I was a coat-checker at Orso, and all these wonderful actors were coming in, and it was exciting to me, so I started going to classes, and my excuse was, 'I'll be a better songwriter if I can understand how to play a character.' Well, that couldn't be farther from the truth.

We're all struggling to get out of the past. We see something that reminds us of something, and then we bring our baggage into the present. Then we project it onto people constantly.

It isn't hard to be an artist and do your money thing. It's much harder to wake up in the middle of the night knowing that you're being ripped off and starting to get this feeling in your stomach almost bordering on bitterness toward people who are saying one thing and doing another.

Betchya Got A Cure' is my gut response to the media wars in this country, which are driving a wedge between citizens. It's about taking a stand for individuality and being brave instead of being accepted.

I love Thanksgiving because it's a holiday that is centered around food and family, two things that are of utmost importance to me.

My family's story isn't special. What's special is the America that makes our story possible. Ours is a nation like no other, a place where great journeys can be made in a single generation. No matter who you are or where you come from, the path is always forward.

It is rewarding beyond words to rescue a dog from the shelter and have that dog become part of your family.

I always knew from that moment, from the time I found myself at home in that little segregated library in the South, all the way up until I walked up the steps of the New York City library, I always felt, in any town, if I can get to a library, I'll be OK. It really helped me as a child, and that never left me.