Growing up, I had the weird fantasy list: I wanted to be Alice Cooper, Steven Spielberg, and Stan Lee. You have to have almost psychotic drive, because you're going to have years of failure.

I am like the Jack Nicholson of the Kings - every single game. If there was a game tonight I wouldn't be here. I used to play hockey. That was my original thing. My first thing, I wanted to play professional hockey.

My advice: Don't quit. When I got to New York City, I lived so far below the poverty line, because I didn't give in and get a job at 7-Eleven. I think you can thrive in misery.

My goal is to keep making films and grow as a film maker; that's always my goal.

It was an honor and privilege to arrive to this country 16 years ago with almost no money in my pocket. A lot has happened since then.

Martin Luther King Jr. could have argued that separate water fountains were too expensive, a waste of money. He would have been right about that. But cost was beside the point.

I was working like a dog as a housekeeper, barista, nanny, cook, so I could save enough money to really sit with my instruments. Whenever I had 20 minutes, I would practice a new chord or write a new verse.

The middle class is a group defined by more than just money: it also leans on credentials, education, aspirations, assets, and, of course, household income.