Sometimes you get lit students that know a lot about the canon but virtually nothing about contemporary poetry and vice versa. I like to mix things up.

I think the more stability a person has, the more they can follow esoteric or intellectual pursuits.

I tend to be a pretty spacey and scattered person, so anything that makes me feel "grounded" comes as a welcome relief.

The postcard is sacred to me. It makes me sad that no one sends them very much anymore because of email and texting. I still like to buy them, but they've lost their original function and now just seem like reminders or mementos of what they used to be.

I like to look at the interface between words and pictures and wonder about which comes first, a sort of chicken-or-egg type of question.

There are fewer and fewer philosophies that everyone subscribes to. We don't seem to have as many beliefs in common as we used to. Also, we interact much more online. We have all these gadgets to help us manage different aspects of our lives.

I like being married to another writer. You get to trade ideas. You get to talk shop. You get to complain. You get to gossip. And you don't have to explain why you're in such a bad mood when your work isn't going well.