My dad was a really good surfer, and by the time I was 10, he was dragging me out on some good days at Bells. I'd reckon they were solid, 6-foot days, and he'd tell me to wait on the shoulder. I'd see him coming through the barrel, and he'd just scream at me to go. I'd drop in, and he'd give me a hoot from behind - I've always loved it.
I don't think I was ever designed to be a ubiquitous worldwide star. I'm a singer-songwriter writing quite personal songs. You're not supposed to chuck me on a stage with bells and whistles. There was a struggle ahead after that happened, and perhaps I was trying to write songs to compete in that arena.
Why did they keep changing guitars and amplifiers when they were perfect? They did the same things with cars, if you ask me. They forgot how to make them right, because they focused on style and bells and whistles.
I don't have to come up with a ha-ha belly laugh every day, but drawings with warmth and love or ones that put a lump in the throat. That's more important to me than a laugh.
I won't belong to any organization that would have me as a member.
Please accept my resignation. I don't care to belong to any club that will have me as a member.
As a young man, even if I was going to see a play or a film by myself, I didn't feel like I was alone. There was something that was unfolding up there that brought me into it. And I recognised that. For those two hours, it made me feel like I belonged to something really good.
When I stepped into the box, I felt the at-bat belonged to me. Everybody else was there for my convenience. The pitcher was there to throw me a ball to hit. The catcher was there to throw it back to him if he didn't give me what I wanted the first time. And the umpire was lucky that he was close enough to watch.
I don't carry myself as a black person but as a woman that belongs to everybody. After all, it's the general public that made me - not any one particular group. So I don't think of myself as belonging to any particular group and never have.
The really wonderful thing that happened to me when I was in space was this feeling of belonging to the entire universe.
When the Holocaust happened, I was 15 years old. My parents kept it a secret from me, despite belonging to the Red Cross. I only found out about it much later. Even today I still feel guilty, because I was an ignoramus between the age of 15 and 25. I am sorry I couldn't stand up for them.
I miss the sense of belonging on a film as much as I did on 'Call Me By Your Name.'
What is true belongs to me!
On a personal note: I have contracted an outstanding case of breast cancer, from which I intend to recover. I don't need get-well cards, but I would like the beloved women readers to do something for me: Go. Get. The. Damn. Mammogram. Done.
Most people consider me an optimist because I laughingly state that I would take my last two dollars and buy a money belt.
My weakness in life is two men who seduce me all the time - named Ben & Jerry.
Ben Vereen is going to be on the show with me, too.
I'm not Ben Askren or a lot of these fighters. I've never called a reporter like, hey, I want to be on your show, book me, you know?
Because 'Friends' is on Netflix, there's a renewed interest from that... People can call me 'Ben' on the street, and I will turn around.
The most important thing to Ben and me was starting a family, so as soon as we got engaged, we booked Gurney's in Montauk - which is just a few miles down the beach from our summer home - as our wedding venue a full year and a half out, and then we immediately started trying to get pregnant.
