When I was a kid, I loved a heavy metal band called Motley Crue. I was thirteen when they came to my city, and I called every hotel in the Yellow Pages asking for a room by the name of their manager in hopes of meeting the band. After two or three hours of calling hotels, I got through, and the manager's brother answered the phone.

There's definitely some parallels between me and Joaquin Phoenix, I think. The line gets so blurry. My rap career wasn't a hoax, but it was absolutely intended to be a joke. The problem was that I really was on a quest to somehow be a Caucasian Ol' Dirty Bastard.

The idea is to improve somebody's day. That's how I've always viewed my job. I'm a distraction therapist. I make people's problems go away for just a little bit.

I'm a proud vegan, whistle-blower, and animal rights activist.

I believe in God, family, truth between people, the power of love.

It's lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself.

Catechesis, preaching, and passing on the faith must not only be about educating the members of our communities in the content of our tradition. This is important, but it must equally be about developing their spiritual sensitivity to the ways God manifests His presence and action in the world.

I have a bad memory - thank God for that!