On the American Character

"My sense is that American character lives not in one place or the other, but in the gaps between the places, and in our struggle to be together in our differences. It lives not in what has been fully articulated, not in the smooth-sounding words, but in the very moment that the smooth-sounding words fail us. It is alive right now. We might not like what we see, but in order to change it, we have to see it clearly."

~Anna Deveare Smith, American playwright, author, actress, and professor. Fires in the Mirror xli.



Things Tommy says

"Ask me about the time I got into a butt kicking contest with Woody Harrelson. No...maybe it was Woody Allen; yeah, that's it, Woody Allen."

"Beauty is only skin deep . . . but ugly goes to the bone."

"She is obviously a communist."

"These people have no idea just who the hell I am."

"When I retire, I'm going to drink beer and chase fat girls. They don't run very fast."

"My brain is just full of these useless things I will never need to know."

"I thought I was wrong once, but then found out it was a mistake."

"Know what really burns my ass? A little fire about that high."