Like most citizens of popular and international urban centres I don't take advantage of the cultural opportunities. Perhaps this comes from growing up in suburbia. Home is where you eat sleep read watch television and ignore your parents. It is not where you go to the ballet and then attend a heated panel discussion about it afterwards.

We used to go to the pictures every Saturday night but we had to leave a little bit early and get home and watch Match of the Day - and my wife still complains she missed the last five minutes of every film we saw.

I like spending time at home. In Paris people drop by and have a bite to eat or they drop by and watch Friends on TV. I take my dog to the office there and I walk to work sometimes.

And you know being able to wear the stars and stripes when you step up on one of the blocks or you know when you step off of an airplane or when you hear the national anthem play you know it's one of the greatest feelings in the world because you know that there are people at home who are supporting you and watching you.

I still watch 'Idol ' and it's still the No. 1 show so obviously I'm not the only one who loves to sit at home and be entertained.

It's not a bad thing for a writer not to feel at home. Writers - we're much more comfortable at parties standing in the corner watching everybody else having a good time than we are mingling.

I'll be here in my home with three big screens. I'll be watching three games at a time and when they're over I'll look at three more.

I remember when I was a kid watching my mother jam herself into her girdle - a piece of equipment so rigid it could stand up on its own - and I remember her coming home from fancy parties and racing upstairs to extricate herself from its cruel iron grip.

Some men like a dull life - they like the routine of eating breakfast going to work coming home petting the dog watching TV kissing the kids and going to bed. Stay clear of it - it's often catching.

Why would I retire? Sit at home and watch TV? No thanks. I'd rather be out playing.