I don't think I have had a big break, although joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1986 opened up new horizons.
My main recollection is of the work I had to do in order to eat.
The first clothing line I had was called Very Rue. Then we changed the name and moved to QVC, and the name became A Touch of Rue.
My brothers bullied me, so I cried a lot as a kid. It was the only defense I had. Telling them to stop wouldn't work. The crying would bring my dad. Dad was my cavalry.
I remember when being a 'a company man' was a badge of honor; today in Silicon Valley it may brand you a loser or, in the best case scenario, someone afraid to take risks. Ten years ago, if you saw a resume that had multiple jobs in ten years, you would be worried about the capability of the individual. Not so now.
Had someone from Serbia flown a 'Greater Serbia' flag in Tirana or Pristina, it would become an issue for the U.N. Security Council.
My mother's background was Scottish. She came from an old family, some of whom lived in upper New York State and some of whom had come over from Scotland.
Eventually I found it had been working all along-but didn't show anything on screen until it had the first full page of text. I inserted 30 new lines, and suddenly my toy said 'hEllO woRlD'. An hour later I understood alphabet shifting rather better!
I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress.
The trajectory started when I was on the roof of our house looking out at a swamp when I was 19. I had written for several years, starting at about 15, but that day on the roof I took my vows and acknowledged my calling.
I was raised by my grandparents, and they always made sure that I had a pencil and some paper, whether we were in the car or at a restaurant. While they were enjoying a nice meal, I would be sitting there drawing funny pictures of the waitress.
I asked him if he ever hung out with black guys in high school and he said, 'Well, no. They always had these angry looks on their faces. Who wouldn't look ticked off having to deal with nitwits like him?
By 21, I was earning six figures a week. By 23, I had a Ferrari. It was nuts.
To be honest, I wish I had more mom friends.
I either had to concentrate on fighting, or I had to help my family. I chose my family. I love my mom; I love my family.
I had a hard time with bullying. I ate lunch in the bathroom.
The musicals had a good, happy feeling, saying that the world is a better place. They say it's not reality, but who cares? There's too much reality these days.
I'd say the best is when I was in Africa, I saw a hippo in a house. Someone had a pet hippo. And they're meant to be one of the most dangerous animals on the planet, and they had one that was sort of just wandering in and out of their house, just sort of roaming about.
I'm proud to be an American. I'm proud to be an African American in America. I've had some interesting experiences: some great, some not so great, but I love it here.
That first year in Chicago was one of the most memorable in my career. Getting traded rejuvenated me, and I had something to prove. I wanted to show them what I could do.
I had never thought about writing a novel. But I had two young kids, and I realized that if I could write a novel, I could work at home.
I have been unexpectedly confronted with my own mortality as I was told that I had cancer.
My dad is from the army, and so we studied all over. I had done an Onida campaign at the age of two, as my mom always had this inclination for me to model, but my dad was clear that I could model only when I turned 18, so immediately after school, I started modelling.
I've talked a lot with Greg Raymer and Joe Hachem. Being on Team PokerStars with them has helped me out quite a bit. I've traveled around Europe playing with them. I've also talked with Robert Williamson here and there and Jim Worth. So I've had some good people to talk to and bounce ideas off of.
American society was economically ill-run in the 1980s. Our society has been on a consumption binge. If the American people had a town meeting and said, 'What do we care about posterity? Posterity hasn't done anything for us; we're going to whoop it up now,' that is a rational judgment. But nobody ever did that.
The Eagles ended on a rather abrupt note, although in retrospect I realize now that it had been ending for quite some time.
I had a lot of self-confidence.
My 1974 album 'Mind Over Matter' was a detailed thing about Watergate. I always had some righteous indignation.
I'm extremely competitive with myself. But I'm not actively competitive with other women in the business. Which may have been a mistake. I've never had someone in my life, agent or otherwise, fighting for me.
If I'm riding my bike I just replay the same scenarios over and over in my head, like I haven't had a new mental adventure since high school. So that's what I like about books on tape, so my mind can't wander anywhere.
My parents have always done what they've loved, and they've had many different careers.
I had a memory span about as long as the lines in a school play.
In my proudest moments, I think I had a real hand in the creative force of making 'Star Trek.' But most of the time, I don't think about it.
Thus again the Netherlands, for the first time since the fall of Rome, were united under one crown imperial. They had already been once united, in their slavery to Rome.
What we aspired to in 1998, we have wildly surpassed. And I know we all feel incredibly grateful and lucky this band has been able to have the life that it's had.
I have the advantage of many perspectives as someone who has lived in different kinds of communities: as a woman, as someone who previously identified as a lesbian, as someone who is a person of color. I've had a lot of life, so that informs what I do.
