It doesn't take that many years for a kid to realise that they're going to die. It's always there in the back of their mind the rest of their lives.
What I remember as a child is that other kids didn't care about suffering. I always did.
It was endlessly entertaining, watching people beat each other up. All the little kids in the neighborhood would come and watch... and then we'd beat them up as well.
I was one of those kids that could just show up and take the test and do well on it. I didn't study a whole lot.
I've always loved watching the news on TV. As a kid, I loved watching Walter Cronkite, for some reason.
The first book I ever wrote was in fourth grade and it was called 'Billy's Booger.' It was an autobiographical piece about a kid who was really bad at math.
I have lots of girlfriends - all over the country! You think I'm kidding? I'm dead serious. Girlfriends everywhere.
One of the problems is that kids who don't read - who are not doing well in school - they know they're not doing well. And they want everyone to be in that same category.
I'm not against watching myself, but I miss a lot of it. I've got two little kids who we don't let watch TV.
As it turns out, as an adult I can have a very unpleasant, fierce and unforgiving temper at times. But I don't think I had that when I was a kid.
When I'm in Los Angeles, my wife and I go to the farmers' market with the kids every Sunday.
Kids today don't want to get married. Too many of their friends have been married and divorced already. They just don't believe in it.
I tell the kids, somebody's gotta win, somebody's gotta lose. Just don't fight about it. Just try to get better.
I was named after Yul Brynner because my mother had an infatuation with him. Who the hell names a Cuban kid Yul? Talk about a torturous childhood.
I was a late bloomer. I was a kinda shy little kid, definitely a child of the dark side. I wanted to play guitar and be in a rock band.
I'm not a wimpy kid at all. I don't care what other people think - I only care what I think about myself.
I'm convinced that what kids need today are parents - not buddies. They need someone who will exercise mature judgment.
Maybe I'll work for a label someday, write some fiction, nonfiction. Someday I'd like to go back to school and get my teaching degree. I want to be a grandpa. I want to have more kids.
I want to work; then, as my kids get older, I want to have adventures. I want to visit all their countries: learn and live inside all their cultures.
I have no regrets. I wanted to raise the kids and be a present father. When I developed a movie, I was gone for a year. That didn't really work for me. That isn't fair to make these life-forms and then disappear.
America is sick and tired of spending hour upon hour sitting in their automobile trying to get to work, trying to get kids to school, trying to get to a doctor's appointment.
