For me, habit is just a synonym for death.
Tone is somewhat totalising in that, once I locate it, it tells me what kind of syntax to use, what word choices to make, how much white space to leave on the page, what sentence length, what the rhythmic patterning will be. If I can't find the tone, I sometimes try narrating through the point of view of someone else.
The pull between sound and syntax creates a kind of musical tension in the language that interests me.
What that book does for me is give me the tools in the same way that I had the tools when I learned the regular scales or the alphabet. If you give me the tools, the syntax, and the grammar, it still doesn't tell me how to write Ulysses.
The reason I like Steve Aoki is because I can trace my love of electronic music all the way back to when I was listening to not just new wave but to YMO [Yellow Magic Orchestra] which, to me, was the ultimate Japanese band and launched synth electronic music.
I went to Bard College, which was a really interesting synthesis of a hippie school and a serious academic institution. It was really the perfect spot for me.
To me, the original VCS3 synthesizer is like a Stradivarius.
For me, the guitar synthesizer is a great writing instrument.
Me personally, I have a small circle. Part of that is because sometimes, you meet people, and you can feel the synthetic energy.
One day, when I was still living at home, a friend told 'Texas' Jean Valli about me. She was originally from Syracuse, N.Y., and lived in New Jersey but sang country. One night, she had me come up on stage where she was performing. I sang 'My Mother's Eyes,' and she was knocked out.
The national championship for Syracuse in 2003 will always be the high-water mark for me. That was my alma mater, my team, my players, our fans. That remains the top experience of my basketball life.
I understudied Colm Feore quite a bit in '85 and '86 - 'Persephone' and 'The Boys from Syracuse,' too - and that was great, great training for me. He was and he is an amazing theatre actor.
I look at Syracuse and I love the way that the coaches say they'll use me in their offense. I really like the family atmosphere there and I feel really comfortable there.
In the U.S., too many yogurts are filled with corn syrup, preservatives, artificial this and that. To me, this is poison.
As a chef and father, it kills me that children are fed processed foods, fast food clones, foods loaded with preservatives and high-fructose corn syrup.
I have continued systematically to study the Book of Mormon and Bible to understand even more deeply what God expects of me and my family while on this earth.
Since my childhood, I used to tell my parents to keep a tab on their health as if I was a doctor. Now I am officially one, and I hope my parents will finally take me seriously!
My dad would give me $10, which is a lot of money when you're 9, to sing at church, on tables at restaurants, at family functions, just about anywhere.
I will go to a nice restaurant in Miami, and no one sitting at the tables will notice me or even know who I am. Then everyone in the kitchen comes out and wants to take a picture.
I read articles in the gym in the morning on a tablet or phone. Then I print out a stack of them that I carry around with me throughout the workday.
