I grew up playing in an alley on the south side of Milwaukee.

Student teaching is the hardest job there is.

I think it's a pretty good day if I can get through it without lifting a finger.

Gardening is peaceful, yet there is a great element of failure. It's the perfect metaphor for life -- a lot of pleasure, then it's over. There's great satisfaction in tending something, feeling it needs you, even if it's just a plant on your windowsill.

One of the greatest joys of tennis is having a nice volley and not really keeping score, not really looking at the lines, but just catching up with each other.

There's something about this place, about Madison and Wisconsin and the Midwest, that's really comforting, ... Malcolm in the Middle.

Tennis lets you talk while you're playing.