Obviously we didn't want to get down that much. But the girls played hard and they came back and made it competitive. You can't fault them for their effort.

That was one of our better games for three quarters. The girls play so hard. They really want me to have high expectations for them. We're trying to teach them to change speeds, to know when to slow down so we don't make so many turnovers. Sometimes I forget they're 14.

That's the nice thing about doing research. Whatever you do is novel, so you always have this sense of novelty, even if you are only using a new gadget.

Do give books - religious or otherwise - for Christmas. They're never fattening, seldom sinful, and permanently personal.

I'm afraid of being lazy and complacent. I'm afraid of taking myself too seriously.

That's what everyone said attracted them to Lantana - I call it an adult mystery, because it's not a thriller in the sense of that other way, but it is a mystery.