I really do like to write and when I'm not, I think, "Okay, I'll be a good citizen now" but fact is, that's secondary.

Confession makes you a more trustworthy narrator.

Contradictory strands create an essay that's richly ambivalent.

The knowledge that my discriminations are skewed and not always universally desirable doesn't stop me in the least from making them.

My other work, teaching, also is satisfying because I can be with people but in controlled circumstances, which aren't as likely to yield the pain of dealing with family.

The prospect of a long day at the beach makes me panic. There is no harder work I can think of than taking myself off to somewhere pleasant, where I am forced to stay for hours and 'have fun'.

I like the freedom that comes with lowered expectations.