I remember a distinct moment when it was my junior year of college, and the content I was making was changing and not really myself, and I tried to switch back to just putting me out there. I'm happy that happened really early in my career, because that was before I started doing podcasts or writing.
Sometimes I might be sleepy, and sometimes I've literally been sleeping backstage, woken up, gone straight on stage or gone crazy. It's not like I psyche myself; I don't do any of that.
I've been in therapy. I know enough about myself now to know that I really don't need to know anymore.
I watch just as much WWE as almost anyone, but I love to. It's something I enjoy doing. I don't force myself to watch. I get excited for Mondays. I get excited to see the show.
From the age of 11, I was taught the importance of earning my own money. I would babysit, walk dogs, clean cars, and work at the local corner shop and the butcher's. If I wanted to buy something, I always bought it myself.
While I pride myself on trying to be creative in all areas of my life, I have occasionally gone overboard, like the time I decided to bring to a party a salad that I constructed, on a huge rattan platter, to look like a miniature scale model of the Gardens of Babylon.
I can only speak for myself - there were times when I just wasn't inspired by creating music.
I used to tell myself that I will always be myself.
I cap myself when I shop; I don't like to spend extravagant amounts on clothes. But, I do get lent clothes for events, it's scary to wear something so expensive, but I feel really pampered.
If I haven't any talent for writing books or newspaper articles, well, then I can always write for myself.
I don't think anyone has made me except myself. I think I have done it on my own.
Would I describe myself as new Labour? I'm Labour, organised Labour. I think labels have a limited use and that's where you really get into boy stuff sometimes, just sticking on labels.
When I was recording music, I'd record all the parts myself, and I wouldn't let other people in; that's essentially what Blood Orange is the result of; me trying to find the most comfortable I can be with everything.
At 25, I found myself anchoring coverage of President Clinton's impeachment trial from Capitol Hill for WTVH-TV in my hometown of Syracuse, New York. I then covered Hillary Clinton's first Senate run.
Because travel has always been such a vital part of myself and so essential to who I am, I have made the decision to continue to put myself back out into the world. And that's not an easy decision to make.
In my relationship, I was giving myself away to make the relationship better, but in actuality, wasn't doing better by doing that. I became less of a man.
Headwise, I always kind of knew that everyone goes grey in our family very early - and I was like, it works for me. I started growing my beard, and it changes the shape of your skull and your face, and I started seeing my mother's side of the family in myself for the first time.
I don't think of myself as a rebel; I just say what I think.
I was reading this story about these people who suffered from brain injuries, and then their behavior changed kind of drastically afterward, and I just said to myself, 'There's no way that that can possibly be true.'
I'm not the most talented writer in the world. I know that. But I also know that I'm disciplined, that I work my butt off, and that I make myself write as much as I can. Writer's block is a luxury I can't afford. I'm a professional writer, which means that I put my butt in the chair each day, and I write. Simple as that.
I just love the idea of going into a room and creating something by myself.
I was a little truth seeker as a child. I wanted more than anything to understand myself and also other people.
When I lecture, under almost all circumstances, I write a new lecture for the occasion. It helps me think. It helps me make demands of myself that I would not otherwise make.
When I do an hour-and-a-half show, if I don't improvise 20 minutes worth of new material each night, I feel I've let myself down.
I get angry at myself for staying in relationships way too long.
In all kinds of ways, I used to be really, really hard on myself.
The truth is that since childhood I had cultivated an existential independence. It came from perceiving the adults around me as unreliable, and without it I felt I wouldn't have survived. I cared deeply for everyone in my family, but in the end I depended on myself.
There are big parts of my life that I don't share. I don't share myself eating dinner with my family. I don't talk about who I'm dating. That's private; that's me.
I don't really care what other people see me as. I seriously don't. I've always worried about what my opinion of myself is. And I've always thought that it carries most weight. So I don't care what other people's opinion of me is or how they view whatever I've said or done.
I chose to continue independent because, at the time I was being offered deals, it wasn't fitting into what I'd imagined. I decided to take a gamble on myself and see what happens.
I don't take breaks, man. In the past, I used to spend my free time getting in trouble, and now I spend it working on my music. If I'm not playing drums with my cover band, Chevy Metal, I'm working on songs for myself.
I always want to look like myself - that's key for me. I don't want to look like a different person, I don't want my face frozen.
I love when I go on set every day, because the camera people teach me camera terms and grip terms - I learn all these new terms from different people on the set and leave feeling all cool about myself when I go out places.
I always doubted myself. I doubted the way I looked, my body, my voice - everything.
People in my village had this mindset that in big cities like New York, if you are lost or without directions, no one will help you. The first time I came here, I tried to make sure not to walk by myself, because it would be difficult for me if I got lost. But people will help you.
I love making fiction films as well as nonfiction ones, and hope to keep challenging myself to make better and better work.
