Young people know how to use these social networking tools, and they know how to use them effectively.

Sometimes creativity is a compulsion, not an ambition.

I grow tired of intelligence having such a limited manifestation in movies - "intelligence" usually meaning coastal, with a certain level of formal education.

I just don't think most of us are aware how much of what we throw away ends up in the ocean, for starters. Plastic bags are among the worst. The US is actually falling behind the curve on that score. China and many other countries have already banned the production and use of thin plastic bags.

Sometimes their oppression of emotion and the weird way it comes out is more interesting than painting it in bold primary colors.

But work that's got real substance does make people feel, "There's someone else out there who relates to my experience, or who just helped me understand my own experience a little bit better." And I think that's still got enormous value.

It must be good to be in Germany and France, because I have completely forgotten what it is like to be proud of your government.