"I actually have lesser expectations for storytelling, even for journalism in modern times...The best journalism and the best storytelling used to outrage people. In these times, people are inured to outrage."-David Simon, producer of HBO show 'The Wire.' [03.07.08]

"What would be the point (of taking him out to eat)? He could just eat out of the front yard."-Woman overheard at a Kentucky restaurant talking about what she will do for dinner when a vegetarian relative comes to town. [03.03.08]

"I feel like a prize in a box of cracker jacks with God's hand reaching down to pick me up."-Words musician Larry Norman dictated to a friend before his death on Sunday. [02.26.08]

"Americans are those folks at the party who talk loud and eat all of the snacks." -from the book "Justice in the Burbs" by Will & Lisa Samson [02.18.08]

"I think that the real religion is about the understanding that if we can only still our egos for a few seconds, we might have a chance of experiencing something that is divine in nature. But in order to do that, we have to slice away at our egos and try to get them down to a manageable size, and then still work some practiced light meditation. So real religion is about reducing our egos, whereas all the churches are interested in is egotistical activities, like getting as many members and raising as much money and becoming as important and high-profile and influential as possible. All of which are egotistical attitudes. So how can you have an egotistical organization trying to teach a non-egotistical ideal? It makes no sense, unless you regard religion as crowd control."-Actor John Cleese in an interview with A.V. Club [02.12.08]

"Two years ago, my grandmother got me an I-Pod that was 30 gigs. It holds 60,000 songs, 500 pictures, 100 movies, 200 music videos, and 50 games. I've downloaded 64 songs. Right now, it's in my room, with the battery dead." -Eighth grade journal entry. [02.08.08]

2007
"I thought if I was glued to the bed, they couldn't make me go to school...I didn't want to go, the holidays were so much fun." - Diego, a 10-year-old Mexican boy who glued himself to the bed to avoid returning to school.

"The magic of living life for me is, and always has been, the magic of living on the land, not in the magic of money.” -Burt Shavitz, co-founder of Burt's Bees.

"Imagine my surprise in discovering that there could be huge 'organic' monocultures. And so I was not too surprised by the recent attempt of the United States Department of Agriculture to appropriate the 'organic' label for food irradiation, genetic engineering, and other desecrations of the corporate food economy. Once we allow our language to mean anything that anybody wants it to mean, it becomes impossible to mean what we say. When 'homemade' ceases to mean neither more nor less than 'made at home', then it means anything, which is to say that it means nothing." Wendell Berry in the essay "In Distrust of Movements" [11.16.07]

"I can't stand trying to describe what I do to other people, especially people who don't know anything about indie rock, or don’t care about indie rock or punk rock or any of that stuff. I was trying to explain it to my grandfather, who really likes a lot of music. He recently got into Earth Wind & Fire, and he's 81. He's like, 'These kids know how to do it.' He's pretty open-minded, so I thought that he would enjoy what I do, but he didn't like it." -Mike Magill in Tangzine.com interview. [11.01.07]

"One of the lessons of the book is, there is some picking and choosing in following the Bible, and I think that's OK. Some people call that cafeteria religion, which is supposed to be a disparaging term, but I think there's nothing wrong with cafeterias, I've had some delicious meals in cafeterias. I've also had some terrible meals in cafeterias. It's all about picking the right parts. You want to take a heaping serving of the parts about compassion, mercy and gratefulness -- instead of the parts about hatred and intolerance." -A.J. Jacobs, in an interview with Newsweek about living according to the rules of the Bible for a year. [09.24.07]

"I think what people are increasingly looking for, whether in the for-profit or nonprofit sector, is how you harness the vitality and promise of capitalism in a way that's more fair to everyone." -Juliana Eades, the president of the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, a nonprofit mortgage lender that has begun dabbling in financing that considers profits with a nonprofit vision, in a recent New York Times article. [05.07.07]

"I feel like I was ripped off," said Richard Ferrante, explaining that his son, Peter, used his laptop to become a master at the Super Mario Brothers video game. "And every time I write my check for school taxes, I get mad all over again." -Quoted in a New York Times article about schools ditching one-to-one laptop programs. [05.07.07]

"People have to talk about something just to keep their voice boxes in working order so they'll have good voice boxes in case there's ever anything really meaningful to say." -Kurt Vonnegut in the novel "Cat's Cradle"" [04.12.07]

"True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country." -Kurt Vonnegut [04.12.07]

"A lot of conservative, orthodox and moderate Christians are going to be upset by the recklessness of this...Of course, we want to know more about Jesus, but please don’t insult our intelligence by giving us this sort of stuff. It’s going to get a lot of Christians with their knickers in a knot unnecessarily.” -Ben Witherington, a Bible scholar at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky in a NY Times story about James Cameron's upcoming 'Jesus Tomb' documentary. [03.03.07]

"No one starts out a hero...In all my years, no one came up to me and said I want to get me one of those purple hearts, I want to get shot." -Rev. Robert Ralph, retired Navy Chaplain speaking at a service as quoted in the Gloucester County Times honoring four heroic World War II chaplains. [03.03.07]

"If a band fits that bill and passes certain qualifications -- solid lyrics, not too annoying vocals, some uptempo songs -- I tend to get really excited and try passing it along. Music isn't a one person thing. It's meant to be shared. It's a kind of immortality that if an idiot like Elvis gets, bands like Spiral Jetty or Slovenly or the Homosexuals deserve too." -Marty of Bent Deer, Weapons, Florida [02.24.07]

"I'm proud of what I did. I hope my next generation will remember what I did and follow me. I also want to tell people that New York taxi drivers are honest." -Osman Chowdury, cabbie who returned $500,000 bag of diamonds left in his cab. [02.11.07]

“I can’t think of a good reason to fall on my sword over a Super Bowl party.” -Matt Wickham, associate pastor of Brandywine Community Church in Greenfield, In. about canceling Super Bowl party to avoid breaking copywright laws for showing game on big screen. [02.06.07]

"God's beautiful earth will not be saved by words or good intentions. It will be saved by humble, anonymous acts like turning off the lights, hanging clothing on the line, bicycling to work and planting trees. People who are grateful for God's abundant gifts, people of faith who are not afraid to be held accountable for care of his creation, will save it." J. Matthew Sleeth, author of "Serve God, Save the Planet" [01.19.07]

"He's rubbish. And if you're rubbish, you go to the States."
-- Consultant Steve Didcott, talking in a London pub about David Beckham signing with U.S. Soccer Club L.A. Galaxy

"Right now, more fans would probably rather watch the razzle dazzle of Boise State play one more game than watch the actual BCS title game even if both Florida and Ohio State are probably better teams." - Dan Weitzel, Yahoo Sports columnist

"It's all hitting me now...I'm looking, and these trains are coming in now. ... Wow, you did something pretty stupid." -Wesley Autrey, Harlem construction worker who jumped into a subway track to save a stranger

2006
"It's a sacred form and yet it's also incredibly annoying and profane because it's the soundtrack in shopping malls across the country. I'm interested in reconciling this phenomenal event -- the incarnation of God -- with Santa Claus and blue-light specials at Kmart and the weird preoccupation we have with buying a lot of junk and giving it to each other."-Sufjan Stevens in Rolling Stone posted 12.25.06

"Investigators came upon the heroin mill after a naked man, yelling to neighbors for help, ran from the rented Union Avenue house on July 21. Workers in heroin mills typically are forced to work in the nude to prevent theft, McAleer said." -Philadelphia Inquirer article on heroin mill in Pennsauken, N.J. posted 12.25.06