I've always measured a good day as one where I can read, write, and run.

I'm a feminist, so it's just a really nice creative energy to work with a lot of women.

The music industry is so cool because it's constantly changing.

When I got to NYU, I had applied based on playing folk music, and they said, 'You're the banjo girl,' so I thought ,'OK, I'm the banjo girl.'

I dress as a combination of space cowgirl and San Francisco art teacher.

When I was little, my mum would take me to see the orchestra, tell me to close my eyes and think about the story the music was telling. I always spoke about colours. I'd talk about how purple the oboe was.

You realise that having a number one record and being loved and adored isn't the most important thing in the world. But at the same time, I don't have a problem with it. What I'm trying to say is, I'm not a reluctant pop star.

Where you record is very important. It can't be too nice, it can't be too expensive, it can't have a view to an ocean or a field.

When I first moved to New York, I wanted to be a dancer. I danced professionally for years, living a hand-to-mouth existence. I never tapped into nightlife; all I knew was dancers. We went to bed early and got up early and went to free concerts at the Lincoln Center and Shakespeare in the Park.

Writing is a very intimate thing, especially when you write lyrics and sing them in front of someone for the first time. It's like a really embarrassing situation. To me, singing is almost like crying, and you have to really know someone before you can start crying in front of them.

I wear the Jewish star, but I'm not - I haven't converted to Judaism, and I'm not - I'm not - I'm not Jewish in the conventional sense because the Kaballah is a belief system that predates religion and predates Judaism as an organized religion.

I've always danced and exercised. I can't imagine not doing it. I'll be Martha Graham in my 90s doing contractions on the floor.

I think it's fun to get in a room and sweat with people. I'm happy to share my workouts with everyone.

I went to the University of Michigan for one year, and fortunately they had a foreign-film cinema, and I discovered it, and I thought I died and went to heaven.

If you have children, you know you're responsible for somebody. You realize you are being imitated; your belief systems and priorities have a direct influence on these children, who are like flowers in a garden.

Being famous has changed a lot, because now there's so many outlets, between magazines, TV shows, and the Internet, for people to stalk and follow you. We created the monster.

I love being a mother. My children fill me up in many ways, and inspire me in many ways, but I need a partner in my life, and I think most people feel that way.

I think of myself as a performance artist. I hate being called a pop star. I hate that.

When I left Michigan and I came to New York, that was my goal, to be a professional dancer. And I sort of fell into singing by accident in a way.

I had decided that if I was going to be a singer, I had to earn it. I had to learn how to play an instrument.

Because I was a dancer, I started going to auditions for musical theater, which forced me to sing.

Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross and the Jackson 5, that's what I grew up on.

I think a lot of people have a problem with the fact that I've adopted an African child, a child who has a different color skin than I do.

I want to give a child a life who wouldn't be given a life. I want a child that nobody else wants.