Growing up, my father was a financial analyst for an oil company. He was just a regular dad. And when I would say, 'Hey, come see my play,' he'd say, 'Sure.' He'd see one, 'Oh, good play' - you know, very typical dad reaction.

I never felt cool growing up. I was a bit of an outsider, but I discovered theatre very early on, which got me through.

I love learning language and ideas that I didn't know before and making them sound like my own.

In the future, things will truncate! No, in the age of Twitter, we can't be upset when words become shorter.

If you talk to people about the history of the games business during economic downturns, they'll tell you that it's a recession-proof industry.

For sure, 2010 was the best year I've ever had. It couldn't have gone any better for me. Even if I just won the Olympic gold medal, that would have made it the best year of my career and the best day of my life, period. Winning the World Cup races and the overall title just topped it off.

I loved competing and winning and also wanted to continue my career for the fans, knowing they were there for me and enjoyed watching me fight.

From the new hate crimes law to the repeal of DOMA and 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' to the emerging popular support for marriage equality, we are making progress at breakneck speed. As someone who has dedicated most of my career to civil rights law, I am deeply moved by this sea change and proud to have done my part.