Not only do I recommend Wendell Berry to anyone who will talk to me for more than seven seconds, but I buy his books in quantity and send them to people. I bought a few dozen of his newest, "Our Only World."

No one will ever ask me to sing because it's beautiful. My secret is hiding my musicianship behind humor.

You know, it's hard to beat bacon at anytime of day. But I also am a big fan of corned beef hash.

I spent a lot of my youth working outside in the elements, and I kind of revel in defeating tough weather.

When I was in fourth grade, we were learning vocabulary words, and the word nonconformist came up. The teacher said, "It's somebody who whatever everybody is doing, they do the opposite." I remember raising my hand and saying, "Mrs. Christiansen, I would like to be a nonconformist."

Being a man of the theater and a hedonist, I find the idea of building coffins very romantic.

My uncles, who are farmers in Minooka, Illinois - I grew up with them and their pickup trucks and mustaches, and to me that was masculinity: big hairy sweaty guys who could pick up a bus.