I am a bit of a goody-goody. Not that there aren't times when I think, I was kind of an (ass) today. I work in a world in which people are really catered to; someone will come up to me and say, "Is it OK if this person's makeup is done before yours for the premiere?"

It's not a bad thing, is it, to be strong in some ways and fragile and vulnerable in others?

I want my girls to love math. I want them to think that being a scientist is the coolest possible job on the planet. I want them to not be afraid to lean toward their femininity.

I've always been attracted to humor and funny people in general. It's a joy to make people laugh, but it's not as fun as laughing yourself.

I don't want a gang of shouting, arguing, law-breaking photographers to camp out everywhere we are, all day every day, to continue traumatizing my kids.

But I'll never be one of those women who feel that they always have to wear earrings and aren't properly dressed without them.

I don't know anyone who was never a geek, really, when they look at their own lives. I think that from the outside looking in, you think that you weren't necessarily a tragic geek, but yes, you did lean in that direction.