You need a balance in life between dealing with whats going on inside and not being so absorbed in yourself that it takes over.

I don't like conflict.

It sounds like something on a very trite T-shirt, but life is what happens.

I need to be frightened of things. I hate it, but I must need it, because it's what I do.

I wasn't good with authority, went to lots of schools, didn't like the fact that there was no autonomy.

Sometimes...we don't want to feel like a postmodern, postfeminist, overstretched woman but, rather, a domestic goddess, trailing nutmeggy fumes of baking pie in our languorous wake.

Tension translates to your guests. They'll have a much better time having chili and baked potatoes than they would if you did roast duck with a wild cherry sauce and then had to lie down and cry for a while.