It's almost like a sign of mental illness to base your self-worth on the opinions of complete strangers, you know?

If I had to label myself now, I'd call myself a Taoist-Christian-agnostic quantum mechanic.

I thought that my life would be spent working in a bookstore, teaching community college, and making music in my spare time that no one would be willing to listen to.

I love nyc. It's the city of my birth and probably the most amazing city on the planet.

Look not too long in the face of the fire, O man! Never dream with thy hand on the helm! Turn not thy back to the compass; accept the first hint of the hitching tiller; believe not the artificial fire, when its redness makes all things look ghastly. To-morrow, in the natural sun, the skies will be bright; those who glared like devils in the forking flames, the morn will show in far other, at least gentler, relief; the glorious, golden, glad sun, the only true lamp—all others but liars!

I was raised with this idea that we're supposed to be tolerant of other people's opinions, but then what happens if other people's opinions are racist and hateful and wrong?

I think that growing up very poor in a very wealthy town gave me a sense of being an outsider, and I hated it when I was growing up.