We were never a family that had a lot. We had enough but not a lot.
Whenever I have friends over we end up eating and talking and losing track of time and once in a while singing karaoke. It reminds me of the family meals we had in Russia which always lasted a very long time. That's a tradition I miss.
Music was your real passion this thing you held dear even above family. It was this relationship that never betrayed you. Once it became your job - this thing that was highly visible this thing that became about commerce - that's when you were holding onto music like it was a palm tree in a hurricane.
I wanted the players to feel like they were part of a family to be conscious of that controlled togetherness as they made that slow entrance onto the field. It had a great psychological effect on the opposing team too. They'd never seen anything like it.
No doubt the White House thinks the American people know Obama's story. But since the Inauguration we've seen only the president's present: his perfect family his Ivy League elegance his effortless mastery of complex issues. We never see him sweat. And we forget that he ever had to struggle.
My family's lineage is five generations of artists who never made it.
I came from a poor family so working and going to school at the same time was natural. It taught me multi-tasking although we didn't call it that back then. I learned I could never be idle I need to be doing many things at once.
One thing that was passed on from generation to generation in my family over seven generations in 200 years was never give up. That's the way we live.
You know my family and friends have never been yes-men: 'Yes you're doing the right thing you're always right.' No they tell me when I'm wrong and that's why I've been able to stay who I am and stay humble.
I've never had a divorce but I've seen so many of my friends my sister my family go through that stuff so I try to write for the people that can't write about it. I take on their sorrow so I'm able to kind of express it or their joy.