My career is a burden, but I can't just fade out like a pathetic sore loser. More often than not, I'm just making a fool of myself for the hundredth time, and that wasn't part of the plan, initially. I'd be happier not having any kind of public presence whatsoever and just hiding behind the sleeves of the CD.

I'm not just going to go back to my bedroom, get a job and 'get real with myself' - come on. I'm already too old, and I'm lucky to have a job at all.

In the years between 2000 and 2004, I always got the feeling that people were just starting to hear about me, and they were all late to the game. I'd be out playing shows for records that I recorded back in 1999 that were just coming out.

Maybe by making people feel uncomfortable, I tap into that uncanny quality that is a part of the scariest, weirdest things that you remember happening to you when you were a kid.

I don't know if this is because I'm a bit too old, but it is true that I'm getting insensible about romance recently. I'm very used to being alone now, and I don't think that's not half bad.

Whether I was working or not, I am not a good cook or a good seamstress. I love my kids, and I provide for them, but do I think that I'm a great mom? Not by any means, other than that they're full of love. I rely heavily on nannies and my mother and my husband to fill in all over the place where I'm lacking.

If you love someone - like, truly love someone - I don't think that ever goes away. But what does change is your perspective on the relationship and the dynamic.

I am obsessed with the Great Depression and with former showgirls - and the Victorians - the idea of wistful, dark romance.