Any time you stick your neck out in high school, there's someone right there to chop your head off.
I finally chopped off my ponytail at the end of middle school, and it was the best decision I made.
My chops are still up, even though I'm not still in high school.
I remember talking about a Mozart song during a music class at school, and I said, 'I wouldn't have done it like that.' I didn't like the way the chords moved. And my teacher told me to get out.
I would do musicals in high school where there was dancing, and I would sing my verse, and then they would choreograph it so when I would take an eight-count to back up to the back of the stage while the other dancers covered me up because my body was totally... I was always in newborn-deer mode.
I got to choreograph a halftime dance with the cheerleading squad, which was all-female, at my high school. And I was the only boy, at the time. We did this whole routine to 'Maria Maria' by Santana, and 'Thong Song' by Sisqo - it was a mix.
The most influential thing was the two Chris Rock specials that came out when I was in high school. I was obsessed with that stuff.
I grew up when Chris Brown was, like, an icon. He was my ringtone when I was in high school.
It was only after 20 years of being dunked in the religious culture that I got caught up in 'religion.' I had no exposure to Christianity as a child. I was not raised in a Christian home. I became spiritually hungry in high school.
Christmas Day itself hasn't always been great. My parents went abroad when I was very young, and I went to boarding school. We had a few Christmases before that - I remember a big sack of presents and Mummy cooking goose.
Almost every college playwright or sketch or improv comedian was sort of aware of Christopher Durang - even kids in high school. His short plays were so accessible to younger people and I think that was inspirational to me.
I remember being about six years old, for the first day of school, and sitting in the back of a Chrysler, pretending to cry while listening to Tracy Chapman.
In early high school years, I was pretty chubby, and I spent a lot of time on my computer, before it was cool to have a computer - because there was a time that was true. So that's where I developed my personality.
I was a chubby kid who got made fun of a lot, and I got fit in high school, and I stayed fit in my 20s, until my dad died.
In late elementary school, early high school, I started losing my hair in chunks in the shower. It was one of the scariest things. It got to the point where it was visibly gone.
I was a sullen kid who smoked cigarettes and wore black every day, and I went to a school that was lacrosse players and Izods.
I never studied film formally at school, but as a kid, I spent most of my time in cinemas.
When I was studying photography, I became interested in conflict photojournalism, and that got me interested in lighting. Then I realized there was this amazing thing called cinematography where you could kind of tell more complete stories photographing for film. So I ended up going to AFI grad school for that.
The draconian prohibitions of the Taliban years and the gains Afghan women have achieved since the Taliban government was overthrown in 2001 are now well known and often cited: Today, Afghans lucky enough to live in secure regions can go to school, women may work in offices, and the burqa is no longer mandatory.
Especially in local elections, because hardly anybody pays attention to those - but it's really important who's mayor and who's on the city council, county commissioners, sheriffs, district attorney, and of course the school board.
