Even though I was a reluctant reader in junior high and high school, I found myself writing poems in the back of class.

I used to be so angry about the kids that had stuff. Like the kids that had cars, the kids that had money to go get lunch every day off campus. I used to feel so slighted.

I think the world sort of looks to the kids who have potential. These are the kids who are going to do something with their lives, who are going to do something for the world. I don't think it's malicious, but the other kids get lost from that point on.

I've always wanted to write about the other side of the tracks, the have-nots, maybe because that's who I was.

I come from a family of compulsive collectors, and my first memories are really all about collecting. I remember visiting flea markets with my mother or my grandmother - she goes to local ones around Varese, Italy, every Sunday when she's at home.

As a Member of Congress, I've continued my family's tradition of focusing on education.

Nature is a machine. The family is a machine. The life cycle is like a machine.

I love playing at Surrender because they let me be free and be myself... it's family, you know?