If they had told me I was the janitor and would have to mop up and clean the toilets after the show in order to play, I probably would have done it.
I was a janitor when I was 16, cleaning out garbage rooms in Washington, D.C., and they were foul. It gets really hot in D.C. in the summertime, and you then take on the essence of garbage. People would stand away from me on the sidewalk as I came toward them.
I don't really do Japanese interviews. I don't think there's much call for me in Japan.
My mother taught me not to take any crap from anyone and to stand up for my rights. You might not believe this lesson came from a tiny Japanese woman, but it's true.
Japan is the most intoxicating place for me. In Kyoto, there's an inn called the Tawaraya which is quite extraordinary. The Japanese culture fascinates me: the food, the dress, the manners and the traditions. It's the travel experience that has moved me the most.
I guess anime helped me understand the Japanese culture a little better and makes me want to honor certain language nuances that don't always translate to English.
I have a tattoo on my foot that says 'it's a whale' in Japanese, because Japanese people kill whales. My stuffed whale was like most children's teddy bear. I took it with me everywhere. I slept with it. I couldn't live without my whale.
I was in Puerto Rico going to school, and it was very jarring for me. 'Traumatic' is the only way that I can say it. Kids were making fun of me: 'Oh, you're a Yankee.' And I acted out a lot. A lot. But looking back, and through a little bit of therapy, everything I am has to do with that time.
When you're stretching yourself, as a role like 'Blue Jasmine' did for me, you risk falling flat on your face.
I don't know what's happened to me. I've got a bit more sophisticated in my old age. I like a bit of jasmine tea. I love it.
When I start my mornings, I put some essential oils in a diffuser; it might be orange blossom or jasmine to energize and spruce me up or lavender at night to really calm me down.
I love the scent of jasmine, honeysuckle, and orange blossom. They remind me of gardens and visits to the ocean I would make as a boy.
Because of the changes in the Padres team I played with last year, I felt like a veteran recently when I worked out with Jason Kendall and he told me he's liked listening to my records since he was a kid!
The people who know me do not ask me about the next book or how it's going. They ask, 'Jason, are you sleeping?' because they know my brain will not shut down.
Jason Aldean is actually probably a really good rapper. He sounds like it to me.
I put three productions of my youngest brother Jason on my album, on 'Konnichiwa,' and that made me happy, to be able to do that for him.
I remember I didn't know who Jason Williams was, and he got drafted ahead of me. It was just weird. I thought I'd be in the top five, and I slipped all the way to 10, so it was a strange night for me.
I enjoy evangelizing Java. In my heart of hearts, I'm an engineer, and what makes me happy is building something that works and having someone use it. That's cool.
I don't know that I'm not normal, because usually, when I tell people the things I do, either their jaw drops or they look at me shocked, but I'm sure I do normal things - everyone eats, that kind of stuff.
I think being in a car is far more dangerous. I feel much more in control with a 16 foot croc, 3,000 pounds jaw pressure trying to have a go at me.
