"There was nothing about his performance or his appearance that stood out.” - Principal Cynthia Juarez of the Imagine Charter School in Surprise, Arizona, on how a 29-year-old convicted Oklahoma sex offender attended her school for three months, disguised as a 12-year-old "Chief Warrant Officer Chao valiantly fought for the freedoms that we hold most sacred. His honorable sacrifice is an inspiration to all Californians.” - Statement by Governor Schwarzenegger on the death of Chief Warrant Officer Cornell C. Chao of Orange City, who died Jan. 28 as a result of wounds suffered when his helicopter crashed during combat operations in Najaf, Iraq “You've heard of six degrees of separation. Well in New Zealand, it's more like one and a half.” - Simon Shattky, an organizer and sponsor of www.madefromnewzealand.com, a Web site that promotes the country's merchants, speaking on New Zealanders' reliance upon one another “There were adjustments made depending on the audience.” - Thomas F. Gimble, the Pentagon's acting inspector general, on the consistency of the Feith Office's intelligence-gathering report linking Al Qaeda to Saddam Hussein. The report was conducted by the Pentagon to justify the war against Iraq.
“It's always nice to see people get together to chat. You don't see that happen much anymore.” - Seth Heuiser, a barista at The Talking Stick coffeehouse, on the allure of the Stitch n' Bitch knitting group that gathers at the coffeehouse "If you were just going to talk to someone, I don't know that you would need a wig, a trench coat, an air cartridge BB gun and pepper spray." - Sgt. Barbara Jones, a spokeswoman for the Orlando Police Department, on NASA astronaut Lisa Marie Nowak, who is being charged with the attempted murder of her romantic rival "That will never happen." - Ellen DeGeneres, responding to her partner's (Portia De Rossi) claims that when they decide to have children DeGeneres will be the one to carry
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 10, 2007. Read the original PDF.