When I was a kid, like four or five years old, I was obsessed with the 'Batman' TV show in the '60s. And I took it totally seriously. At that age, I took it completely seriously. I didn't get the fact that it was kind of played for laughs. I didn't understand why my mom was rolling her eyes or chuckling.
My mom was such a strong character. I don't want to say she was like a man, but she was tough.
My mom was in the chorus of 'Hello Dolly' and 'The Worldly Players'; my dad would build the set.
Hedwig is on a quest; she's on a quest as much as Jason and the Argonauts, as much as the boy in 'A.I.' She's looking for something. She's looking for her other half, and she's on tour. Monsters, Cyclops - maybe they're her mom? - appear on various islands.
Mom takes all the credit for my success. Now Mom says, 'I read your face when you were a baby, and it said you were going to be a star. That's why I named you Ming - because it's all about the sun and the stars and enlightenment.'
Mom was 50 when my Dad died. She got on a bus every weekday for years, and rode 40 miles each morning to Madison. She earned a new degree and learned new skills to start her small business. It wasn't just a new livelihood. It was a new life.
My mom, God rest her soul - she liked nicknames. In the womb she named me Skip. There was another black guy in Piedmont, W.Va., and his name was Skip. They called him Big Skip, and I was Little Skip.
I was aware of the pressure of my mom and not just my mom but my entire family. I was very aware of that reality, so it was almost this inferiority complex.
I'm simply the mom who makes the lunch, drives to school, finds where the toys are, washes the clothes, and I'm here to play. And that's all I should be.
I first got into acting when I was 14, coming back from a junior high school basketball game. My mom picked me up and she had been mentioning, prior to that, this community production of 'Godspell', a couple towns over. I was reluctant, at first, and she bribed me with some great dinner that was in that town, neighboring the theater.
In high school, my mom's friend was a location scout, and there was a shoot at our house. I came home from school, and the photographer said, 'You should call my friend at this agency.'
My dad is amazing: he taught me everything I know about sales. He volunteered to be the Girl Scout cookie mom and gave everybody sales quotas, and basically, every girl went home crying because he was super intense.
I auditioned on my own. I tried to make a mark for myself without anybody's help, not even Mom's.
This is the place where anybody - like an African American kid raised by a single mom - can be president.
My mom had a heart attack, and it came out of nowhere - she was 54. My dad had leukemia for about 3 months. He was 80 when he passed. My dad had me later in life, and so he had leukemia and was alive for about 3 months between diagnosis and passing away.
I luckily had a very charming, lovable mom who I think everybody could see bits and pieces of their mom in.
The first time I shared my music and style with my mom, she said, 'Boy, you look like you came right out of the 1950s.'
Being a singer is all about me. About ego. Being a mom is all about being selfless - two different worlds.
I told my agents that I didn't want to go on the audition. But as that was happening I called my mom, who has been watching the show from the beginning, and my mom said, 'It's the coolest show. You have to go.'
Becoming a mom makes politics real. Whether it's education policies, health care policies, family leave - it informs your decision-making.
I was raised - my mom and dad were dairy farmers. Once you've made a decision to plant a crop for that year, you can't go back and undo that decision.
My own back yard, and my mom and dad's back yard, is where I learned about tomatoes and weeds and daily maintenance.
I've got two young sons who, when I ask them and their friends how they feel about gay marriage, kinda give me one of those looks like, 'Gosh, Mom, why are you even asking that question?'
Both me and Ishmeet were very naughty. We used to have my grandfather's swords in the house. We used to take all these swords and take all the showpieces Mom had and slice them one by one. He actually locked my nana in the kitchen once for two hours.
My mom says I either have to go to college or go into the military.
I've been a fan of 'Rocky Horror'... my mom let me see it at a really early age.
My dad is a Deadhead, my mom's a Jewish-American princess from Jersey.
My dad was very excited about me doing 'Laguna Beach,' and he thought it was a great opportunity. My mom, however, living in Chicago, was a little nervous. I mean she had some reservations about MTV. I think there was a point in my life where I wasn't even allowed to watch MTV!
My youngest sister, Cindy, has Down syndrome, and I remember my mother spending hours and hours with her, teaching her to tie her shoelaces on her own, drilling multiplication tables with Cindy, practicing piano every day with her. No one expected Cindy to get a Ph.D.! But my mom wanted her to be the best she could be, within her limits.
My parents couldn't give me a whole lot of financial support, but they gave me good genes. My dad is a handsome son-of-a-gun, and my mom is beautiful. And I've definitely been the lucky recipient. So, thank you, Mom and Dad.
The one thing my mom will let me get is a nice shoe sometimes.
I grew up in a difficult environment, but I became a Christian as a teen. My mom and my sister soon became Christians also.
Even as a little girl, my mom never wanted me to watch BET, but when I was at my grandparents' house, and my older cousins were there and I could watch it, I was infatuated with the idea that I could one day be a DJ or the host of a show.
Empowering girls is extremely important to me because, growing up, I needed those empowering women to show me the way. When my parents divorced when I was 11, my mom was a force to be reckoned with. She showed me how to be self-sufficient and independent.
Listen to your mom and dad! They are almost always right, especially about boys.
Everything you see is filtered through your visual system (imperfect) and your brain (also imperfect, despite what your mom told you). Witness testimony is the worst kind of evidence in science.
