As I was coming up, there was so much naysaying, there was so much doubt, whether it was from my peers or people in the industry.

Hip-hop influences my talent, but I think that punk and everything else I listened to growing up was who my idols were.

I was a huge punker growing up.

My memory stops at 14.

I guess as a kid, I was always creative, and I was involved in music, like piano and violin and choir, so I always knew - I always knew that I wanted to do something that would allow me to be who I am. Generally, that was creatively, imaginatively.

Anyone who lives within his means suffers from a lack of imagination.

Linda Svendsen's 'Marine Life' was important. I was nearly 22. Larry Mathews discussed the book in a creative writing class. We examined her stories, figured out how they worked.

A certificate of live birth is not the same thing by any stretch of the imagination as a birth certificate.