The real problem that I think those of us who are evangelicals and Democrats have to face up to is that the political right controls the religious media.
I think what you'll find is overall, overwhelmingly, evangelicals would prefer me to Barack Obama.
I'm a professor of media studies as well as humanities, and I'm an evangelist of popular culture, but when there's only media, then there's going to be a slow debasement of language, and that's what I think we're fighting.
I think 90% of my ideas evaporate because I have a terrible memory and because I seem to be committed to not scribble anything down. As soon as I write it down, my mind rejects it.
There is a shy side to me that evaporates when I play on stage, and I like that. I think it's another facet of my character, and I need to do that.
Sometimes I think that I want to do something strictly basic, really simple. Just with a few chords. But I won't have anything more than two or three sentences in my head. That kind of evaporates once I start playing and then it goes off in whatever direction.
Every New Year's Eve, I have a pact to do something I never thought I'd do. So I created this list. You have to free your mind to do things you wouldn't think of doing. Don't ever say no.
I think it's going to be the most difficult thing to do, to leave the stage. But if you have no lucidity about it, it's even worse because you don't see the negative side of you still being onstage.
Early on, when you're working in a new area of science, you have to think about all the pitfalls and things that could lead you to believe that you had done something when you hadn't, and, even worse, leading others to believe it.
Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night.
The evening news is evolving rapidly, and I think we have to be extraordinarily nimble.
I cannot think of any venture I have initiated where an earlier failure wasn't an important precursor to an eventual success.
When you think about it, giving up your 'real' personality is a small price to pay for the richness of 'living happily ever after' with an actual man!
I'm building this reputation as YA heartbreaker, I know. Some people like 'happily ever after,' but I don't think that's me.
I actually think in some ways that it might be more challenging to be bipolar because it's so mercurial - it's so ever-changing. You can't get any traction. You can't build on a system. Whereas, somebody who has Asperger's, which is certainly a much more forgiving expression of autism, can create models for coping and build on them over time.
I think my first thought on reaching the summit- of course, I was very, very pleased to be there, naturally - but my first thought was one of a little bit of surprise. I was a little bit surprised that here I was, Ed Hillary, on top of Mt. Everest. After all, this is the ambition of most mountaineers.
A lot of the time I hate the theater. You think, 'I have to climb Mount Everest, again, tonight.' Oh, the theater is a scary place to be.
I think the people will- who advocate having a step back and read those public opinion polls on the front page of the newspapers all over this country saying public supports restoration in restoration of the Everglades, protection of the parks and the creation of monuments.
As far as fame, the everlasting fame thing. I used to think that was important for a writer... the desire to make your mark.
I'm not sure why I still think of myself as 28 - maybe that's the point where you start growing up, and then you just feel the same for evermore.
