I was one of those dorky kids who'd wanted to go to Harvard since the fifth grade.

I was one of those kids who wanted to do everything, I wanted to be a marine biologist, an actress, a writer, an environmentalist, an activist.

The wrists, the Achilles' tendons, and the neck are some of the weakest points of the human body, so a lot of people have phobias about those things. I can't deal with the undersides of wrists.

I don't really go into labels or an in-depth discussion of different value systems because for me, it's sort of the truth of the situation in D.C. Certainly, in my fictional depiction of it, there are decent, shameless people on both sides at every level.

When my father became vice president, I was a sophomore in high school. I'd do things like go on a run with my soccer team and purposely dodge the security van. Then my parents compromised with the Secret Service when I went to college. I just had a panic button in my dorm room, so if I pressed that, they'd be there within 2 or 3 minutes.

Lauren (Mitchell) has been a good player ever since I first saw her in the fifth grade. She's just way ahead for age, and she does everything.