I love anything by Joan Didion. Incidentally, she was one of the local moms when I was growing up in Point Dume. She always reminded me a little bit of my mother, so I feel a great affinity. I love the precision of Didion's writing. There's a construction and a craftsmanship to her sentences that's imbued with so much emotion.

Somewhere in my callow, misspent youth, I was smart enough to marry my best friend.

If I had been on 'Ally McBeal,' I would have been seen coming out of the shower on the first show.

The challenge as a parent is letting your kids fail in the right ways because that's where we do most of our learning.

I look at the artists as mini media companies, like if Beyonce is ESPN and Lady Gaga is Discovery.

In Portugal, my sculpture 'She Changes' refers to the town's fishing history, to the era of seafaring trade and discovery. The contemporary site is industrial, surrounded by red and white striped smokestacks, which is mirrored in the pattern of the sculpture.

I've always been fascinated with science and exploring our world, from microbes to the solar system.

Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now and facts and science and argument does not seem to be winning the day all the time is because we're hardwired not to always think clearly when we're scared. And the country's scared.