear tiny cries from the mouths of cooking vegetables.”

“Once I had flesh the city could pierce with a frown- I'd bleed into sewers like rain. Men without legs on subways moved me, women with swollen feet. Now I belong to them. When I ignore them it's with the confusion of the newly damned- as if I believe I've survived.”

“It's always awkward when someone doesn't realize you're joking and devotes thought time to what you've said. Double that when the person is wearing tinfoil.”

“A sudden thought struck me. Wouldn't it be odd if my mother got old! ... It is only natural that when your children are big you must be older but somehow I had never thought of its happening to my mother... What a peculiar thing to think of in the bright sunshine of the afternoon!”

“What she didn't display, I noticed, was a boxful of swimming medals."Holy crap," I said, when she set them on the desk. "You're like a fish.""Oh. Um. Well, I swim, you see."I saw.”

“Stuart must have sensed my despair from the way I began lightly banging my forehead on the table.”

“I realize Jubilee is a bit of a stripper name. You probably think I have heard the call of the pole.”