Usually when I go to a place for the first time, unless there's something historical or spectacular that nature has to offer, the first thing I like to do is see what's on the minds of the people.

Those who have suffered understand suffering and therefore extend their hand.

I like energy. I like to feel it cracklin', I like sexual energy in a room, and I like tension.

Maybe I'll be 48 and die in the gutter in Paris.

I longed to read everything I possibly could, and the things I read in turn produced new yearnings.

One thing I did have under my belt was, my mother lost her mother when she was 11. She mourned her mother her whole life and made my grandmother seem present even though I never met her. I couldn't imagine how my mom could go on but she did, she took care of us, she worked two jobs and had four children. She was such a good example of how to conduct oneself in a time of grief. When I lost my husband, I tried to model myself as much as I could on her.

I think its very important to not be afraid to experience joy in the middle of sorrow.