Growing up, I didn't give my grandfather's photography a second thought. I wasn't involved in his work, except that I helped my dad print his negatives.
My dad went to jail for a long time. We lost everything, and the situation never resolved itself. My parents had this sort of passionate, disastrous desire for each other - not ideal to grow up in.
When I used to do musical theatre, my dad refused to come backstage. He never wanted to see the props up close or the sets up close. He didn't want to see the magic.
My mom and dad are both in stand-up comedy, so that's where I started, that's where I got everything. My roots are holding the mic.
My dad was my swim coach growing up, and I tried to get kicked out of practice every day. I was a little devil kid.
As a brother and sister, our tastes were pretty different growing up. He liked a lot of early hip hop. My dad didn't understand it and would try to talk him out of it.
I grew up with lacrosse in my life because my dad played lacrosse all throughout college, so I grew up with the gear in my house - like the sticks, the helmet.
I lived in Peckham for the first 12 years of my life and then my mum and dad decided they really didn't want to bring up their children there. So they saved up money and bought a house in Plumstead, semi-detached, three bedrooms.
To say yes, you have to sweat and roll up your sleeves and plunge both hands into life up to the elbows. It is easy to say no, even if saying no means death.
Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than the one with all the facts.
It's not that I find it hard to meet girls - they do come up and chat me up from time to time. Sometimes I'm interested, I tend not to go for the prettier ones. I prefer the quirkier types.
Children who have an education grow up to lead healthier lives - earn higher income, take better care of their families, contribute to their economies.
When children do not have three square meals a day, a proper education, and at least one adult who they know loves and is committed to them, it's very unlikely they will grow up to be productive citizens of the world.
Life as we know it, with all its ups and downs, will soon be over. We all will give an accounting to God of how we have lived.
Portland is a really great city, especially because I'm a shopper and there's no sales tax! That really adds up so fast, because in California, a $1000 pair of shoes ends up costing another $100.
Now a great debate has been born. The thesis is Democratic Socialism. The antithesis is free-market capitalism. The Obama Democrats have posed the challenge. It is now up to the Republicans to pick it up and fight along these lines.
Many economists are great believers in the idea that everything in nature is competitive and that we should set up a society which is competitive to reflect that. Anyone who cannot keep up, well, too bad.
Growing up in Hitchin was comfortable and easy enough. My parents had some great records - and some not-so-great ones - and that's where I got introduced to Motown and the Stones and Springsteen.
I've always loved watches my whole life. When I was growing up, I always thought of having a great watch as that next step - of making it, of a rite of passage.
Growing up in Miami, I had all these great, strong influences. You know, being Cuban and the Latin influence, but also the strong hip-hop influence.
The whole dream of having your own place is great, but the reality is having to cook and clean yourself and do the washing and make sure there's milk in the fridge. But you have to grow up some time.
