Life is precious, and when someone dies it's an opportunity to realise how precious it is. My brother drowned when I was 17. He was 15. I think I grew from that. My father didn't. It really crushed him.

I don't think of my life as a cliche, but I'm a cliche eccentric. Complete with a strange name - I mean, who's named Val? How many Vals do you know? I mean, really?

If you think that by threatening me you can get me to do what you want... well, that's where you're right. But-and I am only saying this because I care-there's a lot of decaffeinated brands on the market that are just as tasty as the real thing.

Mark Twain is as big as America. He really is.

Warren Beatty once told me that if someone's really stuck on you, find them their next boyfriend. But I could never do that.

My father was raised in the mountains of New Mexico, and he picked cotton for a dollar a day. He was working for the family from the time he was 7.