“Life has a way of flying by faster than any old summer vacation.”

The Movie: Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead, 1995 (Scott Rosenberg, screenwriter; Gary Fleder, dir.)
Who says it: Bill Nunn as Easy Wind, a small-time professional criminal
The context: Easy Wind and his colleagues are running for their lives after an operation goes badly wrong.
How to use it: It’s just another of those universal truths.

This quotation was an obvious choice this morning, because a) I'm at a wedding/family reunion, b) I went through Denver yesterday, c) it is actually the end of most people's summer vacations, and d) it's Gary's movie.

Last night's rehearsal dinner was on top of Vail Mountain; guests took a gondola from Lionshead up to Eagle Peak. I rode up with a family of tourists that included a scary-bright three-year-old boy. He looked down over the edge of the car and said, "It's God's bucket."

Jean and JR seem very happy, and my cousin Sarah Johnson told me last night that she too is getting married, next June. Over dinner I fielded the usual non-questions about why I myself am still single, which I never know how to answer. If I ever write a memoir, it'll probably be titled Why I Never Married. Unless I'm married by then.