"When you call me that, smile."

The Movie: The Virginian, 1929 (Edward E. Paramore Jr. and Howard Estabrook, screenwriters, from the novel by Owen Wister; Victor Fleming, dir.)
Who says it: Gary Cooper as The Virginian
The context: The Virginian says this to the outlaw Trampas (Walter Huston), when Trampas calls him a son-of-a-bitch
How to use it: As a non-confrontational response to an insult.

Today's quotation is in honor of Dad, because he actually says this line sometimes -- and because it's his birthday.

Rather than go out for dinner or drinks last night, a group of us went to play miniature golf in The Valley. Part of the Los Angeles culture is never leaving your own side of town; we who live on the Los Angeles side almost never go over the Hollywood Hills into The Valley, even though it's only about 15 minutes if the traffic's okay. It took me less time to get to Sherman Oaks than it would have taken to get to West Hollywood, but it really did feel as if I were crossing some invisible border.

Anyway, I love miniature golf, and I can't believe it's taken me five years to find this place -- just before I leave. Of course, of the five of us playing last night, I came in last. It's not about the competition, it's about the love of the game...

Mini-golf is one of my best childhood memories. It was something inexpensive that all of us kids could do with Dad, and in the summertime it was a way to stay up past our bedtime. The course at Little Creek Amphibious Base was bare-bones -- no plastic dinosaurs or windmills -- but it was exciting for us, every time.

Happy birthday, Dad, and thanks for everything.