I'm a remedial reading student from Ohio who grew up to write pieces on my mom and dad in the 'New York Times.' They were really touched by that - something they never saw coming.

Your time is spent making records, planning, touring - not counting the days until another guy's concert. There are some newer artists I like in a casual, passing way, but I couldn't tell you the bass player's name or name two songs off of their new record.

That 'Rollercoaster' album cover was very prophetic in its own way. My career has been a rollercoaster of highs and lows.

NME' and 'Melody Maker' were saying I was the next Lou Reed or Van Morrison. So, everyone has their own version as to when the height of my career was.

I got typecast early in my career as the guy who is very intense. Once you get into a certain mold, people see you that way, as much as it's disproved time and again.

It's so true: the fight is won or lost in the gym, and those words really stuck with me throughout my career.

For interns at 'The Weekly Standard' or 'National Review,' where the martial instinct finds its most insistent voice, what Robert Kagan calls the military 'career path' is not widely seen as a plausible future. Pulling a trigger is what Jose, Tyrone, and Bubba do, not early admission students at the better private universities.

We know Roger Ebert loved the 'Sun-Times' and his career as a newspaper columnist. But ironically, it was his illness and losing his voice that caused him to explore another venue.