No one knew I was gay growing up but I was bullied. I was a cheerleader, fairly popular and considered straight.

I know growing up as a young gay person how much you hate yourself, how much you already think you're different.

When I'm home, the heart and soul of our family is in the kitchen. Growing up, my parents both worked, so dinnertime was for family - the TV was off. I think it's important to grab that time and really make it special, even after a tough day.

When I was growing up in Mississippi - it was good Southern food... but I also grew up with a Greek family; when other kids were eating fried okra, we were eating steamed artichokes. So I think it played a big part in my healthy cooking.

For example, if I make money, I put it in real estate. I always did very well. Location, location, location.

As Ohio's working families continue to recover from the worst economic recession in our country's history, we need a president who's committed to growing our economy by lifting up the middle class.

Having companies like PotashCorp based in Saskatoon or Cameco based in Saskatoon that have worldwide presence but have the head office jobs, the head office managers and head office employees in your local economy are important from a job creation and wealth creation point of view.

So I played alto for quite a while until I saved up the money for the baritone.