At a time when everything seems so out of control and the people you've elected are bogus and there's so much random violence and hatred, it fills you with such hope and admiration to even be part for a short time in a community where people have connected to strangers to try to put out a hand.

I'm tired of being labelled anti-American because I ask questions.

At the end of your life, you are going to want to know that you made some kind of difference.

If you're upset with how you look at 25, life's going to be tough.

So I think (Obama) definitely has convinced people that he stands for change and for hope, and I can't wait to see what he stands for.

It gets to be 2 a.m., and they hand you a bottle of whipped cream and some syrup and things start getting silly.

I was very withdrawn and definitely played with dolls well into eighth grade. But I was the oldest of nine, and that grounded me in a way that I don't think I would have been grounded otherwise. So I was able to - or forced to - function practically. But I think, by nature, I was someone who lived in my head, in my imagination.