I don't even give my scripts to friends because I just feel it's, like, I don't need one more set of opinions.
When life pushes you down, just roll with the storm, because at one point you'll push life right back.
I never really am in awe of people because we are just equal at the end of the day.
It is okay to be an outsider, a recent arrival, new on the scene - and not just okay, but something to be thankful for... Because being an insider can so easily mean collapsing the horizons, can so easily mean accepting the presumptions of your provi...
Because the truth is, today's immigrants, as they have for generation after generation, work the longest hours at the hardest jobs for the lowest pay, jobs that are just about impossible to fill.
I've been writing a lot more, I believe, because of the Internet. I've been posting stuff that I've written and I've just been writing.
Basically, any time you have a real life experience, that can be a song. Because no matter how crazy or weird you are, somebody's had an experience just like you, somewhere.
You are - all your experience just kind of accumulates, and the novel takes a richness of its own simply because it has the weight of all those years that one's put into it.
But I don't begrudge anybody, because I know how hard it is to have that dream and to make it happen, whether or not it's just to put a roof over your head and food on the table.
Now the restaurants have begun to catch up with the wine-making; there are numerous great restaurants in Napa Valley, and it's wonderful because the people are there for just that: great food and great wine.
I did not like formal meetings, because they took away my freedom. I just liked to spend time with my friends, where I could be myself and did not need to don a mask.
I thank God for my failures. Maybe not at the time but after some reflection. I never feel like a failure just because something I tried has failed.
I love when I go out and I have my hair and makeup done, but I also like it when I'm just with the family because that's real.
'Marley and Me' was a book I was proud of and believed in, but I thought it would just have a modest audience because it is such a personal story about my marriage and my family.
It was hard saying goodbye to the 'iCarly' family just because we have become such a family, but I do get to see them all the time, and I stay in touch with them.
I hate to say that my mother was 'just a housewife', because in addition to that she has had lots of part-time secretarial jobs in factories and hospitals, always working really hard for our family.
I like to play cards. I'm not very good, because I don't want to calculate, I just play by instinct. But I've learned a lot of business philosophy by playing poker.
When I first started out in this business, it was easy because nobody wanted anything from me. But now everyone wants something from me, so it's hard to break away and just be a songwriter.
Buying only what you know can end in disaster. Just think about Enron's employees and business partners, the 'locals' who bought lots of its stock because they thought they were in the know.
Having haters is just a part of the business, and the more haters you have, the more people like you - that's how I view it, because I try to see the positive in things.
I can say that hands down from being in this business 32 years; we're going to be much better than we were last year just because there's eight new players that now have experience and Palacios will be healthy.
