My parents treated my like I had a brain - which, in turn, caused me to have one.

It's nice to have a pause to parent and to be more present at home, teaching them how to drive cars and navigate boys and all this sort of thing.

When I was 12, all I wanted was to be good at school, and to do something admirable, something you can't take away from me because I'm not popular or beautiful enough.

A grandparent will tell you, "Have fun!" and a parent will tell you, "Be safe, do a good job, make me proud." You know what I mean? I try to grandparent myself now, because it's important to have fun, it's important to impart the fun in things to other people.

Catholics have guilt and Jews have guilt, fine. But mothers can trump them all.

Well, I can fake my way around some things, but I don't think I would be good at betting.

Because that's what intimacy is: It's a willingness to be vulnerable, a willingness to bite my tongue and a willingness to set an example of what I believe in.