I have a lot of -- I struggle with a lot of shame over my past. There have been times when I've been incredibly embarrassed about the things that happened to me. I don't think that there is one human being in this world that would wish, you know, to be injured as a kid the way -- in ways that I was.
Great pressure is put on kids who don't have dads to get out and make money, and make life easier for everybody. It was always, 'Hurry up, grow up, make money, there's no man to do it for us.'
The graphic style itself is influenced by a lot of very layered and detailed comics that I read as a kid, like Vagabond by Takehiko Inoue.
I've always been singing and making noise. I used to do that all the time when I was a kid. My mom would get very frustrated with me because I would just sit around and make noises.
I've had a love/hate relationship with performing. I was an attention seeker as a kid, doing all this stupid stuff to get attention in general, but it all depends where I am in my life. If I'm having a bad few months I'll hide away. But I've always loved acting too - I like having all the eyes on me, I guess!
I consider being a performer work. I come from a theater family; I've been an actor all my life. I started acting when I was a kid, and I've earned a living as an artist all my life. It's my job in the sense that it's everything I am, the only thing I know how to do. I literally do not have qualifications to do anything else on this planet. Seriously, it's scary. [But] I don't consider it a job [because] it's my religion - it's my faith, it's my family, it's everything to me.
Now you have kids that say, 'I wanna be Torii Hunter one day.' Man, I love that.
It was so much fun working with these young kid actors. We had a great time and those kids are truly amazing.
With two kids it's hard to find down time to write so I often write during their nap time.
I'm scared of screwing up my kids.
My kids will grow up in a house knowing that it's perfectly normal for two men to be in love, it's perfectly normal for two women to be in love. My kids will grow up knowing it's all about love. It doesn't matter who you're with and everyone should have that experience.
I hope my music inspires people and I want to be a good role model for everybody, not just the girls but for the guys too. I want to show everybody that I didn't grow up in the spotlight like the Mickey Mouse Club to make it. That is important for kids to know.
When I was a young kid, almost every other show on television was a Western. And some of them were part of my childhood, I loved them. Like, Rifle Man, I absolutely adored. So, I think everything comes in a cycle.
If all we needed were ideas and positive thinking, then we all would have had ponies when we were kids and we would all be living our "dream life" now.
I do tend to look back to my parents generation and think wow! what a great way to be, to live with one person for a lifetime, to bring your kids up in these really solid families.
After doing those Mötley Crüe and Nickelback shows where the demographic is a little older, Papa Roach got a lot of fans from those tours. And now we have parents saying "Yeah my kids are into you guys!" It's cool.
It's a good feeling to see the kids try to make it, try to get to the big leagues. Everyone here has an opportunity to achieve his dream. I was lucky I was able to achieve my dream.
I think that there's a sense of self-reliance that exists in skateboarding that kids can take to their daily lives. I think there's also a sense of creativity and community-based goals - in skating, even though it is an individual pursuit, a lot of things that you learn are things that you borrow and expand from other people's ideas. I call skating a combined evolution - it's individual, it's artistic, but at the time, there is a communal push to keep doing your thing. And a sense of camaraderie in that.
I grew up in the South where they are very, very passionate about sports, and I was the artsy kid who didn't know much about it. I found I kind of enjoyed the social aspect, and I enjoyed the tailgating. I went for the free food and the experience. But to this day, I'm still learning. You're not going to see me watching it by myself, but if there are nachos involved, I'm there.
I would want America to know our kids need us. Spend as much time with your kids as you can. Enjoy them. Be with them. Hug your children; You never know when it will be the last time.
We can't want an education for kids more than they want it for themselves.
If you're a teacher you have to teach the curriculum, all that stuff, you have to teach morals, you have to teach values, and you have to teach, all-importantly, self-control. Because a lot of kids don't have it.
In a way, 'On the Road''s greatest victory is that nobody's eyes will be opened any longer by reading it; the last time I met any young people who were actually 'on the road' was when I covered Occupy St. Louis. Those few, dirty kids were fighting a battle even they couldn't articulate.
As a kid, I couldn't articulate it but I sought out things that could. At first it was horror films - extreme panic and terror, grotesque and maniacal. These films calmed me and made me feel more connected in my experiences.
I think crime is a huge issue for people. If you were living in the poorest state, and you've got drug dealers at the end of the street, and your life's in misery, and you're afraid of your kids going out the door. I mean, the job of progressive politicians is to do something about that.
