WHAT ARE YOU READING?

"The Miracle of Mindfulness," by a Vietnamese monk named Thich Nhat Hanh. He's a Zen master and the author of many, many books, and he really inspires me. ... I'm also reading a novel called "Exile," by Richard North Patterson, which is a really great novel published this year about the Middle East. ... But then I just finished an awesome book called, and this is someone's inmate number, "The Making of No. A0210208," by an author who uses the pseudonym Jayne Dough. It's a true story of an extraordinary woman who bares her soul to help people in her same situation. ...

HOW DID YOU DISCOVER THEM?

I look on Amazon and on the Web a lot for books on how people got to where they are today, and you know, everybody has a story. I guess that's why I really like the Thich Nhat Hanh book, because his whole philosophy is engaged Buddhism; you need to be aware at any moment of what's going on around you and inside you. I'm really motivated by people who have walked through the valley of darkness and come out the other side with some incredible insights.

DO YOU PERSEVERE IN YOUR FIGHT TO PROTECT PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT THROUGH MINDFULNESS, AS HE SUGGESTS?

Oh yeah. I mean, I'm an eternal optimist. I believe that things can change. I believe that change is difficult but not impossible. Books like "Mindfulness" are, to me, really important. Some people who work on a lot of issues think they're going to live or die on one issue. I have a bigger picture and more holistic view of the world where I don't think that one thing trumps the other. I think that until there's justice, we're not going to have peace, and justice crosses all sorts of lines. I like to look at the world and how all the pieces fit together and how we can make them fit better.