When I was growing up in L.A. in the late '70s and early '80s, Michael Jackson's was the first face on TV that looked like mine.

Chrissie Hynde is the blueprint for any teenage pop star wannabe looking to have some real cred.

From their '61 Cavern Club debut to their last rooftop concert eight years later, The Beatles gave every serious artist in their wake the songbook and sound for their career. It's the musical trough from which nearly every musician drinks.

I get my clothes from three sources: Target, thrift shops, and friends. It's simple and it's cheap.

If Leander Paes can be playing in Grand Slams at 44 and Narain Karthikeyan race at 40 and be so successful at it, I see no reason why I can't play at 34. They are my motivation, as they have set targets and standards for people like us to achieve.

I mean, I get letters in the mail because I had a heart defect when I was one, I had surgeries and stuff. And so you get these letters in the mail that just, they are crazy, they are just like, yes, well our son is dealing with the same thing and we saw you on TV and I mean it is such a cool thing to inspire and kind of give hope.

The simplest and clearest motivation for taking animal welfare seriously is the recognition that pain is in and of itself a bad thing, and that to inflict significant amounts of it unnecessarily is wrong.

To be under occupation, to be under siege, is not a good inspiration for poetry.