I read nothing. I watch nothing. I haven't even seen myself in the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver Olympics. I don't look back. I don't allow myself to be influenced by people who don't know me. I'm incredibly thin-skinned. When you wander through this life as an exposed nerve, you have to make sure you remain insulated to a certain extent.

It's easy to ignore the mess around election do that over here in Germany. It's just a blip on the radar for the German culture. They're like, "Y'all are crazy over there. Next segment." I'm not saying they're not scared. They're just wondering when people are going to wake up and see the pattern they themselves lived through and could see coming from a much greater distance. They don't have the hubris of youth to luxuriate in. According to the Germans I've spoken with, Trump's rise looks very similar to what happened prior to Hitler rising to power.

People are fooled by the colour of my skin. I grew up on the north side of Fredericton in a Celtic culture with an Acadian choir. Don't let the black fool you. I'm actually quite white. When people give me permission to do anything, I simply say, "I would have taken it anyway, but I appreciate you thinking I care what you think." I don't do it with a sense of belligerence. I really do mean well.

Sometimes we depersonalize people who we don't agree with or who we see as targets for hatred. If you think of anything as having a mother, that's going to change everything. All of us have mothers and came from a womb. Buddha says you can't hate anything you understand.

I can't speak to being a force for change, but I take it and wear it proudly. I'll never deny it or be one of those people who are like, "I'm just trying to do my best..." No! I'm all about total world domination.

I don't need to live my art and almost die to understand my heroines. I want to love my sons, live quietly, eat good food, have meaningful friendships in and out of work and have a very large wine collection.

I feel like I go from strength to strength. What exists in between is the stuff that makes it worth it. I don't know what a triumph is unless I know what a failure is. I welcome both in equal measure because I know they're both temporary anyway. I know they're both unavoidable anyway.